When Alex walked into her room, he found Grayfia sitting on a couch awaiting his arrival in her maid outfit. He noticed she seemed extremely stiff however, and became serious. She then stood and said,"Please sit on the other couch, I"ll get the refreshments." Alex nodded and sat on the couch opposite her. A few short minutes later, and there was a tray of tea and various snacks sitting on the table between them. After sharing greetings with each other as well as small talk, Grayfia seemed to become even more serious, and started explaining why she asked him to see her.
"The reason I asked you to come here, is because I need your help. I"m sure you"ve heard of the suspicions placed against me due to my former allegiance to the old Maou faction?" Alex nodded and said,
"Yes, I heard that you and Sirzechs started your relationship after fighting against each other on the battlefield, and that it became quite the favored love story after that. Then when we reported that Euclid was alive, they immediately suspected your involvement and placed you under house arrest." Grayfia nodded and said,
"That is a small amount of the problems Sirzechs and I faced, but you get the general idea. The issues started when we first married, and that is why I became his queen evil piece. They were simply reignited when Euclid was confirmed to be alive, and the flames have been fanned ever since. After Sirzechs left, those who are about to lose power over the issue involving the king pieces have tried to use the same argument as a last ditch effort to keep their power. Now they are also trying to draw Millicas into the dispute, and are trying to take him from me under the argument that I"m trying to turn him into a puppet Maou like his father."
Alex didn"t know what to say in response to her words. He didn"t know if the reasons she tried to make issei a Maou in the series were the same, as it was never clarified why she desired to, but he could imagine that this might have something to do with it, and why she tried to hide her ident.i.ty as "Bina". He then became angry, as she was a simple mother trying to live peacefully with her son, yet they were trying to sacrifice her and her son for their own gain. However Alex had no intentions of becoming a Maou, and asked her,
"As much as I want to help you, and I will, what is it you"re trying to ask me to do?" Grayfia looked as if she struggled for a very brief second, and said,
"I would like to serve you, and make you a Maou." He sighed as she said exactly what he expected, but Grayfia sighed at his reaction for a very different reason. She already knew that Alex didn"t have any drive for positions of power, and had announced exactly that to the devil world as a whole during the youth Devils meeting. But she also knew that this is what made him the ideal candidate, as he wouldn"t become corrupt in the pursuit of power. She then said,
"I understand that ama.s.sing power isn"t an interest for you, but I wish that you"ll understand. In the future I believe the entire underworld will wish for the same thing, and I wish to help you achieve it." Alex started laughing slightly at her words, and Grayfia narrowed her eyes in annoyance. After laughing he then said,
"And why would I want to do that?" She breathed in and tried to calm herself, and replied,
"Because it is the pinnacle of power in the devil world, beside the great kings. And I believe-" Alex then interrupted her,
"No no no, what I mean is why would I want such a low cla.s.s position that won"t even exist in my eyes?" At his words Grayfia looked dumbfounded, and tried to process what he just said. She knew that the Maou were considered more of a figurehead by those like the great king who were in power, but the actual authority they had wasn"t small. She then tried to imagine what he might be aiming for that a Maou would be considered "low cla.s.s". The only thing she could arrive at were positions like a ruler over all the G.o.ds and factions that currently exist like a dictator. But that didn"t fit his image, so she was severely confused, while the smile on Alex"s face grew wider.
"Would you like to know what I"m planning to do?" Grayfia closed her eyes, and took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself. She then asked,
"So what are your plans for the future? What are you aiming for, that the Maou don"t even exist in your eyes?" Alex smiled again and said,
"To know the answer to that question, you"ll need to work with me, but the conditions of doing so are your choice. So there are two options for you to choose from when it comes to working together, the first one is a normal work relationship where you follow and work for me, but our relationship stays as a boss and employee. The second one," Alex then stopped his words and placed something small on the table in between them. Grayfias eyes widened once more, when she saw a p.a.w.n evil piece. Alex then said,
"I already gave away my queen so I"ll have to apologize, but I figured a p.a.w.n that doesn"t specialize in any attribute would be best for you, instead of changing your way of fighting with knight, rook, or bishop piece. I won"t lie, I wouldn"t deny a physical relationship with you Grayfia. If we decided to go with first option, then our relation will stay purely professional, but if you decide to accept my evil piece then you"ll also become my woman. I won"t force you, if you want to today, or tomorrow, or five years from now. I"ll give you as long as you need to get over Sirzechs." Grayfia had no idea how to respond to Alex"s proposal, and contrary to his expectation, her eyes grew even bigger. He then continued explaining,
"The differences to each proposal is that with the first one is like your current position, serving the entire house as the head maid if you wish to keep that position. The second option is exactly like when you served Sirzechs, you"ll follow me into battle and serve my house, while also being my woman. In both situations you and Millicas will stay under my protection, and I swear he will never be exploited, or harmed by others." As he finished talking, Grayfia was stunned as she picked up and examined the evil piece.
So many questions filled her head, but according to Alex whichever choice she made wouldn"t impact if she heard the answers, so she just focused on the choice in front of her. As she thought about it, she was struck by a sudden realization, she was thinking about it! She was shocked by this, as she should"ve immediately denied his offer and stayed faithful to her husband, but part of her couldn"t deny that she still felt bitter towards him. Her feeling had eased after she finally watched the recording, but it had returned in full force without her noticing after the suspicions started again, and they started targeting her son.
She then couldn"t help but to ask herself, accept the evil piece, become Alex"s woman and move on from Sirzechs; or deny it and stay faithful towards the man who left her alone to deal with those who are trying to destroy what she cared about most? He might not have done it on purpose, but the current issue wouldn"t have developed if she wasn"t around for them to target. There was also the fact that regardless of what option she chose, even if she stayed with him, she wouldn"t see him for at least ten thousand years, and that was if they defeated trihexia ahead of schedule.
As Grayfia thought about accepting his evil piece, Alex sat there and waited, and waited. He sat there for what felt like, and what he confirmed were hours, as Grayfia pondered the hardest choice in her life. As he waited Alex couldn"t help but be reminded that he did something similar to Rias when they first met. Night had fallen by the time Grayfia started talking again.
"I"ll accept." Was all she simply said, as she activated the evil piece and became his servant. Alex smiled, but wiped it off his face as it looked as if she was about to cry. He stood to help her, but Grayfia raised her hand to stop him and said,
"Even if I declined, serving you for the next several thousands of years before seeing him again would most likely change things anyways, at least now I"m making the choice ahead of time. And Sirzechs said in the recording he left me, he wanted me to become happy with life even though he wasn"t here. Though I doubt he meant moving on from him, I also doubt he would expect me to suffer just to remain faithful to a man I won"t see again in all that time, or possibly ever." Alex sighed at Grayfia"s explanation, and couldn"t deny her words.
It was very possible that his life could end while fighting trihexia, as anything could happen. In other words, it was possible that Sirzechs could die at any moment, or even he already has, and Grayfia wouldn"t even know for thousands of years. It was even possible that she"d stay waiting for the rest of her life if the fight never ended. He knew he hadn"t died yet, but who knew what would happen in the future? Alex agree with her though, as he couldn"t imagine making a girl wait that long for him, and he would want her to simply be happy. He then said to her,
"I suppose I"ll start explaining now." And launched into the explanations of his past, and his future intentions. He also stated that Kuroka was the one he gave his queen piece to, and Grayfia"s face became stern in response. He imagined that Kuroka would suffer quite a bit in the near future. When he got to a separate world he controlled called a
Asora, Grayfia became interested and he explained further,
"It"s also where I would send Millicas, and he"ll be safe as we travel around in the other worlds. As my p.a.w.n you"ll be able to transfer back and forth whenever you want, so you could see him anytime while we travel. Plus, he"ll probably have many friends from those we meet in the other worlds, and that will probably join us then as well." Grayfia smiled when she heard this, as it meant that her son would grow up in a world without the corruption of the Devils government.
As they continued talking, she found that her decision to ask Alex for help was the right one, and her impression of him was actually improving with every minute. They even confirmed that she would be his queen in the Azazel cup, under another name though. A certain thought haunted her mind though, Alex had said that she didn"t need to accept him until she was ready, but she felt that if she kept putting it off she"ll forever have the shadow of a thought that she"ll return to Sirzechs someday if she waited. She then steeled her heart, and stood up.
"What"s wrong?" Alex asked as he saw the look on her face. Grayfia didn"t say anything, and simply undid something on her maid dress, that then fell to the floor, leaving her standing there in her black bra and panties. He looked amazed at what he saw, then looked at Grayfia with a look of confusion, and concern. She then explained,
"If I wait, then it"s possible I"ll forever harbor the hope that I"ll return to Sirzechs someday. I already agreed to become yours, so make it a fact tonight."