EPIC: Path of Demons and Dragons

'Such an honest boy...' thought Rias, feeling what she could best describe as a maternal tenderness toward Vahn. She had heard from Sona that he had, at least for a time, been kept in a lab, so it wasn't difficult to imagine he had grown up without the care and love of a family.

"Come, let us get a little more comfortable," said Rias, releasing her hold on Vahn's head and returning to her place on the sofa before meeting his gaze and patting the cushion next to her. He took this as an indication for him to sit, but that was apparently just part of it as she waited for him to do so before clarifying, "Scoot over a bit and rest your head on my thighs. I will give you a lap pillow and clean the inside of your ears. Akeno, please retrieve an ear pick."

"Of course," responded Akeno, briefly departing the room with her hands folded over her lap as Vahn invariably found his head guided to Rias's lap, the warmth, softness, and fragrance of her thighs causing his face to heat up as he remained completely silent.

"Have you ever received a lap pillow...?" asked Rias, her expression and tone soft as she used the tips of her nails to gently scratch Vahn's scalp and play with his surprisingly soft hair.

"I haven't..." responded Vahn, closing his eyes. He could feel his body becoming increasingly warm, but instead of feeling stuffy or stifled, he felt relaxed and light...like his body was floating and his head was resting on a cloud...

"Oh, then I'm your first..." hummed Rias, trailing the nail of her left index finger across Vahn's cheek as she appended, "Lucky me..."

Opening his eyes, Vahn briefly hesitated before asking, "Why are you so nice to me? Is it because of my power...?"

"I can't deny that I hold your power in high regard," confessed Rias. "But that isn't why I'm nice to you. I can tell you're a very kind and honest boy, and with proper care and guidance, I believe you can grow into someone I and others can depend on. But that's just my selfishness...tell me, Vahn, what do you want?"

"I want to become stronger and live freely..." responded Vahn, closing his eyes and reaching up to place his left hand on Rias's thigh, not with any ill will or desirous intent, but because he was used to sleeping with his hand next to his head. Then, in a fainter tone, he admitted, "But I also really like this..."

Though she knew it wasn't what he was referring to, Rias couldn't help covering her mouth to suppress a laugh as Vahn's words could easily be misconstrued as him confessing his fondness for her thighs. Luckily, she managed to avoid laughing outright.

'He's so precious...' thought Rias, returning her hand to Vahn's head as she expressed, "Then, even if you wish to remain free by not joining my Peerage, you're welcome to come and spend time here as often as you like. And if you'd like, you're free to think of the members of the Occult Research Club as your family..."

"..."

Not sure how to respond to Rias's proposition, Vahn remained silent and stared ahead. The word family harbored special meaning to him and was something he had craved for a long time, but instead of feeling happy, he felt reluctant hearing Rias ask him to join hers...

"Did you want something more...?" asked Rias, sensing Vahn's incertitude as the slight pout on his face made it apparent.

"I like you..." revealed Vahn, his response curt, almost bullheaded, as he had never confessed to a girl and concluded it was better to simply get it over with.

Though she would ordinarily respond that she liked him as well, Rias knew that the like Vahn was referring to had a deeper, more profound meaning. As a result, she deliberated for several seconds, absentmindedly combing her fingers through his hair and staring at his side profile before stating, "I respect your feelings and am truly flattered by them, but my standing as Heiress of House Gremory doesn't afford me much leeway in the choosing of my partner. My family would not permit me to reciprocate your feelings unless your potential or strength exceeded that of the candidates already aiming for my hand..."

"So if my potential was the best, we could be boyfriend and girlfriend...?" asked Vahn, catching Rias a little off guard with the severity and resolve in his expression and tone. She had no doubt his potential was immense, but the look in his eyes made her think there was much more to his power and abilities than what he had shown...

Following a moment of consideration, Rias narrowed her eyes, affirming, "That's correct. But you should also keep in mind that if we were to begin a courtship, my enemies would become your enemies, and you wouldn't be able to escape getting entangled in the politics of the Underworld. It takes a lot of effort to manage a territory, and your only reward at the end of the day would be spending time with me..."

Seeing Vahn's face sour conflictedly, Rias found herself suppressing the urge to chuckle. He was almost too honest, but that could very easily be turned into dependability and faithfulness. She doubted his potential was substantial enough that she would be able to annul the arrangements her family had made, but if she could enter him into her Peerage, he might be able to ease her heart and provide comfort to her during especially trying times...

Breaking the silence that had descended on the room, Akeno arrived with a long and thin bamboo instrument with a puffy white ball on one end and a tiny scoop on the other.

"Hmmm? Did something happen while I was away...?" questioned Akeno, making her way over and handing Rias the ear pick.

"Vahn here confessed his feelings for me," revealed Rias, accepting the pick as she appended, "Right now, I believe he's deliberating the ups and downsides of courting a future Dutchess. I suppose that means receiving my affection isn't enough."

Frowning deeply, Vahn contended, "I never said that..." before his face distorted slightly at the unfamiliar sensation of having an ear pick enter his ear canal, gently scraping its interior. It didn't feel unpleasant, quite the opposite, but it was distracting.

"Should I sweeten the deal by including myself~?" asked Akeno, causing Rias to frown and retort, "Thank you, Akeno. But Vahn and I are having a private conversation right now. Go and fetch the dishes we had arranged. I don't want him returning to class on an empty stomach..."

"But of course~" responded Akeno, exhaling an amused chuckle as she left to carry out Rias's orders.

"Haaaaaa...that girl..." sighed Rias, digging around in Vahn's ears as she insincerely complained, "She might be my best friend, but she needs to learn there is a time and a place to make jokes..."

"How do you measure potential...?" asked Vahn, briefly catching Rias by surprise before she answered, "There are more advanced tools that can be used to measure it, but the most common method High-Class Devils use is seeing how many Pawns would be necessary to reincarnate them as a Devil. Each of the more advanced Pieces has a corresponding value, such as a Queen being worth nine Pawns and a Rook being worth five, so if your potential is high, you would require five or more."

"How many do I need to become your boyfriend...?" asked Vahn, causing Rias to shake her head slightly before responding, "Your potential would need to exceed eight Pawns, at a minimum..."

"Then test me..." said Vahn, closing his eyes as he started to really enjoy the feeling of having his ear cleaned.

"Right now...?" asked Rias.

"If possible..." responded Vahn, prompting Rias to exhale from her nose before she set aside the ear pick and stated, "We'll need to stand first. I also need you to promise you won't be too disappointed if your potential isn't as high as you hope. Some things just aren't meant to be."

"You're wrong," responded Vahn, rising to a seated position and surprising Rias by meeting her gaze and asserting, "I may not be very powerful right now, but my potential is the best..."

"Then I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself," responded Rias, finding Vahn's affirmations surprisingly persuasive. He didn't appear to be making an empty claim, so after getting up from the sofa and having him position himself three meters away from her, she raised her right hand and created a glowing crimson Magic Circle beneath him, curious to see if his potential was even half as great as he insisted.

Feeling a strange energy enter his body, Vahn looked down at himself and inspected his hands as Rias closed her eyes, focusing her thoughts on the Evil Pieces slumbering within her. Generally speaking, the Evil Piece most suited to a person would naturally materialize in the King's hand once the ritual was underway. In the case of Vahn, she couldn't even force a Piece to appear. Even mixing and matching multiple pieces didn't seem to work, causing a bead of sweat to form on her cheek as even beings on the level of a Dragon King weren't beyond their influence. Only Gods, Buddhas, and extradimensional beings of a similar rank were impervious to their effects. Yet, as far as she could tell, Vahn was an ordinary human. Well, maybe not ordinary, but he most definitely wasn't a God or Buddha...

"This feels weird..." said Vahn, leaving Rias wide-eyed and her lips slightly parted in disbelief as he tightened his right hand into a fist, an action that caused the Demonic Energy flowing into him to be expelled and the Magic Circle beneath him to shatter like glass. It wasn't his intention to break it, but the moment he expressed his discomfort, the effect of [Chainbreaker] triggered, completely overwhelming Rias's ability to maintain its structure.

Seeing what he had done, Vahn's eyes widened considerably more than Rias's as he looked up from the now ordinary floor to meet her gaze with the expression of a child who had just gotten caught with his hand deep in a jar of cookies after midnight.

Regaining her senses, a genuine smile developed across Rias's face as she proclaimed, "You weren't exaggerating. I even tried balancing your potential against all my remaining Pieces, but it wasn't sufficient. To say I'm impressed would be an understatement."

"Then...does that mean...?" started Vahn, his words trailing near the end. He hadn't arrived at the Occult Research Club expecting to confess, but since he had done so, he intended to see it through to the end and hear Rias's response.

"Before I respond, tell me, what is it you think a boyfriend and girlfriend do?" asked Rias, crossing her arms in a way that emphasized her already substantial bosom.

Not expecting Rias to turn things around on him, Vahn averted his eyes uncertainly, slipped his hands into his pockets, and argued, "I'm not that inexperienced...they do things like kissing...holding hands...and going out on dates. You know...that kind of stuff..."

"Anything else...?" asked Rias, a playful smile adorning her lips as she saw Vahn's face progressively redden. He clearly knew what she was alluding to, but he was too embarrassed or bashful to admit it.

'How precious...' thought Rias, uncrossing her arms and stepping forward to grab the sides of Vahn's face, forcing him to look at her as she smiled and said, "Be sure to let me know when you figure it out. Until then, things like kissing, holding hands, and going on dates...these are things we could have done even without becoming a couple. But since you seem intent on me becoming your girlfriend, I shall provide you with ample opportunities to prove yourself worthy of standing beside me on equal footing. You can start by kissing me..."

"Right now...?" asked Vahn, feeling his throat tighten.

"Right now," affirmed Rias, narrowing her eyes. Other than Vahn, the lead candidate for the position of her future husband was someone she hated to the point of revulsion, so even if things didn't work out, she was willing to gamble on him being a possible solution to her problem. If not, well, at least she could make the most of the time she had remaining...

Feeling intense pressure from Rias's gaze, Vahn's body trembled slightly, but not due to fear. He never imagined that his first kiss would be with the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, but since she was willing, he felt like he had to step up, lest he miss the opportunity forever. Thus, after failing to swallow the knot that had formed in his throat, he grabbed Rias by the shoulders, holding her gaze for several seconds before tentatively leaning in and, very briefly, pressing their lips together.

Seeing Vahn pull away as if he had kissed a hot surface, Rias reached up to cover her lips, exhaling a faint chuckle as she teased, "That isn't quite how I imagined my first kiss with a boy going, but I'm certain we will both improve with practice. Do you mind?"

"Mind what...?" asked Vahn, his face hotter than the sun and his heart beating like a drum within his chest as Rias linked her hands around his shoulders, drawing them together in a way that forced them closer as she said, "This..." before giving him a much deeper kiss...

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