Chapter 88: Culture Shock
"Man, being a Devil is the best..." remarked Issei, his nostrils flaring and a lascivious smile adorning his face as he groped and ogled the breasts of a busty, brown-haired Maid. She had noticed him stealing glances at her as they waited to file into the dining hall, but instead of getting offended, she smiled and asked if he would like to inspect her, followed by maintaining a composed, closed-eyed smile as Issei jostled, poked, rubbed, and gently kneaded her nearly E-Cup breasts.
"Just remember that we're about to eat dinner. Try not to get too carried away..." expressed Rias, combing aside the bangs framing the right side of her lightly flushed face. It hadn't been long since her mother separated from them after a bath, so she was still feeling a little flustered, uncertain if she even had the right to admonish Issei for his behavior when it hadn't even been an hour since Vahn was sliding between her and her mother at the same time...
"Are you okay...?" asked Vahn, his voice low, barely audible, as he gave Rias's hand a gentle, supportive squeeze. He didn't think he had made a mistake, as Rias had been right beside everyone else, observing his and Venelana's educational intercourse with intense focus, but that didn't stop him from worrying.
"Oh, I'm fine..." reassured Rias, adopting a cramped, embarrassed smile as she quietly confided, "I just feel like my horizons have expanded a great deal in a short period. You're not put off by perverted women, are you...?"
"I've also become pretty perverted..." replied Vahn, adopting a smile as he gently nudged Rias with his shoulder. Deep down, he was concerned that a similar situation might play out in the future, but with Rias or one of the other girls, he was involved with teaching someone else. However, as that was a matter for the far future, potentially hundreds or thousands of years from then, he decided not to fret over it.
Interrupting Vahn's and Rias's moment, Grayfia appeared alongside a cute Maid with ash-blonde pigtails, her hands folded neatly atop her lap as she cooly announced, "The table is set, and Lord Zeoticus and Lady Venelana are prepared to begin. Everyone, please form two lines and prepare to file in as we rehearsed."
Spurred by Grayfia's words, Vahn bent his left arm and held it at a steady thirty-degree angle, allowing Rias to link her right hand and arm through it as they would be entering the hall together. Akeno formed the head of the second line with Kiba, Koneko, Asia, and Xenovia, while Issei and a teary-eyed Gasper queued up behind Vahn and Rias. From there, they entered what was considered one of the smaller, more intimate dining halls of the castle, a mere fifteen meters across and thirty in length, with a large table covered in a deep red cloth, encircled by thirteen high-backed red chairs, one of which was markedly more elaborate than the others, positioned at the table's head. A trio of three-pronged candelabras that produced pale purple flames decorated the table's top, along with two bouquets of red and white roses, a massive chandelier dangled from the roof, and sixteen identical arrangements of fragrant red roses lined the room, eight flanking the four entrances and eight evenly spaced at the far ends of each room, occupied five Butlers and, with the addition of Grayfia and her twin-tailed counterpart, five Maids.
As his position was tentatively considered higher than Rias's, Vahn was set to sit in the second seat on the left side of the table, facing away from the Lord's seat. Once everyone was in their respective positions, standing to the left of their chairs, Venelana, escorted by a tall, handsome, middle-aged man with long crimson hair fastened into a loose ponytail and with prominent bangs framing his well-groomed, goatee-adorned face, arrived, entering the room with relaxed smiles. Vahn didn't look directly at him, but thanks to his domain, he could make out that the man, Zeoticus Gremory, was wearing what appeared to be a predominately white military uniform with a black-and-gold trim and cuffs, a black and gold-patterned mantle with a crescent moon motif, and a long, lavender skirt over black pants and sleek white greaves, giving the impression he was a powerful Mage despite his aura being weaker than the nearby Grayfia, his wife, and even Rias...
After separating from Venelana, who took the seat to his left, Zeoticus unhesitantly sat in his throne-like chair, smiling as he said, "Please, take your seats and make yourselves comfortable..." with a deep, charismatic voice.