After Venelana guzzled all his cum that had built up overnight, she went back to sleep. She was "As sore as if she'd finished a Rating Game" in her own words, and her legs couldn't carry her weight, so she chose to get some more rest. When Harry left, her eyes were closed and her head was laid on the pillow, a little trail of his cum running down her cheek, having escaped her lips in time to avoid being swallowed.
Harry's exquisite suit from the night before sounded like it would chaff in a horrible way, so Harry conjured a replacement outfit; simple jeans and a shirt that hung loose on his torso and showed a lot of his muscular arms.
He collected the suit, hanging it over his forearm, and picked his way out of Venelana's private wing of the Gremory mansion, moving in search of Rias or Akeno or Fleur.
Since it was the first time he'd ever been here, and because there were other things on his mind the night before, he didn't recall the right path to take. Wandering didn't lead him to a familiar face.
Instead, Harry stepped through a door that had been left open and discovered himself in a lavish sitting room. A blonde woman perched on one of two couches looked up at him.
Harry's first thought was: Ravel?
The differences were apparent, though… Particularly when it came to cup size. The woman facing Harry was clearly an adult, rather than a young woman like Ravel. She boasted an immense pair of tits that could compete with Venelana herself. Harry wanted to say she and the Gremory matriarch were close in age… But that assumption was based on nothing but their outward appearance. Pesky, almost unaging devils made things like judging how long they'd been alive nearly impossible.
There was a brief staring contest while Harry wondered if he'd wandered somewhere he wasn't supposed to be, mostly on account of the impassive look on this woman's face.
Then, her face broke into an amused smile.
"I take it Venelana won't be joining me today?" she asked.
"Err… She's sleeping in," Harry said.
"Mhm. Probably because she did very little sleeping last night, choosing to replace it with a form of exercise," the woman said.
"Well…" Harry said.
She laughed. "No need to dance around the subject. I've been her friend for long enough to understand her type. Let's see, I imagine she used the excuse of testing you for her daughter?"
Harry's silence told a story.
"That sounds like her," this woman snorted. "It's all hogwash, of course. You're her type. If you weren't tied to her daughter, she would've seduced you with some other pretense." The woman touched her lips with her finger, tilting her head while looking admiringly. "I must say, though, I'm impressed! I've seen Venelana need time to recover before, but I've never seen her lover up BEFORE her. You must have quite the set of skills. No wonder Rias took a liking to you!"
"You know who I am, ma'am?" Harry asked.
The devil blinked, leaning back slightly in surprise. The gesture was followed by a clarion giggle.
"How polite! To answer your question, yes, I know of you, Harry Potter," she said. "After last night, you'll find it difficult to locate a pureblood devil who doesn't. A reincarnated devil causes a scene, defeats a Maou, and declares his love for a pureblood heiress. Talk about becoming an overnight sensation! But I know you much better than the average devil, given that two of my children refuse to shut up about you."
The woman said the words with an easy smile on her face, giving away no deeper emotions and certainly showing no hint of anger. Her words confirmed the suspicions Harry had harbored ever since he walked in.
"Lady Phenex?" Harry asked.
Lady Phenex rested her chin on her hands with the fingers flat, accentuating the snow white ballroom gloves she was wearing. "Well deduced. Come here, Harry: take a seat."
He approached the couch across from hers, slightly uncertain about how this would go.
Her demeanor had been pleasant, if a little bit teasing. She was Venelana's friend. She was also the mother of Riser, who had been—frankly—a total prick. Ravel was more likable, but a bit off of her rocker. No matter which of her children she took after, Harry felt the need to approach Lady Phenex with a reasonable amount of apprehension.
"You made quite the impression," Lady Phenex said.
"On your son, or your daughter?" Harry asked.
"Both! In fact, I'd go as far as saying neither of them have been the same since they met you," Lady Phenex said. "Riser is terrified. For the first time since he was born, he fears for his life. He believes you would've killed him."
Truthfully, Harry didn't WANT to kill Riser; he wanted the boy to know that he could die. The boy had to really feel it in his bones, the way all other mortals did.
That arrogance, the belief he could come back no matter what, was an affront to life. It bothered Harry on an intrinsic level. He had no regrets about the approach that he took.
"I won't apologize," Harry said.
"Apologize? His father and I would like to thank you!" Lady Phenex
said.
Harry was stumped. He considered the possibility that she wouldn't hold a grudge over it, but never outright gratitude.
"Why?" Harry said.
Before answering, Lady Phenex reached out to the coffee table that sat between their couches, picking up a cup of tea from beside a book. She held her hand over the cup and her palm caught fire, heating the tea until it was almost boiling. Then, she brought the tea to her lips and took a sip, suffering no adverse effects.
"Do you know what the leading cause of death is in our family?" she asked.
"Water?" Harry said. It stood to reason that a family who relied on fire might be overcome by a more powerful user of the opposite element, like a prominent member of the Sitri Clan.
His guess was way off the mark.
"It's arrogance," Lady Phenex said. "We can heal until our magic power depletes, yet our family has never produced a Satan Class devil. Do you know what would happen if my husband or my eldest son, the strongest Devils in our clan, fought with Serafall the way that you did?"
Lady Phenex sipped her superheated tea again before answering her rhetorical question. "They would be reduced to embers over and over again. Whether it took a hundred times or a thousand, they would be defeated until they finally couldn't come back. Then, they would die. An infinite cycle of losses: that's the fate that we Phenex's risk when we pick a fight we can't handle."
"You think Riser was on track for that," Harry said.
"He thought he couldn't lose," Lady Phenex said. "You taught him that he very much can, without actually taking things too far. Of course I should be thanking you."
"I didn't do it for him," Harry said. "I did it for Rias."
"Still, it all worked out in the end," Lady Phenex said.
Harry wasn't thrilled to be hearing that from one of the people behind the arranged marriage in the first place. Venelana, Lady Phenex, and their two husbands were the ones that orchestrated the situation; even if they weren't holding grudges that it hadn't gone the way they hoped, Harry would've preferred an apology to Rias instead of treating everything as water under the bridge.
The only reason he hadn't forced them to apologize was because he was already on thin ice with pureblooded devils. Maybe after the Bael Clan's threat was reduced, he could look at getting some true reparations.
"Now, my daughter on the other hand… What you've done to HER definitely gave me a real headache!" Lady Phenex said.
Harry thought back to what Ravel told him during the ball, before Eneely Vassago acted out and interrupted, turning himself into Harry's original target for the night.
"Right. Her letters," Harry said in a restrained voice.
"It seems she told you about her antics," Lady Phenex said. "Sending pictures like that… It's far more improper than I can allow. I'm sure you can understand."
"Of course," Harry said.
"That's only one symptom of her behavior, though," Lady Phenex sighed. "The real issue is that she refuses to shut up about you. Breakfast, dinner, lunch, the chatter never stops. You've turned my girl into a talker, Mr. Potter. She's got her sights set on being your Bishop. As soon as she learned you have your own Evil Pieces already, it's been her only goal."
"Is it possible to trade pieces?" Harry asked.
Lady Phenex smiled. "Yes, it's an easy ritual. If you have any Bishop Pieces left, you'll give it to me in exchange for Ravel. She DID mention that she's in my peerage, didn't she? I certainly hope so, given how seriously she claims to be taking this. What do you think of accepting Ravel, Harry?"
He noticed that she used his first name this time, rather than "Mr. Potter" like she called him before. Maybe this conversation topic was considered more intimate, since it came to her daughter?
"If Ravel's made her mind up, I won't turn her down," Harry said. "I think the better question is, are YOU interested in that trade?"
They didn't know each other very well. Especially when the matter being discussed was basically handing over her daughter.
"The idea doesn't offend me. All the same, I'd like more time before I make my choice," Lady Phenex said. "As irritating as Ravel can be at times, I'm not ready to give her away so easily. If that chick wants to fly out of the nest, she needs to land somewhere safe."
She wanted to observe Harry, in other words. Fair. Less than 24 hours ago Harry had effectively painted a neon target on his back for the number one clan in the 72 Pillars and all of their retainers.
His feat of disabling Serafall was impressive, but Lady Phenex couldn't be certain that he would survive repercussions. If she traded Ravel now, and Harry was crushed, her daughter could go down with him.
It was a rational choice for her to hold off, especially since they were devils who could measure their time in centuries.
Harry wished her luck explaining that to Ravel, though. He was CERTAIN the plucky young blond would throw a tantrum.
"Fair enough," Harry said. "Take your time."
His eyes fell on the book on the table next to Lady Phenex's tea saucer. The title was something about a princess, while the cover featured a beautiful woman leaning piningly out of a stone window. Lady Phenex saw him look at it.
"Are you curious?" Lady Phenex asked. "Venelana and I have been holding a private bookclub for centuries. We're both avid readers. Our tastes are almost identical in most things, literature included."
"That's nice," Harry said. He genuinely meant it, although the thought of ancient and powerful devils having such a mundane hobby gave him whiplash.
"Yes, it can be the highlight of my week. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Venelana will be joining me this morning. I'll head back once I've finished my tea, and try my luck next week," Lady Phenex said.
"Sorry about that," Harry said wryly.
"Yes, your youthful vigor has caused me quite the inconvenience," Lady Phenex said with a smirk. "And while we're on the topic of youth, I should give these to you."
Harry couldn't help how his eyes widened as she reached down the front of her red dress. Her wrist brushed her elaborate pendants as she rummaged around her expansive cleavage. Her hand emerged holding a bundle of letters.
Her dress didn't have pockets, certainly, but to think she'd use THAT for storage…
"Letters," Lady Phenex said, extending them to Harry, who felt slightly indecent touching them as he accepted them. "From my daughter. Thoroughly screened by myself, of course."
"Thank you," Harry said. He took the letters and set them in his lap, watching as Lady Phenex slurped down the rest of her tea. His eyes dipped down to her breasts, watching how they bounced when she moved her arm to place the cup on its saucer.
"Ah… Gremory tea always hits the spot. Your company has been appreciated, Harry, in place of Venelana. What do you say about joining us again sometime?" Lady Phenex queeried. "More company is always welcome."
"I'm not a dedicated reader. I probably haven't read what you two have," Harry said.
"You should start!" Lady Phenex said. "Reading is fantastic for broadening your horizons. Here, take my copy of our current book! I have a spare back home."
She pressed the book into Harry's hands, who set it down on top of Ravel's letters.
"I suppose I can read some when I have free time," Harry said.
Lady Phenex smiled at him. "Just when I thought you couldn't be any more of a complete package. A willingness to try new things!"
She stood up, her tits bouncing when she did. The tightness of her dress wasn't sufficient to hold them down, leading to a jiggle any time that she moved.
"When you see her, tell Venelana that I'm sorry to have missed her," Lady Phenex said. "That is, if the two do any talking at all. Adieu!"
She left via a teleportation circle near the back of the room; it might have been erected for her personally, because when she teleported, her disappearance was heralded by a rush of flames instead of the usual red glow.
Left alone, Harry turned to the things that he'd been given. He started with the book, just because it was on top.
The blurb on the inside cover described it as a love story. Harry read the first few pages, then started to skim out of curiosity. Suddenly, his eyes widened.
He'd landed on a sex scene.
Not a tame one, either. The male character had the heroine pinned against a wall… Oh, now he had her ankles above her head… Hold on, did that just say he thrust into her ass?
Harry didn't blush (he'd been married to Fleur too long for that, he wasn't a child) but his mouth did hang open slightly at the sheer risqueness of what Lady Phenex shoved into his hands. His dick took shape in his pants, still moderately sore from his night with Venelana.
Harry put the book back on the table for now, switching to Ravel's letters to distract himself.
They weren't the first love letters that he'd received from young, starry eyed women. They might be a bit sappy, but Harry expected them to be sweet. He opened the first envelope—
Instead of letters, a batch of pictures slid out, scattering around Harry's lap.
His dick immediately got even harder. Imagine his surprise to see the nudes Ravel talked about. Lady Phenex hadn't confiscated them at all.
Ravel had performed all kinds of poses. In one, she'd taken a photo in the mirror trying to block her nipples with her finger's reflection while the finger itself blocked a view of her crotch. She'd the angle slightly wrong, though, so he could still see one of her nipples and the lips of her pussy. Ravel sent another picture taken on her stomach in bed, naked and showing her cute bare ass. In another photo, she was sitting down with her legs spread, the camera looking straight up her body and capturing her whole pussy; this position was so frontal and embarrassing that she'd been unable to look into the camera, averting her eyes with a raging blush.
But Ravel's nudes were only HALF of the photos. The other half were none other than Lady Phenex herself.
They were copies of Ravel's photos, only each one was executed to perfection. The mirror selfie, for example, showed Lady Phenex wearing her golden necklaces but nothing else, successfully blocking the nubs of her massive breasts and hiding all of her pussy lips, only showing him the dusting of gold hair in the vicinity. Although it showed less than her daughter's picture, it was more arousing because of it.
Lady Phenex's photo on her stomach took advantage of her huge breasts, pushing them forward in a way that showed her nipples in the photograph in a way Ravel's modest assets never could've achieved. The photo with Lady Phenex's legs spread, which was the most revealing photo in the entire collection, showed her staring dead into the camera, smirking invitingly. She was so far beyond embarrassment, there was no chance of her averting her eyes like her daughter. Her fingers were in her crotch, spreading the lips of her cunt to show Harry what was inside.
Harry realized that Lady Phenex didn't consider nudes improper at all. What was improper was how sloppy Ravel's nudes had been. If you were going to tempt a man, Lady Phenex believed you should do it properly.
The photo with her legs spread had a note scrawled on it, written in lipstick that matched the one she was wearing in the photo.
The note said: Do your homework, Harry. We hope to see you at bookclub soon.
The note had been signed with a kiss, imprinting the outline of her putty lips. Harry glanced back at the book, recalling what he'd glimpsed within its pages, and imagined himself putting the milfs of Houses Phenex and Gremory through treatment like that; after his night with Venelana and the provided pictures of Lady Phenex, he had plenty of material to feed his imagination.
Harry stood up abruptly, using his magic to gather the photos and his things as fast as possible, leaving the room and heading to the other side of the mansion.
Fleur, Rias, Akeno, Tonks, or Koneko… He didn't really care which he found first, but he knew the first thing he was going to do with them now. He had steam to blow off.
Lady Phenex was clearly an expert at getting a man worked up.
He'd have to show her the fruits of her labors the next time they met.
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