I couldn't even imagine that a simple diagnostic item - which isn't even a real System from those gamer fanfics, if anything! - will make my head crackle and sparkle from the amount of - extremely dubiously - necessary information. And since I had no way to save all this somewhere other than my own memory, I still tried hard to digest it all! I'm not stupid enough to ignore the possibility of not arousing suspicion with my ignorance, am I ?!
I really wanted to get away from this hell, to be honest.
Well, not from THE Hell, as in the Underworld, but quite a local hell in the form of a huge reception in honor of Rias' birthday. I won't see most of those present until the next such gathering, and if anything, I wasn't allowed to attend all of those... That is, not me, it was Rias, but because of the attempts to deal with her memories, it sometimes overwhelmed me.
The devils were generally extremely human-like in their ways, which was quite annoying. I was forced to dress up, and it was very good that mother reminded me about this event in advance. I was able to push for a more modest suit and not dress up in any actual dress, and fortunately for me, demonic seamstresses could create anything in the shortest possible time thanks to magic. Because I started doing it right away and didn't put it off, it was perceived as a kind of quirk and a kind of phase, because no one had to redo anything. Still, I felt much more comfortable in pants. And to be honest, the more tightly I'm dressed, the better I feel. The more clothes obscure the burgeoning beauty of this body, the better!
On the one hand, I was even kind of glad that at least I wasn't being controlled in my clothing choices, but on the other hand, I was sure that when I did appear in front of my mother in all my anti-girly glory, I would at least be mentally spanked, and at most verbally crucified.
This lady congratulated me on my birthday, obviously, before I had a chance to try on a suit, that is why, so far, I have culturally shocked only the queen, that is, the visier piece of my dear brother, also his wife. I can't imagine marrying, in fact, the slave, but fuck knows, these role-playing games. In all seriousness though, since I knew exactly what these Evil Pieces were doing to those who absorbed them in, it was difficult for me not to show my attitude in any way. I tried not to jump to conclusions, but still, I was reasonably boiling about it.
For some reason that was unclear to me, her name was half a mystery to me, that is, in the "name" column there was not only "Grayfia Lucifuge", but also some kind of gibberish in two other alphabet systems, which I absolutely could not read, because I haven't studied these kinds of perversions in any of my lives as of yet. She wasn't the only devil with such gibberish in the diagnostic window, and I made a note to rewrite these symbols and Google them in the future.
From the side of this gorgeous white-haired woman - just like me in a previous life! - when I just got dressed and answered her knock on the door, I received only a raised eyebrow and a polite offer to braid my hair if I wish so.
According to the strange feelings of this demonic bod, for some reason I didn't want to turn my back on her, so I politely declined.
I definitely didn't have that feeling with Serafall, even though I'm supposed to have the same ass-feeling all the time. Strange.
Grayfia nevertheless escorted me to a huge hall where everyone was gathered, and together we entered one of the doors.
There was no sign of any, let's say, Prince-of-Darkness-y ball here, and I was definitely not the star of the show, even though it was my birthday. Well, I definitely don't have to shake hands with everyone - my mother is doing it somewhere on the side of the room, and yes, that side would be the last place I go.
My father, who was very noticeable because of his red hair, kept gesturing obscenely with a dashing grin at his old friends, and I hurried to quickly glance somewhere else. Otherwise, he'll feel the attention on him, notice me and call for me, that's for sure! That fucking fiance's papa was probably there as well - pops wouldn't negotiate with someone he didn't know well, I had no doubt about that.
But everything would have been fine if it hadn't been for the unexpected purposeful movement in my direction, by one rather large man, who caused me primal fear instead of any congenial good feelings. And no, it wasn't that eccentric piece of cherry jelly named Sirzechs, who was definitely full of lies, some good intentions, and also some dumb ideas about shoving Evil Pieces into little helpless girls, but he would never in his life have caused his little sister such fear. Even though I was aware of his absolute power and the awe with which other devils treated him.
The man stopped right next to me, took a look at Grayfia, who had been following me for the last five minutes of my stay in this hall and was in no hurry to dissociate herself, and then he looked indifferently into my face.
The diagnostics gave me something that I could identify as Hebrew, but I definitely couldn't read it.
בעַל זכרכורם
Thank you fucking Austin! Thank you fucking bracelet! It didn't really help to deal with fear, to be honest! I would have seen something interesting, but all the bracelet gave me was an inscription in Hebrew.
But I didn't need a diagnosis to identify this man as Zekram Bael, my mother's father, and the likely creator of my problems with the engagement contract.
I've been reading a lot about the Gremory pillar lately, when I realized what kind of a fucked up situation awaits me if I don't do anything and let everything take its course. Well, as a result of searching for answers, I stopped understanding anything at all.
Why would I suddenly be affected by this game in the form of mandatory marriage due to the small number of pureblood devils of the Underworld? And why would I be included in such an engagement agreement, when neither my father, nor my grandmother, nor, moreover, Runeas Gremory herself did such things at all. My brother actually married his former civil war enemy, and he constantly boasted that he was very lucky to find love in the most unexpected circumstances.
It was strange to think that Lilith - and there was no doubt about Lilith's existence in this world - was my not-so-distant ancestor. Lilith - Runeas - Grandmother - Father - Gabrias. And that's on Gremory's side. Zekram Bael is the grandfather and, in fact, Runeas' brother. It would be more unusual if he did not, in fact, scare me with his mere presence. From his face, and from his general habit of bearing himself, it was clear that his power went to his head way back when the original Lucifer was still alive.
Well, now Serafall's comments about Rabu-rabu and Sona-chan didn't seem as... out of nowhere and humorous. It just went very terrifying very fast.
If suddenly Sirzechs suffers from something like that, I will castrate him.
But that's for later. Now, my thoughts have swerved somewhere, because I missed the beginning of Zekram's probably extremely important speech, and therefore the light in my head turned on somewhere in the middle of his monologue. Not that he needed my reaction, other than polite nods and silence.
"... And I hope to see you in the future in this game that young people value so much nowadays, Rias. Watching them can sometimes be boring due to the lack of edge and real danger," the man chuckled disdainfully and looked into my eyes, "but I was informed that you, like many others from your generation, have plans to participate in this rating. You have a lot to learn, and that's what my gift to you on this day is about."
"I... appreciate it." I swallowed and frowned, choosing my words. "Hrm... Lord Bael, I haven't seen the gifts of our esteemed guests yet, but I can confidently say that any gift that can help me strengthen myself in the future would be priceless."
*** next part is in a few, sorry couldn't write much this week ***