Leon nodded; his golden eyes calm but intense. "Now, little maid... feel the energy around me."
Aria tilted her head, confused. "Feel... your energy?"
She hesitated, then extended her senses. Her brow furrowed. Her lips parted slightly.
"...It feels... strange. Dull. Muffled. It's like..."
Aria gulped, her voice unsteadies as her eyes locked onto Leon's calm, golden gaze.
"Y-You're at the Mortal Realm."
Leon gave a small, confirming nod.
Aria gasped. Her hands shook as if the whole world had shattered under her feet. "H-How... How, my lord?!"
Desperate to try and understand what she was sensing, she stretched out and grabbed his hand hard, infusing him with her mana to be sure of what her senses had informed her.
Once again, her purple eyes went wide.
"This... this can't be! Y-Your cultivation was Grandmaster Realm, but now it's hardly even Mortal! How—why—?!"
Leon did not blink. His face remained calm, but his voice was laced with something much stronger.
"Listen to me, Aria."
She gazed up at him—those golden eyes, so often teasing or cryptic, were now unyielding and sincere.
"You and Rias... you've always been there for me. For me, both of you are my family."
Her lips parted, shocked. Her heart thudded as his words hit her. Family? To him. she was nothing but a maid... yet he—he regarded her as family?
That simple fact warmed something deep within her. Her eyes sparkled.
"But there's something you and Rias don't know," Leon went on, voice more somber now. "Something I never told both you. I have... a very serious disease."
Aria's face instantly changed, alarm crossing it. "A disease...?" she breathed in horror.
Leon cringed internally. Naturally, it wasn't actually a disease—it was the humiliation of his... affliction. He could hardly explain to her that he had once experienced erectile dysfunction. So, he covered it with a lie—a one drenched in enough suffering to be plausible.
"Nah..." Aria got down from the table and hurried over to him, taking both of his hands in hers. "My lord, why didn't you inform me earlier?! I'll summon every doctor and healer in the Moonstone Kingdom! If they are not sufficient, I'll take you to the Empire myself. We will do something!"
Her speech was urgent, eyes filled with hysteria. The way she regarded him—with raw, unadulterated concern—moved something soft within Leon.
He lifted one finger and pressed it softly against the soft, velvet lips.
"Shh," he breathed. "Listen to me, little maid."
Aria nodded slowly, not taking her eyes from his.
"I don't know what sort of disease it is... but it insidiously drained my vitality. I would've died, eventually. But I was fortunate enough to find a strange, mysterious power that... cured my body."
Aria caught her breath, relief washing over her face.
"But..." Leon stopped, his tone acquiring a mournful tone, "it cost me something."
She frowned once more, brows creasing. "Cost...? What cost, my lord?"
Leon gazed at his open palm, then closed it into a fist.
"My cultivation. All my hard work. Down the drain in a moment."
Aria gasped once more. Her hand shot up to her mouth. "You spent all your cultivation to cure yourself...?"
He nodded, slowly. "I invested everything. All the hard work of my lifetime."
Aria didn't say anything for a moment. Then, softly, she reached out for his hand once more and enclosed it in hers.
"My lord... then we shall construct it anew," she replied resolutely. "Even if it costs my life, I will guard you until you climb to the summit again."
Leon blinked, taken aback by what she said. A faint smile cracked on his lips.
"You really are something, little maid," he murmured.
She stared up, perplexed. Then— "Eek!"—yelped as he gave her a light pinch on the nose.
"You're so cute when you speak like that."
Aria's cheeks went a deep, hot red as she blushed.
Leon grinned, but his expression quickly sobered.
"There is... one way to speed up the process of restoring my strength."
Aria stiffened. "What is it, my lord?"
Leon leaned forward a little, his eyes shining with teasing mischief and something very beastly. His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her close until she sat between his knees once more.
"If I Fuck with a woman more powerful than me... I absorbed her essence and grow stronger." There was only silence.
Then her face erupted into a rosy flustered color.
"M-My lord... y-you're saying... you have to... f-fuck to become stronger?" she stuttered.
Leon smiled. "That's what I mean."
Her jaw dropped open, but there was nothing behind it. This peculiar power... corrupt, even—but if it increases his power...
She swallowed, trying to let her fantasy fly. Her heart pounded like mad in her chest.
Leon's tone turned deep and honey-soft. "So, little maid... will you assist me?"
He pushed purple strands of her hair behind her ear and leaned forward, speaking almost into her mouth.
Her lids fluttered closed as her fingers slipped down to pinch her soft chestnut rear once more.
"I... If it'll help you, then..." she swallowed hard, voice shaking, "I-I'm ready."
Leon grinned, squeezing her hips hard. She groaned softly, biting her lip.
"But," he inserted heresy into her thoughts with a provocative sparkle in his eyes, "do you do this to help me... or because you desire me?"
"I—It's not like that!" she protested, face growing even redder. "I... I wish to assist you, my lord!"
Leon leaned in closer, his lips a whisper away from hers.
"Then tell me," he breathed. "Say that you want me."
Aria's voice quivered. "I-I do... want you, my lord..."
Leon's golden eyes sparkled with satisfaction. Seriousness of before had dissolved into something warmer and more intimate. But just when he was going to kiss her, he hesitated.
"Aria," he spoke in a slightly firmer tone, "what I said—do not tell Rias. Not yet."
Aria's eyes widened, and she nodded hastily.
"I see, my lord. Young Mistress... she would be panic. She cares for you a great deal—I will not trouble her. I promise it."
Leon at last smiled—and kissed her. A gentle, slow kiss that bore his thanks, his love... and something more.
Something just starting to bloom between them.