Rai and Sin walked together back towards Devil’s Secret. Sin couldn’t believe that both her and Rai were staying at the same place.

It was relatively close to the Academy, only a 20 minute walk. Some of the students and examinees that were outside restaurants or shops looked towards them with envy.

Sin tried to make sense of it.

“So, my dad came and met you before you went to sleep? In his own penthouse?”

“Yeah pretty much.”

“Why didn’t he tell me he was going to do that. Wait, you said he gave the penthouse to you?!”

“Well, his exact words were “it’s yours now”, I think, but I assume that’s just because he wants me staying there instead of at the student accommodation on campus. He said the same thing about you, that he didn’t want you staying there either.”

Sin elected not to bombard Rai with her slew of questions. Then her face grew hot. Does this mean we’re going to stay in the same bedroom?! There’s only 1 bedroom in the penthouse...

Sin was terrified at such a prospect.

Rai’d already dealt with the nervousness and came to terms with it the night before, so he didn’t show the same kind of reaction. He was also aware of the extra bedroom.

Eventually, Rai and Sin arrived at Devil’s Secret. The queue was still huge, even though the prime time for nightlife to flourish was a little while away. Sin watched as Rai nodded toward a guard, who nodded back. What the...

The guard came to the two of them.

“Follow me, don’t wander off.”

“Yes Mr. Guard!” Rai said.

Mr. Guard let out a sigh, but he guided the two of them nonetheless.

Sin was losing it. What on Zenith is happening here?! Who is that guy? Is he new?! DAD WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE TIME?!?!

The guard took them through the reception that led to the golden elevator, which was separate from the array of elevators in a different room.

As they went into the reception room, the pink-skinned succubus clerk whistled.

“Hey handsome, hope your exam went well.” She winked at Rai. Then she saw Sindyl glaring in her direction. The clerk rolled her eyes. She resigned herself to teasing the boy another time.

“It went well, thank you.” Rai responded.

“... Oh... well, that’s good!” The clerk said as she watched the two get escorted into the lift.

They went into the lift, and up to the penthouse.

Sin’s main belongings already arrived, and her handmaiden was waiting in the main room. Sin walked over to her handmaiden and hugged her.

“M’lady. You know this is inappropriate.” The handmaiden said.

“Says who? I’ll beat them up! Just watch me!” Sin tightened her hug, “Other than Rai and dad, you’re the closest person I have so I’ll hug you as much as I want!”

Sin held her hug for a full 20 seconds, then let her handmaiden go.

“Ah, that felt good. Alright! Lilly, could you take the bags to my bedroom?”

“Which one?”

“Which what?”

“Which bedroom, m’lady?”

Huh? Eh?! Which one? Was there ever more than one?!

Sin was completely confused.

“That’s right! I had another bedroom made just for the young man beside you!” Kallad shouted as he magically stopped crouching behind the kitchen counter.

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Rai rolled his eyes. So did Sin.

Sindyl grabbed her father by the ear and dragged him to the couch.

“Ow-ow-ow-ow-ouchie. Not very nice, oh daughter of mine. So very aggressive! Where did you learn such a thing?”

Sin scowled at him, ignoring his remark and question.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“About what?” Kallad said as he played dumb.

Sin animatedly pointed towards Rai with both of her arms.

“Ohhhh.......... Right...... Didn’t feel like it.”

“HUH?!”

“Okay okay, relax a second. I’m the Deceiver, right?”

“... Right...” Sin didn’t like where this was going.

“Since when did the Deceiver let everybody know of his plans?”

“...”

“...”

Kallad’s poker-face was amazing, if he was to say so. However, if anyone else was to say anything about it, they would most definitely not mirror his own views.

“... But I’m not just anyone, am I? I’m your daughter, and you should tell me something like this beforehand. Especially when it concerns Rai, who you know is very close to me...”

“If I told you about the surprise, then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise would it? Kinda defeats the whole purpose of surprises really.”

Sin let out a long sigh. I guess I’m not winning this one.

“Which bedroom are you sleeping in?” She asked Rai, ignoring her father.

Rai pointed to the one just past the kitchen.

“Then I’ll sleep in the other one. I assume you didn’t move it from where it was before, oh father of mine?”

Sensing the sarcasm in her voice, Kallad chose not to aggravate his daughter further.

“It’s upstairs, right where I left it.”

Sin clasped her hands together and put on the fakest smile she could possibly muster. “Wonderful, I’ll set up there. Please, Lilly, can you take my stuff up to the UPSTAIRS room?” She gave Kallad the side-eye.

“Yes, of course.”

Lilly got to work. She took most of the bags in one go, with a strength that made Rai's eyes widen in surprise. Rai went to help, but was interrupted by Sin who stopped him while.

“No, that’s girl stuff. Thanks f-for offering to help, but d-don’t worry about it.”

Rai nodded, and went to sit down on the couch.

Kallad waited for Sin to sit down as well before speaking.

“How’d the exams go?” He asked the both of them.

Rai waited for Sin to speak first.

She wasn’t happy with her father’s antics, but she’d grown to deal with them. Sin practically threw away the previous interaction, as she’d found best to do when her father did something like that. She moved forward without them in mind.

“They were great honestly. I was really close to achieving my goal, and I got to meet with Rai again after so long. I got first in two out of three exams, and second in the mana one.”

Who’s the unlucky sod that had to face your wrath after they took first place?”

Sin slowly turned to look at Rai.

“Oh WOW! I knew you were bold boy, but not that bold. Even Jin would be surprised! Or maybe he wouldn’t... Honestly I don’t know. Don’t even know why I mentioned him.”

“I got second in the physical too.” Rai added.

“Yeah, expected as much.”

“You did?”

“Yep. You’re too strong to not have gotten at least top three.”

Rai figured he was underestimating himself if Kallad was saying such things. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to think more highly of himself considering how much work he put into improving his techniques.

Which reminded him.

“Kallad, is there a sparring ground in the building that we can use to train?” Rai asked.

Sin’s eyes brightened. She was glad that Rai asked, since she was wondering something similar after finding out that Rai would be staying in the same place as her. Even though Sin had come here quite often when she was younger, it was always for rest and relaxation. The penthouse was luxurious enough to provide that for a young Sin. But now... she hoped that there was something that could help her improve her skills.

“Oh how glad I am that you asked Rai! There is!...” Kallad paused for applause, which didn’t come. He cleared his throat awkwardly and continued, “... It’s only accessible by the golden elevator that’s used by me and those I allow to use it. You can access hidden floors with it, and the sparring ground is based underground. If you press the blank button on the lift, then speak the floor you want to go to, the lift will take you there. Oh, and feel free to explore. I told the guard to let you both have free reign around the building. Just don’t go destroying things okay?” He deliberately looked at Rai.

“Why does everyone think I’m going to destroy everything?” Rai whispered to himself.

Sin heard what he said, then covered her mouth and giggled.

“It’s because you’re strong, dummy.” Normally Sin wouldn’t hand out compliments, especially when it came to someone’s strength or their magic. But when it came to Rai, she knew his level was higher than hers.

Kallad continued, as if he was in the middle of a theatrical monologue even though he very clearly finished talking earlier.

“The main places you are NOT to explore are the bar downstairs, the resident pool, the club theatre on the first floor of the building, the entertainment sector within the red light district, or ANY of the nightclubs past eleven.” He winked profusely at both of them.

They both stared at him deadpan.

“Are you alright?” Sin asked with genuine concern for her father’s wellbeing.

Kallad leapt up from the couch, completely ignoring her.

“Alright. I’ve got business to attend to. You two can sleep in separate rooms, or the same one, I don’t really care. The place is for the both of you. Live how you want, love how you want, and I’ll see you when I see you!”

After speaking those words, Kallad flipped his imaginary cape and snapped his fingers. He faded into flames that left no marks where he stood.

“He’s always so dramatic. Doesn’t he ever get tired of that?” Rai asked.

Sin facepalmed at the same time that Rai spoke.

“He’s an idiot. A big idiot.” She responded.

They sat there silently for a moment. Then they registered what he said. They stared at each other for a moment, both with flushed faces.

“I’ll just go to my room. Goodnight.” Rai said with rosy cheeks.

“M-me too. Goodnight!”

They both anxiously left to their bedrooms.