He then asked, voice casual as if commenting on the weather, "I saw you confessing earlier. What happened with that guy?"
Raynare's expression shifted instantly—big eyes widening, lips trembling in a perfect imitation of heartbreak. Tears welled up on cue, glistening under the violet-black light of her pocket dimension.
"Oh, he… (hic, hic) rejected me," she said, voice cracking beautifully. A single tear slid down her cheek, catching the eerie glow like a diamond. "I thought he liked me… but he said no…"
Silas tilted his head slightly, purple eyes flat and unreadable.
"Oh. So I'm your second option?"
Before she could respond—before she could even open her mouth to spin another layer of the lie—he cut her off, tone flat and final.
"I'm not interested."
He stepped past her without breaking stride, plastic grocery bags swinging lightly from his hand like nothing had happened.
Raynare froze. The sad, teary mask cracked for a split second—shock flashing across her face, followed immediately by raw, burning fury. No one had ever dismissed her so cleanly.
Her disguise shattered in an instant.
The school uniform dissolved into black motes of light. What replaced it was barely clothing: a skin-tight black leather corset that pushed her chest up dramatically, matching shorts that left almost nothing to the imagination, thigh-high boots with sharp silver buckles, and long black gloves that ended just below her elbows. A pair of jet-black fallen angel wings burst from her back—feathers sharp and glossy, edges glinting like obsidian blades.
In her right hand materialized a bright red spear of light—jagged, spiked along its length, humming with destructive holy-demonic energy. The air around it warped faintly.
Without a word, she hurled it at his back with vicious force.
The spear streaked forward in a crimson blur, aimed to pierce straight through his heart.
Silas didn't even look back.
He vanished.
One moment he was there—next moment, empty space.
The spear slammed into the steel railing instead. Metal screamed as the holy energy ate through it like acid; the spear detonated in a burst of red particles, leaving a smoking, warped hole in the barrier.
Before Raynare could even process the miss, a calm voice spoke from directly behind her.
"Now why would you do that?"
She spun so fast her wings flared wide.
Silas stood there—grocery bags still dangling from his fingers, expression bored.
Raynare's heart slammed against her ribs. She leaped backward, wings beating powerfully to lift her off the ground. She hovered ten feet up, black feathers rustling, spear reforming in her hand as she stared down at him in naked panic.
'When did he get behind me?!' she thought wildly. ' Who is this guy?!'
Silas shrugged one shoulder.
"Don't do that again," he said mildly. "I'm not in the mood."
Then he turned and kept walking—like she was a minor inconvenience on his way home.
Raynare watched, frozen in mid-air, as he approached the edge of her barrier. The swirling purple-black barrier shimmered in front of him, she thought it was impenetrable but,
Silas walked straight through it.
The barrier didn't resist. It didn't crack or shatter dramatically.
It simply *broke*—like thin glass underfoot.
A low *crack* echoed across the bridge, and the entire barrier collapsed in on itself. Color flooded back: the real night sky, the orange glow of streetlights, the distant rumble of cars passing underneath the bridge. Normal sounds returned—tires on asphalt, wind through railings, the faint hum of the city.
Silas kept walking.
Raynare hovered higher, wings beating erratically now, heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. She had never felt fear like this—not from devils, not from exorcists, not even from her superiors in the Grigori.
This man hadn't attacked her. He'd just… ignored her. And walked through her strongest trap like it was tissue paper.
Suddenly, Silas vanished again.
Raynare's eyes widened further. She spun in the air, scanning frantically. Nothing.She swallowed hard, wings trembling.
' I need to tell everyone,' she thought, panic clawing at the edges of her mind.
With a burst of black light, she vanished—teleporting away in a frantic flicker, leaving the bridge empty and ordinary once more.
.....
Silas had returned home with nothing interesting happening. After putting everything where it belonged. He sat on the couch, pulling out his phone as he played some games.
' I could have killed her, but she still has some responsibility. Can't have the Red Dragon Emperor not have a tragic back story. ' he thought smirking.
After that he had some food, and watched some football on his TV. He knew soon the story would finally begin.
....
Days passed at Kuoh Academy in a strangely comfortable rhythm for Silas. He slipped into the role of the enigmatic transfer student with ease—polite in class, sharp enough to ace quizzes without trying too hard, and effortlessly magnetic in every casual interaction.
Girls noticed him first in whispers, then in giggles, then in bold attempts to sit closer during lunch or ask for notes they didn't really need.
He never pushed, never chased—just smiled that lazy, and let them come to him. By mid-week, half the school had nicknamed him "The Purple Prince" behind his back. He pretended not to hear.
He balanced his time carefully, never favoring one group too long. Mornings sometimes started with Sona and Tsubaki waiting outside his apartment door.
Tsubaki always with that calm, assessing stare; Sona pretending it was "just a coincidence."
Lunch breaks were often claimed by Rias's peerage—Akeno's teasing laughter, Kiba's polite nods, Koneko's quiet cookie-sharing.
Afternoons might find him in the student council room helping Sona organize files mostly so he could watch her adjust her glasses when she got frustrated.
He took turns like it was the most natural thing in the world, never letting jealousy build into drama.
He knew exactly what was coming this weekend: Issei Hyoudou's "date" with Yuuma Amano, the fatal spear of light, the death, the rebirth as Rias's Pawn.
The real story kicking off. But Silas had no intention of interfering.
He'd seen enough isekai stories to know jumping in too early usually broke the plot in messy ways. So he watched from the sidelines, content to let the pieces fall where they would.
Friday afternoon found him in the Occult Research Club room, sprawled on the plush red sofa with a brand-new Nintendo Switch in his hands.
He'd bought it yesterday on a whim during one of his grocery runs—mostly because he missed gaming, partly because he wanted to see if he could get Koneko to crack a smile.
The tiny Rook sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the low table, her own Joy-Con gripped tightly, white hair falling forward as she focused on the screen.
They were playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate—Koneko maining Kirby, Silas effortlessly switching between characters just to mess with her.
He combo'd her off-stage for the third time in a row.
"Game!"
Koneko's character exploded in a shower of stars. She stared at the defeat screen, lips pursing into the most adorable pout Silas had ever seen—cheeks puffed, golden-hazel eyes narrowed in betrayal.
Silas laughed—warm, genuine—and reached over to pat the top of her head, fingers gentle between her cat-ear clips.
"It would be embarrassing if your senpai lost," he teased. "Maybe next time you'll win."
She huffed, leaning into the pats despite herself. The tension in her small shoulders slowly melted. After a few more strokes, the pout softened into something closer to acceptance. She forgave him—silently, of course.
"I'll win next time," she declared, voice flat but determined.
"Yep," Silas agreed, setting his controller on the table. "I'm sure you will."
He leaned back, stretching his arms along the sofa backrest, and glanced at her sideways.
"Tell me something, Koneko. How did you join Rias's peerage?"
The question hung in the quiet room. He asked it lightly, no pressure, but he knew exactly what he was asking. Her past—her sister Kuroka, the experiments, the trauma, the abandonment—wasn't something she shared easily.
In the canon story, it took ages for her to open up even to Issei.
Koneko went still. Her small hands tightened around the Joy-Con for a heartbeat.
Then—surprisingly—she set the controller down neatly on the table and turned to face him fully, knees drawn up, hugging them to her chest.
"…I was going to die," she said quietly.
Silas didn't interrupt. Just listened.
"My sister… Kuroka… she killed our master. Took the blame so I wouldn't be executed. They branded her a stray. I was left behind. Everyone looked at me like I was next—like the same blood made me dangerous. I hated it. Hated her. Hated myself."
Her voice stayed even, but her tail barely visible under the skirt flicked once in agitation.
"I ran. Lived on the streets for a while. Fought. Stole. Got hurt. A lot. Then one day… Rias found me. She didn't ask questions. Didn't look at me like I was broken. She just said, 'If you want to live, come with me.'"
Koneko's golden eyes met his—clear, unflinching.
"She gave me a Evil Piece. Made me her Rook. Gave me strength I never had before. A home. A family. She never once treated me like I was cursed. So I stayed. I got stronger. For her. For me."
She paused, then added softer:
"…You're the first person outside the peerage I've told the whole thing to."
Silas let the words settle. He didn't offer pity—that would've insulted her. Instead he reached over and placed his hand on top of hers—light, warm, grounding.
"Thanks for trusting me with that," he said simply. "Means a lot."
Koneko looked down at their joined hands. After a moment, she turned hers over and laced her small fingers through his—briefly, tentatively—before letting go.
"…Don't tell anyone I got soft," she muttered.
Silas grinned.
"My lips are sealed, kitten."
She huffed again—but this time there was the tiniest upward curve to her mouth.
The club room door slid open. Rias stepped in, crimson hair catching the afternoon light, followed by Akeno carrying a tray of tea.
"Am I interrupting something?" Rias asked, eyebrow raised playfully.
Koneko snatched her hand back like it burned and grabbed her controller again.
"Nothing," she said quickly.
Silas just leaned back, smirking.
"Just getting destroyed at Smash. Usual stuff."
Rias laughed as Akeno set the tray down.
" If you say so. Come, today we're going stray hunting again. This time, we'd like to see you fight" she said.
TO BE CONTINUED