Sunday, May 1st, 800 NA
Sitri Castle, Sitri Territory, Devildom
Inside a room decorated in blue, a young girl of ten years lay in her bed, hugging a large pillow, sleeping soundly with a some drool leaking from her mouth.
There was another girl in the bed with her, sleeping as well, but she seemed to be a year or two older and had already started showing signs of puberty. She too seemed soundly asleep, except when a Magical Circle appeared outside their room, her eyes immediately shot open.
Even though she knew that only the most trusted of Sitri could directly appear outside their room, the unfamiliar scent did put her on guard.
And whoever it was, did not even bother knocking on the door and directly entered.
Her Feline ears perked up when she heard the unfamiliar footsteps, and soon her golden eyes narrowed at the boy who had leisurely walked inside.
Their eyes met, and the black slits in her eyes narrowed some more as those crimson orbs even managed to enchant her.
She watched the boy look at her in intrigue, seemingly fascinated by her, but then his eyes landed on her friend and King, and she saw the sincerest of smiles appear on his face.
"Shhh!" The boy playfully put his finger to his mouth, signalling her to not wake the girl up, and then he approached the bed with silent steps, which even her incredible hearing could not pick upon.
The girl watched him suddenly lean over her King, and then her eyes widened when he planted his lips on the sleeping girl's cheek.
"Sona." He gently called out to her, and the girl scrunched her eyelids a little before they groggily opened them, revealing beautiful violet orbs that briefly flickered in her Demonic Power.
"Raizel?" She questioned before she turned to look at the looming face that was very close to her, and then her eyes widened in surprise.
"Good morning!" The Prince of Darcaedes smiled at her, and Sona simply lunged up, hugging him, wrapping her arms and legs around him.
Raizel laughed as he spun around with her, stroking her back, and then he sat down on the bed, planting a kiss on her head.
"You are back..." She whispered, smiling sweetly, and then looked up, meeting his eyes.
Seeing his amused smile, she frowned but then realised that she had a very bad habit, and immediately tried to wipe the drool off her mouth.
"Let me do it for you." He grabbed her hand, and then to her shock, he leaned in and licked her lips.
"Eh!!" Sona's face immediately turned scarlet and then she pushed him away, swiftly wiping her lips and mouth.
She glared at him, but seeing him laughing heartily, she blushed.
"When did you come back?" She asked, not meeting his eyes.
"A few hours ago." He told her and then interestedly looked at the girl with golden eyes and feline ears, whose hair had suddenly started changing from white to black before her feline ears disappeared, and her eyes changed to purple as well.
She now looked like Sona's older sister.
Sona smiled when she caught him looking at her friend.
"Guess what she is." She challengingly asked, but totally expecting and hoping that he would get it right.
"A very special race." He smiled. "The last known Kako to exist was over a thousand years ago."
The girl seemed surprised that he figured out what she was, but Sona was not surprised.
"Her name is Tsubasa Hanekawa, my Queen." She revealed. "And as you have guessed, she is a Tiger Youkai, born of the union of a White and a Black Tiger." There was a very confident smile on her face. "I told you, I will find a servant that even you would envy."
Raizel smiled at her words and honestly nodded his head.
"You win." He admitted, bringing a smile to her face. "So, what do you want?" He asked, remembering the playful bet they had made three years ago.
"We will talk about it over a game of chess." She averted her eyes and said, making him curiously look at her.
"Okay." He nodded and then looked at the Youkai, who was probably the only one of her kind in existence right now.
"It's nice to meet you, Tsubasa. I am Raizel Darcaedes." He smiled at her and watched the girl curiously look at him before nodding her head.
"Prince." She respectfully bowed, standing up from the bed.
Seeing his eyes still locked on her Servant, Sona smiled some more.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?"
"She is. Almost as beautiful as you." He smiled at her, and the Heiress of Sitri blushed again.
"Let me get ready, and then I will introduce you to my other two Servants."
"Okay." He unceremoniously took off his shoes and then jumped in her bed, and she did not stop him either.
"Don't fall asleep!" Sona warned him, familiar with his laziness.
Raizel nodded his head and smiled as he watched the two girls walk into the dressing room.
He had to wait only ten minutes before they returned, both wearing glasses now, with Tsubasa having braided her hair. He knew that they were only wearing glasses out of choice since their eyes were perfect.
Devils did not have issues with their eyes, and for a Youkai as special as a Kako, it was also impossible to have any eyesight issues either.
Raizel knew that the reason Sona wore these Glasses was because she believed they helped her concentrate, and there was simply no other reason.
Sona seemed a little surprised that he had not fallen asleep, and she curiously raised her brow at him, something that he found amusing.
"I recently woke up from a year-long nap." He told her and watched their mouths drop open in shock.
Sona ran her brains to find an explanation for it but kept her guesses to herself.
"Let's go." She urged him, and then Raizel followed her as she led him to another room inside her wing of the Castle.
"Tsubaki, Reya!" Sona knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, it opened as two girls stepped out.
"Prince." The bespectacled girl immediately recognised Raizel, even though they had never met, and her address had the other girl widening her eyes.
"You did not tell me you had an older brother, Sona!" Reya surprisedly looked at him and Sona, which made him smile.
"She joined only a few days ago." Sona sighed, telling Raizel about the girl who seemed a little too excited.
"I see." He nodded and then looked at the two girls. "So, a Magician and a blessed Human." He sensed their blood and smiled.
"Yes." Sona then stepped forward and folded her arms on her chest, standing next to the bespectacled girl with heterochromatic eyes, one violet and the other brown. "Her name is Tsubaki Shinra, from the Shrina Clan in Japan, Arz, blessed by a Shinto Goddess. And she is also the wielder of the Sacred Gear, Mirror Alice. She's my Bishop."
The girl again bowed to him in a greeting, and he nodded to her.
"I must say, you are lucky." He smiled at Sona, who grinned at him before introducing the girl who was a Magician, telling him how they met, and how she reincarnated her into her Pawn.
"So she tried summoning a Devil, and you are the one who sensed her." He amusedly looked at the girl with brown hair and eyes, who embarrassedly lowered her head and politely bowed to him.
He could tell that she was usually a very polite and well-behaved girl, and he could also tell that she had fallen victim to his charm. Then again, his charm was particularly very fatal, so it was not anything unexpected.
"Where's your Peerage?" His friend asked as they walked towards her study.
"At Ajuka's place." He told her, making her look at him curiously.
"Why?"
"We found an interesting Sacred Gear user. A girl of nine, who's sealed inside a life-saving barrier that her Sacred Gear erected."
"So you took her to Ajuka to figure out how to get her out?"
"Yes." He nodded.
"You intend to add her to your peerage?" She curiously asked, and he knew that she was a little interested in the girl and her Sacred Gear.
"No. But I promised Rias to bring her a gift, and she's my gift to her." He smiled at her but found no hint of envy in her as she just nodded her head. "Rias is back as well. She's there." He revealed.
"The last time I met her was six months ago." Sona smiled. "Unlike you, she did come and visit me now and then."
"She told me." He nodded. "The girl we found is a friend of her new Knight. She's important to him."
"I see. How many Peerage members do you have now?"
"Found my two Knights." He told her.
"Just two?" She seemed surprised.
"Slept most of the time." He shrugged, and Sona could not help but giggle.
"Of course."
The two of them did not really need to use a lot of words to communicate as they both had a very good understanding of each other. It was how comfortable and familiar they were with one another.
"Rias and I plan on going to the Familiar Forest on the next full moon."
"I will come as well. Tsubasa has her Familiar, but Tsubaki and Reya need to find theirs. And so do I."
"You did not find one?"
"No." She shook her head, and he smiled before he grabbed her hand.
"I will help find you one." He promised, and she blushed at his words.
Sometime later, Sona narrowed her eyes, feeling a little restless as she watched Raizel place his Knight in a position that meant it was game over for her.
Even though she had lost to him before, this was a loss that came after she had immensely improved her skills.
"Checkmate." He smiled as he cornered her King, leaving him no way out. "So, tell me what you want since you won our bet." He sank back in the chair and looked at her, meeting her eyes.
Sona took her time to clear her thoughts, keeping their eyes locked, and then finally spoke.
"Marry me."
As soon as she said those words, her eyes quivered a little and her heart expectantly started racing, but then the fear of rejection crept in as well.
Her Peerage was shell-shocked at her words, not expecting her to ask for something like this, and all of them blushed a little, eventually averting their eyes.
Raizel stayed silent, looking right into Sona's eyes. Finding her refusing to shy her eyes away, he finally smiled.
"Okay."
He did not need to ask why she wanted him to marry her. Since he liked her, it did not matter. Besides, he had been thinking about it for a while now.
Taking her as his wife in future was quite advantageous.
"You would?"
"Why would I not?" He smiled at her and watched her sigh in relief.
"Thank you."
"You are welcome." He chuckled and then stood up. "Let's go and see your parents."
"What?" She was shocked that he wanted to discuss the matter with them right away, but before she could say anything, she found herself being dragged by him out of the room.
"Raizel, wait!"
"No."