Chapter 662 - 662: [662] : The Ancestor Is Still a Pure-Hearted Maiden

"Lady Runeas, are you alright?"

Inside the adjacent bedroom, Chysis—holding a cup of floral tea—smiled at the ancestor sitting across from her at the tea table, face so red it looked ready to drip blood.

They'd returned only during the final few minutes of the "bath party," after listening through the wall until there were no more sounds from inside.

But ever since getting back, Runeas had remained in this state. It was as if she'd received the most unprecedented shock of her existence—face crimson, completely silent, looking utterly windswept and disheveled.

"I-I-I-I..."

Runeas was even stuttering now.

"My descendants... they actually do such shameless things..."

"Shameless?"

Chysis widened her eyes slightly, a hint of confusion flickering through those hereditary emerald irises.

"Is that how you see it, Lady Runeas?"

"How else should I see it??"

Runeas's cheeks were burning so hot they felt ready to explode. At this point, it wasn't just her cheeks—even her forehead was scalding.

Unfortunately, she hadn't washed her hair yet, so her crimson twin-tails remained dry.

Otherwise, at her current cranial temperature, even a cup of cold water would instantly evaporate into steam, hissing and sending up white smoke.

"Th-they were all together in the bathroom with... with that Bokue boy! Mmph..."

As if she'd reached the absolute limit of embarrassment, Runeas couldn't even finish her sentence. The remaining words were caught in her throat as a whimper.

Chysis couldn't understand this at all.

Undoubtedly, by modern human society's conventional standards, this was somewhat ahead of its time.

But they were devils!

The devil world had always been ruled by strength. Powerful devils could claim more resources, more territory... no, it was more accurate to say that lesser devils would voluntarily offer up resources in exchange for protection.

As the saying went—it wasn't that high-class devils needed territory, but that territory needed high-class devils to guard it from foreign invasion.

Because of this, powerful devils having multiple spouses had been completely normal in the past.

Without going too far back, just look at the current head of the Bael family—Sairaorg's father had far more than just Sairaorg's mother as a wife.

Even Sairaorg's position as heir had only been reclaimed through hellish training, wresting it back from his half-brother through sheer strength.

Well... admittedly, in recent decades since the Underworld began trading with the Human World, many Underworld values had gradually shifted toward human norms, promoting monogamy.

But wasn't Runeas already a ten-thousand-year-old ancient??

Logically, the Underworld ten thousand years ago couldn't have been any better than now. It was still an era of warring factions and endless conflict, where everyone was fighting tooth and nail over territory.

Shouldn't devils back then have been playing even faster and looser than they did now?

"Lady Runeas, could it be that you've never..."

Chysis hesitated, then chose a more tactful phrasing.

"Lady Runeas, has there ever been someone important in your life?"

"Of course. My little brother, for instance."

Runeas answered with crisp decisiveness, barely even thinking.

"Though he's probably passed away by now. After all, devils who live too long start to lose the will to continue. Even without lifespan limits, when your spirit exists for too long, life gradually starts to feel meaningless... Why do you ask, Chysis-chan?"

"Oh, no reason. Just curious."

Chysis tilted her head.

"But no husband?"

"Husband? I don't have anything like that..."

Runeas pursed her lips.

Well, that solved the mystery.

Chysis's smile immediately filled with understanding.

Truthfully, she didn't know much about this First Generation Gremory. While there were records in the Gremory family tree, after all... the span of time was simply too vast.

Ten thousand years. Even for devils with near-eternal lifespans, that was enough for many generations to come and go.

This also meant Chysis had never imagined that her ancestor was still—to this very day—a pristine, pure-hearted maiden.

When she thought about it that way, everything made perfect sense. This explained why the First Generation Gremory had a personality no different from a young devil girl.

Part of it was because she'd spent all these years in slumber. But another part was that Runeas's life experience had simply ended at the "innocent maiden" stage.

She'd never experienced falling in love or being in love, let alone anything like marriage or children.

Forever seventeen!

"Hmm~ Chysis-chan, are you thinking something rude right now?"

Apparently sensing what her descendant was thinking, Runeas narrowed her eyes and pouted.

"Hm? Not at all."

Chysis denied it without a moment's hesitation.

"Sorry, Lady Runeas—I accidentally zoned out for a moment there."

"Zoned out..."

Runeas pursed her lips.

"Well, whatever. It's already this late anyway—time for bed."

"Understood. Are you retiring for the night, Lady Runeas? Then I'll take my leave."

Chysis drained the floral tea in her hand and prepared to stand.

Runeas didn't ask her to stay, merely letting out a soft "mm." But her gaze remained fixed on the old schoolhouse visible through the window.

"Honestly, how did my descendants end up like this..."

"Oh, right—about the sounds we heard outside the bathroom tonight. Could I ask Lady Runeas to promise me something?"

Hearing the crimson twin-tailed girl's complaints, Chysis—who had been about to leave—suddenly stopped and turned back. She leaned close to her ancestor's ear and lowered her voice.

"Please don't let anything slip in front of Rias-chan and the others. After all, we were eavesdropping tonight."

"Huh? But..."

"Besides, for us devils, this sort of thing isn't so unacceptable."

Chysis guided her gently.

"You went into slumber too early, Lady Runeas, so you might not know. Ever since the Seventy-Two Pillars were established, open warfare was prohibited. Marriage alliances became a very common political tool. If a particularly powerful individual emerged in one generation of a family, multiple families seeking assistance and resources would come to propose marriage. One man taking multiple wives was quite normal."

"I-is that so?"

"Of course. While this hasn't happened in our Gremory family, many other families among the Seventy-Two Pillars have done so."

Chysis smiled softly.

"And Lady Runeas, surely you noticed today—Rias and the others have no objections to this. In fact, they seemed quite happy and fulfilled."

"Happy... fulfilled, you say."

Runeas nodded unconsciously.

She had to admit that when they'd been standing outside the bathroom, the girls' voices from inside had been filled with nothing but happiness and satisfaction. There wasn't the slightest hint of reluctance or compromise.

And that feeling of happiness and satisfaction had even stirred a faint desire within herself—a thought of wanting to join them.

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