"This is your house?"
In front of Leo's mansion in Chiba's central district, Utaha Kasumigaoka stood at the gate, pointing ahead with a look of pure disbelief.
"Someone gave it to me." Leo sounded completely casual, as if this wasn't a big deal at all. If anything, that attitude made it feel even more like he was showing off. "Not bad, right?"
Utaha's eye twitched.
A mansion this huge? "Not bad" didn't even begin to cover it.
She'd never seen anyone live in a place this luxurious. For a moment, she seriously wondered if even a king's palace would look shabby compared to this.
And this extravagant mansion was something someone just… gifted to Leo?
Who was that generous? A friend of his?
Maybe she should ask that friend if they minded having one more friend—her.
"I get it now. No wonder people think you're some rich young master." Utaha finally spoke after holding it in for a long time. "If the bored troublemakers at Sobu High ever found out you lived somewhere like this, no one would doubt it again."
If that happened, rumors about Leo being from a wealthy family would spread across the entire school in minutes, and his status would skyrocket.
Too bad Leo didn't care.
"What they think has nothing to do with me." Leo shrugged. "Even if they found out I live here, or that Yukino and Asuna live here too, what could they do?"
The moment he mentioned that, Utaha narrowed her eyes, smiling in that way where her lips moved but her eyes definitely didn't.
"Relax. As long as you three don't spill it, there's no way anyone would guess that the Yukinoshita heiress and the Yuuki family's daughter are some guy's servants—and already living with him."
Even she had trouble believing it when Leo told her. How could anyone else?
If she hadn't already suspected something about their relationship, she'd assume Leo was daydreaming.
Sobu High's "high-altitude flowers" weren't chosen just for having a pretty face.
They were called that because they stood so far above everyone else—untouchable.
Looks, figure, intelligence, talent, family background… every one of those had to be exceptional.
Which was why every high-altitude flower at Sobu, including Utaha herself, came from a well-off family.
Utaha and Eriri Spencer Sawamura counted as well-off, but compared to Yukinoshita Yukino, Yuuki Asuna, and Mahiru Shiina, they weren't exactly in the "elite family" category.
But those three? They were born into true old-money households—families with long histories, high social status, and deep influence.
Especially the Yuuki family. Their main house in Tokyo was famous nationwide. Even if they weren't on the same level as the global superpower Shirogane family, they were still far beyond the average rich household.
And yet the heiress of such a family had become someone's devil servant?
Unbelievable.
"Don't look at us with normal human standards." Leo cast her a glance. "I might not be some rich kid in the human world, but in the Underworld, I'm a true high-class devil—the current heir of the Eligos House, one of the Seventy-Two Pillars."
"In terms of status alone, I outrank any rich kid in this world."
"Even if the line was once cut off, Eligos is an ancient devil noble family. Now that I've inherited everything, a few scraps falling through my fingers would be enough to collapse this world's financial system."
With that, Leo led Utaha into the estate.
"You can look into all of that later. For now, let me show you what our life is like."
Leo brought her to the front of the main residence.
He had already notified the household that he was bringing a guest, so the entrance was lined with a red carpet and two neat rows of maids—his familiars—bowing as they greeted them.
Standing with them were Yukinoshita Yukino and Asuna Yuuki.
"Welcome to House Eligos, Kasumigaoka-senpai."
Yukino shot Leo a quiet glare before giving Utaha a formal greeting.
"Hello, senpai. I'm Yuuki Asuna. Welcome."
Asuna was noticeably warmer than Yukino, graceful and gentle enough that Utaha couldn't help glancing at her again.
"Hello."
Utaha nodded back, keeping her reaction minimal.
She was a literary girl, not some highly trained noble lady. Even basic etiquette wasn't something she cared about much.
Besides, the so-called high-altitude flowers of Sobu High rarely interacted. They weren't close—not even remotely. Most of them had barely spoken to each other.
Only Eriri had any private connection with Utaha, thanks to their shared creative hobbies—and even that was a secret no one else knew about.
As for the other high-altitude flowers, Utaha had only ever seen them from afar.
She'd seen Yukino at the opening ceremony because Yukino, being top of the year, had to give a speech. Otherwise, the "Winter Flower" of Sobu was always either in class or in the Service Club room.
Mahiru Shiina, the first-year top student, was the same—Utaha had seen her exactly once at the ceremony.
And Asuna? She'd only transferred in recently. A second-year transfer had no reason to cross paths with a third-year senpai like Utaha.
So despite meeting two other high-altitude flowers here, Utaha barely knew them and honestly had no idea what to say.
Thankfully, the person who belonged here was Leo.
"As you can see, Yukino and Asuna are my servants. They live here with me—students by day, devils by night."
Leo crossed his arms. "Since you're curious about devil life, take a tour first. After that, you can join Yukino or Asuna for tonight's work. You'll get to see how we form contracts with humans."
Over the past few weeks, Yukino had settled into devil work smoothly. Despite her difficult personality, her thoroughness reassured clients, and she already had returning customers. Her performance had skyrocketed.
Asuna, after her daily combat training, had followed the same beginner steps—flyer distribution—and just last week started taking official summons. Her personality and looks made the work much easier for her than it had been for Yukino.
This time of day was exactly when they began their devil duties.
So Leo simply handed Utaha over to them.
"We'll take care of it."
Utaha straightened, clearly taking this seriously.
"It's no trouble at all, senpai. Don't worry," Asuna said quickly when Yukino didn't respond. "I'll show you around first."
Utaha nodded and followed Asuna inside.
Yukino watched them leave but didn't follow immediately.
"She's your next target?"
Her voice was cold as she threw the question at Leo.
"Pretty much." Leo didn't deny it. "I noticed her even earlier than I noticed you. She's definitely my next candidate."
"You really know how to pick them." Yukino's voice cut like ice. "So next is Shiina Mahiru from first year and Eriri from Class G?"
She was clearly mocking him—implying his tastes were anything but pure.
First her, then Asuna, now Utaha. So he only had eyes for Sobu High's high-altitude flowers?
"You're misunderstanding me." Leo raised his hands in an innocent gesture. "I'm not targeting high-altitude flowers on purpose. You all just happen to have that."
"You mean… Sacred Gears?" A trace of surprise flickered across Yukino's cold expression. "Kasumigaoka-senpai is a Sacred Gear user too?"
"Yep." Leo nodded. "I discovered it two years ago—when we first entered high school."
That was earlier than Yukino. He'd only discovered her Sacred Gear last year, and he didn't realize it was a Longinus until her power went out of control before this year's opening ceremony.
If not for that, Utaha would've been his first target, and Yukino the second.
Yukino, in a way, really had cut in line.
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You can read up to chapter 95 on patreon.com/NiaXD.
