"Close your eyes," Rudy said calmly.

  "Why?"

  "Just do it, or it wouldn't be as impactful."

  Rias reluctantly closed her eyes and said, "You better not pull a nasty prank like kissing me or something."

  "Don't call kissing a nasty thing. And no, I am not going to do such things."

  Rudy got up from his chair and sat on one knee in front of Rias' chair. He took a deep breath and said: "You may open your eyes."

  Rias slowly opened her eyes and saw Rudy sitting in front of her with her hand in his hand and something in his other hand.

  "What are you…" Before she could finish what she was saying, Rudy revealed what was in his other hand.

  His was a ring made from diamond. However, it wasn't an actual ring. It was simply shaped as a ring with broken pieces of a diamond.

  "What…"

  Rudy smiled gently at Rias and asked, "Rias, would you like to marry me?"

  "……"

  "……"

  "Uhh…."

  "Please don't reject me. This is my first time proposing, and I will lose confidence if I get turned down."

  "Is this really your first time?"

  "Proposing a girl for a marriage, yes," he nodded in response.

  Rias raised her brow and asked, "What about your girlfriend from your past life? You were going to marry her after getting a job, so doesn't that mean you had proposed to her?"

  "No. We were on a dinner date, and a couple was at the other table next to us. Then the guy suddenly proposed, and the girl agreed. That was my first time seeing a marriage proposal with my eyes, and it was… sweet and heartwarming, not going to lie.

  I looked at Elise, and she was staring back at me. I knew at first glance what she was thinking, so I told her we would get married after we get our jobs."

  "And that's a proposal…" she said with a knowing look on her face.

  "Well… technically, yes. But like… it was the correct way to do it…"

  Rias squinted her eyes and laughed out loud before saying, "You are as awkward as ever when it comes to things you don't have experience with."

  "I am going to propose to a lot of girls, so I will get used to it," he responded with a grin.

  They stared into each other's eyes without saying anything.

  "So…?"

  "It's not like I can say no. I still love you even after what you did to me and my feelings. But I have one condition."

  "Okay…? What is it?"

  "Make me the Queen of your harem," she stated in a neutral tone.

  "Why would you want to be the Queen of my harem?" Rudy asked with a curious and confused look on his face.

  "I will be the one deciding everything in your harem. Who would do what, and I will order them around," she said nonchalantly.

  "I am afraid that's not possible."

  She raised her brow and asked, "Have you already selected someone else to play that role?"

  "No. And I don't plan to either. There will be no Queen in my harem, and no one will order anyone. Everyone will be of equal status. It doesn't matter if you are a princess or the other is a maid.

  I know it's a lot to ask, and I am not asking you to get along with each other. I am sure there will be cat fights and all, but keep it at that. No serious arguments or abuse. If someone is unhappy or they want something, they can come to me directly."

  Rudy asserted with a confident look on his face.

  "Usually, it's the first girl who becomes the Queen of the harem."

  "Then that would be Angelica."

  "I mean, the first wife," Rias corrected herself.

  "That would be… Jane," he responded with an awkward smile on his face.

  SIGH!

  "I still can't believe the Jane I knew and grew up with did something so cruel to me. I am angry at her, and I will make sure to punish her for her actions."

  "What did I just say about not abusing each other?"

  Rias squinted her eyes at Rudy and said, "It's a personal family matter between two sisters. Don't butt in."

  "If the matter is related to me, then I have to butt in."

  "I won't do anything serious. It will be a revenge plan. I will do what she did to me."

  "Oh…" Rudy realized what Rias was trying to say. "That's fine by me."

  "Now." He cleared his throat and asked again, "Rias, would you like to marry me?"

  Rias slowly rolled her eyes and said, "Hmm. What should I do?"

  "……"

  She scoffed softly and inserted her finger through the ring.

  "Yes."

  Rudy got up and hugged Rias tightly.

  "I thought you were going for a kiss…" she whispered in his ears.

  "I can do that too."

  Rudy kissed Rias on the lips and said, "That was our first kiss together."

  "We would have kissed and done many things if you were not so shy and hesitant," Rias remarked.

  "That's true, but it was hard for me. You were a vampire, and I was a human. I was… also afraid of leaving my mother behind."

  "You worry too much about her."

  "Obviously. She is my mother, after all."

  "Yeah, yeah. Rebecca with no family name."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Nothing." Rias kissed Rudy a few times and whispered, "Now then, shall we get married?"

  "Hmm?"

  "I am talking about the marriage ritual."

  "Oh. You want to get married right away. Sure."

  "We will get married with a vampire tradition and a human tradition when the time comes. But I want to be your wife right now. And I want to do many more things," she said calmly.

  Rias opened her mouth and elongated her fangs, but it took her a few seconds as she hadn't done that in over three months.

  She licked her lips and said, "Here I go~"