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Scene shift to the second-floor dining room.

Everyone had already taken their seats around the dining table, with delicious dishes spread across the surface, their rising steam carrying enticing aromas throughout the room.

The red-haired woman called "Aunt Sapphire" sat at the middle of the table, turning her head left and right to scan the unfamiliar faces surrounding her. She couldn't help but press her fingers to her forehead with a slight headache.

"Sheila, would you mind explaining what exactly is going on here? Why is it that the moment I return home, I find the place has turned into... this?"

"Well~"

The dream demon wife maintained her brilliant smile on her adorably youthful face. She paused briefly, then turned directly toward her unsuspecting daughter beside her.

"Anyway, I think it's best if Maria explains this whole situation."

"Eh? Me??"

Completely unprepared for the sudden shift of battlefield to her direction, the dream demon girl—who'd been leisurely holding her chopsticks a second ago, contemplating which dish to try first—jumped slightly in surprise. She turned her chopsticks around and pointed them at herself in bewilderment.

In response, the dream demon wife simply returned an adorable smile.

"Sodayo (That's Right)~"

"Ugh, fine! Then I'll be the one to explain!"

Since Mother had spoken, Maria had no choice but to oblige.

The girl hopped down from her dining chair and stood up straight.

This should have been a gesture to draw everyone's attention by suddenly increasing her height as she stood. However, perhaps due to Maria's tragically short stature, her height after standing was virtually identical to when she'd been sitting—if anything, she might have been slightly shorter.

Fortunately, she seemed completely oblivious to this fact. Original content can be found at novel(ꜰ)ire.net

"So first, let me introduce—Aunt Sapphire, please look here. This is Lady Mio."

The dream demon girl spoke while gesturing toward Mio Naruse beside her.

"Oh, so it's her."

Sapphire nodded gently.

She'd already suspected as much when she first saw Maria here.

After all, besides that unmatched gravity magic that dominated the Northern Territories—the late Demon Lord Wilbert's most distinctive feature had been his brilliant red hair.

However, there were two red-haired girls present, which left her momentarily uncertain which one was actually her older brother's daughter.

But if that was the case, then the other red-haired girl shouldn't be her brother's daughter...

Just as Sapphire reached this thought, the dream demon girl's voice rang out again.

"And that lady with the same long red hair as Lady Mio is the future heir of the Gremory family, one of the Underworld's 72 Pillars of high-ranking devil nobility—Miss Rias Gremory."

"Gremory..."

Hearing this name, Sapphire's brow furrowed slightly.

It was practically an open secret in the Northern Territories that the late Demon Lord Wilbert's ancestors had split off from the Gremory family.

However, that was all ancient history. The current issue was—why was the Gremory family suddenly trying to meddle in Northern Territory affairs at this particular moment?

Suddenly—

❁❁❁❁

"Alright, I'll take it from here."

Maria wanted to continue, but at that moment, Bokue Keikain stood up.

He'd been sitting between Rias and Kuroka, and until now Sapphire had been focused on Rias, so his sudden rise immediately captured the red-haired woman's complete attention.

"To put it simply, Mio is my girlfriend, and Rias is also my girlfriend."

Sapphire: "...?"

Though the young man before her had clarified his relationship with her niece in two simple sentences—was it really appropriate to state such things so openly?

Scratch scratch~

Bokue had barely finished speaking when Kuroka's cat tail extended over from beside him, sneaking into his naturally hanging hand at an angle others couldn't see, brushing against his palm suggestively.

"..."

After years of knowing each other, Bokue understood exactly what she was trying to convey. But he wasn't mentioning Mio Naruse and Rias being his girlfriends just to pad the word count like some "one tree is a peach tree, another tree is also a peach tree" nonsense.

So Bokue decisively grabbed the cat girl's offered tail, gently kneading the tip with just the right pressure and rhythm using his fingertips.

Kuroka beside him instantly melted.

Having swiftly handled a certain lustful kitty, Bokue returned to the main topic.

"So I think Miss Sapphire should understand why we've come to the Northern Territories now, right?"

"..."

Sapphire understood perfectly well.

She'd left the Old Capital alone several days ago precisely because her brother Ramusas refused to heed her advice, insisting on sacrificing their niece Mio Naruse to preserve the Old Demon Lord faction's position.

And she'd suddenly returned today for the same reason.

As Mio Naruse's Aunt by rank and the late Demon Lord Wilbert's sister, she had both the duty and responsibility to stop her brother Ramusas's atrocities.

What Sapphire hadn't expected was to witness such a mysterious scene immediately upon her return.

"Speaking of which, where has Brother Ramusas gone?"

"Oh, him? He's completely dead."

Bokue shrugged with a thoroughly casual attitude.

"I killed him."

"WHAT—??"

"Well, what else could I do?"

Before Sapphire could express her shock, Bokue continued.

"If even you, his own sister, couldn't convince him, what made you think some total stranger like me could? Since reason wouldn't work, physics had to do the talking~"

"He made a move on my girlfriend. What else was I supposed to do, bake him a cake???"

"..."

"..."

What an interesting way to put it.

It was hard to say what the recently deceased Ramusas would think hearing these words.

"Anyway, if you don't believe me, you can ask Miss Lucia about it."

Bokue spread his hands.

Lucia??

Like lightning suddenly flashing through her mind, Sapphire's head snapped up at the name.

"Lucia? Is she... still here?"

"Of course, she's upstairs in her own bedroom."

Bokue pointed upward.

Ever since their arrival two days ago, a certain maid had basically locked herself in her room in self-imposed isolation. Sheila had been bringing her three meals a day—clearly, she'd taken quite a significant blow.

"I see..."

Sapphire opened her mouth as if about to say something, but just then, a faint sound came from the dining room entrance behind them.

❁❁❁❁

"Lady Sapphire... is that Lady Sapphire who's returned?"

Hm?

The familiar voice made Sapphire immediately swallow whatever she'd been about to say, turning around in surprise.

A flash of silver-white hair identical to Maria's and Lady Sheila's appeared at the dining room entrance—it was Lucia, who'd been shutting herself away for two full days.

She had one hand braced against the wall as if somewhat weak. Perhaps because she hadn't fulfilled her maid duties these past two days, the girl wasn't wearing her usual maid outfit, just simple loungewear.

Her face, though not gaunt, showed clear signs of emotional exhaustion.

Sapphire pressed her lips together and hummed in acknowledgment, undisguised concern flashing through her eyes.

"I'm back, Lucia. You've had a hard time these past two days."

"Well... since we're about to eat anyway, sister, why don't you come sit down and join us?"

Maria showed excellent awareness of the situation, promptly fetching another dining chair and inviting Lucia to sit.

Only after everyone was seated did Bokue clear his throat lightly once more.

"Alright then, to continue—the current situation is that Leohart from the Current Demon Lord faction has already agreed to leave ownership of the Old Capital here to Mio. However, the Council seems somewhat reluctant, so we still need to find wherever the Council is hiding and crush them."

"For that purpose, the decisive battle between the Old and Current Demon Lord factions will proceed as scheduled. We'll be the ones fighting—"

"—TOMORROW."

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