Tenraku suddenly held Rias in his arms and he held her tightly.
"Tenraku, what's wrong?" Surprised, Rias didn't understand what had suddenly come over Tenraku.
"Rias, no matter what happens, I want you to remember this," Tenraku said softly, as if he held the most precious treasure in the world. He gently rubbed Rias' forehead before he spoke. "I love you, always and forever."
Even though they had exchanged such intimate words countless times before, Rias couldn't help but blush as she felt Tenraku's unabashed tenderness and love at that moment.
Seeing Rias' reaction, Tenraku couldn't help but smile to himself.
Oh, Rias, I'm afraid you'll collapse when you learn the cruel truth later on...
If he could, Tenraku really didn't want Rias to know the brutal facts, never, ever.
But now, he couldn't hide it any longer. Soon, he would have to face the God of the Holy Bible and if he didn't let Rias know the truth, it would only cause her more damage.
"Tenraku, can you tell me what you've been hiding from me all this time?" Rias demanded. "I want to know all the truths and you better not try to fool me!"
Allowing Tenraku to hold her for a while longer, Rias finally raised her head and clenched one of her fists with a determined look as if to say, "You better not try to fool me."
"Okay, okay, I wouldn't dare fool you, my princess," Tenraku said, feigning fear, and Rias couldn't help but chuckle.
Having lightened the mood, Tenraku took on a serious expression.
It was time to tell Rias everything.
"Rias, before I tell you all the truths, I would like to introduce you to two people."
Seeing Rias' confused expression, Tenraku snapped his fingers and two figures appeared in front of her.
They were Venelana and Grayfia!
"Okaa-Sama, Grayfia!" Unsurprisingly, Rias was shocked to see her mother and sister-in-law.
"Mother, how did you get here?"
"Rias, we..."
Rias asked quickly, but Venelana hesitated to answer.
She wanted to tell Rias all the brutal truths at last. Even though she was known as the "Madame of Extinction", Venelana was afraid at this moment.
She couldn't imagine how painful Rias's expression would be when she learned the brutal truth.
Surprised by the sudden appearance of Lavinia and Grayfia, Rias was unaware of her mother's complicated feelings. Seeing her mother's silence, she turned to Grayfia.
"Grayfia, didn't you enter the Isolated Barrier Domain with Oni Sama? According to the Underworld government's list, you entered the Isolated Barrier Domain with him. Then why are you here now?"
"The one who entered the Isolated Barrier Domain was only my doppelganger," Grayfia replied coolly, as usual.
But on closer inspection, Grayfia was not as calm as she appeared on the surface.
"A doppelganger?"
"What's going on?!" Feeling completely confused, Rias had thought it was just Tenraku and Sona hiding something from her, but she hadn't expected her mother and Grayfia to be involved as well.
Rias suddenly felt that there were so many things she had been kept in the dark about, and she couldn't wait to know the whole truth!
"Should we tell her, or should I?" Tenraku looked at Venelana and Grayfia.
"Let us handle it," They replied.
Venelana sighed softly, then walked over to Rias and stroked her cheek with the utmost tenderness and love.
"Rias, we're going to tell you everything you want to know," She said. "Even though these truths may be too cruel for you, I hope you can listen to me with strength."
"Mother, you... you... I..." Watching her mother's expression, Rias felt a strong sense of discomfort rise within her, but her desire to know all the truths ultimately suppressed it. Even if the truths her mother was about to reveal were brutal, she had to understand everything today!
Though she thought so in her heart, the first sentence her mother uttered in the next moment left Rias stunned, as if struck by lightning.
"Rias, your real older brother and father have actually been dead for a long time," Venelana said despite the immense pain it caused her. Finally, Venelana made up her mind and revealed everything to Rias.
In a state of primordial chaos, Rias couldn't believe what her mother was telling her. Her real older brother had actually been dead, his soul destroyed by the so-called God of the Holy Bible, who then occupied his body!
Her real father had also been dead for a long time; the one she knew was just a puppet created by the God of the Holy Bible! Even Millicas wasn't the child of her real older brother and Grayfia, but some unknown entity!
This has to be Fake.
Her older brother was fake! Her father was fake! Millicas was fake! Even the happy Gremory family she grew up in was fake! Everything was fake!!!
"Mother, Grayfia, Tenraku, you're all just joking with me, aren't you?" Rias said dully. "It can't be true. You're all just joking with me, right? Right?"
Staring blankly at her mother, Grayfia and Tenraku, Rias wanted to see a different expression on their faces, to hear them say that it was all just a joke.
But the result disappointed her. Her mother turned her head away in pain, Grayfia remained expressionless, and Tenraku looked at her with boundless tenderness and love, as if trying to embrace all her pain with his warmth and love.
In an instant, Rias received the most brutal answer.
"No!!!" She screamed in despair and then ran out of her room...
To be continued...
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