Vergil Is Back-Chapter 38 - 30: Ember in Crimson Silence

Part 2 – The Distance Between Us

The courtyard was quiet now. The nobles had been dismissed, though murmurs still echoed faintly from deep within the estate. Rias stood by a wide arched window overlooking the wet stone garden path. Her arms were folded, posture tense, but her eyes... her eyes searched the horizon.

She felt him before she saw him.That strange void pressure that wrapped around his presence—cold, vast, like standing before a mountain swallowed by stars.

Then, a whisper of footsteps.

Leon stepped into view, the rain now little more than a drizzle. His coat was damp at the edges, silver hair slightly tousled by wind, his gaze as unreadable as ever.

Rias turned slowly. "You made quite the entrance."

Leon didn't smile. "Didn't mean to."

She tilted her head, walking forward, eyes scanning his features as if looking for something. "But you always do. You always change the air around you when you walk in."

For a second, silence reigned.

She stood in front of him now, barely a foot away. Her heartbeat felt louder than it should've. "Why didn't you come to me first?" she asked softly.

Leon looked past her for a moment. "Because I wasn't sure if I was coming back the same."

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That answer hit her harder than she expected.

"Is it really that bad?" she whispered.

He met her gaze then—and something flickered behind those silver eyes. Not power. Not detachment.

Loneliness.

Leon nodded, just once. "Every piece of Vritra makes me feel less like a person. More like a... vessel. And the more I control it, the more it tries to understand me in return."

Rias stepped closer, something in her expression softening. "Then don't do it alone."

He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm serious," she continued. "You push everyone away. Asia, me, even Ddraig can feel it when you're fighting the world inside yourself."

He was silent again.

Then he muttered, almost reluctantly, "I'm afraid if I let anyone close, I'll forget what I was trying to protect in the first place."

"You haven't," she said, voice barely above a whisper.

Without realizing it, her hand reached forward, brushing lightly against his—just a touch, not a grab. But it lingered.

Leon looked down at her fingers against his glove. The contact was simple. Real.

No system.

No power.

Just warmth.

"I can't promise anything," he said.

"I'm not asking for a promise." She smiled, small and genuine. "Just... don't disappear again without letting me be angry at you first."

A pause.

And for the first time in days...Leon actually chuckled, low and rough. "Deal."

Scene fades...Outside, thunder rolled gently over the estate, but for the two of them—something unspoken had begun. Fragile. Unexpected.

But real.