Chapter 34 Please follow me

A teleportation circle expanded out from the guard, encompassing myself and Yubelluna. The dirt path before us was exchanged for a great, marble manor that was at least twice the size of the Phenex manor. Towers like one would associate with a fantasy wizard's study rose on either side of the house. Victorian windows sat interspaced throughout the exterior. A well-trimmed, head-level hedge framed a great set of mahogany doors with golden knockers carved into the shape of the Agares family.

"Please follow me." the guard said, striding forward and pulling one of the two double doors open and motioning us inside.

We followed the guard through white-tiled halls with red velvet rugs and up a flight of stairs until we came to a small sitting room. It wasn't anything fancy, just a simple, circular table with a white tablecloth and white tea set atop it. I was getting the sense the Agares family really liked the color white. Two chairs stood on either side of the table, a pair of plates and an assortment of silverware set before each. A short few feet beyond the table was a balcony whose glass door was open to the outside. A pair of ferns stood on either side of the door and paved the way to the view of the Agares grounds.

Inside the room waiting for us were two figures. The first was standing. He was taller than me at almost seven feet. His black hair was combed back professionally and he stood in a dignified manner. He wore a black butler's uniform and was holding his right arm horizontally across his body; a white cloth hung from it.

Sitting directly in front of the butler was a young woman with green-blonde hair. A pair of round spectacles framed calculating pink eyes that locked onto me the moment I entered the room. The woman was dressed in a simple blue and gray dress and was idly sipping from a tea cup she held in her hand.

"Thank you, Balric. That will be all." the young woman said in a professional, modulated voice.

The guard who had accompanied Yubelluna and I here bowed deeply before backing out of the room.

"So, you are Riser, formerly of the Phenex clan?" the woman spoke again, this time her words directed at me.

Understanding that as far as devil nobility was concerned, her standing may as well have been as far above me as the Satans, I bowed at the waist and said, "I am, my lady. The woman behind me is my queen, Yubelluna. I would like to thank you for granting me this audience."

"Please raise your head. I did not invite you here to see you grovel."

As I righted my posture, idly noticing Yubelluna doing the same from a step behind me, the young woman motioned to the empty seat across from her. "Please sit. Refreshments have been prepared, and I would invite you to partake."

Taking a seat across from her, I said, "Once again, my lady, you have my thanks."

"You may address me as Seekvaira. I will not hold to customs in such a private setting." she said, delicately setting her teacup down in its saucer. "As I wrote in my letter, your situation is interesting to me, Riser. The whole of the Underworld has been attempting to determine just why you were banished from your house so soon after such a resounding victory against the Power of Destruction. If it is not rude to ask, I would like to know the circumstances surrounding your banishment." Seekvaira's eyes held an intelligent edge as they studied me. I hadn't expected to be interrogated when I arrived here, but I would not shy away from her questions.

"I do not believe it is any big secret, Seekvaira. My parents likely are simply uninterested in telling the tale." I said, maintaining eye contact.

As I spoke, the butler-esque man stepped around the table and picked up the empty teacup in front of me, filling it with steaming liquid from the pot. "Sugar?" he asked when there was a break in my speech.

"No, thank you." I replied, taking the offered tea. Turning back to Seekvaira, I said, "There was no great scandal. My parents were upset with me for annulling a marriage they had dedicated an enormous amount of effort towards. As a way to punish me and teach me a lesson, my mother traded her bishop, my mentor, to Lord Gremory. She then ordered me to trade my queen. I declared I was no longer their child and traveled to the Gremory Estate to barter Clarissa, my mother's former bishop, from Lord Gremory." Maybe I shouldn't have told her the 'no longer their child' bit, but I was getting the sense that Seekvaira was incredibly intelligent. The last thing I wanted was to be thrown out for trying to deceive her before we'd even began to talk business.

Seekvaira smiled, the first deviation from the perfectly level line her lips had been since my entry to the tea room. "Yes. This much I have heard. Rias was quite enthusiastic when showing her newly acquired mutation piece to any news outlet willing to listen. Most would consider trading your mutation bishop to be foolish."

I took a small sip of my tea as she finished speaking, then said, "I do not doubt that, but loyalty has always been more important to me than power. That is why I chose Yubelluna to be my queen. In addition to the strength she demonstrated against Rias, she has always been unerringly loyal."

Seekvaira's eyes drifted over my right shoulder, panning up and down as she assessed Yubelluna. "Yes. The low-born devil who handedly defeated a Pillar heiress while declaring her affection for the very same heiress's betrothed. Had the event not been televised live, I would not have believed what I was seeing." Seekvaira's attention returned to me as she said, "Many believe you sent your queen to fight in your stead because you were not confident in your ability to defeat Rias. Your latest Rating Game where your queen fought the entire opposing peerage in your stead has only lended credence to this theory. Do you believe, had you fought in your queen's place, that you would have defeated Rias?"

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