Chapter 419: Gremory Household...

[Gremory Castle, Gremory Territory] 

"How are you feeling, Buchou?" Yuuto Kiba, Rias Gremory's knight, asked softly as he approached his King along with their King's rook, Koneko Toujou, and bishop, Asia Argento.

"...I am somewhat okay right now. It's much harder for Issei, he had lost his Sacred Gear. From what Ajuka-sama had told us, for whatever reason Issei isn't physically affected by the loss of his Sacred Gear" Rias Gremory said as she shook her head. 

"He is putting on a brave face but the loss of his Sacred Gear has hurt him. He still remembers what had happened with Asia and that is affecting him" Rias said sullenly and gave a sympathetic smile towards Asia. Yesterday was a hectic day for her peerage. 

"Can I see him?" Asia asked slowly, her voice filled with concern. Rias nodded her head and Asia left the room to meet Issei.

"What about Akeno-senpai?" Yuuto asked and Rias don't know how to answer that question. The whole incident has heavily affected her Queen, Akeno Himejima. Her Queen hasn't talked with her after returning. 

Akeno blamed herself for opening her mouth. If only she had silently digested the Destroyer's words then everything would have been fine but who could blame Akeno. 

She is young and no one could have guessed such a reaction from the Destroyer and on top of everything, Akeno's reaction was completely understandable and obvious but she was still in the wrong just because of a single thing, Power… 

"She isn't talking to anyone, I have tried but she simply keeps staring at her own feet… let's give her some time while showing her that we are there for her" Rias said softly and Koneko Toujou slowly nodded her head. 

That was the best they could do for now. Rias Gremory clenched her fists tightly. This incident showed her the necessity of power… she knew Power was important but until this point, she had thought that her brother, the strongest Devil, Sirzechs Lucifer would solve everything for her. 

Now she understood the difference in Power, with Power you could do anything and get away scot-free… that is why the Destroyer was able to take away Issei's Sacred Gear without any opposition and that wasn't the end. 

After waking up, Rias had found out what has happened. Apparently, the Destroyer had given their Race a deadline… if the Devils aren't able to pay remunerations for his efforts then he would eradicate their Race… What a joke!! 

The Destroyer was clearly the bad guy here but you can't do anything due to the difference in Power… while Rias Gremory was pondering the facts of Power in some other part of the Castle, a very similar type of conversation was going to take place… 

Zeoticus Gremory was present in the Devil Council Meeting and he had seen how the meeting concluded. He didn't like how the meeting had progressed but there was nothing he could do about it. After returning to the Gremory castle, he had told his wife about the Council's decision and she wasn't happy. 

Even though Zeoticus Gremory wasn't happy with the decision, he knew how politics worked and the whole Council acted like any Devils would. He also couldn't blame Lord Phenex. Phenex family's reputation had taken a massive hit. 

Currently, he was walking towards his son's wing along with his wife to have a chat with him. Both of them finally arrived where their son was… Sirzechs Lucifer was sitting on a table with a lost look on his face. He was playing with a drink in his hand while his Queen was standing behind him. 

Neither of them could blame their son for drinking. Their son's ever dutiful Queen immediately noticed the two of them and gave them a small bow. "Zeoticus-sama, Venelana-sama, please forgive Sirzechs-sama" the silver-haired maid said with a small bow. 

"No need to apologize Grayfia, it is completely understandable" Venelana said and sat down in front of her son and poured herself a generous drink. Zeoticus followed his wife's example and waved off Grayfia's apology and sat down. 

"Mother, Father…" Sirzechs gave them a small greeting with a wry smile on his face. 

"Son, have you decided anything?" Zeoticus asked carefully as he didn't want to come off as a Devil Council lackey. His son gave him an inspecting look and then released a defeated sigh. 

"I haven't decided anything yet… but some sort of marriage arrangements or something along that line would be best for these kinds of situations… but I can't do that to Rias" Sirzechs said and tipped the whole glass inside his mouth. 

"...She won't be happy at all if you make that decision" Zeoticus said carefully as his wife still held him responsible for their daughter's last arranged marriage. Thankfully, Venelana ignored him for now. 

"But is my sister's happiness more important than the survival of the whole Devil Race?" Sirzechs asked while shaking his head. He knew that he would never be able to make that decision… he would never set up his sister for such a fate… the Devil Race can get damned. 

"Did Serafall talk with you after the meeting?" Venelana asked and Sirzechs gave them a small nod. 

"She wasn't happy with the Council's decision, she felt betrayed and she wasn't wrong. After doing so much for our Race, they still treat us in such a manner…" Sirzechs bit out with quite some venom in his voice. 

"Did she decide anything?" Zeoticus questioned and poured himself a drink. Once again, Sirzechs nodded his head. 

"She is going to offer herself… she thinks this way she would be helping her family and she would be gaining a lot of power if her plan works" Sirzechs said and both Zeoticus and Venelana nodded their heads. They could also see the appeals of Serafall's plans. 

Before they could continue drinking… an expensive-looking letter appeared in the middle of the table. Sirzechs, Zeoticus, Venelana immediately jumped away from the table with a horrified look on their faces. Grayfia carefully approached the latter and used some sort of Magic. 

Moments later, Grayfia picked up the letter and turned towards Zeoticus. "Zeoticus-sama, this letter is addressed to you" Grayfia said in a polite tone and handed the letter to a bewildered-looking Zeoticus Gremory. 

Venelana urged her husband to open the letter. Sirzechs was also interested but he didn't want to intrude, so he stayed away. Zeoticus carefully tore open the letter with magic and he was quite surprised by the beautiful handwriting. He opened the whole letter for him and his wife to read. 

'Lord Gremory, 

I am writing this letter on my husband's behalf. You already know my husband as the Destroyer or Itsuki Reo. My husband wants to have a chat with you and your family during dinner so we will be inviting ourselves to your castle. 

I hope you understand. Unfortunately, my husband had told me not to kill any of you right now, so I hope that we can have a meeting without any sort of skirmish. Please look forward to the meeting, and I personally hope that you Devils decide not to pay the remunerations. 

Well, that was just my personal opinion. Pity, my husband is a man of his word. Back to the topic at hand, we will be arriving before dinner, please ask your daughter's peerage to be present. Once again, unfortunately, my husband had said no killing. 

Oh… we will be also accompanied by a controversial Youkai. I hope nobody attacks her or my hand may slip and I might end up accidentally butchering someone. Hope you understand. Well, either way, it won't matter. We will be bringing wine so you can skip the wine. 

Yours Sincerely, 

Hela, 

Goddess of War and Death'

They finally finished the letter and both Zeoticus and Venelana didn't know what to think. The letter was completely opposite to what they had thought. The handwriting was so beautiful but ultimately it was an extremely decorated death threat. 

They would have burst out laughing if the woman in the letter wasn't so enthusiastic about killing them. They robotically handed the letter to their son, who scowled as he kept reading the letter. Sirzechs couldn't believe the audacity of this woman but once again he couldn't do anything. 

Sirzechs released a huge sigh and handed the letter to Grayfia. She simply raised her brows and started to read the letter as her lips thinned. "So, should I tell the other maids and butlers that we would be having murderous guests?" Grayfia asked in a bland tone. 

Zeoticus turned towards his wife who gave him a small nod. "Yes, tell everyone about the delicate situation. No one should act disrespectfully…" Zeoticus started to speak but Venelana cut him off. 

"No, after preparing the food, tell everyone to leave but you stay back and son, call your peerage. He asked for the whole family, unfortunately, your father and I don't have a peerage or I would have called them too" 

"Regardless of how the letter was written, it is clear that they are asking for formal dinner. So, we will be having a formal dinner and hope that they leave before killing anyone" Venelana said and Grayfia nodded her head. 

"I don't like this…" Sirzechs said with a scowl on his face. "Should I call the other Devil Kings? They wanted to have a meeting with the Destroyer too…" Sirzechs said and after thinking for a moment, Venelana nodded her head. 

"Show them the letter too…" Venelana urged and Sirzechs nodded his head. He took back the letter from Grayfia's hand and teleported away. 

"You will be the one to inform our daughter… now, be a good husband and let this woman have a peaceful drink" Venelana said and gave Zeoticus a pointed look. Zeoticus wondered what he had done but he knew that keeping his mouth shut would be much better. 

Zeoticus quickly left the room and grimaced when he remembered that he needed to inform his daughter about the disaster. Back in the room, Venelana gave Grayfia a look. "You are a Gremory household maid, right?" Venelana asked. 

Grayfia didn't know why the Gremory matron asked such a question. "Of course, Venelana-sama" Grayfia said and Venelana gave a small nod after hearing Grayfia's words. 

"Good… I am wanted to have a chat with you for our continued existence…" Venelana said and Grayfia already knew where this was going so she could only nod her head…