The scene shifted. Five minutes after Rias had entered the magic mirror, Bokue Keikain arrived at the beachside villa.
When he reached Venelana's room on the second floor, what greeted him was the magic mirror brazenly exposed to the open air, along with the dust cover that had been draped over it now lying discarded on the floor.
Well... that's pretty thorough.
Since the mirror only activated when it detected someone touching it, it functioned as an ordinary mirror when left alone—meaning dust and the like would accumulate on its surface rather than passing through.
Clearly, Venelana had covered it specifically to keep Rias from discovering it, while also avoiding getting a faceful of dust every time she stepped through.
But unfortunately, Rias had found it anyway.
So what now?
Bokue scratched at his temple, feeling a mild headache coming on.
The main issue was that he couldn't tell whether Venelana had done this deliberately—wanting Rias to discover it—or if this situation was genuinely an accident.
Which made it hard to say whether barging in right now would interfere with whatever Venelana had planned.
Just as Bokue was wrestling with indecision, ripples suddenly appeared across the previously smooth, still surface of the mirror.
The next moment, a familiar elegant figure emerged from within, stepping directly through the glass to stand before him.
"Oh..."
Venelana had barely opened her eyes after passing through the mirror when she spotted Bokue standing right there. She let out a delighted gasp, covering her mouth.
"Perfect timing~! I was just wondering where to find you, and here you are already! Come on, let's go together!"
She immediately reached for the young man's hand, ready to pull him back through the mirror.
But Bokue stopped her just in time.
"Wait—slow down. At least tell me what you're planning first?"
"Hm? Planning what?"
Venelana paused when he tugged her back, tilting her head curiously.
Bokue's gaze drifted past the elegant woman's shoulder toward the mirror behind her. He pointed at it.
"That thing. Rias already found it, didn't she? Don't tell me she didn't come looking for you after discovering it."
"Well~ about that—Rias-chan did come over."
Venelana gave a light laugh, then smiled softly.
"Alright, I can't hide anything from you, can I? Truth is, Rias did find the mirror and came to confront me about it directly."
"And? What happened?"
"What happened is she's sleeping like a baby right now."
"...Did you knock her out?"
"Absolutely not! How could you even suggest that!"
The moment she heard the young man suspect her of using violence, Venelana puffed out her cheeks in protest.
"How could I possibly use violence against our adorable Rias-chan? If anything, her discovering the mirror was actually part of my plan all along. Right now, Rias-chan just drank some calming herbal tea and dozed off. That's all."
Calming herbal tea?
Bokue's mind latched onto those keywords immediately.
If he remembered correctly, just a few nights ago—right here in this very room after they'd finished—Venelana and Sheila had been lying in his arms, one on each side, chatting about something related to this.
The topic of "how to convince their respective daughters."
He vaguely recalled Venelana mentioning she needed to prepare some Underworld herbs. Sheila—the Great Sage of Nightmares—had evaluated them as "excellent sedatives." In other words: sleeping pills.
So Rias had been drugged by her own mother?
"Alright... so what's your plan from here?"
Bokue rubbed his forehead and asked.
Though he'd already roughly guessed Venelana's complete scheme, it was probably better to confirm.
"From here~"
Seeing the young man so obligingly ask for clarification, a small, satisfied smile crept across Venelana's face.
"To put it simply—because of the tea I gave Rias, she'll be in a half-asleep, half-awake state for quite a while. And after it wears off, she'll believe everything that happened during that time was just a dream."
A dream... that's actually a pretty clever approach.
Bokue thought to himself.
It was basically the same principle as confessing to someone while pretending to be drunk.
If the confession failed, you could always claim that whatever happened while both parties were intoxicated didn't count.
But if it succeeded? Then it was "drunk words speak sober thoughts"—and it absolutely counted.
Venelana was playing the exact same game.
"So? Now that I've explained it, you understand what needs to happen, right?"
As she spoke, Venelana leaned in close and pressed her lips firmly against his in a deep kiss. Then she stepped back half a pace, her gentle gaze shimmering like moonlit autumn waters.
Bokue shrugged. "Alright. Since you've already made up your mind, let's give it a shot."
"Mm-hm~"
Venelana's smile widened further.
She leaned in once more and kissed him again—but this time, she didn't pull away. She kept kissing him, uninterrupted.
Understanding immediately, Bokue wrapped his arms around the elegant woman's soft waist and lifted her into his embrace.
Locked together, the two of them passed through the magic mirror.
❁❁❁❁
The scene shifted to Venelana's bedroom inside Gremory Castle in the Underworld.
The crimson-haired girl lay motionless on the spacious bed, eyes gently closed, lashes trembling faintly as she breathed in slow, even rhythms.
My eyelids... so heavy...
My brain... won't work at all...
Rias felt as though her thoughts had completely ground to a halt. Her consciousness drifted through warm, comforting darkness—like lying in the same bed she'd slept in countless nights since childhood—pulling her deeper and deeper toward the abyss of dreams.
But... why was she so drowsy?
She'd gotten plenty of sleep last night. She hadn't been tired at all before. She was supposed to be talking with her mother...
Wait—talking with Mom?
What had they been discussing?
Something about the mirror?
Yes—yes, that's right! She'd been asking Mom why there was a magic mirror in their house!
But then, for some reason, she'd suddenly become incredibly sleepy. She'd barely managed to exchange a few words with her mother after sitting down before she couldn't hold on anymore...
'Slap, slap! Slap, slap!'
What was that sound?
Through the darkness of her consciousness, Rias thought she heard something coming from very far away.
'Ohh... so deep—it feels so good, mmm... Bokue, you're amazing...'
Wait—was that Mom's voice? What was Mom doing with Bokue?
And why did her voice sound like that? It almost sounded like...
Were they having sex??
As if something had suddenly clicked, Rias's sluggish thoughts jolted awake. She felt her consciousness float slightly toward the surface.
Fighting through the haze of drowsiness, she slowly opened her eyes.
And what greeted her was the sight of her mother straddling Bokue, hips grinding intensely against him.
Their eyes met—mother and daughter. Venelana's face registered genuine surprise.
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