Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
"Wait…" Ravel interrupted, looking at me, slightly blushing. "I just realized… so… you use the rings and bracelets out of necessity for your powers, and not because… because you like them?" Ravel asked, embarrassed, as she touched her metal bands, almost mortified by her mistake. I smiled widely at her.
"Actually, yes, most of them are for my power," I confirmed with a smile. Ravel looked down. "But… you do look ever so lovely with gold on; I certainly wouldn't mind seeing you with more jewelry, just jewelry." I purred in her direction. Ravel blushed and looked down. I could hear Riser grinding his teeth.
But to my surprise, the others seemed amused by the exchange, especially Lady Phenex, who had been silent until now. She seemed to simply enjoy the discussion even without participating in it.
"They're old, and they're devils, and they don't mind a little heavy flirting. For her part, Lady Phenex supports her daughter's decision as long as she's happy. Besides, she's thinking of dozens of ways to punish her husband for the trick he just pulled regarding the date," Lucius said amusedly. "It seems that-"
"I really don't want to know what they're planning to do, Lucius," I said tersely. I heard the others' laughter in my head.
"All right, with that out of the way, now let's talk about the other part of the commitment. You talked about acquiring territory as part of this commitment. How much are we talking about? " I hummed.
"100~200 km² around my island," I said simply. Lord Phenex stared at me as his eyes widened.
"What do you want so much territory for?" Lord Phenex asked incredulously, losing his composure for the first time.
"This and that. You know. My island is small, and I can't fully stock the potions. They're becoming more and more in demand. I also want to start hiring help, so having extra land to build a couple of houses is nice too." I shrugged. Lord Phenex looked at me, very unimpressed.
"And you need the size of a city to pull that off?" he asked tersely. I nodded seriously, not a bit embarrassed. "So… let's assume it has nothing to do with the succubi who visited your territory a few days ago?" Lord Phenex asked, narrowing his eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him. Of course, the other devils had heard about that.
"Now Lord Phenex is spying on me? How inappropriate." I said mockingly before smiling. "And they were my guests, Fengxian and the rest of the succubi raised me themselves in the brothel. I grew up together with Fengxian's daughter, Maomao. You can call me sentimental, but I missed them." I said simply with a shrug. Lord Phenex continued to stare at me.
"I want three members of the Phenex to be taught how to prepare your potions," Lord Phenex said without dissembling.
"One," I said without hesitation, not even surprised. It was something Lucius had predicted. And not something I was truly opposed to. I certainly needed help. And Maomao wouldn't be enough to supply everything.
"Two." Lord Phenex counteroffered.
"Okay, two, but you must make a binding magical contract to not share my recipes with anyone else." I smiled at him sarcastically.
"Binding… in what way?" he asked slowly as his eyes narrowed.
"Oh, nothing too worrying, just a little magic I invented for just such cases, just an unbreakable vow that's only fatal if broken," I said carelessly. Lord Phenex pursed his lips while the others looked incredulous and slightly pale.
"Ravel won't submit to something like that," Lord Phenex said forcefully through gritted teeth. I looked at him in amusement.
"Who spoke of Ravel? She is to be my wife. No binding contract is necessary beyond our engagement. The unbreakable vow is solely to protect the secrecy of my potions." I said simply. I could see them sigh in relief. "That doesn't mean you'll be my slaves. No, I'll teach you everything you can learn, and after you meet certain weekly quotas, you can do whatever you want with your time. If that means brewing potions for the Phenex, you are within your rights. As long as you pay for the ingredients, of course."
"How long would it take you to learn?" Lord Phenex asked after a few seconds of silence.
"As long as you send me someone who truly wants to learn and has some talent in them? It takes around 3 to 5 years, depending on their skills. In that time, they should be more than capable of making most of the potions on sale, or if they're truly talented, creating their own." I said honestly. Lord Phenex grimaced. I rolled my eyes. "I'm truly proud of my craft, Lord Phenex. It took me years to elevate it to the point of mastery. That's the shortest timeframe I can give you. I have a lot going on. So much that the fact I can spare the time to teach others is a miracle." I said dryly.
Besides, 5 years was nothing to devils.
"...well, I'll see to it that I send you the best we can get," Lord Phenex said. I nodded.
"If they don't meet my standards, I'll send them back to you," I said simply. I wasn't teaching someone at Longbottom's level, not even if he begged me on his knees.
"Fine, but during that time, I want an exclusive supply of potions," Lord Phenex said. I wrinkled my nose.
"Impossible. Some ingredients are really difficult, if not impossible, to get outside the island, and I'm the only one who knows how to prepare them." I said immediately. Lord Phenex pursed his lips.
"Discount on potions, priority selection and 10% of sales of all potions ." Lord Phenex said seriously, I snorted loudly.
"1%" I said without hesitation.
"8%"
"2"
"7"
"3"
"5"
"3" I repeated again and saw Lord Phenex's eye twitch slightly. I raised an eyebrow in his direction.
"3%" Lord Phenex agreed through gritted teeth. I snorted and nodded.
"How much would it cost to buy the territory for us?" I growled in Lucius's direction.
"Much less than you're thinking. But certainly more than we have," Lucius said honestly. "The Underworld is vast. The size of Earth, but without oceans, so it's just tracts of land. Even divided among the Devils, Fallen Angels, and other pantheons, the Devils' territory is truly vast. And Devils can't encompass all of it, so most of it is empty territory."
"You don't have to buy them from anyone other than the government, in this case, the Satans. It's more of a formality, but it still costs a lot of money. Although, it certainly wouldn't make much of a dent in the Phenex's wealth," Lucius said easily. I grimaced. "The 3% you promised them, plus the future potions your two members will be able to make, would make them recoup their investment in a few years. Maybe a decade or two. They certainly like to play the long game."
"They're almost immortal devils, and I'm guessing they're very old, at least by human standards. So it's not unusual for them to play the long game when they have all the time in the world," I said distractedly.
"I know, it would have taken us a couple of years to get enough money to buy the territory ourselves. But there's always the danger of another pillar devil buying it before us. Besides, you'll probably be able to reach the ultimate class before you can get the money. But sadly, we don't even have the time for that," Lucius said with a grimace. Something I retorted.
"I still don't understand why you didn't let me transmute piles of gold, jewels, and other metals to get money," I complained childishly. I could see Lucius roll his eyes in amusement.
"We've discussed it, dear. We'd attract a lot more unwanted attention. Everyone's following the sales of the potions since they're increasing in popularity. So everyone knows how much money you have. Or a rough estimate. Generating enough money to buy up the territory around us would be suspicious."
"They'd quickly start questioning where we got so much money from. The pillar devils of Lucifaad would already be upset that we'd be taking away a part of their population, specifically the Succubi. Lust. They'll do stupid things, we already know that. But with money comes Greed and Avarice. It'll be much worse." Lucius said solemnly. I grimaced.
"We can always go kill them before they do anything," Bella said dully, though there was some hope in that sentence.
"Bella, you're not causing a massacre for no reason," Narcissa chided.
"So it was okay for a reason? " Enid asked in confusion. Bella snorted in amusement.
"And just because I want to isn't reason enough?" Bella asked mockingly.
"Unfortunately not, Bellatrix, but luckily for you, they'll probably try a lot of things in the first few weeks after the succubi move in. I'm sure you'll enjoy it," Lucius said with a smile.
"You'd better be right, Malfoy. The Rating Games are starting to get boring," Bella snorted.
"It's your fault for being too strong, Bella. They'll level up quickly. I'm sure you'll find someone really strong to fight." Did Narcissa console her?
"Also, canon should already be starting, if I'm not mistaken, within two weeks at the most, Issei should be resurrected as Rias's pawn, and everything will start moving quickly," I added. Bella snorted but remained silent.
"Can you brew specific or custom potions?" Lord Phenex asked.
"Of course I do," I replied distractedly. Lord Phenex's eyes narrowed.
"What about fertility potions?" Phenex asked slowly.
"I don't need them," I said simply, shrugging my shoulders.
"You're not... a succubus." Lord Phenex said simply, not as an insult, but as a matter of fact. I blinked in confusion. I could hear Lucius sigh.
"Devils, low birth rate. Does that sound familiar?" Lucius asked dryly. I quickly controlled my blush.
"Ah." I said stupidly. "I... never tried it," I said, honestly surprised by that fact. I quickly frowned as I began going over all my recipes. "Hmm, I could create some fertility potions that would work on humans, but I don't know if they would work on devils."
" Why?" Lord Phenex asked forcefully. I wrinkled my nose.
"I don't know what the devils' problem is," I said simply. "I don't know if their low birth rate is due to a low sperm count, a low ovules count, or some magical variant that protects the ovules from fertilization. I simply don't know. It could be anything; I'd have to research it. And I doubt there's a concise answer to that problem; otherwise, the devils would have been able to solve their birth rate on their own." I said simply. Lord Phenex frowned but nodded.
"Then let's get that out of the way. Next topic, I won't beat around the bush. Did you deliver any potions to the Gremory?" Lord Phenex asked solemnly. I raised an eyebrow in his direction.
"I never had any encounters with the Gremory," I said simply. After all, it was true; Sirzechs was not a Gremory, and Lord Phenex was not satisfied with that answer. "I gave a sample of every potion I can make, those for sale and those that are not, to Lord Beelzebub for his study. I do not know what he did after his study with the remaining potions, it is none of my business." I said simply. Lord Phenex gritted his teeth as he came to the obvious conclusion.
"What!? You're helping Rias break off my engagement?! " Riser shouted, standing up completely angry and indignant. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"I never met your fiancée, Riser. I've never seen her. My dealings with Lord Lucifer and Lord Beelzebub had nothing to do with your engagement." I said easily.
"You-" Riser growled "you can't give them any more potions!" Riser exclaimed. I paused for a few seconds and looked at Lord Phenex.
"Is that part of the negotiations?" I asked in Lord Phenex's direction. He was silent for a few seconds before nodding.
"You have demonstrated the power of your potions, Lady Prince, and how they affect us Phenex as well. You must understand… our concerns." Lord Phenex said more gently than he expected.
"I can't not sell to Lord Lucifer." I replied. And it was true, for anyone to forbid Sirzechs from buying was the same as suicide in most cases.
"I'm not saying you should stop selling Lord Lucifer your potions, just... limit the dangerous potions they can buy until the engagement, and maybe the wedding, takes place. Let's say, that Draught of Living Death and others." Lord Phenex said seriously. "Or... sell us, let's say, some kind of antidote for all the potions the Gremory might have," he said simply. I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Something stronger than phoenix tears?" I asked playfully. Lord Phenex gave me a flat look.
"You know very well, Lady Prince, that many of your potions cannot be cured by tears," Lord Phenex said tersely. And indeed, she knew it very well. Phoenix tears were just like in the wizarding world. They had immense healing powers, but in most cases, they only cured any wounds and poisons within the body.
Oh, they can certainly heal any fatal wound, bring someone back from death's door, and they could also work as antidotes to the most powerful poison in existence. But they certainly weren't all-powerful. Potions that didn't do any visible harm? Tears most likely won't do anything.
They might work as an antidote to the Draught of Living Death, as it was very close to being a very potent poison, thanks to its ingredients. But for other potions, such as strong sleeping pills or some kind of mind control or confusion that are completely harmless, they would likely be overlooked.
"I'll see what I can do. A bezoar is an antidote for most poisons, but it would be equally or less effective than Phenix's tears. The other antidotes are too specific to make a general one." I said with a grimace. Lord Phenex simply nodded.
"I guess that ends the general negotiations. We'll have to go into some of the more sensitive points, but I'm sure it'll be ready for the engagement party at your mansion. It's expected that- "
"Wait, what's my mansion?!" I asked stupidly. Lord Phenex stopped and smiled at me mockingly.
"Ravel is marrying into your family, Lady Prince. Of course, you must be the host of the engagement party," Lord Phenex said almost mockingly. I paled considerably. To prepare an engagement party for the pillars in three days?!
"Do you need help, Lady Prince? I have experience hosting parties, and I would like my daughter's engagement party to be perfect," Lady Phenex said, speaking for the first time.
"No." Ravel intervened, surprising everyone. Ravel just stared at me. "I want to help. It's my engagement party. I have to be the one to help prepare it." Ravel said determinedly. I was about to open my mouth to refuse.
"My king accepts," Bella chimed in for me. "We are both magical and human nobles. We have ideas about how to throw an engagement party, but we don't know what would be appropriate for an engagement party 'between' devils. My king thanks you for your help, Ravel," Bella said firmly. I grimaced.
"I- you're right. I'd be delighted to receive your help. Thank you." I looked at Ravel with a grateful expression as I sighed in relief. Ravel smiled widely. "Although, party aside, I must admit I don't know who to invite. My contacts with devils are… scarce… especially among pillar devils." I said honestly. Lord Phenex nodded.
"I'll take care of it," Lord Phenex said simply. "We'll announce it immediately, Ravel. Send me a batch of invitations when they're done. I'll forward them to all our allies," he added.
"Yes, Father," Ravel said simply.
"I guess we have a busy few days." I sighed tiredly.
"I have to make everyone's suits and dresses!" Narcissa exclaimed excitedly.
"I'll help you! No, I'll help Ravel prepare for the party! " Enid exclaimed with the same excitement.
"I'll take care of finalizing the betrothal contract, dear. I'm sure Lord Phenex won't mind," Lucius added, and I sighed in relief at that. I really didn't want to get involved in all the paperwork and the legally drawn-up contract. It was too much work.
"You have to prepare food for a lot of devils, Sera! And help Ravel and me! Also, teach the dolls how to deal with the other devils! And-" I let Enid wander in my mind as I sighed in exhaustion. Yeah, this was starting to get a bit much.
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