Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
In the living room of the Alaverus Estate, a few of the mansion's residents were sitting in the living room, huddled up on the sofas, and watching a horror movie. Though they couldn't easily be scared by supernatural things, they all enjoyed the jump scares.
On the sofa, from right to left, were Venelana, Leona, Mizore, Moka, Akeno, Sona, and Rias. The rest of the residents were in their rooms, having decided to rest early because they would go with James to see Team DxD's new base of operations in the morning.
Just as another jump scare was coming on the TV screen, the light of a magic circle appeared in the corner of the room, behind the group of girls and women. Since the magic circle was behind them, they naturally did not notice its appearance since they were so invested in the movie.
"I'm back!" James said energetically after the teleportation was finished.
"Kya~~~~~~~~~!" All the girls screamed in surprise.
A moment later, they all turned their heads back to the sound of the voice in a mechanical manner. Naturally, James got a kick out of their reactions and wore a bright smile on his face. When most of the girls, namely the younger ones, saw James' expression, they gritted their teeth in annoyance.
Meanwhile, Leona was sitting in place thinking how she could get him back for scaring her in the future.
The one with the biggest difference in reaction, however, was Venelana, who immediately jumped up, hopped over the back of the sofa, and flung herself into James' arms.
"Welcome back, Darling." Venelana said with a happy smile on her face while hugging James tightly.
Seeing everyone's reaction, Irene chuckled. However, when she saw Venelana rushing to hug James, she knew that there would be some trouble coming soon.
Meanwhile, Erza scanned the room and took note of the women sitting on the Sofa. She was a little surprised after seeing two women with near identical features, excluding the hair and eye colors. Then, when she saw Venelana hugging James, she thought that this flaxen-haired woman must be his significant other. Unfortunately, that notion would be turned on its head soon enough.
"Mother, what are you doing to my fiancé?" Rias shouted before rushing toward James and Venelana to pull them apart.
Erza's eyes opened wide when she heard that the flaxen-haired woman was the crimson-haired woman's mother. But the fact that the flaxen-haired woman was nuzzling herself on James, her daughter's fiancé, made her jaw drop.
"What's the big deal, Rias?" Venelana asked in a playful tone. "I told you I was going to pursue him, too. Besides, you don't get this angry when his other girlfriends get intimate with him. Do you hate your mother so much?"
By the end of her last question, Venelana's expression had changed into one of bitterness where tears could fall at any second. Rias, on the other hand, was gritting her teeth in annoyance while she continued to try and pull Venelana off of James' chest.
At the same time, Erza's expression had morphed into a frown. James having a lover did not bother her in the slightest. In fact, with his status, it made sense. However, seeing a pair of mother and daughter fighting over him and hearing that he had multiple girlfriends was more than she could take.
"You shameless cur." Erza said with righteous indignation while [Requipping] a longsword and pointing it at James. "Did you only allow me to follow you back to your mansion so that you could have another mother-daughter pair fighting for your affection? And what is the meaning of having 'girlfriends'? Are you trying to complete some kind of collection? What kind of man are you?"
After Erza's outburst, the room fell silent. At the same time, everyone looked at Erza strangely.
Meanwhile, Irene could not help but face palm. Ever since she cleared the air with her daughter and decided to have her follow her back home, she felt like she had forgotten to explain something to her strait-laced daughter. However, no matter how much she thought about it, she could not figure out what it was, until now.
"Erza, I think you need to calm down." Irene said in a tired tone. "Things aren't as you imagine."
"So, he has tricked you just as he has with the other women, Mother?" Erza said, not listening to what her mother was trying to say. "Then, for the sake of the women of the world, I will put him down."
Without waiting for any more explanations, Erza sprung forward and swung her sword at James with extreme prejudice.
Seeing the incoming sword, James sighed in exasperation. Then, he calmly separated Venelana from himself and raised his right arm.
*Ting!*
Then, James clamped his index and middle finger around Erza's blade, stopping its momentum completely.
Naturally, Erza was completely dumbfounded by this feat. Then, she looked between James' fingers and her sword with disbelief in her eyes.
"I think you may be misunderstanding something, Erza." James said nonchalantly. "Though I may be a half-devil, I'm still a member of devil society. So, the rule of monogamy that you're so familiar with, does not apply to me. Second, I never tricked anyone. Everyone who I've started a relationship with knows that I had at least one other woman when they decided to join my harem. Third, I am not in a relationship with your mother. And last, but certainly not least, you are way too weak to challenge me in frontal combat like that."
When James said that he was not in a relationship with her, Irene's eyebrow twitched. Even though she knew what James said was true, since she had never shown any intention of changing that, it bothered her how cleanly he explained it. Luckily, no one, except James, who was thoroughly surprised by that little twitch, had noticed it.
In fact, ever since she had been betrayed by her ex-husband, 400 years ago, she had never even considered being with a man again. If James had not reincarnated her as a devil, giving her the chance to see her daughter again, she would have never even felt anything for James, either.
Meanwhile, with her sword caught in James' grip, Erza did not know what to do. She knew what James said about her being too weak to do anything to him was correct, even if it annoyed her to admit it. On top of that, she had forgotten that James was not human when she heard about his multiple women, so she was also quite embarrassed.
Eventually, Erza used her [Requip] to store her sword away. Then, she lowered her head.
"You're right, James." Erza said sincerely after she broke out of her stupor. "I jumped to conclusions and did something unforgivable. Please, I beg you to hit me as recompense."
Once again, everyone looked at Erza strangely, and Irene face palmed for the second time.
"James, is this girl alright in the head?" Rias whispered after approaching and snuggling up to James' left side.
"*Sigh* There's nothing wrong with her." James whispered back in an exasperated tone. "She grew up among a clan of knights. And it appears that she's absorbed too many of their doctrines."
Rias nodded in response. Then, she frowned as she noticed Venelana trying to snuggle up to James' other side. So, her arm shot out in an attempt to keep her mother from hugging James again.
"Aww, Rias, you're so stingy." Venelana whined in a playful manner.
While the mother and daughter argued, James could only look at them with awry smile. Then, he turned his attention to Erza who was still standing still with her head lowered and waiting for her punishment.
"*Sigh* Raise your head, Erza Scarlet." James said calmly. "I won't hit you for what you've done. You clearly did it because of the difference in culture. But I do think that you should try using your head before you attack someone like that. If it weren't because I'm much stronger than you, not only would you have seriously wounded me, but you would have wounded Auntie Venelana, as well."
"Darling~!" Venelana whined. "How many times have I told you to just call me Venelana? Or just Lana would be fine, too."
Ignoring Venelana, James watched as Erza raised her head with an embarrassed blush on her face. Then, Erza looked at Venelana, who was playfully fighting with Rias and trying to get James to drop the "Auntie" when he referred to her. She then bowed her head again.
"Miss Venelana, please accept my apology." Erza said sincerely. "Because of my reckless actions, I put you in harm's way. You may hit me as recompense."
Simultaneously, everyone in the room let out a sigh.
"Ahem!" James cleared his throat to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. "Anyway, this is Erza Scarlet, Irene's daughter. Everyone, try to get along with her."
Hearing the introduction, everyone nodded. However, James was not done. While all the ladies were nodding in agreement, James looked at his mother sharply.
"And Mom, don't prank her." James said sternly.
"Me?" Leona said with an innocent expression on her face. "I would never."
Immediately, everyone rolled their eyes at the act Leona was putting on. However, James kept looking at her sternly. On top of that, the look in his eyes was telling her: "I'm trying to get her to join my second peerage. If you mess this up for me, a prank war the likes that no one has ever seen will begin."
"Tch! Fine." Leona said with some bitterness in her tone. She then crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned her head away before speaking again. "I'll be good, for now."
After getting his mother's confirmation, James smiled brightly. Then, he looked at Erza, whose head was still lowered, once again.
"Erza, raise your head." James said again. "Since no one was hurt, everything is fine. Like I said before, think more before you act, and there should be no issue."
With that, Erza raised her head. Then, she nodded in James direction.
"James, who is the other girl?" Moka asked, pointing out the final person who returned with James, as soon as that debacle was over.
When everyone looked in the direction Moka pointed, they saw an elegant young lady, appearing to be in her early twenties, with black hair, green eyes, beautiful facial features, and the air of a proper young lady wearing a maid uniform.
"You got us another one?" Mizore asked exasperatedly. "Aren't Grayfia-San and Zest-San enough?"
"Oh, this is Elaine Westcott." James said, introducing the black-haired girl. "And she won't be a maid here. I was asked to take her to see Arthur. She's the reason he ran away from home, after all."
Hearing that and seeing the teasing smile on James' lips, Elaine's expression did not change. However, the slightest shade of red did appear on her cheeks.
"Lord Sataniel, I would think that teasing a maid, such as myself, would seem to be an act that is below your station." Elaine said calmly.
Ignoring Elaine's rebuttle, everyone was curious to know what James meant. So, as to not keep everyone in suspense, James also ignored Elaine's rebuttle and explained what he meant.
"Well, it's true that Arthur ran away because he was afraid something would happen to you because he had feelings for you, right?" James asked with an innocent expression on his face. "I mean, that's what Lord Uther told me."
Elaine's blush deepened as James explained her situation with Arthur. Meanwhile, all the younger girls began to squeal in excitement. Then, they all gathered around the British maid and pulled her into the elevator, no doubt to get more information about the situation from her.
Once the elevator doors closed. James turned his attention to Irene.
"Irene, there should be an empty room next to yours, right?" James asked with a smile.
"That's right." Irene replied with a nod.
"Then, why don't you show Erza to that room." James said. "That will be her room from now on."
"Okay." Irene said with a smile. "Come on, Erza. Let me show you to your room."
"Just a moment, Mother." Erza said. Then, she looked in James' direction. "Will I be allowed to join your peerage, as my mother has?"
Hearing Erza's question, James' smile was replaced by a solemn expression.
"Though I'm flattered that you want to join my peerage, this is a big decision, Erza." James said in a solemn tone. "I would suggest that you take some more time to get to know me. You should determine if I'm a [King] with dedicating your life to. Take the time to see if the rest of the members of my peerages are people you wouldn't mind calling family. If the answer to those questions is satisfactory, then I wouldn't mind adding you to my second peerage."
Nodding in response with a smile on her face, Erza looked at her mother once again.
"Okay, Mother." Erza said happily. "Let's go."
Like that, Irene led Erza into the elevator.
Meanwhile, James, Leona, and Venelana, who was now clinging to James, were the only ones left in the living room.
"Sweetie, you need to hurry and get Erza into your peerage." Leona said excitedly. "She's gonna be so fun to tease later."
"*Sigh* You never quit, do you?" James replied.
"And tomorrow, I'll be coming with you to see the new base." Leona said with even more excitement in her tone. "Arthur, with his stoic personality is gonna be fun to mess with, too."
James and Venelana could only shake their heads, feeling pity for Erza and Arthur.