— — — — — —
Inside the shrine, Kuroka squatted on the tatami, staring blankly at the open doorway.
"He just… agreed like that?"
"That Fallen Angel Governor, Azazel… he just agreed?"
"What else did you expect?"
Ryo picked at a few side dishes to settle his stomach, then set down his chopsticks. He took the hot towel from the low table and wiped the corner of his mouth.
"It's only a preliminary understanding. Did you think he'd flip the table and fall out with me right there?"
He gave a soft scoff.
"Baraqiel just got down from the cross, after all."
Baraqiel's strength was roughly on par with Azazel's. Azazel himself knew that well.
Since Baraqiel was someone Ryo could deal with in just a few moves, Azazel naturally assumed he wouldn't fare much better. That was the basis for a friendly conversation between them.
If people at the top want to talk as equals, the first step is showing equal strength.
Ryo's fists were more than enough to make that happen.
That was the prerequisite.
"…." Kuroka opened her mouth, then closed it again.
She agreed with him.
Back when she'd been used as an experimental subject as a child, she'd already learned that if someone was strong enough, even Azazel stepping down to make way for them was not impossible.
The heir of the Naberius branch family she had killed was proof of that.
Kuroka had been stronger than her master. So she killed him, defeated the devils sent after her, and escaped safely into yokai territory.
But she hadn't been strong enough.
If she had been, she could have taken her younger sister Shirone and fled together, instead of relying on an intermediary to have the Gremory family adopt her.
Rias Gremory was, after careful verification, a good master who wouldn't abuse Shirone. Even so, if it were possible, Kuroka would rather her sister never become a devil's servant.
She just wanted Shirone to live freely, not become a piece fighting for her master's rank.
Unfortunately, she hadn't been strong enough.
The thought left her feeling complicated.
Then suddenly—
"Meow!"
A sharp cry escaped her.
Kuroka realized, stunned, that someone had grabbed the back of her neck and lifted her up.
Her body instantly went limp.
For cats, the scruff of the neck is a natural weak point. It's where mother cats bite when carrying their kittens. Being grabbed there instinctively signals safety, and they automatically go still.
Kuroka was no exception.
Her entire body went soft, unable to resist even if she wanted to.
"What are you doing?" she asked, flustered.
"Petting my cat, obviously."
Ryo looked perfectly justified as he tucked her into his arms and strolled out of the side hall.
"What are you trying to do? Where are you taking me?"
Panic filled her voice.
She had every reason to panic.
Last night, after Ryo put Kunou to sleep, he went to Yasaka, and before long, she was carried off by him in exactly the same way. The room, the sounds that night…
She didn't want to think about it… wait… if something actually happened between them, would they… end up having children with such intense… powers?
Kuroka's thoughts abruptly veered toward having kids.
Before her mother died, she had asked Kuroka to make sure the nekomata lineage continued. In this world, if you wanted your race to thrive, you needed strong offspring. Naturally, that meant choosing an exceptionally strong partner.
Wait, what am I thinking? Why did being picked up immediately jump to having children?!
Kuroka covered her face with her paws in embarrassment, not even noticing that Ryo had carried her into the back courtyard, beneath a cherry blossom tree.
He stopped there, glanced up at the blossoms in full bloom, then said calmly,
"Come out."
"Come out? What—" Kuroka looked around in confusion.
At that moment, the color of the tree trunk shifted. A figure wrapped in brown clothing separated from the bark and knelt on one knee.
"Queen unit member, Nania Lucifuge, greets Your Highness."
Lucifuge…
The surname alone made Kuroka's blood run cold.
That name belonged to one of Lucifer's affiliated noble houses. The most famous Lucifuge still around was Grayfia Lucifuge, the Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation.
So she had infiltrated that palace just yesterday, and now she'd already been found?
A chill crawled down her spine. She didn't even process the honorific in the latter half of the greeting.
"Queen unit?" Ryo considered for a moment, then nodded. "Did Algol leave something for you to pass on to me?"
"Her Majesty asked me to deliver this letter."
Nania unzipped her chest pocket, took out an envelope from inside her clothes, and respectfully handed it over.
Ryo glanced at where she'd pulled it from, looking slightly speechless, then accepted the letter and opened it.
Wait… what's going on? Aren't they here to arrest me? And… did she just say 'Your Highness'?
Kuroka snapped back to reality, looking at the respectful pure-blood devil in front of her, then at Ryo reading the letter beside her.
The letter was held about five or six centimeters above her eye level, given that she was still being carried.
They know each other…
A realization slowly dawned on her.
She suspected… no, she was fairly sure… she'd been set up by Sirzechs.
There hadn't been anything she wanted in that palace. The devils' real goal might have been for her to steal that gemstone and summon the man currently holding her.
Could it be… my wild guess yesterday was actually true?
Kuroka swallowed.
She strongly suspected the man holding her was Lilith's husband, the original Lucifer himself.
It really seemed possible.
Kuroka screamed internally.
So then, here's the question.
If they had a child… would it be strong?
It seemed… probably… definitely… extremely strong, right?
Kuroka's mind spiraled into chaos.
.
.
.