The celebration lasted all the way until evening before finally coming to an end.
When it was time to disperse, Akeno and the others tacitly left the space to Ryuya and Rias.
Ryuya didn't notice this at all. After tidying up the table, he prepared to say goodbye to Rias.
"I'll head back first."
"Huh? Where are you going back to?" Rias asked in surprise.
"Home, of course."
Ryuya answered a little strangely. Where else would he go if not home? His girlfriend, Mai Sakurajima, was still away on a job and hadn't returned yet.
"You're coming back to the castle with me tonight to sleep. I'm really happy today—stay with me a bit longer."
Rias directly made the decision for him.
"…Alright."
Since Rias had already said it like that, Ryuya naturally wouldn't refuse. So he accompanied her and teleported back to the castle together.
The castle was unusually quiet tonight, as if all the servants had been sent away.
"Where are the maids?" Ryuya asked.
"I let them all take the night off."
Feeling this happy, Rias only wanted to spend some private time alone with Ryuya—she didn't want anyone else disturbing them.
Ryuya thought it was fine too. He wasn't very used to being waited on anyway, and those maids were honestly too capable.
"I'm going to take a bath."
Since it wasn't his first time at Rias's place, Ryuya made his way there with ease, soaking comfortably in the hot spring pool.
After changing into a clean yukata, he walked out feeling completely refreshed and headed to the courtyard.
It was nine in the evening. The night was already deep.
Ryuya sat in the pavilion in the courtyard and looked up at the sky above the inner garden, where a perfectly round full moon hung high.
So it was a full-moon night.
The moonlight was quite nice.
Ryuya stretched lazily, propping both legs up on the stone bench. His posture was anything but proper, exuding an unrestrained sense of languid ease.
It seemed one's state of mind really could affect their aura. With Rias's troublesome issue finally resolved, the pressure on him had eased considerably. His mood was especially relaxed and comfortable right now, and his whole demeanor had grown lazy as a result.
Such rare tranquility and peace…
A fragrant breeze drifted from behind him as Rias finished her bath and came out.
She was wearing a purple, semi-transparent nightdress—light gauze drifting softly, hazy and indistinct. Her fiery crimson hair was still damp as she walked over, holding a hair dryer and gently blowing it dry.
Ryuya's gaze swept back and forth over Rias's alluring figure a few times. Rias smiled generously, even turning around once for him.
As the sheer fabric swayed, the girl's seductive silhouette faintly showed through, making one's heart race.
"Does it look good?" she asked.
"It does."
Ryuya smiled, openly admiring Rias's devilishly perfect figure. He straightened up slightly and reached out to take the hair dryer from her hand.
Rias then sat down beside him.
As he dried her crimson hair, he could smell a refreshing, pleasant fragrance drifting from between the strands.
As the hair was blown aside, Rias's snow-white back was revealed. Her flawless skin gleamed like polished jade under the moonlight, dotted with a few lingering droplets of water…
Lanterns burned beneath the shades in the courtyard, casting a warm yellow glow that lent the castle grounds a quiet, tranquil atmosphere.
Devils could see perfectly well even at night, so these lights were really just there to set the mood…
By the time her hair was dry, the battery happened to be dead as well. Ryuya casually set the hair dryer down on the stone table.
Rias leaned in and nestled against his chest. Ryuya naturally wrapped an arm around her slender waist, and the two of them reclined together on the stone bench in the pavilion, perfectly positioned to gaze up at the bright full moon in the sky.
"This feels so nice… I feel completely relaxed," Rias said, her voice brimming with a clear smile.
"It's like I've thrown off all my burdens," she added softly.
Ryuya smiled faintly. "Did your family and Raiser really put that much pressure on you?"
"Yes… to be honest, it still feels like I'm dreaming," Rias murmured as she rested against him.
"That was the Phoenix, you know— the sacred beast of life in human legends. Its tears can heal any wound, those who drink its blood can gain immortality. They're truly undying beings."
"If you keep praising me like that, I'm going to get cocky," Ryuya said with a light smile.
"Hehe, you're completely entitled to be proud. Really. I never imagined you could go this far. I'd already steeled myself to fight Raiser to the bitter end…"
Rias reclined a little further, tilting her head back so she could look straight at Ryuya's face.
Ryuya laughed softly. "You really do hate Raiser, huh. That guy is a piece of work—arrogant, overbearing, completely lacking respect for women, a total playboy. Though I'll admit, when it comes to his family and kin, he's actually fairly reliable."
"You're actually defending him now… your tolerance is way too broad. I honestly can't see any redeeming qualities in him at all."
"I'm just stating the facts," Ryuya said with a light smile. "Of course, I hate him too. Just thinking about him being your fiancé in name alone made me uncomfortable."
Rias couldn't help laughing when she heard that. "Did I hear that right? You actually get jealous?"
"No."
"Really not?"
"Really not."
Seeing Ryuya deny it flatly, Rias didn't press further. She smiled sweetly. "Alright, let's say you don't, then."
She took his hand with a smile, guided it to her chest, and then intertwined her fingers with his, holding his hand tightly.
"Honestly, it's not that I especially hate Raiser. What I hate is being arranged and decided for. Because I'm a Gremory—no matter where I go, that surname clings to me."
Ryuya tilted his head slightly, beginning to understand.
"That name is your radiant halo… and also your endless pressure."
"That's right."
Rias seemed genuinely happy that he understood her.
"I'm proud of it, but it also stifles who I am. Everyone knows me as Rias, the Gremory princess. No one ever sees me as just Rias as an individual. That's why, during the years I lived in the human world, I was actually the happiest."
Ryuya did understand—but he didn't feel the need to judge.
In his eyes, this was the sort of worry that came with privilege…
There are always people scrambling desperately for unimaginable wealth, and there are always those at the very top who long to shed their halo and experience an ordinary life.
There was no right or wrong to argue over. No need to scorn the former for valuing material things, nor to mock the latter for not appreciating their blessings—these were simply troubles born of living in different circumstances.
Rias rested comfortably in Ryuya's arms, clearly at ease.
"What I want… is to be with someone who doesn't care about the Gremory family, someone who loves me simply as Rias. Raiser, and those other nobles—they're all just chasing the Gremory name."
As she spoke, the corners of Rias's lips lifted slightly.
A single sentence from earlier surfaced in her mind.
"You were right… I really am just a helpless girl, after all…"
…
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