Sol POV
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The breakfast was… not entirely unpleasant. The conversation was pretty awkward all around, especially when we were talking about me and my interests, which was mostly my fault because it reminded me of the dreaded circle introduction they made us do at school.
But he seemed like a decent guy, and at least looked genuinely interested in what I was talking about, so that was a plus. Though I am not going to lie, I was so glad when it was over, and I watched him leave for work with a satisfied expression.
Well, one of us got what they wanted from this interrogation. Because make no mistake, that's what this whole breakfast was all about, and it was obvious to everyone here. Even if we all acted otherwise.
"So I passed then?" I asked Runeas.
"So smart Sol-chan~ Hehe. Of course, you passed, but don't hold it against him. His little sister is returning for the summer holidays, and Zechs-chan only wanted to make sure you're not a threat to her or her friends." She said with a light giggle.
"Why would— oh, right, The Solomon thing." In those few days I've been here, the thought never even entered my mind. Because here, in this estate, everything else was fantastical too, not just me and my spells. I felt like I no longer needed it to remind me that it was all real. Being around devils and their casual use of magic was sufficient.
"Yes, that. But I think the idea of you being a threat disappeared somewhere between you excitedly babbling about tinkering with magic and visibly panicking and blushing when he looked at you, so…" She said with a cheeky shrug.
"You try not to panic when such a pretty man looks at you like you're the most interesting thing in the world. " I felt the need to defend myself at least a little. I mean, come on… he was as pretty as she was, for crying out loud.
"Have you seen me panicking when you look at me, Sol-chan~?" She asked with a cute head tilt.
"Wha— N–No?...*ehm* Anyway. If I remember correctly, it's still around a month until the holidays start. Is he going to be coming over often?" I said, quickly changing the subject.
"I can't really say, he is very busy being Satan and all, plus he has a wife and a son he needs to spend time with. So probably not. Maybe he will pop in once or twice right before Rias comes back." Runeas hummed thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her chin.
Then her lips curled into a Cheshire grin.
"If you want to see him more often, I'll figure something out just for you. All you have to do is say the word."
"No thanks! He's… a lot." I made a vague motion with my hands. It was a hard feeling to describe. He was so hot, but something about him was… honestly, I don't know. Existentially dangerous? So not exactly a good combination for my poor, fragile heart.
"That he is. Also, Sol-chan? You seem to be doing just fine around me. Am I not pretty enough?" I choked on absolutely nothing.
"W–What?! No! I mean— yes! You can't just ask me that out of the blue!" I flailed helplessly, and from the looks of it, the blush that had just managed to recede was coming back in full force.
"Aww~ So you think I'm pretty?" She cooed, leaning closer with a grin that could only be described as predatory.
"V–Very." Did I whisper it from behind a throw pillow I was using as a face shield?
Yes, yes, I did.
"Hehe~ Good." And because my vision was obscured by the pillow, I only heard some light shuffling noises before Runeas' hand landed on my head and ruffled my hair.
"H–Hey! What's gotten into you today? " I squeaked out in protest. It took me thirty minutes to untangle it and brush it in the morning… Having such long hair can be a bit of a pain sometimes.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Sol-chan~. I just asked you an innocent question. You're the one who got adorably flustered. " I peeked out from behind the pillow just enough to glare at her. Well, glare as much as I could with a burning red face.
"Oh wow, so scary. I'm literally shaking in my boots."
"Hmpf." I pouted.
"Hahahaha~ Now you're just proving my point, cutie." She threw her head back and let out a huge pearly laugh.
…And okay, I smiled too. But I hid it behind the pillow so as not to give her any satisfaction.
"Okay, okay, okay… I'll let you off for now, or your head will explode." Runeas said magnanimously, like she was doing me a huge favor, and I peeked over the pillow again, suspicious.
"Somehow, I don't believe that."
"Good instincts!"
I groaned, and she laughed again.
"But really, I think I'm going to stop now. Can't have you running away from me, I've got to pace myself, you know? Hehe~" She finally leaned back into the sofa and stretched like a cat.
"Don't know if I should be thankful…" I grumbled.
"Hmm~ You should, yep, definitely should." She nodded like that was supposed to convince me.
"*sigh* Okay, I'm going to be thankful in my room then." Then I all but ran away from Runeas, much to her amusement if the laughter following my hasty exit was any indication. Not that I minded it that much, but it was getting too overwhelming for me, and there was only so much time before something other than my cheeks started to fill with blood, so… yeah.
In fact, it was beginning to happen right now… Damn, I'm so easy to rile up, aren't I?
I didn't stop moving until I was in the relative privacy of my room with the door shut behind me. Only then did I let out a shuddering breath, followed by a giggle that would put any teenage girl to shame, flopped onto my bed, and started replaying everything in my mind.
This strange teasing back and forth… I was enjoying it. It had no malicious undertones, not like what had happened before. No, this was different, this newfound attention I was receiving was different, and I could do different.
In small doses, yeah, definitely in small doses.
"Man… I'm so glad I ran out of food…" I couldn't help but mutter while looking at the ceiling. I really liked it here. I liked that I still got my peace and quiet for the most part, and I liked the company.
Though what I really loved about this place was the library.
My Grimoire was great, don't get me wrong, it was full of ancient spells and rituals, but at the end of the day, it was just a single book. Here, they had thousands upon thousands of them, all filled to the brim with magic I barely even understood, and that thought excited me more than anything in the world.
I've been going there every day since I came here, and today was going to be no different, but uh— since an issue popped up that required my immediate attention, I'll be going a bit later today.
Better lock the door, though.
Then, with a bit of elbow grease and the occasional soft whimper, the problem went away for now. I do, however, have a sneaking suspicion that if Runeas doesn't let up in her teasing or if Sirzechs gives me that hot piercing look again, it's going to be a daily occurrence. I am a healthy young man after all.
Not that that was done, it was library time. I unlocked the door and cracked it open just a smidge to see if the coast was clear. I definitely didn't want to face her right now, not after you know… And thankfully, it was. Runeas wandered off to do whatever it was that she was doing every day. I think she mentioned riding camels or something? I have to ask her about that when I see her later.
Riding camels around sounded like a fun afternoon. What sounded even more fun, though, was working on that time-stopping spell. I've already had a pretty good idea of what to try.
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Okay, so that "pretty good" idea was not only not what I wanted, it was also incredibly dangerous.
It was so nasty, I hid it deep in my own spell book. Which was now a thing. Because I, in my infinite knowledge, tried many times to make that spell work over the past four weeks, I honestly could not remember them all, so I wrote them down. Mostly just so I don't go down a path I already went on.
I got there in the end, though, so that's nice, but on my way, I created so many monstrosities that if they got out, I'd get arrested for just having some of them.
Like, once I tried to redraw the spell circle on an imaginary cube. Which actually worked, by the way.
It made casting complex spells easier by activating three components at the same time. It also made them more dangerous, because instead of the mana traveling through a single predetermined path, it now split into three.
Anyway, because of the way I drew it on the cube, mana traveled through three time spell segments and then coalesced into a single stop segment… Sooo, I now have a spell that not only stops something, but also makes it age at an accelerated speed until it withers away or I quickly cast another, this time not accidental, monstrosity, a spell that makes something de-age.
That one I created specifically as a counter to the other one because my conscience would not just let me leave it there. I mean, what if I somehow lost the book?
All in all, my first spell book was a crime against humanity, Runeas agreed when I told her about it, and told me not to share it with anybody, to which I agreed wholeheartedly.
Well, she also called me stupid a bunch of times for experimenting alone, which, in hindsight, was pretty valid.
And after that whole ordeal, she insisted on accompanying me whenever I was experimenting, which was almost every day. So we started to spend even more time together. Most of it, hell, the vast majority, I enjoyed, but there were magics I really wanted to experiment with alone.
No, I needed to experiment with them alone, I even snuck out in the middle of the night to get the books. The idea of her being in a room with me AND WATCHING while I explored the wonders of magic powered by masturbation filled me with dread… and a bit of excitement, but that part, I pushed down hard. No need to add that thing into the mix. I was already struggling with her teasing alone.
So that magic was off the table for now. Not forever, though, because by now, I knew how far I could delay my curiosity until it boiled over and I just said fuck it.
I really, really wanted to try it, the effects seemed great on paper and completely harmless, but I also did not want to disappoint her by breaking the promise. In the end, that promise was more important to me than figuring out what cumming on a magical circle really did or if putting something with a magical circle into my ass would yield better results.
It may come as a surprise, but between my experimentation, spending time with Runeas, and my internal dilemma, I completely forgot about a rather important thing. If it were not for Sirzechs suddenly visiting us for breakfast yesterday, I would have continued being oblivious to what was about to happen. Honestly, I think even Runeas forgot momentarily.
The summer holidays were about to begin, and whatever sanctuary I was able to build in the last month was about to be invaded by a bunch of new people. People who did not know me, and were bound to be curious about the little magician the Gremory ancestor was hosting in the mansion.
My only hope was that they were nice. Because I'd rather take my chances with living in the forest than deal with mean teenagers again.
I also didn't know when exactly they were supposed to arrive. All I knew was that it was today, and that did not leave me a lot of time to mentally prepare myself because I knew that Sirzechs mentioned me to his sister, though in what capacity I didn't know.
Meaning that they were going to seek me out sooner rather than later. I was hoping it was going to be late—
"Ara~? There is actually someone here?" A smooth, velvety voice said from behind me. A voice I did not recognize.
I would be lying if I said that I did not let out a startled squeal. Then, I turned away from my books, because of course I was in the library, and looked at the intruder.
It was a girl about my age, with very long black hair, a figure straight out of a magazine I could not buy yet, and a set of gorgeous violet eyes. She was leaning on a bookshelf, looking at me with a look of… I don't know. Curiosity maybe? Intrigue?
"Who— H–Hi, Hello?" I tried to greet her, but in my startledness, my mouth did whatever it wanted, which was definitely not speaking right.
"Omo? Did I scare you?" She said, and hid her mouth with her hand, acting as if shocked, but her tone said otherwise.
"… A little bit? I wasn't paying attention."
"My apologies then, I did not mean to do that." She definitely meant to do that. I could tell after a month of dealing with Runeas and her shenanigans.
"*sigh* It's fine, really. Anyway, I am Sol. Nice to meet you." I said with a little wave. I would have offered her a handshake, but she was pretty far away.
"Nice to meet you, Sol. I am Akeno Himejima."
And now that the introductions were done, we were both left staring at each other. Both of us were no doubt waiting for the other to speak first. But after ten seconds of awkward silence, I could not handle it anymore and bit the bullet.
"So what brought you here? Interest in magic?" Please don't say me, please don't say me…
"Hmm~ Maybe an interest in a magician?" The word curled strangely on her tongue.
"What can I do for you, Miss Himejima?" I said with a smile as polite as I could make it. No reason to be rude after all.
"Ara~ What a polite young man you are~. My King, Rias, would like to invite you to have a tea with her. She has been dying to speak with you for the last couple of weeks." She said in a tone that was hard to refuse.
"W–Wait, like right now?"
"Yes~" She dashed all of my hopes that it would be later today with a single word.
"R–Right! Of course. Lead the way, Miss Himejima." Oh my god, I wasn't ready for this!