"Rias, do you have anything to say?" Sona stared coldly at her childhood friend and former best friend. Because of her stupid, selfish greed, she had shattered their friendship and even rejected Yusuke's sincere attempts to reason with her time and time again.
It infuriated Sona that other women could possess such staggering arrogance, daring to believe they might monopolize Yusuke entirely for themselves.
Yusuke belonged to no single woman. No one could ever claim exclusive ownership of him.
Every woman should consider herself profoundly fortunate, even blessed, if he deigned to grant her the tiniest sliver of his heart. That small fragment alone would be more than enough for any of them to treasure for the rest of their lives.
Moreover, because of this very woman, Yusuke now found himself in grave danger, his safety hanging by a thread.
"What is the Phenex House doing here?"
Suddenly, Venelana narrowed her eyes and fixed her gaze on the magic circle they had just emerged from. It began to glow with intense orange flaming light, and the figures of three women materialized within it.
They were Eleonora, Ravel, and Isabella. Everyone present greeted their arrival with expressions of confusion and coldness, except for Sona and Tsubaki.
"You are here as well, Venelana?" Eleonora glanced toward Venelana first, then toward Rias, and a subtle look of realization flickered in her eyes. It appeared Yusuke was fated to enjoy two oyakodon rather than merely one.
When it came to observation and deduction, she possessed exceptional skill. Compared to the overwhelmingly powerful Venelana and Grayfia, her greatest strength lay in her sharp mind, a trait her daughter Ravel had clearly inherited.
"..." Venelana met her gaze in silence.
She was in no mood for conversation, and she felt wary that if she spoke even a single word, she might unintentionally reveal something she preferred to keep hidden.
"Nice to see you again, Sitri's Heiress," Eleonora greeted Sona with a faint smile. She had contacted her earlier before coming and obtained permission to use their teleportation magic circle.
"It's a pleasure to have you with us, Lady Phenex," Sona returned the greeting with a slight, elegant bow, then greeted the other two as well. "Miss Ravel, and Miss Isabella."
"..." Ravel and Isabella returned the nod without speaking. They were not in the mood to bother with etiquette, their thoughts completely occupied by Yusuke's situation.
"Since everyone is present, we can begin discussing how to search for Yusuke," Sona said as she addressed everyone, but Rias's voice interrupted her mid-sentence.
"Why are these three here?" Rias stared at the women of the Phenex House with open hostility, her gaze sharp and malicious.
"Rias!" Venelana pressed a hand against her daughter's shoulder and shot her a stern look, silencing her instantly.
"You really don't learn at all, Rias." Something inside Sona finally snapped. She had been struggling to suppress her mounting resentment and negative emotions in order to preserve her rationality, but the dam had broken. "Have you still not realized that all of this is your fault? Because of you, Yusuke was kidnapped! Because of you, his safety hangs in the balance! Because of you, it remains uncertain whether we will ever see him again!"
Sometimes even a trivial remark, one that would normally be brushed aside without a second thought, could become the final spark. That was precisely what had happened to Sona in this moment.
"You have always been selfish, willful, and reckless!" she continued, her voice rising with each word. Her originally composed features were now twisted into an expression of pure wrath as she glared at Rias. "Even as you grew older, you refused to change! It would be one thing if your actions only ever harmed yourself, but it is an entirely different matter when they endanger others! Especially Yusuke!"
Back then, she even tried to screw Yusuke over when she erased Aika's and Murayama's memories, which only ended up making the entire situation far worse. If Yusuke hadn't been strong enough, he would have fallen straight into the clutches of Raynare and Kalawarna. Or perhaps Aika would have lost her life entirely because of that reckless decision.
Even after all of that, she still refused to learn a single thing from her mistakes. Instead, she started scheming yet another idiotic plot, this time attempting to kidnap him herself. And once again, she ended up being the one who got completely screwed!
It is outrageous that a dumb, reckless woman like her would ever dare to act as though she were some kind of master schemer!
"..." Rias's chest began to tighten painfully. Her breathing grew shallow and labored, as though an invisible weight were crushing her lungs. Strength seemed to drain from her limbs all at once, yet she appeared completely unaware of her own physical distress. She was sinking deeper and deeper into a pit of despair and self-loathing.
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the floor. She clutched her chest tightly with both hands, fingers digging into the fabric of her clothes as if trying to hold her breaking heart together. Tears spilled freely from her eyes, falling in silent drops onto the cold ground beneath her.
"Yes!" she cried out in a broken, trembling voice. "It's my fault! It's all my fault!"
"Everything you said is true!" Rias cried out, her voice cracking with raw anguish. "I am selfish, reckless, and stupid! I am dumb, so incredibly dumb!"
She curled her body downward until her forehead pressed against the cold floor. Her long crimson hair spilled out around her like spilled blood, fanning across the ground in disarray. Her entire frame trembled violently now, wracked with sobs that seemed to tear through her from the inside.
"If it wasn't for me, Yusuke would never have been kidnapped!"
"I was the one who asked for Grayfia's help! I was the one who plotted everything together with her! I was the one who insisted on bringing Yusuke to the Underworld!"
"I wanted to kidnap him... to lock him away somewhere far from everyone else... to keep him all for myself!"
"So that no one else could ever steal him away from me!"
"I wanted all of his love... all of his affection... to belong to me alone! I wanted to be the only person he would ever look at! The only person he would ever speak to! The only person he would ever have sex with!"
She slowly crawled across the cold floor toward Sona, her movements feeble and trembling. When she reached her childhood friend, she clutched desperately at Sona's legs, as though they were the only thing keeping her from falling apart completely.
Slowly, she raised her tear-streaked face.
Her complexion was utterly bloodless, so pale it looked almost translucent. Even her once-vibrant crimson lips had drained to a ghostly white. Fresh blood seeped from where she had bitten them in her anguish; crimson droplets slid down her chin and fell in slow, heavy patters, staining Sona's polished shoes with dark red spots.
"Sona..." Her voice came out hoarse. "I am sorry! I promise! I swear on everything! I will never harm Yusuke again! I will never even think of doing anything bad to him ever again! Please... please save him! All I want now is to save him! Please, I beg of you!"
Yusuke's plan had proven brutally correct. People only truly understood the value of something after they had lost it, or stood on the verge of losing it forever.
Even though Yusuke had merely been kidnapped, the impact had already driven every yandere present, especially Rias, straight into a devastating mental collapse. If he were ever to actually "die," the devastation would undoubtedly be far greater.
All of Rias's extravagant delusions of monopolizing Yusuke had been burned away in an instant. She now loathed her former greedy self with a venom that matched the hatred she once directed outward. She hated how she had repeatedly turned down Yusuke's generous offers, time after time after time.
Right now, she would have been perfectly content, overwhelmingly grateful, if he would simply appear before her, alive and whole, and speak even a few ordinary words to her.
But everything was far too late.
"Rias..." Venelana instinctively took a single step forward, her eyes locked on her broken daughter. Yet she stopped herself. She did nothing more.
She loved her daughter. She loved her very dearly. But she also knew this was a necessary step for her growth. Only through loss could Rias shed some of her naivety and hot-headedness.
"Sigh..." Sona stared at her childhood friend clinging to her leg. After a moment, her expression softened. She bent down and pulled her up, then turned to everyone present and spoke with an apologetic tone, "Sorry for my unsightly performance."
"Rias, I never held a grudge against you in the first place. However, I cannot accept your apology." Holding Rias's hands to support her weakened body, she continued calmly, "The one you should be apologizing to is Yusuke."
"Yusuke's life is currently in grave danger. Even if we manage to find him and save him from Grayfia, his safety will still not be guaranteed." Sona spoke solemnly. This was what troubled her the most. She glanced at Venelana and asked, "Right, Lady Gremory?"
"Indeed," Venelana replied in a low voice, her eyes closing tightly. Compared to Grayfia, the one who truly threatened Yusuke's life was her own son, Sirzechs Lucifer, the publicly acknowledged strongest Maou.
"Do not forget your sister, Sona-sama," Tsubaki added quietly.
"Indeed. Poor Yu-kun. Because of us crazy women, his life is constantly in danger," Murayama whispered with a pained voice, her hand tightening around her sword. Being hunted by a single Maou was already terrifying. Being targeted by two was nothing short of despair.
"Your sister?" Eleonora raised an eyebrow.
"Mother, we cannot waste any more time! We have to look for Yusuke-sama!" Ravel interrupted her mother impatiently.
"Indeed." Sona showed a trace of embarrassment regarding her older sister's actions and clearly had no desire to explain them. "Given that we have no idea where Yusuke might be, the best course of action is to split into groups and search for him."
"The Underworld should be our priority. As for the Human World, others will take care of it."
No one objected to her arrangement. It was the obvious choice. The reason the three houses had gathered in the first place was to agree on how to mobilize their combined power and launch a large-scale search. With only a handful of people, finding Yusuke would have been almost impossible.
With the manpower of three entire noble houses, it became a completely different matter.
Soon after, they finalized the group compositions. Venelana, the strongest among them, would go alone.
One group consisted of Eleonora, Isabella, and Akeno, with Eleonora acting as the leader.
Another group included Murayama, Aika, and Ravel, with the latter leading them.
Tsubaki, Koneko, and Rias formed another team.
Sona would remain at the Sitri House, which would serve as their headquarters. From there, she would coordinate their movements and provide guidance, while also mobilizing the remaining peerage members if necessary.
...
"Hmm~" Sitting behind the kitchen counter and watching Grayfia hum happily while preparing breakfast, Yusuke let his eyes roam freely over her alluring, mature body.
She wore a short, erotic French maid uniform that boldly revealed her long, thick thighs, her bare shoulders, and a large portion of her enticing breasts.
Although he still felt some guilt over involuntarily cuckolding Sirzechs, Yusuke had no intention of dwelling on it right now. What was done was done, and nothing could be changed anymore. Rather than crying over spilled milk, he would rather enjoy the company of the yandere milf standing before him.
[Grayfia Lucifuge's submission: 55 (Possessive)]
After a night of hot and quirky sex, her submission value had risen quickly. Even so, Yusuke was not particularly optimistic. He was certain it would get stuck at 60 and refuse to move any further unless something truly out of the ordinary happened.
Suddenly, a series of notification pings rang out and flashed across his vision.
[Rias Gremory's submission + 1!]
[Rias Gremory's submission + 1!]
[Rias Gremory's submission + 1!]
[Rias Gremory's submission: 78 (Possessive)]
[Isabela's submission + 1!]
[Isabela's submission + 1!]
[Isabela's submission + 1!]
[Isabela's submission: 64 (Possessive)]
[Ravel Phenex's submission + 1!]
[Ravel Phenex's submission + 1!]
[Ravel Phenex's submission + 1!]
[Ravel Phenex's submission: 63 (Possessive)]
'Hmm?! Nice! All according to keikaku!' Yusuke's good mood brightened considerably. Over the past few months, he had rarely witnessed such an influx of notifications arriving all at once. The sight usually left him somewhat depressed, especially whenever he thought about Rias.
However, this time, her submission value stood just two points away from completing her quest! If he were to appear before her right now and whisper a few sweet words, the entire quest would conclude in an instant.
The same went for Koneko, whose submission was already at 79.
It had been only a single day since he was kidnapped, yet he was already reaping such impressive results.
[Baby boy.] Suddenly, Yusuke heard a voice inside his head.
'Yes, mommy?' Still distracted by the good results, Yusuke replied instinctively.
[Good boy, you have been thoroughly trained by her in just one day.] The system snickered, its voice dripping with sarcasm. [Or could it be that your mother complex is finally kicking in? Speaking of which, you never truly tasted the love of a mother. Could it be that you're trying to compensate for that loss, which is why you're playing along with her so eagerly?]
'Fuck! That is low of you!' Yusuke's good mood dampened considerably. 'Can you stop screwing with my mood at every possible opportunity?!'
[Hmph! Of course not! My purpose is to mess with you and annoy you!] The system rejected his complaint without hesitation.
'Isn't your purpose to help me tame yanderes?' Yusuke asked.
[That's merely secondary.]
'...' Yusuke was left speechless.
[More importantly,] the system continued, her tone suddenly turning serious, [Say my name.]
...
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