Time passed quickly, and Sunday arrived in the blink of an eye.
Today was still a day off from school. After reading all day yesterday, Yukino Yukinoshita planned to go to the basement for some training, just like Leon.
But just as she was about to leave her room, she received a phone call.
"Did I interrupt your holiday, little Yukino?"
A familiar voice rang out from the other end of the phone, plunging Yukino Yukinoshita into a brief silence.
"Something wrong?"
Yukino Yukinoshita tried her best to sound calm, even cold.
"Can't I call you for a chat if there's nothing wrong?" Yukino Yukinoshita's older sister, Haruno, chuckled casually, "Or did big sister truly interrupt your holiday, preventing you from fawning over your little master?"
The term "little master" immediately told Yukino Yukinoshita that her sister, just as Leon had previously guessed, had already investigated some things.
"You're truly heartless, little Yukino." Haruno Yukinoshita's voice also lowered, sounding annoyed yet also somewhat reproachful, "Such a big thing happened, and you didn't tell anyone in the family. If we hadn't discovered it ourselves, were you planning to keep it a secret indefinitely?"
"...What good would telling you do?" Yukino Yukinoshita was silent for a moment, then said expressionlessly, "Since things have already happened, one shouldn't dwell on the past. Instead, one should look to the future and seize fleeting opportunities to make oneself better, even if the loss cannot be recovered."
"Isn't that just the style of our family?"
Yukino Yukinoshita's words caused Haruno Yukinoshita to fall silent as well.
After a long time, Haruno Yukinoshita finally spoke up, her voice complex.
"I'm waiting for you at home. Mom is here too."
Leaving those words, Haruno Yukinoshita hung up the phone, leaving Yukino Yukinoshita speechless for a long time.
She knew she had to talk to her family.
Otherwise, who knew what might happen next.
Thinking this, Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath and walked out of the room.
She abandoned the thought of training in the basement and walked straight out of the mansion, entering the garden and heading towards the pavilion.
When she arrived at her destination, the owner of the manor was there, just as she expected, and the newest companion who had joined yesterday was also present.
At this moment, Leon and Asuna Yuuki were sitting across from each other in the pavilion, with the former seemingly telling the latter something.
"Word has come from your family that they will make time to visit and meet with me today, though the time and location are currently undecided. You'll come with me then to properly meet your family."
"Soon, your sword instructor will also arrive directly at this manor via a magic circle to meet with us."
"So, today is likely to be busy. You need to be mentally prepared."
Leon was informing Asuna Yuuki of today's schedule, and the girl nodded silently.
Yukino Yukinoshita stood in place for a moment, waiting until Leon had finished instructing everything, before stepping into the pavilion and approaching Leon.
"Why did you come over?" Leon had naturally seen Yukino Yukinoshita and asked in confusion as she walked towards him, "Didn't you say you were going to use the basement for some training today?"
Asuna Yuuki also looked at Yukino Yukinoshita, her eyes conveying a question.
"I probably won't have time today," Yukino Yukinoshita lowered her gaze, saying, "I need to go home for a trip."
With that single sentence, Leon instantly understood what was happening.
"Haruno-senpai is pretty good, having found out some things so quickly," Leon complimented, sounding genuinely impressed, and then said, "Is she preparing to talk to you frankly?"
"It was expected, wasn't it?" Yukino Yukinoshita took a deep breath, saying, "My mother will likely be present too."
"So?" Leon picked up his black tea, took a light sip, and smiled, "Do you need me to go with you?"
"No," Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head decisively, saying, "My sister told me to go, but didn't mention you. This proves that both she and my mother don't want you present."
"And I don't want to be looked down upon by them, thinking I don't dare face them alone."
"So, I want to go by myself."
This was a manner of self-reliance quite characteristic of Yukino Yukinoshita.
She wasn't not nervous. After all, both her older sister and her mother were people whose status in the family was clearly above hers. She had always lived in their shadow and tended to become particularly vulnerable in their presence.
But she had never intended for things to stay this way. Deep down, she sincerely hoped that one day she could escape the shadow cast by those two and live her own life.
Therefore, this time, she would face those two people alone.
Looking at Yukino Yukinoshita like this, it was Asuna Yuuki's turn to feel as though she was seeing her past self, seeing her own shadow in her junior companion.
Although she wasn't as inwardly self-conscious and resistant to her family as Yukino Yukinoshita, she too lived in the shadow of her family, her entire life arranged like a puppet on strings.
She hadn't expected that just as she was about to confront her family's demands for the first time due to sudden life changes, Yukino Yukinoshita, her senior amongst the [servants], would be facing the same thing.
Asuna Yuuki's eyes changed as she looked at Yukino Yukinoshita. She opened her mouth, intending to say something, but nothing came out.
Leon, conversely, remained very calm.
"That's fine. Some things would indeed be hard to explain if I, an outsider, were present, especially since your family likely knows my true identity."
As Leon spoke, he took out a Devil Flyer from his pocket.
This was a Devil Flyer slightly different from the previous versions.
The previous Devil Flyers used seemingly ordinary retro parchment, but this one used a specialty pitch-black parchment, from which a subtle magical power emanated.
"This is a simplified magic circle I specifically created based on our situation. Its function is the same as ordinary Devil Flyers—it can instantly summon us. The only difference is that the former might be intercepted, while this one essentially cannot be blocked."
Leon explained this to Yukino Yukinoshita and Asuna Yuuki.
The magic circles that Devils use daily are not impossible to block. As long as a barrier is set up near the destination, or a specialized ritual is put in place to intercept spatial transfers, Devils cannot use the magic circle to jump across and will be blocked by the barrier or ritual.
Leon's specially made simplified magic circle, however, did not have this hidden problem. Even if a barrier or interception ritual was set up beforehand at the destination, it could not prevent the jump. However, it had strict usage conditions, or rather, only specific targets could trigger it.
This was developed by Leon based on his "Servant-ization" characteristic. Only the [servants] whose bodies contained Devil Pieces connected by his characteristic could trigger it. The principle was to use the connection between himself and the Devil Piece within the servant's body to perform a higher-dimensional spatial jump, effectively circumventing the existence of interception barriers or rituals.
"Take this with you. Once you encounter danger, the Devil Piece in your body will automatically resonate with the specialized magic circle on this, activating it. That way, I can instantly arrive at your location."
Leon handed the black Devil Flyer to Yukino Yukinoshita and instructed her.
"Since your family is already aware of your and my true identities, they have most likely established a connection with the Church. This is just in case."
Saying this, Leon took out another black Devil Flyer and handed it to Asuna Yuuki nearby.
"Here, you get one too. Don't say I'm playing favorites."
Hearing this, Asuna Yuuki accepted it with a slight feeling of being overwhelmed.
"Th-Thank you."
Asuna Yuuki thanked him in a low voice.
Yukino Yukinoshita quietly hid the Flyer inside her uniform's inner lining, her expression as cool as ever.
"Then I'll be going first."
With that, Yukino Yukinoshita turned around, left the pavilion, and walked towards the outside of the manor.
Leon contacted the familiar responsible for driving at the manor, instructing them to take Yukino Yukinoshita to the Yukinoshita family residence.
"Miss Yukinoshita... will she be okay?"
Asuna Yuuki felt somewhat worried.
"Don't worry, it won't be a big problem," Leon smiled, as if he could see through everything and predict the future, saying, "Since this has come up, it's a good time to solve the problems with both your families, saving you both from looking so worried all the time."
Asuna Yuuki gave a wry smile.
How could she not be worried?
Even now, she still felt inwardly confused by how quickly things were progressing!
Just two days ago, she was an ordinary human, a rich young lady following her family's planned life path and receiving elite training. Now, just two days later, her life trajectory had changed drastically, and she was about to confront her family over it. To Asuna Yuuki, all of this felt incredibly unreal, like a dream.
But, it must be said that this experience had also lit a fire in Asuna Yuuki's heart, giving her an impulse to use this opportunity to make changes.
Girls often have moments like this—a sudden moment where they don't want to follow their family's arrangements and live a life they can see the end of. They feel an impulse to change everything.
Before this, Asuna Yuuki hadn't had the chance to develop such an impulse.
But this time, that impulse suddenly arose in her heart, even if it was just a tiny spark.
"Becoming a Devil, huh..."
Asuna Yuuki murmured in her heart, then suddenly looked at the man before her.
He was leisurely holding a cup of black tea, sipping it unhurriedly. His demeanor looked nothing like a Devil, but more like an aristocratic young master from a prominent family.
"Hmm?"
Under Asuna Yuuki's gaze, Leon unexpectedly lifted his head.
"They're here."
Leon stood up as if he sensed something.
"Let's go. Time to welcome your teacher."