Chapter 30: Discipline, Drapes, and the Queen's Jealousy
The air at the ruins of the cathedral was no longer filled with the sound of clashing steel, but with something far more terrifying: the sound of three high-class Devil women preparing to deliver "justice."
The "Seven Idiots" were scattered across the open plaza. Yuuto Kiba sat on a broken stone pillar, his eyes glazed and fixed on his palms. He looked like a man who had seen the bottom of an abyss and was still waiting for the ground to hit him.
Rias Gremory walked toward him first. Her crimson hair fluttered in the night wind, looking like a banner of war. She didn't scold him—not yet. She stepped forward and pulled her Knight into a tight, firm embrace.
"You idiot," she whispered against his hair, her voice trembling with a mix of relief and fury. "You made me so mad. Don't you ever disappear like that again."
"I'm sorry, Buchou," Kiba murmured, his voice hollow. "But I had to..."
"Take a rest," Rias interrupted, pulling back to look him in the eyes. "I have others I need to deal with. We'll talk about your 'resignation' later."
Kiba sat back down, dazed, as Rias turned her gaze toward the remaining three: Issei, Koneko, and her "Elegant Bishop," Lucian.
She didn't stay angry for long. She ran toward them, her noble facade crumbling as she threw her arms around all three in a chaotic, collective hug. "You idiots! You made me so worried! I was surrounded by seven Fallen Angels who were laughing because they thought you'd get yourselves killed!"
She pulled back, her eyes landing on Lucian. Her smile turned from relieved to predatory. "And Lucian... your house arrest is going to be very delightful."
The Symphony of Smacks
While Rias was playing the "Doting King," the atmosphere a few yards away was significantly more violent.
Saji Genshirou was currently suspended in the air by a glowing blue magic circle. Sona Sitri stood behind him, her glasses reflecting the moonlight with a terrifying, cold precision.
WHACK!
"AAAGH! President! Please! Stop! It's embarrassing!" Saji screamed as a magical palm swatted his backside with the force of a falling brick. "It wasn't me! It was Lucian! He dragged me by the mouth! Issei and Koneko blackmailed me with my magazines!"
"You dare disobey my explicit orders, Saji?" Sona asked, her voice calm and lethal. "You'll think twice before making this mistake again. You better learn your lesson!"
WHACK! WHACK!
Lucian watched Saji's misery with a sympathetic wince, but then he saw Rias stand up, a crimson magic circle manifesting in her own palm. She was smiling at him. It was a beautiful, terrifying, "I-love-you-but-I'm-going-to-break-you" smile.
"So," Rias said, her voice a low purr. "Ready for your punishment, Lucian?"
"President, let's be civil!" Issei shouted, stepping back. "This type of punishment isn't needed! I'm under house arrest! Lucian will do double work! I'll do triple training! We'll compromise! No violence!"
"Rules are rules, Issei," Rias said, her eyes glowing. "Even if Lucian is my cousin and my favorite Bishop, he broke the line. And Lucian... do you want me to inform Grayfia that her favorite nephew ran off to fight a Church maniac and got himself hurt?"
Lucian's face went pale. The thought of Grayfia "The Silver-Haired Queen" finding out made his blood run cold. She wouldn't just beat him; she'd lock him in a dimensional sub-space for a century.
"She'd lock me in a room and never let me out," Lucian muttered, shaking his head violently.
"Exactly," Rias said, her smile widening. "So, time for punishment. Akeno, would you care to assist?"
"Ara, ara," Akeno giggled, her violet eyes sparking with electricity. "Lucian-kun, I hope you enjoy this as much as I will."
"First, let's start with Koneko," Rias said, turning toward the tiny Rook.
Issei, ever the hero of the harem, stepped in front of her. "I'll take the punishment for Koneko, President! Punish me instead!"
"Wow, Issei-kun, how brave," Rias said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Fine. Sixty beatings for you. And Lucian... thirty for you."
The next ten minutes were a chorus of agony. Akeno delivered Issei's punishment with a sadistic glee that involved literal lightning-infused swats, while Rias closed in on Lucian.
"Rias, please... we can talk about this!" Lucian pleaded, backing away.
"No, no," Saji shouted from his own circle, his first round finally over. "Don't do thirty, President Gremory! Do sixty! That scoundrel Lucian is the one who dragged me into the mud!"
"Saji," Sona's voice echoed from behind him. "It's time for your second round."
"NO! PLEASE! I ONLY JUST FINISHED THE FIRST ONE!"
Lucian didn't have time to pity Saji. Rias's magic circle hummed, and for the first time in his new life, the "Elegant Prince" was bent over a stone bench.
SMACK!
"GYAAH!" Lucian cried out. It wasn't just physical; it was the sting of Gremory mana hitting his ego. Rias was hitting him much harder than she was hitting Issei—likely as a "premium" for the jealousy she'd felt earlier regarding Akeno.
The Broken Prince and the Queen's Lap
By the time the groups returned to the Kuoh Academy dorms, Lucian looked like a broken man. Rias was practically carrying him, his arm draped over her neck, his feet dragging slightly on the carpet.
"I can't even walk," Lucian pouted, his face flushed with a mix of shame and residual mana-sting. "You're a tyrant, Rias."
"I'm a King who looks after her pieces," Rias replied, though she was doting on him now, her fingers occasionally brushing his hair.
Once they were back in the inner sanctum of the Gremory quarters, Lucian slumped into a chair. "I'm not talking to you, Rias. Don't look at me."
"Oh? Is my darling Bishop being petty?" Rias teased, leaning down to kiss his cheek.
Before she could continue, the door opened. Yubelluna and Tamamo stepped in, both looking at Lucian with a mixture of concern and disappointment.
"Master, you have been beaten very thoroughly, it seems," Yubelluna said, her orange mana flickering. She walked over and immediately began to massage Lucian's shoulders.
"You should have told us you were going to break the Church," Tamamo added, her fox tails fluffing up in indignation as she hopped onto Lucian's lap, nuzzling his chest. "We would have come to assist. We wouldn't have let you get... smacked... by the President."
Both women were now doting on him—Yubelluna was using her healing magic to soothe the sting, while Tamamo was gently kissing his hands.
Rias stood by the door, watching the scene. Her smile slowly vanished. She saw the way Lucian was melting into Yubelluna's touch and the way Tamamo was possessively clinging to him. The "Bishop" she had just punished was now being pampered by his own personal Queen and Familiar.
"Lucian?" Rias called out.
"Don't talk to me," Lucian muttered into Yubelluna's lap. "I'm an injured party. Talk to your Knight."
Rias's eyes began to twitch. The jealousy she had tried to suppress earlier came roaring back. She looked at the trio—the Bishop curled up like a king surrounded by his concubines—and felt a sharp, burning pang in her chest.
"Fine!" Rias snapped, her voice cracking slightly. "I don't care! I don't care at all! Enjoy your 'recovery'!"
She spun on her heel, slammed the door shut, and marched down the hallway. "I don't care," she muttered to herself, her fists clenched. "He's just a Bishop. A petty, beautiful, over-pampered Bishop."
Inside the room, Lucian looked up at the door, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "She's definitely going to double my house arrest tomorrow, isn't she?"
"Most likely, Master," Yubelluna whispered, leaning down to kiss his forehead. "But for tonight, you belong to us."