Chapter 2

I blink for a few seconds when I open my eyes. The transition between Riser and me is so seamless that I almost thought I was truly Riser. I shake my head and start to reorganize my thoughts.

Riser Phenex is not someone I thought he was. First things first, he is not always an asshole. The Riser Phenex that I take over is a hard-working and cheerful person. He is willing to work hard to get stronger and is even willing to help others.

However, lately, he has been seeing something that makes his spirit go down. He has seen Rias Gremory and her monstrous talent. She did not train and only watched anime, but she can grow stronger. Her Power of Destruction is the biggest of them all. It keeps growing stronger as she gets older.

That is one of the reasons why Riser started to change. I can feel the previous Riser starting to give up and indulge more in his urges.

I cannot blame him. He is a child who is working hard to get stronger, but here, a young girl gets stronger just by existing. I would be down and give up because of that. However, I don't know where Riser's arrogance is coming from. He is depressed after seeing Rias getting stronger every day, and suddenly, he gets arrogant because of his bloodline. Something is happening in between.

Lucky for me, I appear just before it happens and tarnish my name.

Today is my 13th birthday and the day when I receive my Evil Pieces. I snap out of my thoughts when I hear a knock on the door.

"Young master! Are you up? Lord and Lady Phenex are waiting for you."

"I'm up!"

After I say that, the door opens, and I can see a pair of maids enter my room. They walk toward me and help me get out of my pajamas. Right. Every young master will have two or more private maids who will help them take care of their daily necessities. That includes bathing.

So here I am, with two beautiful maids cleaning my body while they are also naked. From my memory, this is a normal thing in the underworld. The common sense of the underworld and the overworld is very different.

After a few minutes of bathing, the servants help me put on some clothes, and they take me to the dining room. I take a deep breath and enter the dining room, where I can see my parents, my two brothers, and my little sister already waiting for me.

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[3rd POV]

Giovanni Phenex, the Lord of the Phenex Clan, looked at his wife and said, "Does she agree?"

His wife, Sienna Phenex née Barbatos, looked at her husband and nodded. "She agrees to join Riser's peerage as long as we take care of her family."

"That is good. Riser has been down lately, and I hope the Evil Pieces and this gift will lift up his spirits."

"I hope so. However, are you sure that making Rias Gremory his fiancée is the right idea? She is the reason why he is feeling down. I know it's not her fault, but because of her, our son is in this state. One of the servants overheard him whispering about how all of his efforts are a waste."

"I know, dear. However, by making her his fiancée, I hope it will make him even more diligent rather than down. She is his future wife, after all. He will try to get stronger to match her."

"I don't think it will end like that, but I will trust you, dear."

"Don't worry. Combined with the gift, his Evil Pieces, and this contract, he will return to his cheerful self."

"I hope so."

Sienna sighed and looked at her other children, who had overheard their conversation.

"Mother… Will this make Riser happy?"

Ravel Phenex, the youngest Phenex in the house, looked at her mother with wide and innocent eyes. "Will this make Big Brother better? I want to play with Big Brother again! He didn't want to play with me anymore."

Sienna smiled and patted her daughter's head. "Of course, dear. Your big brother will get better. For now, we need to celebrate his birthday, and he will get better. So, make sure to cheer him up, okay?"

"Yes! I will give Big Brother one of my brownies!"

The rest of the family laughed at her declaration, and Sienna couldn't help but pinch Ravel's cheek.

"You are so cute!"

"Mom~ That hurt~"

They stopped when they saw the door to the dining room open, and they could see Riser enter the room. Sienna released a relieved sigh when she saw Riser smile brightly at them. It looked like Riser had already returned to his cheerful self.

"Good morning, mother, father, brothers, sister."

Riser took a seat next to Ravel, who offered him a brownie from her plate. She looked at her brother with her eyes wide open as if pleading for him to take the brownie from her hand. Riser smiled and bit the entire brownie from Ravel's hand. Ravel looked at her hand in wonder and quickly took another brownie and gave it to her brother.

Riser decided to indulge his little sister and ate another brownie from her hand. After that, he patted her head and said, "Thank you, Ravel."

"Um… Um… Are you still sad, brother?"

"Sad? Ah. No. Your brownie makes me happy."

"Really?"

"Yup."

She beamed at him and pushed her head against his hand. Riser laughed and kept patting her head.

Giovanni and Sienna smiled at the sight in front of them. Even Ruval and Raven (Riser's older brothers) smiled as well. They were happy that Riser had snapped out of his depressed state.

"Ahem."

Giovanni cleared his throat, catching Riser's attention and making him withdraw his hand. Ravel pouted a little at that, but she kept it to herself.

"Riser, how are you, son? You've been down for a few days. Are you okay?"

"I'm doing fine, father. I just needed some time for myself."

"Good. Good. Real men cannot always be down and need to rise up after falling. That is why we named you Riser, after all. We want you to keep rising up after falling, just like a phoenix that burns even brighter when it is down."

"Of course, father."

"Great! Are you excited for your Evil Pieces?"

"Of course, how can I not?"

"Hahahaha! Good. After you finish eating, you can go to Beelzebub's Castle to register your name into the King's Pillar."

"I'm looking forward to it!"

=/Line Break/=

Riser looked around at the castle and wondered if this was more of a lab than a castle. On the outside, it appeared to be a castle, but when he entered, he found various items being experimented on and numerous magic circles being studied.

"Mother, is this truly a castle?"

"Ah, you are not the first person to ask that question. It is still a castle, but Lord Beelzebub decided to turn this place into his research center. That's why there are so many different things here. However, these experiments are only conducted on the first floor; the second floor and the rest of the castle belong to Lord Beelzebub's private quarters."

"I see."

They continued to walk for another minute before arriving in front of a massive room. After a servant opened the door, they saw Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the strongest beings in the entire Underworld, sitting behind a desk.

"Ah, Lady Phenex."

"Lord Beelzebub, we are here for my son's Evil Pieces."

"Of course, please take a seat."

Ajuka got up and walked to a nearby shelf. Riser noticed twelve briefcases with names on them. Ajuka took the briefcase with Riser's name on it and placed it on the desk.

"Here you go. Smear a little bit of blood on the briefcase, and you can open it," Ajuka said, placing a small knife on the desk.

Riser nodded, took the knife, cut his thumb, and smeared the blood on the briefcase. He watched as his thumb quickly healed due to his bloodline. He looked at the briefcase, which shone slightly before the lock suddenly opened on its own.

Ajuka nodded and said, "Go ahead and open it."

Riser quickly opened the briefcase and found a chess piece inside. Among the fifteen pieces, two stood out the most. While the others were blood-red in color, this bishop piece shone with a blue hue, and one of the knights emitted a green light.

"Oh? Two mutated pieces, huh? Knight and Bishop. You are one of the lucky ones. Usually, only one mutated piece appears."

"Thank you, Lord Beelzebub," Riser said. Ajuka nodded in response.

"Go ahead and place your hand on the pillar in the corner of the room to register your name in the King's Pillar."

Riser nodded and walked to the pillar. He placed his hand on it, and his name appeared inside the pillar. After that, Riser and his mother returned home, where he found a guest already waiting with his father in the living room.

"Ah, Riser! You're back, and it looks like you've already obtained your Evil Pieces. Excellent."

"Father? Who is our guest?"

"Ah, let me introduce you to your peerage member, Yubelluna."

The young woman stood up and bowed slightly.

"My name is Yubelluna. I will be your servant from now on, Master."