"Am I not beautiful enough?"

Arza asked, her crimson eyes steady on the boy who had just proposed to her.

She didn't understand the emotion behind the question because she didn't understand emotions in the first place but she knew one thing.

An engagement, for demons, wasn't something done lightly.It was a once-in-a-lifetime bond and something really important.

So she should have considered it more carefully.

The boy had already offered a price far beyond what was normal. Twice the chocolates from yesterday's deal. He even agreed instantly when she pushed it to three times.

And yet…

There was still something she didn't understand.

From what she had heard earlier… The boy claimed to be from a future where she was his wife.

He spoke with conviction, acted with certainty, risked things she couldn't measure and didn't even understand… all because of something she had never learned to feel.

So she asked him for the one thing she lacked.

To Understand emotions.

And the boy accepted that as well but then he said something strange.

He promised that their engagement would be "purely political."

Was she lacking?

Was she unwanted?

Or was she… not beautiful at all?

She didn't care about those possibilities but she was curious.

Curious about why the one who claimed to be her husband from the future wanted "purely political" engagement instead of a real bond… even though she herself had nothing emotional to offer.

The boy looked into her eyes and smiled brightly.

"Nope." He said calmly. "You aren't beautiful at all."

Arza nodded once without any anger. "Understood."

She had grown up with her maids calling her beautiful and she had even heard many other demons whisper the same things behind her back.

But this was the first time someone said she wasn't beautiful but she didn't feel sadness, embarrassment or even disappointment.

Except, perhaps, a faint and irrational urge… to watch the blood erupt from the boy's severed neck.

—

[Rael's POV]

I felt a faint pulse of bloodlust leak out of Arza the moment I said she wasn't beautiful.

It was barely noticeable but it was there as her eyes narrowed barely.

If I hadn't been boosted by either my Trickster Nexus or my Scammer Myth, honestly, could be either at this point, I never would have caught it.

My lips twitched.

So she isn't as emotionless as she pretends to be, huh?

Arza definitely didn't possess a wide range of emotions and she certainly didn't express them.

But that didn't mean she had none.

It felt more like… she had locked them away and sealed them off from everyone.

Maybe even from herself.

From what I remembered, stuff like this usually happened for a handful of reasons.

Parents being cold.

Growing up in an emotionally dead environment.

Or some kind of event that forces a kid to seal everything away at a young age.

In any case, that was all I could deduce… as a self-proclaimed psychologist in my previous life whose prestigious degree was earned straight from the internet.

But it was enough to know one thing, she was not a blank slate.

Before she could do anything unholy to me for my brutal answer to a question I still had no idea why she asked, I jumped in with my emergency-grade bullshit.

"This is my first lesson, Arza," I said with the confidence of a certified quack psychiatrist. "Normal people feel angry or even humiliated when someone insults their appearance."

I delivered it like divine wisdom.

—

After a few more minutes of "normal" talking which honestly felt more like repeatedly slamming my forehead against a rock instead of communicating with an actual human being, I gave up.

And it's not like I had time to waste either.

The Demon King and Morvana were still waiting outside the domain, probably judging my life choices.

So I decided we would continue this emotional bootcamp next time.

I tapped the barrier of Ashavar's domain.

It dissolved instantly and just like that, we were back in Morvana's office… facing two beings who had definitely heard nothing and absolutely hadn't been silently staring this entire time.

I looked at Ashavar smugly. "She accepted to be engaged."

I mean, I just secured myself a perfect backing and a free subordinate depending on how I educate her in emotions.

So yes, I deserved to be smug.

"Is that so?" Ashavar tilted his head slightly, his gaze drifting from me to Arza as if asking for confirmation.

She met her father's eyes with her usual emotionless stare.

"Yes."

Ashavar nodded slowly, a small smile appearing on his lips. "So am I correct to assume you both fully agree to engage with one another?"

He paused.

"You may think this through. Engagement is an important decision."

He said.

…Tsk. This bastard.

Acting like a responsible parent all of a sudden?

Bro, where was this energy when your children were killing each other off?

But I had no intention of arguing. Especially when I had already won the round.

"Yes." I said calmly. "I want to be engaged to Arza."

Ashavar's gaze settled on me… and he casually waved his hand.

Two rings forged from pure obsidian materialized out of thin air, floating toward me and Arza..

"If you are so sure..." he said, his smile widening. "Then let's complete the formalities while I am present. I wouldn't want to miss my own daughter's engagement, after all."

Why is he smiling like that?

My confidence wavered for the first time.

Wasn't he against this a few minutes ago?

I narrowed my eyes on the rings to see if there was anything suspicious about that.

Hell, I even activated my monocle's appraisal function to see if it was some hidden artifact.

[Engagement Rings]

[Description: Rings Forged From an Obsidian and used for engagement as a tradition of Demon realm.]

So… why the hell is he smiling so widely?

Is he perhaps overwhelmed by joy… because he's getting such a handsome and benevolent son-in-law like me?

Honestly, who wouldn't be?

Or maybe the Demon King was probably just playing with my mind, trying to intimidate me into backing out due to my paranoia.

In any case, I didn't care, this was just a formality after all.

I reached out calmly and took the ring into my hand like it was the most natural thing in the world, then turned toward Arza who was holding the other ring with her usual deadpan expression.

I stretched my hand toward hers, fingers right over hers. Just one smooth slip of the ring and it would be done.

A classy, elegant engagement which would connect me with two of key players of the Demon Realm.

What could possibly go wrong?

I brought the ring close and right before it touched her finger, Morvana, who had been silent this whole time, suddenly snapped.

"Rael, wait—!"

Her voice was sharp, urgent and almost… panicked.

Which was… weird.

So why the hell—

But before her words could even fully reach me… I had already slid the ring onto Arza's finger and she had done the same to me.

And immediately, a blinding light erupted from the rings with glowing green chains before they merged with my body.

[Engagement Pact is made with Arza Ashen Noctharion]

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