44 Rias (1/2)

"The moon is prettier than ever." Rias mumbled as she sat inside her favorite gazebo. 

Escaping the marriage with Riser felt like a dream to her. From the day she learnt about the marriage contract, she felt shackled. Every dream and hope she had, all of them shattered when she learnt that Riser did not want his wife to pursue a future for herself. And when she looked into Riser's history, she learnt that he was a horrible person that would ruin her life and her dreams.

It was not the marriage that she hated.

It was the fact that she was chained and her dreams and goals were taken away from her.

In truth, she would have married Riser if the devil allowed her to be free and make a name for herself. But Riser wanted a wife that would serve him whenever he wanted.

Something that she hated.

When she was told that winning a Rating Game against him would help her obtain her freedom, she was hopeful. But as time passed, she realized that she did not stand a chance to win against Riser. 

She did not have a full peerage and even though she tried to look for people, she could not find appropriate candidates. And the fact that her bishop was incapable of fighting was an even bigger disadvantage for her.

When she learnt that Issei had a Sacred Gear, she had to request Sona to let her have him. And if not for the fact that Sona was her childhood friend, it would have been impossible for her to recruit Issei.

However, when Issei's gear showed no sign of fully awakening, she lost hope and was about to give up to her fate.

But just then…

She found a ray of hope.

The same ray that was walking under the moonlight. 

A white shirt that went perfectly with his black pants and a smile on his face as he walked towards her.

"I knew you would be here." He said, walking inside the gazebo.

She sat over the handrail as she gave the boy a smile.

"The moon looks beautiful from here." She said. "And the fragrance of the flowers calms me."

"It is relaxing." He agreed. "How was the aftermath?"

"Tiring." Rias sighed. "News travels fast and when the others learned that I won… Let's just say I had been busy tending to guests."

Kento chuckled. "That happens. And I heard Issei's condition has improved?"

The heiress nodded. "Asia's healing is working. He should be awake soon."

"What about you?" He asked. "Did you get proper treatment for the injuries?"

Rias smiled. "I did. Thanks to you, we barely had any injuries."

"I just tried to keep my promise." Kentro shrugged, happy that everything was working out for them.

"Apparently Riser refuses to come out of his room." Rias chuckled. "He did suffer quite the humiliation."

"I did go quite overboard but thankfully his brother said that he will handle the issue."

"Oh?" Rias got curious. "You met with Ruval Phenex?"

"I did." Kento said. "He seemed like a nice person."

"He is." Rias agreed. "He is known for his kind and humble nature. Totally different from Riser."

"That's good." Kento was happy to hear that. "Most people's first impression is always different from their true personality. But thankfully his is the same, I guess."

Rias chuckled. "This was directed at me, wasn't it?"

Kento curved his lips upward but did not give her a straight answer. "Maybe?"

She laughed and shook her heard. "I know I must have seemed like a spoiled heiress that only cared about herself, didn't I?"

The boy nodded. "Pardon my speech, but you acted like a bitch at the start." Kento said, knowing that she still was spoiled but at least she was not heartless.

She cared a lot about her friends and family.

This made her burst out laughing. "That's a first." She said. "I don't think I have been called a bitch before."

"You are the heiress of a dominant devil pillar after all." Kento said. "Not many would dare to say anything to you."

"You know that you can be punished for this, don't you?" Rias said.

"I can be punished if you report me." Kento countered. "So, are you going to tell them about it?"

"You are quite courageous, aren't you?" Rias asked, leaning her head on the pillar that Kento was leaning on. "But that's what makes you interesting." She closed her eyes. "And attractive."

She wasn't lying. She was well aware that Kento was a handsome fellow. Unlike Akeno who openly admitted it and flirted with Kento from time to time, she just admired him a little.

And that admiration grew as he kept helping her.

"I still do not know why you helped me." She said. "You would have earned nothing from helping me and I don't think that you earned much either."

Part of the reason why Kento helped her was because of the quest, another part was because he hated Riser.

But a major part was to see how it would affect Rias.

As Elijah, he had met a lot of women with fates similar to Rias. Many acted selfishly because they had to be selfish to survive.

In the political and wealthy families that had power-hungry men as the head of the family, they mostly birthed girls to marry them off to rich and powerful families to grow their own power.

While having a male heir.

Many of those women had no choice but to suffer. And those that could escape their fates had a totally different personality afterwards. 

And Kento was glad to learn that Rias was just like them. 

Someone who acted selfish because they had no other choice. And it was not just her fault that she was a little arrogant. She was the heiress of the Gremory pillar and mostly likely she had never been punished or even yelled at by her parents in the past.

Earlier he could only see her as an annoying girl.

But now, he saw that she could be mature if she wanted to.

Not just physically, but emotionally as well.

'Well, her figure is something many of those mature women would die for.' He shook his head.

Kento, while leaning towards the mature side, still did not mind younger women.

And Rias had a body that not even mature women had.

Both stared at the moon as their head laid on the same pillar.

"Thank you." Rias said. "Thank you for everything."

"It was worth it." Kento smiled. "I got to see a whole different you because of the ordeal."

They both seemed lost into the other's eyes.

"Thank you for showing me the side that I had lost." Rias said, slowly leaning onto Kento.

"Always."

"This is my thanks." Rias looked into his eyes once again, before closing hers and swooping in for a kiss.

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[[A/N: Read 25 Chapters ahead on Pat reon+ Other Stories: Pat reon.com/Greedyfrog

In less than 30 chapters MC is about to learn a few secrets about the System, Hint: Hanley.

He will also be an Ultimate Class in 30 chaps, especially before the peace talks. Hehe]]