Chapter 666 - 666: [666] : Why Not Win Over the Mother-in-Law Too?

According to Bokue Keikain's original plan, the morning was supposed to be simple—take Runeas and the others through the clothing section, pick up some casual outfits, then head straight to the game center on the lower floors.

A few rounds of pachinko, maybe some racing simulators—that sort of thing.

After all, the whole reason for bringing Runeas to the Human World was to "please" her—or to put it bluntly, just make sure she had a good time.

And when it came to making someone happy, the simplest method was always video games.

What Bokue hadn't anticipated, however, was that Runeas would spend the entire morning just picking out clothes.

By the time noon rolled around, at the entrance of the clothing shopping center—

"Ta-daaa~ So? Pretty great taste, right?"

Having shed her extravagant Underworld noble attire for her new outfit, Runeas stood before Bokue—spinning in place like a giddy schoolgirl as she proudly showed off her new look.

"It's... not bad, I guess."

Bokue raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying a subtle note of ambiguity.

"Hmhmhm~ I knew it—my fashion sense never lets me down~"

With the young man's seal of approval in hand, Runeas's mood visibly brightened, the grin on her lips stretching wider by several degrees.

Here was the baffling part, though: despite spending an entire morning browsing, Runeas hadn't actually bought multiple outfits. She'd chosen exactly one—and the style was... well, hard to describe.

Not that it looked bad. But if Bokue had to offer an objective assessment, it was—without a shadow of a doubt—Rias's school uniform.

Dead-on accurate, too. Not the slightest deviation. It was the exact same outfit Rias and the others wore to class every day.

A white striped button-down paired with a black English-style shoulder cape, topped off with a crimson pleated skirt.

Without looking closely, she could've passed for Mio Naruse's twin.

But hey—as long as Runeas herself was happy, that's all that mattered.

This did mean, however, that the morning's planned activities had been pushed to the afternoon. And the afternoon's activities... naturally got bumped even further back.

"Anyway, let's grab something to eat first. What are you in the mood for?"

"Anything works! Got any local recommendations?"

"How about sukiyaki?"

"Suki... yaki? Never heard of it—but it sounds worth a shot. Let's gooo!"

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And just like that, by the time the four of them had wrapped up their full day of activities and were ready to head home, evening had arrived.

Normally, they wouldn't have returned this early.

But according to Runeas herself, she preferred "taking things at a leisurely pace"—rather than cramming every last attraction into a single day like she was speedrunning a bucket list.

So when the four of them made it back to the top of Keystone Gate, the sunset hadn't even fully dipped below the horizon—crimson afterglow piercing through the cloud layer, painting the earth in warm, fiery hues.

"Wow~ I never imagined the Human World would have so many fun things to do nowadays!"

Inside the beach villa, Runeas stretched lazily as she stepped through the front door, unable to contain her delight.

"I feel like... hmm, barring any surprises, it'll be at least a year before I get bored of all this!"

A year...

Behind her, Venelana's brow twitched involuntarily at that particular timeframe.

An entire year on Itogami Island? Absolutely not!

Runeas and Chysis had barely been on the island for a single day, and Venelana was already feeling the strain of their presence.

For instance—she couldn't spend all night going at it with Bokue in her own room. And she couldn't spend all night going at it with Bokue in her own room. Oh, and did she mention she couldn't spend all night going at it with Bokue in her own room?

As things stood, if Venelana wanted to do anything at all, she had to sneak over to the bathhouse near Rias's old schoolhouse.

It wasn't that she found the arrangement repulsive—it was just incredibly inconvenient.

If Runeas was genuinely planning to stay for a full year, Venelana would seriously...

"Alright! We've had plenty of fun for today. Time to head up and take a bath!"

With that final declaration, Runeas turned on her heel and headed upstairs, humming what was presumably some old Underworld folk tune, her steps light and carefree.

Chysis, meanwhile, offered Bokue and Venelana a gentle smile.

"Well then, I'll head upstairs as well."

She followed after Runeas, leaving just the two of them standing on the villa's first floor.

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Only after the footsteps upstairs had faded completely did Venelana turn her head to exchange a glance with the young man beside her, letting out a soft, slightly exasperated sigh.

"Hey, Bokue... did you notice that Mother-in-law was acting a little strange today?"

"Strange? How so?"

"Mm, I can't quite put it into words, but something just felt... off."

Venelana tapped her finger against the corner of her lips, thinking it over carefully.

"I suppose it could just be my guilty conscience playing tricks on me, but... it feels like she already knows about us. Several times today, the things she said felt like they were hinting at something—you know?"

No, rest assured—it's definitely not your imagination, Auntie...

Bokue thought to himself.

Because Chysis-nee did, in fact, already know everything.

"Hey, Bokue..."

At this point, Venelana suddenly lowered her voice. Mid-sentence, she even shot a glance toward the stairway—confirming that Runeas and Chysis had no intention of coming back down—before carefully leaning close to the young man's ear.

"What do we do... if she really does find out about us?"

"She probably... wouldn't freak out too badly."

Bokue—who already knew the outcome—wasn't worried in the slightest.

"Didn't you tell me that the older generation of devils are pretty open-minded about these things?"

"Mm, most of them are, sure..."

Venelana hesitated, the rest of her words caught in her throat.

"But Mother-in-law is the exception. To be precise, the Gremory bloodline has always taken matters of the heart very seriously. In the entire history of the family, there hasn't been a single family head who's had multiple partners."

"Take Mother-in-law, for example... Father-in-law passed away when she was still quite young. For a long time afterward, her son was the only thing keeping her going..."

Mm. He'd already heard all of this from Chysis herself.

Bokue continued his silent observations.

"So what I'm worried about is—what if Lady Runeas actually plans to stay here for a full year? What are we going to do~"

At the mention of Runeas's earlier bold proclamation, even Venelana—who always maintained her composure as the graceful and dignified first lady of the household—couldn't help but show a rare flash of genuine distress.

After all, if she wanted to keep her relationship with Bokue hidden from Chysis, it meant not only would she have to keep a low profile for the foreseeable future—she also couldn't stay on Itogami Island for extended periods.

She was still the acting head of the Gremory family, after all. Popping over to visit her daughter for a day or two here and there was perfectly reasonable. But if she just moved in permanently and never looked back—like some vacationer who'd forgotten she had a kingdom to run—that would raise more than a few eyebrows.

Honestly... she'd finally come clean with her daughter and settled into a wonderfully satisfying lifestyle. Was it really all about to come crashing down?

Just as Venelana was drowning in her internal turmoil, a little lightbulb suddenly flickered on above her head.

"Wait—that's it! If that's how things are, why don't you just go win over Mother-in-law too?!"

Bokue: "...?"

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