Serafall's aggressive attitude toward Leon had initially taken everyone present by surprise.
Most likely, many had not expected that as Sona Sitri's older sister, Serafall would display such a poor attitude toward Leon.
After all, Leon and Sona were on excellent terms. Logically, as the sister, Serafall should have a good relationship with him as well, not to mention that Leon was a gifted youth with a limitless future. Even now, he possessed the strength to easily defeat a cadre of the Fallen Angels. For the Devil Kings who supported the Underworld, such a talent was undoubtedly someone to be cherished.
And the result?
Serafall, a current Devil King, seemed quite unfriendly toward Leon.
The crowd felt perplexed by this, exchanging glances in hopes of finding an explanation.
"Sister!"
At this point, Sona could no longer stand it. She stepped forward directly and dragged Serafall away.
"Oh, Sona-chan, you're hurting your sister~~~"
As Sona forcefully pulled her to the side, Serafall immediately put on a pitiful expression.
Unfortunately, Sona wasn't buying it.
"I wish I actually had the strength to hurt a Devil King," Sona said expressionlessly. "Sister, stop acting pitiful, and stop treating Leon like that. As a Devil King, you should show the magnanimity befitting one."
"Hmph—but I'm just angry!" Serafall said with puffed-out cheeks. "Who told him to try and steal my Sona-chan away?"
"What do you mean 'steal away'?" Sona retorted. "He hasn't done anything, alright?"
"Sona-chan is so mean!" Serafall remained huffy. "You're so smart; I don't believe for a second that you don't know the family already considers that bad guy your fiancé and wants you two engaged!"
Hearing this, Sona fell silent.
Indeed, how could Sona not see what the clan was planning?
She was an exceptionally intelligent person and the next head of the House of Sitri. Any movement within the clan—unless kept entirely hidden from her—would eventually reach her ears. Even if it were just a hint, Sona could deduce the situation with her intellect.
Furthermore, Sona had understood from the beginning that even if she used her own abilities to defeat her previous fiancé and dissolve that unwanted engagement, the clan would not let her remain single forever.
As mentioned before, over half of the once-illustrious Seventy-Two Pillars of the original Devil lineages had already gone extinct. The number of pure-blooded Devils in the Underworld was gradually decreasing, and the population was being replaced by various half-bloods and Peerage Devils. Under such circumstances, every pure-blooded family, without exception, feared the day their bloodline would end in their hands.
Therefore, for any pure-blooded family, producing the next generation of pure-bloods was a matter of utmost importance. It was impossible for them to watch a younger family member of age remain single indefinitely.
Arranged marriages between pure-blooded families were an inevitability in the current Underworld. Even a family as populous as the Phenex clan was eager to arrange engagements for their youth to ensure the continuation of the next generation.
Thus, Sona knew from the very start that even if she went to great lengths to cancel her engagement, another one would soon find its way to her.
All her efforts were ultimately just a way to delay for a bit of time; the result of having a partner for engagement would not fundamentally change.
It wasn't just her; Rias Gremory was in the same position.
No matter how much Rias rejected her engagement with Riser, what could she really do? In the end, even if she successfully rebelled against that specific engagement, she would only be swapping him for a different partner. This was the inescapable duty and fate of current pure-blooded Devils.
In the original story, if Issei Hyoudou's actions hadn't moved the Gremory family and made them take a liking to him, Rias would certainly never have obtained true freedom in marriage.
As for Sona—she was simply working hard on a delay that others couldn't see, and maneuvering in ways that were invisible to most.
Initially, she had been mentally prepared to continue her resistance, but to her surprise, the House of Sitri hadn't scouted a new fiancé for her. How could Sona not be suspicious of this?
And as long as there was suspicion, followed by a bit of deduction and testing, Sona quickly realized exactly what the clan was planning.
They weren't looking for a new fiancé because the one they had chosen was already by Sona's side.
They were willing to leave Sona to her own devices for a simple reason: the interaction between Sona and Leon was going very smoothly, and their relationship was growing closer. Therefore, they weren't in any hurry. When the time was right, they would naturally bring the matter up, letting the two come together as a matter of course.
After understanding this, and after much deliberation, Sona's final decision was... tacit consent.
That's right, Sona had long ago given her silent approval to this matter.
"—If an engagement is inevitable, then why shouldn't I choose someone I don't dislike?"
Sona spoke these words softly.
This was her attitude toward the situation. If she had to have a fiancé, she certainly hoped that person would be Leon.
At the very least, she knew Leon thoroughly and admired him. Their years of interaction had been devoid of any unpleasantness; on the contrary, it had been quite enjoyable. Since that was the case, Sona naturally didn't want any further complications.
In other words, Leon was not only the future son-in-law chosen by the House of Sitri but also the future husband chosen by Sona.
Otherwise, with her cool and strict personality, how could she possibly be like Rias—completely unconcerned about her naked appearance and letting Leon have an eyeful?
She only did it because the person was Leon.
If it were anyone else?
Never!
But Serafall could not accept this.
"No, no, no! Sona-chan can only belong to big sister! Not to anyone else!"
Serafall hugged Sona and rubbed against her frantically, looking miserable and unable to accept the reality, causing Sona to press a hand to her forehead in exasperation.
"Putting aside whether I belong to you or not, if you don't want to see me married off, you should go talk to Father. I can't make that decision myself, can I?"
Sona spoke calmly, seemingly having long ago come to terms with the matter.
"Urgh—" Serafall was suddenly at a loss for words. She hemmed and hawed for a while before letting out a long sigh with a dejected face. "Do you think your sister hasn't tried talking to Father? But Father won't listen to a word I say!"
"Because Father knows perfectly well that you are just being unreasonable," Sona scolded mercilessly. "After you became a Devil King, I am the only one left in the younger generation of the House of Sitri."
"You aren't like Lord Sirzechs, who already has a family and an heir. If I follow your example and don't marry or have children, what will happen to the next generation of the Sitri family?"
"We can't just hand the heritage over to the branch families, can we? If that happened, Father would beat us both to death."
Serafall was left speechless by Sona's words, unable to offer a single rebuttal.
The father of the two sisters did indeed have a major grievance with her—or rather, a major grievance with the fact that she remained single and unmarried.
While Sirzechs had also branched off from the Gremory family, taken the name Lucifer, and ascended to the throne of a Devil King, he had already married Grayfia and had a son. That child was the guarantee for the Gremory house, considered the successor after Rias, and even his surname was Gremory.
Looking back at Serafall?
Grayfia, who was of the same generation and once a rival, was already a wife and mother, while Serafall spent all day cosplaying and running around happily as a Magical Girl. She wouldn't find a partner or even flirt with anyone. How could their father possibly look at her with approval?
If Serafall weren't already a Devil King, to the point where even the current head of the House of Sitri couldn't control her, she would have been arranged for hundreds of matchmaking sessions—and that would just be for one year's worth.
But while the current head couldn't control her, that didn't mean he couldn't control Sona.
He had already given up on this unfilial daughter; if this daughter dared to drag his only remaining child into staying single, he would truly have to consider disowning her for the sake of the clan.
In short, the Sitri family had already settled on this matter. Even as a Devil King, Serafall couldn't stop it unless she wanted to cut ties with the family.
Precisely because she understood this, Serafall found everything about Leon annoying.
"I just can't bear Sona-chan being snatched away by someone else!"
Serafall threw a tantrum, her teary-eyed look making Sona want to sigh.
"Regardless, you are not allowed to mess around anymore," Sona said seriously to Serafall. "The current situation is already the best possible result. If things change because of your selfishness, let alone Father, even I won't forgive you."
Although Sona and Leon hadn't engaged in any substantial relationship yet, she was quite satisfied with the current development.
She didn't want to rush to confirm the relationship; she only wanted to continue developing with Leon steadily, just like they were now, until the engagement followed naturally.
If Serafall's interference ruined this, she probably really would hate her sister.
There was no other way; once this fell through, she might actually have to marry someone she didn't like or didn't even know in the future. That was something she could not accept under any circumstances.
"Fine—"
Seeing the seriousness in Sona's attitude, Serafall responded dejectedly.
"I won't oppose you being with that bad guy anymore, alright?"
As she said this, Serafall felt her heart breaking. Her beloved little sister was still going to get married and become someone else's.
But no matter what, this result couldn't be changed.
So what could she do? Rather than watching her sister marry someone she didn't like and be sad for the rest of her life, it was better to let her marry the one she favored. At least that way, Sona-chan could find happiness, and Serafall could find some comfort in seeing her smile.
"Hey, Sona-chan, promise your sister you won't give yourself away too quickly, okay?"
Resigning herself to fate, Serafall could only plead by taking a different approach.
"Let your sister have you for a few more years. Don't be in such a hurry to have kids, I'm begging you~~~"
Serafall hugged Sona and shed tears. Her appearance was less like a sister who couldn't bear to see her sibling marry and more like an incompetent husband who could only watch helplessly as his wife was taken away.
"What are you talking about, Sister?" Sona blushed rarely, saying in embarrassment and annoyance, "Of course I'm not thinking about having children now. I haven't even graduated from high school!"
She still planned to attend university in the human world; how could she marry so soon?
In Sona's plan, she intended to wait until university to confirm her relationship with Leon, and marry after graduating. Having children would be even further down the line.
That was at least four or five years away; her sister was simply worrying about nothing.
"Really?" Serafall stared at Sona, somewhat disbelieving. "Then swear that you won't give yourself to that villain before marriage—not even holding hands!"
Sona took a deep breath, barely suppressing the urge to commit sororicide.
Even for someone as cool-headed as her, she felt her sister's request was simply too much. What normal person doesn't even hold hands before marriage?
If she told her that she had already been seen completely by Leon, wouldn't her sister explode?
"I'm going to tell Father about this and let him decide."
Sona coldly raised her hand, unfolding a small magical circle for communication above her palm.
"Don't, don't, don't!" Serafall was terrified, quickly grabbing Sona's hand and laughing nervously. "It's not that serious, Sona-chan. I just said the wrong thing. Holding hands... guh... is still okay..."
Serafall looked as if she had made a massive sacrifice, her face full of grief and sorrow.
Sona finally couldn't take it anymore.
"You should just go back for now, Sister."
She had had enough; she felt it was impossible to communicate with this unreasonable sister any longer.
While it wasn't the first time her sister had made such a fool of herself, Sona still couldn't stand it. She only felt that she was incredibly unlucky to be stuck with such a sister.
If this continued, she really wouldn't want this sister anymore.
"Maybe I should just go ahead and give myself away—"
In that case, her sister would have to accept her fate and wouldn't be as annoying as she was now, right?
Thinking of this, Sona couldn't help but shift her gaze toward a certain someone.
"A-choo!"
Leon, who was chatting with Rias, suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose and muttered.
"Who's thinking about me now?"
"Could it be Cao Cao or Vali?"
"Hmm, I definitely have to give them a thrashing next time."
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