After they confessed to each other, Anabelle was so happy and glowing as Austin drove them back home. She kept looking at him all the way back as if he was the only thing in her world.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Austin asked as he could notice her intense gaze from miles.
"Just looking at my lovely and super-duper handsome boyfriend, got a problem with that?" She said with eyes filled with so much love and adoration that it felt suffocating, but Austin got used to such intensity long time ago.
"Then enjoy, my silly girlfriend~" he said in a teasing tone.
This made Anabelle giggle making him do the same as if affected by her.
Some minutes later, they arrived at their house. Austin parked the car before going out and opened the door for Anabelle like a true gentleman.
"My lady~" he said as he extended his hand to her which she took without hesitation.
"My handsome knight~" she responded then both of them went inside the house together.
Once he opened the door with his key, a silverfish meteorite crashed into him with excessive energy never seen before. He, of course, managed to catch it and hug it tightly.
It was Nezha.
"Papa is back! Hehe~" her giggle was so infectious that he couldn't help but kiss her cheeks and forehead making her giggle more and hug him back nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck planting a secret kiss there and inhaling his deep addictive scent in strong breaths. "Papa's warmness~"
Then she noticed Anabelle looking at her with a gaze that said 'I'm leagues above you' kind of thing which made Nezha's eyes twitch before suddenly she bit her father's neck.
Austin reacted and stiffened for a bit before relaxing again. He pulled her back and looked at her. "Why did you do that, Nezha?"
"I felt like doing it Papa, did I bother you?" She said with a sad face as her eyes became moist which melted his heart immediately and caressed her head softly then said. "Do you know what does that mean?" He asked clearly knew the meaning of her doing that.
He got it from his inherited dragnoic knowledge after all and knew that when a female dragon bite the neck of a male one that meant a promise of eternal partnership, in other words, a promise of marriage and declaration that this male is hers.
That if done by a mature female dragon.
But if a young female dragon like Nezha did it, especially to her father that meant an expression of familial affection and closeness to him.
She looked confused by his words that she titled het head cutely with her tiny finger on her chin expressing a thoughtful expression making her look so adorable that Austin had the urge to shower her with kisses again as she was just this adorable.
"Ah, there is a weird woman here wanting to see you, Papa." She said as she finally remembered.
"Weird woman?" He wondered before walking to the living room.
Anabelle was looking at Nezha with a fire burning eyes as the little girl looked at her with a smug smile while being in her father's embrace.
'This little devil!'
.
.
.
.
.
Walking into the living room, Austin saw his mother who immediately sighed in relief and hugged him tightly inhaling his scent that calmed her down.
She still felt nervous when he wasn't around her, after all, the trauma of the past still lingered within her.
As he hugged his mother, he looked at the same silver haired maid who visited him last time, Grayfia.
"Why did you come? I don't have anything to say to your king." Austin said as he looked at her with an indifferent and commanding expression as he caressed his mother's silky blonde hair.
Grayfia looked at him and bowed softly out of respect.
"I greet you, my lord." Her voice was cold yet soft at the same time fitting her image of the strict and disciplined maid of the Gremory.
Austin nodded and walked to the couch along with his mother and Nezha who was still in his arms.
He sat down, his mother beside him and Nezha still on his lap.
Grayfia looked at the little girl that had a similar silver hair to her and wondered if anyone would think that she was her daughter due to these similarities.
"Sit." Austin said making her sit down on the couch opposite to him unconsciously following his order like last time.
"So, why did you come here this time? As I said, I think I don't have anything to say to your king anymore."
Grayfia went silent for a moment before parting her red full lips and said. "I didn't come here per Sirzechs-sama's orders, my lord."
To this, Austin raised an eyebrow in confusion as he wondered her reason for coming here if not for following Sirzechs's orders.
Austin, after all, didn't have a good opinion on Sirzechs and his sister and that was shown in their last meeting when he requested him to train his sister.
The crimson haired devil king thought that he could tell Austin to train his sister and he would simply agree this easily without expecting anything back, besides, there was nothing he could ask for in exchange for his request.
Austin could not be controlled or suppressed even if the whole world went against him, he would stand tall and face them all with all his might.
But for Grayfia, Austin had a good impression of her, she was strict and diligent, training constantly and getting stronger, besides, she did her job well although she said it was her hobby inherited from her mother.
Kinda weird though but acceptable, everyone had his hobby after all.
And above all, she was loving and soft from inside yet showed coldness when necessary.
In the anime she was depicted as Sirzechs's wife and queen, but here Austin didn't know whether it was the same as this was reality and not necessarily followed the cannon.
He read something about that in many fanfics in the past.
But the knowledge of the cannon could be used as a good weapon to know the future threats and prepare yourself for it.
"I came here on my own, my lord. No one told me or forced me." She said truthfully without any hint of lies, not that she could tho.
"Hmm... tell me more." He encouraged her while caressing Nezha's hair. Anabelle went up to her room from the beginning wanting to sleep as she was tired through the day and the long awaited confession.
"I seek to request your help to train lady Rias to better understand her strength and control it in an effective and efficient way."
"You know, Sirzechs asked me the same and I refused for a reason you already know. Besides, you could do the same job and help her better understand her powers or simply look for someone who mastered the use of this power like an ancestor or something. There are so many options out there." Austin said in a calm tone explaining his reason for refusing her request.
She really wanted Rias to get stronger, and so sought Austin to train her, but the man refused presenting a good reason for that.
"To me, no one is fit other than you, my lord." But Grayfia insisted with eyes filled with strong resolve and intensity that intrigued him.
She was so persistent.
"I will even become your maid for eternity." This made Austin really surprised and quite shocked, even Amanda couldn't believe her ears when she haired that.
Did she just offer herself in exchange for her son's acceptance to her request?!
Unbelievable!
'Well, she went so far this time.' Austin thought.
/////-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
A/N: What do you think guys, should he accept or refuse as usual?
The decision is yours.