— — — — — —
"So good…"
At the dining table, Lavinia sat happily munching on a bacon-and-egg sandwich with an utterly blissful expression.
"Ryo, I had no idea you were this good at cooking!"
"…It's just a sandwich. Anyone normal can follow the picture recipe and make one." As Ryo spoke, he glanced helplessly toward the kitchen, which was still blackened from earlier.
"Eh? So I'm not considered normal anymore?" Lavinia asked in surprise.
"You should remove 'anymore,'" Ryo said dryly, taking another bite of his sandwich.
He'd made enough for five people, around ten thick sandwiches stuffed with ingredients. The beef ca from Arcadia's own livestock, so each one was packed with energy... Honestly, Ryo felt that storing ingredients inside his Gift Card proved he had truly inherited the noble spirit of foodies.
"Finished eating?" Ryo asked while sipping milk after polishing off his own sandwiches.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Lavinia stuffed the last of hers into her mouth in three quick bites and nodded rapidly.
"There's no need to eat that fast."
Ryo looked speechless and waited for her to finish swallowing.
Right then, soone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's , Shemhazai. Governor, are you awake yet?" Shemhazai's voice ca from outside.
The vice-governor of the Fallen Angels personally showing up this early in the morning was enough reason for Ryo to answer properly. He stood up, walked over, and opened the door.
"Good morning, Governor."
Shemhazai gave a slight bow, polite but restrained.
"Morning." Ryo nodded, then asked, "My travel arrangents should be ready by now, right?"
"Yes. The train headed for Kyoto has already been prepared." Shemhazai sounded noticeably more relaxed than before.
"Good. By the way, has there been any information from the devil side yest—"
Before Ryo could finish speaking, a miserable cry drifted out from a corner Shemhazai couldn't see.
"My stomach feels so full… I knew eating too much white stuff was a bad idea… ugh… why did Ryo make so much…"
Both Ryo and Shemhazai froze instantly.
Shemhazai reacted extrely quickly.
Without asking why there was a woman inside the room, and without even looking, he calmly maintained a perfectly composed expression and said, "There's still no information from the devils yet, but based on my estimates, it should arrive around this ti. Shall I go urge them for an update imdiately?"
"…Go ahead."
Ryo's face twitched slightly.
"Then I'll excuse myself for now." Shemhazai politely closed the door behind him.
Ryo slowly turned around expressionlessly and looked at Lavinia, who was currently wiping sauce from the corner of her mouth at the dining table.
"Lavinia."
"Yes?" Lavinia turned around innocently.
Ryo sighed, "You can only marry now."
Although the end result wasn't exactly different from his own intentions, the process had beco unbelievably stupid.
He was absolutely certain that rumors about Lavinia "eating" him had already spread throughout the Fallen Angels.
Whoever started it didn't matter.
Shemhazai had definitely helped fan the flas.
That bastard's gossip-filled eyes when he left earlier weren't exactly subtle.
"Eh?!"
Lavinia cried out in shock, "Why?!"
Then, almost imdiately, her face turned red.
"W-Wait, Ryo… are you proposing to ? Um… we haven't known each other very long, and… doesn't this feel a little too soon…"
"Lavinia. Just listen to ."
"Oh." Lavinia obediently shut up.
Watching that happen, Ryo rubbed his forehead.
Well, overall, Lavinia was undeniably beautiful. A little airheaded, sure, but blonde bombshells were absolutely within his strike zone.
No matter how he looked at it, he wasn't exactly losing out here.
But… Why did this feel less like romance and more like suddenly adopting a child?
Ryo sighed faintly before saying, "Clean up and co downstairs afterward."
Watching Lavinia skillfully gather the dishes, Ryo imdiately realized one thing: This girl had clearly freeloaded als many tis before.
...
..
Twenty minutes later — Inside the apartnt elevator
"Good morning, Governor."
"You look a lot more energetic today, Akeno."
Ryo greeted Akeno as she stepped into the elevator.
The two of them had stayed in neighboring rooms on the sa floor last night.
Honestly, if Akeno hadn't subtly turned him down, Ryo suspected there was an eighty percent chance he would've ended up sleeping in her room instead.
After entering the elevator, Akeno glanced at Lavinia standing beside Ryo. Without drawing attention to it, she quietly moved to Ryo's other side and smiled. "Governor, may I ask you a sowhat personal question?"
"What question?"
Ryo looked at her curiously.
Akeno smiled aningfully. "So… how was the witch?"
Ryo fell silent for a mont.
Then the corners of his lips curled upward slightly as he stared at her. "I wouldn't know. But as for what a Fallen Angel tastes like… I hope I can find out tonight."
"You really do love joking around." Akeno covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"I can make sure it's not a joke."
Akeno's smile instantly froze.
Seeing that reaction, Ryo chuckled and turned back around. After pressing the button for the first floor, he waited calmly for the elevator to descend.
At that mont, Lavinia rubbed her eyes sleepily.
Only then did Akeno finally greet her, "Good morning, Lavinia."
Lavinia looked at her blankly for a second before mumbling, "Ah… you're the one who showed the room this morning… um… who was it again…? Ah, whatever. Thanks anyway."
The permanent smile on Akeno's face vanished instantly.
Without even turning around, she could feel Ryo's sharp gaze boring into her from the side.
"This morning? Showed her the room? I see. Akeno, you're amazing."
Ryo's smile widened brightly. "Baraqiel probably won't like very much as a son-in-law, but that's fine. I'll just say I got confused. After all, you and Suzaku do look pretty alike, right? If you were standing together, anyone could mistake one for the other. I'm sure Baraqiel would forgive ."
"Governor…"
Akeno swallowed nervously, her expression turning visibly unnatural, "I think… there may be a slight misunderstanding between us."
"It's fine."
Ryo grinned broadly, "There won't be one tonight."
.
.
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