Reborn in Flames

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Yubelluna sat down next to me, having finished serving everyone. "She tries not to let it show, but she still bears a weight that was not there before Lady Phenex traded her.

I have tried to discuss it with her, but she has always deflected. Teaching Ravel will be good for her.

I believe she was looking forward to the opportunity before she was traded and will be glad to have it again."

I pursed my lips as I looked at the door Clarissa and Ravel had just closed behind them. "Let me know if there's anything I can do."

"I will – though I imagine letting her spend time with Ravel will be enough."

Remembering we weren't alone, I turned back to Ruval with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean to–"

"Don't worry about it." he easily waved my apology away, picking up the spoon next to his soup bowl.

"I'm glad she's doing well. I didn't spend nearly as much time with her as you did, but she was the most tolerable of mother and father's peerages by far."

The four of us began to eat our soup, something with garlic in it and brown broth. I'd never been a food aficionado. All I really knew was that the meal tasted good.

"So…" I started, looking seriously at Ruval. "What were you afraid Ravel was going to talk about earlier?"

Ruval's shoulders slumped. "You noticed that, did you?"

"I did."

With a sigh, he put his spoon down and looked me in the eye. "This is the first time mother and father have…sanctioned a meeting with you.

They want to take advantage of all the attention and goodwill you accumulated during the fight to–"

"Make me a Phenex again." I said, not at all surprised.

After I was banished, I took a good look at the interactions I had with the Phenexes. When I wasn't looking at my interactions through rose-tinted glasses, it became clear they saw I had potential to elevate the Phenex name.

They didn't care about me so much as they did what I represented. It was why they absolutely adored Ruval.

He was hailed throughout the Underworld as one of the top thirty strongest devils in our entire race as well as the Top Ten in Rating Games.

That notoriety elevated the Phenex name. Now that I was a King with Arondight, Lancelot's legendary sword, and a Longinus Sacred Gear possessed by Dracula's descendant in my peerage, my name held a lot more weight than it did even a month ago.

They wanted that weight added to the Phenex name.

Ruval shrugged. "That's about the long and short of it. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I have some advice if you'd like?"

"I'm not going to turn it down."

Ruval met my gaze and said, "Rejoin the family." When he saw I was waiting for him to continue, he said,

"You've built yourself up spectacularly, but even so, you won't be able to survive the direct attention of even the lowest Pillar.

If you become a Phenex again, it'll protect you from everyone who will inevitably come after you to try to steal Arondight or Valerie from you.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are many willing to kill you to take either of them – Yubelluna too to a lesser extent.

Use the Phenex name as a shield. You won't even have to live at the Phenex Estate if you don't want to." He motioned around us.

"This home and land are yours, and they'll stay that way if you rejoin the family. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you or your peerage, Riser.

I don't see any good alternatives to this or I'd say to explore those first."

I looked at Yubelluna. I raised an eyebrow questioningly, and she nodded almost imperceptibly.

A scroll of paper appeared in my hand in a burst of flame. I tossed it across the table to Ruval who caught it, raising a questioning eyebrow at my dramatics.

Ruval unrolled the scroll and held it to his side, allowing Zissa to read it at the same time as him.

Their eyes grew wider as their eyes flicked across the words scrawled over the paper. Ruval's expression turned calculating. Zissa's features were painted in shock.

Ruval carefully rolled the scroll back up and gently tossed Seekvaira's marriage contract back to me, a proud grin on his face. "You little casanova. I…I don't even know what to say."

"Riser, if I may?" Zissa said, the shock bleeding off her face, a cold calculation taking its place.

"Please." I said.

"I would ask both of you to listen to my proposal before responding. I understand it will not sound good at first, but listen to the end." Zissa said, looking between me and Ruval.

My brother and I shared a questioning look before we both nodded to Zissa.

"What are you thinking, Zissa?" Ruval said, leaning forward curiously.

"Riser needs to publicly humiliate your mother and father, Ruval." Zissa said, meeting Ruval's gaze.

"Whether it be by openly refusing to rejoin the Phenexes or through different means does not matter."

Turning to me, she said, "You need to incite their rage. Force them to burn all bridges with you and turn hostile towards you in public.

Do not tell anyone about the contract until Lady Agares announces it herself. Lord and Lady Phenex will have made an enemy of the Agares heiress and therefore the entire Pillar. The only way for the Phenex family to recover from this misstep–"

"Would be to appoint a new lord." Ruval finished, rubbing his chin with a considering expression.

"If I'm not mistaken Zissa, you're supposed to be loyal to the Phenexes." he said, faint amusement coloring his tone.

"I am loyal to you, Ruval." Zissa said, fixing him with a serious gaze. "Do not think your parent's growing mistreatment of you has escaped my notice."

"What mistreatment?" I said, my eyes shooting to Ruval. This was the first I was hearing of anything like this.

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