The room fell into silence after Grayfia's admonishments, Rias only stared off into the distance with barely repressed fury buried beneath the surface. While her two servants couldn't bare to meet anyone's gaze at their King's attitude. In moments like these, it really showed exact how different the two heiress's truly were. One was spoiled rotten while the other put out a refined air of some kind of CEO overlooking an entire country.
Suddenly, the paper doors slid open with a soft click that instantly dragged their attention away from the awkward moment. There, a gaggle of servants were nearly folding in on themselves as they bowed to the blonde standing in the middle.
She wore a bright yellow kimono that emphasized her impressive curves, long blonde locks tied up in a large bun and golden tails that lightly waved in an unseen breeze. A small, familiar smile could be seen on her face as the Kitsune looked at the collection.
Grayfia knew that smile was a bit forced indeed.
"Welcome, noble Devils." Yasaka tilted her head in deference, not for them in particular but for the force they represented. "My name is Yasaka and it is a pleasure to meet all of you."
"Thank you Yasaka-sama for having us on such short knowledge," Millicas, the ever dutiful young master of House Gremory, stood and bowed to the ancient Yokai with the grace that belied his age," My name is Millicas of House Gremory. It is an honor to meet you!"
Those golden eyes scanned the boy before her, that smile growing into something more genuine and flickered over to the silent silver haired woman.
'This is your son?'
Those slit orbs seem to say.
Grayfia only slightly nodded, the pride in she felt evident in her heart as she looked on lovingly at the boy that had already come so far. His first foreign meeting and he hadn't completely fallen in on himself with nerves.
"Greetings Yasaka-sama." Sona stood up next and bowed in conjunction to her two servants, their stance stiff and deferential. "My name is Sona of House Sitri and these are my two peerage members. Tsubaki Shinra, my Queen, and Tsubasa Yura, my Rook."
That only left a single group to introduce themselves and it was safe to say none of them were all to elegant about it. Sure Rias bowed and smiled stiffly, but that's where things began to fall apart.
"Hello, my name is Rias of House Gremory. And these are my two peerage members. Himejima Akena, my Queen and Toujou Koneko, my Rook."
In contrast to their King's greetings, her servants did not follow in step. Akeno, for one looked like she had seen a ghost. Her already pale skin going a few shades paler as she looked at the ancient Yokai with an expression of both shock and fear. Whatever the girl saw, had shaken her deep within her core and could only quickly look down at the floor barely holding herself together. Despite being shaken, she still kept to the lessons that House Gremory had hammered into her while growing up.
The same couldn't be said for the white haired cat who leap back from the Kitsune like she was some kind of predator corning a rabbit. Small triangle shaped ears popped out of hiding beneath those ashen locks, golden eyes wide and slitted as she nearly collapsed onto all fours to escape the dangerous..thing before them.
"Well met." Yasaka promptly ignored the strange happenings and took a seat at the head of the table, a servant placing another hot pot of tea before retreating. Waving her billowing sleeves, she signaled for them to all take their seats. "What can I do for you? Why has two different heiresses and an heir see fit to visit a..backwater like this?"
It took all of Grayfia's significant self control not to flinch at those words,'That's not good.'
She was sure her isolation barrier was enough to block out all sounds and rebuff any attempts of scying on their location. It was a strong barrier that should've been enough to block out even the strongest of hearing capabilities with casual ease. There had even been a few noble partie-
"Please forgive us, we won't disrespect you further by giving you an excuse." Millicas bowed deeper to the serene looking Kitsune and she had to admit that it was incredibly cute. The words coming out his mouth, the pristine etiquette and appearance all came together to make him seem like a child trying his best to play at an adult's game. Or maybe it was just the boyish shorts that made him all the more adorable.
"While it does pain me to say," Yasaka motioned for a nearby servant to pour her some tea as the tension in the room slowly rose to near untenable levels,"Despite my hard work over the last couple of centuries, my faction will still be considered a backwater. Before, it would've taken something drastic indeed for my people to gain independence and be recognized officially. Like being forced to marry myself or my daughter off."
The silver haired woman only visibly flinched from her calm words, the airy way in which she spoke didn't match the incredibly dark pronouncement. Everything the leader had said was true and in-fact, there had been a mighty few scions who tried to do exactly that. People wanted what they could not have, especially Devils. All those 'proposals' hadn't even made it out of just simply talking, no one actually dared to try cornering an Ultimate-Class being like that. But knowing Sirzech's pension to spoil with sister and son, he would've supported such a motion. Without a second thought to their shared history.
'That's probably why her daughter isn't anywhere in sight…'
The two should be around a similar age and if she were to catch Millicas's eye, Grayfia didn't hesitate to believe that her husband wouldn't be pushing for the young girl to join his son's peerage once he became old enough. And if it was before, there would be nothing Yasaka or really anyone could to stop such a thing from happening.
Until now, with that monster back in play every faction head were walking around on eggshells in fear of drawing the man's ire.
"But with my Master back, I think thing's are getting ready to change," Her golden eyes flickered over to mature crimson orbs that stared vigilantly,"Hopefully for the better that is. Now what is that can we do for you?"
"Thank you Yasaka-sama." Sona bowed along with her servants, a few beads of sweat dripped down the side of her temple but despite that her face remained blank. "As you know, House Sitri primarily specializes in medicine and other medical practices. We have heard about your improved Spirit Fruits and wish to collect a few samples to see if they can be used medically...We don't expect anything for free and are willing to pay a negotiable increased price to acquire them."
"Yes, I have heard of House Sitri," The blonde nodded, "There are quite the few hospitals under your families name around the globe. As I've told the diplomat you sent, the fruits are not yet done. They will take awhile to develop properly and even longer before they are ready to harvested….But given all the good your family has done, I'll what I can do."
"Thank you, Yasaka-sama." The Sitri heiress bowed deeply at the Kitsune's kindness. But Grayfia knew it wasn't that in the slightest. Despite how polite Sona was being now, that wasn't exactly how all those from House Sitri were to the Yokai. Before coming here, she had gone through the long lists of complaints that the 72 Pillars had in the past with this faction. And gazing upon the sudden influx of goods from the Yokai to smooth over these 'complaints'.
And from what she could see, a good number of them came from the Sitri. Their demands weren't for gold or any other currency, they wanted the faction's Spirit Plums and other raw herbs that had medicinal properties.
So it was safe to say that whatever price Sona thought she was going to be paying, would not be anywhere near the mark.
"I just wish to explore Kyoto," Rias pipped up as the conversation was getting ready to wind down," I've heard a lot of your cities beauty and desire to see it with my own eyes before school goes back into session."
"I will have a guide prepared for you." The look in Yasaka's golden eyes was enough to know that she wasn't fooled by the red head's innocent facade, at all. The heiress had never had to lie to get what she wanted and it truly showed there. "There will be a few locations that will not be opened to tourists, these locations will be properly outlined for you. Failure to adhere to these guidelines will force me to not only ban you from Kyoto, but also force me to reconsider your lease of Kuoh Town."
"I-" The red head looked as though she had sucked on a lemon, an extra sour one at that. "I believe that is..a bit harsh, don't you think? I can accept being banned from Kyoto, but that particular lease is not just with the Sitri and my house but also the combined signatures of two separate Satans. We're allies, are we not? Then what exactly do you have to hide?"
'Oh Satan,' Grayfia wanted to absolutely strangled her husband in that moment, and not in the fun way,' What you done, Sirzechs?'
If there was one the red head was good at, it was definitely throwing around weight that wasn't her own. The sheer levels of thickness her skin, must be something so infinitely profound that even comets would bounce off ineffectually. So much so that even the youngest there, Millicas, could only look at the girl as though she had grown a second head.
This wasn't the first time Rias had threw around her 'weight' to get what she wanted. In fact, each of her servants had been claimed in a similar fashion. Kiba from the Church, Akeno from the Himejime Clan, Gasper from the Vladi family and Koneko from the majority of the Underworld. But unlike those times, she wouldn't getting her way this time around.
"Oh?" Yasaka's eyes dropped into mere slits as she sipped at the small porcelain cup, all nine tails waving in an unseen breeze. "Devil Houses? Satans? What do they matter to me? None of them would dare come here themselves, especially not over such a poultry matter as this. And as for secrets? You must know that all factions have their own secrets and that no one is entitled to know everything. You only have two options here. Either take the guide and abide by the rules I have placed before you or leave. I will not repeat myself."
"I-"
Just as a sudden red flush crawled up the heiress's neck that almost matched her hair in hue and lungs expanded with a heavy intake of air, Grayfia decided to jump in before things became too untenable.
"Millicas will go with Rias and Lady Sitri on the tour," Her voice was cold and cut through the tension with the precision of finely crafted steel. Despite how the betrayed look on her son's face stabbed at her heart, this needed to be done. Her sister-in-law had been shown too argumentative and actively sabotaging the purpose in which why Sirzechs sent her. Hopefully, the upcoming conversation would be enough to smoothing things over,"He has not seen much of the world and it would good for him to experience that firsthand before he's forced to act as a foreign diplomat."