Chapter 33

If the blonde was determined to punch through glass for a manga, then there is no way a few locks would stop him from watching the anime.

Just knowing those facts made her feel like crying.

"My…door…"

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|DxD|

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Cleria was having a rather uneventful day. Standing over the balcony of her mansion, she took in the wide view of the town she was tasked with overseeing.

[It's almost been fifty years now since I've been assigned to this town. Not once has there been such a high presence of exorcists.]

The presence of exorcists in Kuoh was increasing. While their official reason was to replace the members garrisoned at the church, Cleria knew there was another hidden reason. While she did indeed want to find out, she couldn't risk attracting animosity and starting a diplomatic incident over mere speculation alone.

Having experience in these sorts of politics, she knew that her personal interference would be heavily exaggerated should she be caught. It would be the same as taking advantage of a person who only grazed the paint off your car to replace the whole bumper.

But while she couldn't directly find out what schemes the church was up to, she now had Azazel who could help her with that. Taking out the touchscreen phone that the fallen had given to her, she opened the contacts list. There alone on the list was Azazel. But contrary to before, there was a faint trace of nervousness.

Her little thumb hovered over the "contact" button.

"S-should I?"

Unlike before, there were some feelings of shyness due to the sense of ambiguity between them. While their relationship did continue as normal after that day with Igor and Baraquiel, Cleria had found that she couldn't look at Azazel the same way again. It was like the curtains were pulled back and she began noticing more things about him. Things like how funny he was, charismatic, and charming.

Just imagining him appearing in that dashing suit of his with all his wings out made her cheeks heat up.

"N-no! I'm simply calling him to help me find out what the church is hiding and whether it is a potential threat or not. There are absolutely NO personal reasons involved."

So closing her eyes, she dialed the number and waited for the call to go through. The phone didn't have the time to ring even once before the other line answered.

Azazel's voice came in with an exaggerated tone.

"{Oh, has it started already? I'm coming now.}"

She was confused when she heard Shemhazai sighing.

"{I'm not an idiot, brother. I know that ringtone belongs to your little lover, not one of your contacts.}"

"{...well-}"

"{Just go. I'll handle the work here for now. But ONLY this once.}"

"{…are you okay?}"

"{Azazel. GO!!! Go before I change my mind and chain your leg to this desk!}"

It was then that the Cleria heard the sound of a chair falling and the pitter-patter of feet before the line cut off. Slowly moving the phone from her ear, a massive blush covered her face. During the call, Shemhazai had mentioned that she was Azazel's lover.

And yet Azazel…

"He…he didn't deny it."

While he also didn't confirm it, what was important was that he didn't deny it. To Cleria, that already meant a lot.

"Since he didn't say no, does that mean that he-"

Her musings were cut off Azazel appeared next to her through a magic circle. The fallen was sporting a massive grin on his face as if a huge load had been removed from his shoulders.

"Cleria! You have no idea how much paperwork you've spared me from."

Cleria was silent. In her eyes, Azazel appeared to have become even more handsome than before. Her lingering gaze on Azazel was quite obvious that even the fallen himself noticed it.

Sporting a grin, Azazel decided to tease the little devil.

"Aww~. Has my dashing appearance mesmerised you?"

Faced with an attack like that, while her instinctive reaction was to push the fallen away, she mustered up some courage to tease him back.

Nearing closer to him, she tried her best to muster the most confident smile she could.

"W-w-what if it does?"

But even if she could, her nervousness at the situation betrayed her. Her mind had blanked out for a few moments, causing her to stutter.

So contrary to her seductive appearance, she appeared rather cute when she fumbled her words.

This caused Azazel to offer a sly grin before patting her head.

"You're far too young to tease me, Cleria-chan. If you want to tease someone, here's how you do it."

Straightening his expression, he looked deep into her eyes.

"You've called me all the way here to your house. We're all alone on your balcony. There's a lovely sunset beside us and none of your peerage is here."

Cleria couldn't help but swallow her breath. Her heart was beating wildly each time Azazel closed the distance between them. Soon enough, her back hit the railing and Azazel immediately capitalised by swinging an arm around her waist while the other lifted her chin.

But Azazel didn't stop.

"Cleria-chan. Are you trying to tell me something by calling me like this? Or…are you inviting me for tea?"

Cleria was now red like a tomatoe. Azazel's provocative words sent her mind into overdrive. These continuous attacks were wearing her down to the point that Cleria found her knees were suddenly weak.

But with a smooth, soothing voice, Azazel continued.

"Cleria…"

And yet before he could continue, he felt his own heart start to beat a bit faster. 

[There it is again.]

Her flushed face and those red eyes that peered into his own violet eyes set off a chain of reactions throughout his body. Her cute petite face and her panting were sending him dangerously close to the edge. Azazel had been around thousands and thousands of women. He had seen the face of a flushed woman just as much as humans have seen the sun- on a daily basis. Yet there was a certain purity within Cleria that couldn't help but tug at his heartstrings. 

He subconsciously pulled her closer to him, his head leaning towards her.

Cleria was once again awash with all sorts of mish-mashing feelings. Her cheeks were so red that they hurt while her heart beat so fast that she was afraid it would break through her chest. As Azazel drew closer to her, she subconsciously drew more breaths.

Her eyes were glazed over while her own arms slowly wrapped around the fallen. She didn't even realise when she did that.

But while her heart was screaming with anticipation, her mind was fraught with nervousness. 

[No no no no no. This…this is wrong!]

A myriad of thoughts punctured through her head about how everything about this was wrong. She was a devil and he was a fallen angel. Furthermore, he was the Governor of Grigori while she was the Overseer of Kuoh. While her identity held less status, both were relatively sensitive.

She was so afraid of the fallout that could potentially happen that she turned her head to the side.

"..."

That single action caused something within Azazel to shatter before it even had the chance to properly grow. That little bud of love and care he had come to harbour for the devil was immediately crushed beneath the boot of rejection. Although Azazel felt a gnawing sensation in his heart, he was able to suppress it. 

In an instant, the cadre recovered his wits and laughed.

"See? This is how you tease someone, Cleria."

He let go of her and placed some distance between them. But looking at her caused him to hurt in a way he had never felt before.

Not wanting there to be silence between them, he recovered his wits and got straight to the point.

"Okay. So why did you call me? I'm sure it isn't because you wanted to see little old me. Unless…"

He sported a teasing grin…

"...you really wanted to see lil 'ol me?"

Facing his teasing, Cleria couldn't take it anymore and cried out.

"Azazel-kun!"

Seeing her pout of indignation, Azazel also laughed. But if one of his brothers were here, they would be able to tell that hidden beneath that smile, was a sadness caused by a bud that was trampled before it could blossom.

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|DxD|

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A few moments passed and after hearing Cleria's request, it was back to business.

"So you're curious as to why there is a sudden influx of exorcists in Kuoh?"

"Yes, Azazel-kun. I have a feeling that they're hiding something. So if possible, please help me find out what it is. I'll pay you whatever amount you deem appropriate."

Azazel was silent for a bit.

[Appropriate huh?]

In the past, Azazel might've capitalised on her last word to tease her to hell and back. In fact, it was already within his instincts to do so. Having really gotten to know Cleria, it was a sort of normal byplay for them.

But after seeing Cleria's stance on his advancement, he decided to tone it down for a while.

"Alright. I'll help you out for free this time since we're friends. Just know that you owe me a favour."

"Oh…alright. Then I'll thank you in advance, Azazel-kun."

Taking that as his chance to leave, Azazel waved his hand.

"Until next time, Cleria."

He immediately teleported away, leaving Cleria to pass the sunset by herself. Even though the appearance of the sun disappearing behind the clouds was beautiful, Cleria did not have the heart to appreciate it.

Although she knew she was the culprit of this, Cleria couldn't get what Azazel said to her out of her head.

"He called me…a friend."

She tried to force a smile but it was uglier than crying.

"No. This is fine. This is…fine. Azazel-kun is the Governor of Grigori and I'm just the Overseer of Kuoh. If…if I enter a relationship with him, I-I'll be his weakness."

Cleria was very clear about her capabilities. To an extent, it would've been fine if she were a normal devil who didn't belong to any of the pillar houses. If that was the case, no one would've paid attention to her and her relationship to Azazel could've been kept a secret. But not only was she the Overseer of Kuoh, she was also part of the Belial Clan and was the beloved younger "sister" of the Rating Game Champion, Diehauser Belial. Too many eyes and her and if she had a relationship with Azazel, the Old Satan Faction would most likely use her as the breaching point to destroy the Fallen Angels.

And yet despite knowing all of this, she couldn't help but stop the silent tears that streaked down her face.

"If only…"

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|DxD|

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Azazel walked into the office without a word and sat down to do his work without a word of complaint. Shemhazai wasn't at the office during this time, leaving Azazel to wallow alone. Despite the mountain of documents piled up on his desk, Azazel worked in complete silence.

Each time his pen moved to sign a few documents, the singular event of Cleria turning her head surfaced like a raging wave.

Over and over and over again, the image played in his mind. He subconsciously gripped the pen harder each time the image replayed itself. 

CRACK

In the end, the sound of the pen breaking aroused Azazel from his self-deprecating thoughts. He looked at the pieces of the broken pen as well as the few blotches of ink staining his fingers.

He let out a self-deprecating smirk at the situation.

"You thought too much, Azazel. You thought too much."

He forcefully threw the pen in the bin next to his feet and cleaned his fingers with magic. He took out another pen from the inside pocket of his blazer before he carried on with his work.

"I'm an idiot."

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AN

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Today is Friday. Same story as always, I won't be uploading tomorrow. But why wait for me to upload on Sunday? Go over to my page to continue reading over there. 

Here's the link: p@tre0n.com/HolyGambler

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