Kindness Has Its Price
Rias said, "Why don't… we let him off this time?"
Her voice was soft.
Yet in the tense silence that followed, every word carried clearly across the courtyard.
The air still seemed to hold the remnants of the confrontation. Dust drifted lazily through the sunlight, disturbed by the footsteps of retreating soldiers. The atmosphere that had been sharp enough to cut moments ago had finally begun to loosen, but nobody present dared to move too freely.
Leon stood quietly at the center of it all.
His long, shoulder-length black hair stirred gently in the breeze, and his purple eyes remained calm and deep beneath the faint shadow of his midnight robes. Thin amethyst embroideries caught the sunlight whenever the fabric moved, giving him an almost otherworldly presence.
For a few breaths, he simply looked at Rias.
Then the corner of his lips lifted.
Leon smiled faintly.
"If my precious Rias said so, then for sure."
His voice was calm.
There was no hesitation.
