Rai and Sin walked together back towards Devil’s Secret. It was relatively close to the Academy, only a twenty minute walk. Some of the students and examinees that were outside restaurants or shops looked towards them with envy.

Sin tried to wrap her head around it. “So, my dad came and met you before you went to sleep. In his own penthouse.”

Rai nodded, “Yeah pretty much.”

Sin was more exasperated than anything, “Why didn’t he tell me he was going to do that. Wait, you said he gave the penthouse to you?”

Rai wasn’t exactly sure, “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.”

Sin elected not to bombard him with a slew of questions. Then her face grew hot, does this mean we’re going to stay in the same place? She was happy at the prospect, but she still had a level of anxiety and nervousness about it.

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.

Eventually, they 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.”

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. She rolled her eyes, then resigned herself to teasing the boy another time.

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

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. She walked over to her handmaiden and hugged her. The handmaiden responded with a tender voice, “M’lady. You know this is inappropriate.”

Sin spoke back in a harsh tone, “Says who? I’ll beat them up.”

She let her handmaiden go, then asked her if she could take the belongings to the sleeping area.

The handmaiden looked at her with slight confusion, “Which one?”

Sin mirrored her handmaiden's confusion, cocking her head with a confused expression. Which one? Was there ever more than one? What?

As if perfectly on cue, she heard her dad’s voice. “That’s right! I had another bedroom made just for the young man beside you!” Kallad appeared from behind the kitchen counter. He was clearly crouched there waiting to pounce in surprise.

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.”

With a business-like face on, Kallad spoke, “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.

Sin was clearly upset, “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’s very close to me.”

Kallad held his ground, “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. She then turned to Rai, “Which bedroom are you sleeping in?”

He pointed to the one just past the kitchen.

Sin nodded, “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 room?”

Lilly nodded, and 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 was blushing.

“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?”

Rai waited for Sin to speak first.

“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.”

Kallad raised an eyebrow, “Who’s the unlucky sod that had to face your wrath after they took first place?”

Sin slowly turned to look at Rai.

Kallad hollered, “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.”

Rai piped up, his voice was full of excitement, “I got second in the physical too.”

Kallad wasn’t surprised, “Yeah, expected as much.”

Rai stared at him, his excitement no longer present, “You did?”

Kallad waved his worry away, “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.

Rai remembered something he wanted to ask the Deceiver when he came back to the penthouse, “Kallad, is there a sparring ground in the building that we can use to train?”

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.

Kallad nodded, “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 have free reign around the building. Just don’t go destroying things okay?” He deliberately looked at Rai.

Rai whispered under his breath, “Why does everyone think I’m going to destroy everything.”

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. Sin asked with genuine concern in her voice, “Are you alright?”

Kallad jumped 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, I’ll see you when I see you.” After speaking those words, he flipped his imaginary cape, and snapped his fingers. He faded into flames that left no marks where he stood.

Rai spoke as soon as he left, “He’s always so dramatic. Doesn’t he ever get tired of that?”

Sin facepalmed at the same time that Rai spoke, “He’s an idiot. A big idiot.”

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.

Rai spoke first, “I’ll just go to my room. Goodnight.”

Sin responded quickly, “Me too. Goodnight.”

They both anxiously left to their separate rooms.