Tom entered the dining hall of the Sitri Manor and his eyes glanced around, his wildly beating heart calming down when he noticed the lack of a certain self-proclaid magical girl's presence.
He wasn't sure if Serafall would be present at the 'Sitri family dinner' since she was a Leviathan now but apparently, his hosts were gracious enough to not include her, most likely knowing full well Tom was nervous enough about it without having a Satan present.
When Sarael invited him to a family dinner, Tom instantly shot him down, refusing before Sarael even finished speaking. Tom was uncomfortable enough with one devil knowing his identity and his connection to the potions, and now the sly bastard wanted to introduce him to his family?
What kind of joke was that?
Alas, Sarael gave him an offer that couldn't be refused.
Two reasonable requests.
As much as Tom wanted to say, 'Fuck you.', he just... couldn't. He couldn't say no to this opportunity.
Sotis life was just depressing.
In the end, Tom accepted but under the condition that everyone attending the dinner would make a contract with him, free of any cost, of course, that stated they would never reveal his identity to others.
Fortunately, contracts were 'sacred' to the devilkind, and breaking the terms would be akin to rubbing the Sitri House's reputation through the mud. Not even the most vicious devil would break the terms of a contract. That's why the humans, and especially mages, had so many stories about cunningly tricking a big bad devil.
And according to Sarael, it was also why there were so many good night stories in the Underworld where the good devil won against the dirty tricks of cunning humans.
Tom's eyes t inquisitive, yet sharp blue eyes that scrutinized him from head to heels, making him feel a bit fidgety. The woman to whom these eyes belonged was incredibly beautiful by human standards but Tom didn't like the glint in her eyes. Not one bit.
The last person in the room was...
Tom blinked before slowly turning towards Sarael. "You wanted in your daughter's peerage when she seems to not be old enough to get her pieces for at least a few years yet?" He deadpanned at the man.
"Yeah, so?" Sarael asked as if he didn't see any problem with that. "I am sure that waiting for my cute little angel would be no bother at all!"
The sincerity in his eyes as he uttered complete bullshit like that was making Tom very leery of staying friendly with this man.
"And I now refuse twice as hard." Tom dryly said. It was one thing to be a devil in the peerage of a gorgeous woman. And that image still made him reel in discomfort. It was quite another to be in the peerage of soone who wasn't even old enough to go to school.
Hard pass, that.
Well, at least Tom now received the answer to the question of how much ti he had before the DxD apocalyptic plot. Apparently, a lot.
That made him relieved.
Sarael and Tom approached the table, Sarael leading him to introduce his wife first.
"This is Lareth Sitri, my wife." He said while gesturing at her before turning towards Tom, "And this is Thomas Prest."
"Nice to et you." Tom slightly bowed when he saw the woman did not offer her hand. He was glad for that, to be honest. Kissing soone's hands... not his thing. His father tried very hard to beat it into him but obviously, he failed.
"You as well, Mr. Prest." Lareth curtsied herself, "I must admit, inviting you was my idea. I wanted to see the genius who ca up with such an amazing product of alchemy. And I have to say..." She gave him a quick once-over, "You are much younger than I first thought."
"Thank you for the complint, milady." Tom said with an easy smile.
What she said could be either a complint or an insult and she said it in such a vague tone Tom had no way to distinguish how she ant it.
When Lareth heard Tom's reply, her lips quirked upwards for a brief second, "I wonder what you would accomplish with a... longer lifespan, let's say."
"Probably much less since the sense of urgency would be gone." Tom dryly said, his tone showing just what he thought about what she implied.
"A pity. But you are still young. Maybe you will eventually change your opinion on the matter." Lareth casually remarked and Tom understood where she ca from.
For a being like her, soone with who-knows-how-much life experience, soone who saw human empires rise and fall and probably did a recruitnt pitch for many humans before Tom, developing a lot of patience was probably only natural.
Neither Sarael nor Lareth was exactly trying extrely hard to recruit Tom. First, their daughter could not even have her Evil Pieces yet, and Tom was young.
Tom could imagine that many old mages, nearing their death, would leap at an offer like this. The Sitri couple probably thought he would be the sa and they just have to play the waiting ga before getting him to their collection.
It was... oddly insulting to not be taken seriously.
Yet, Tom was glad to be subtly insulted like this as it proved to him they would not try to play tricks on him. Not yet, at least.
Lareth then half-turned and gestured at the last person in the room who was now curiously looking at Tom from behind her skirt.
"And this is our daughter and heiress, Sona Sitri." Lareth said, gently putting her hand on top of Sona's head.
Tom redirected his smile at the girl and spoke, "Nice to et you, cute little princess Sona."
Of course, just as Tom expected, the girl took the bait perfectly.
"I am not little! I am already six!" Sona indignantly pouted, showing Tom six fingers, instantly out of her shy shell.
The small girl instantly realized what she had just done and blushed under the amused look and reproaching eyebrow of her mother before she hid her face in Lareth's skirt.
Tom turned towards Sarael and smirked, "She reminds of you in a way."
That made Lareth laugh as Sarael rolled his eyes at Tom. "Of course, she does. She is like . Smart, cunning, and good-looking."
"Hmm, I can see her growing up to be just that but are you sure you are talking about yourself?" Tom quipped, poking fun at Sarael.
"My husband loves to exaggerate." Lareth added with a smirk, causing Sarael to gasp and grab his chest.
"That hurts, honey." He exaggeratedly scrunched his eyebrows in a pitiful expression
Lareth curtly nodded at him and happily said, "Happy to be of service, husband."
Tom liked their interaction and if the quiet snickering of Sona was any indication, she also found the antics of her parents funny.
This whole dinner was becoming way different than what Tom imagined a dinner of nobility to be but he liked that. Which made him feel weird. For all he knew, they could act like this on purpose to show him he could fit into their family. They most likely were doing exactly that.
But Tom also felt they were genuine in their behavior which was why it was weird.
If he learned anything from this experience, it was that dealing with old devils like these was headache-inducing.
"Well, then, shall we eat?" Sarael asked, gently ushering Tom to his seat before taking his own seat at the helm of the table.
Several maids and butlers entered the room the second he sat down, bringing platters upon platters with luxurious food of various kinds. It was an impressive scene, to say the least. The servants as if knew when to enter and Tom couldn't help but give Sarael an unimpressed look at how much he was showing off.
Sarael just smugly grinned at him in reply. After all, he could afford it so what if he used a bit of theatrics to make a good impression?
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