"Wait, Rael—"

Shit. Too late.

Morvana cursed internally as a blinding green light detonated across the room, swallowing everything in sight.

Even she, an SS-Rank monster who could dissect worlds with her senses, couldn't see through it.

Ridiculous.

The moment she recognized those rings, her body had moved on its own to stop him but the boy had already slipped them on.

Her eyes moved toward the man standing on the other side of the office with an amused smile.

Ashavar.

He stood there like a spectator, watching her attempt to interfere, calmly without a single reaction as if he had expected her to try and that he simply didn't care.

She felt annoyed but she stayed silent.

She wasn't strong enough to face him yet and he knew that.

Those rings were Eternal Vows, an artifact passed down from the First Demon King that bound two people until eternity… and only released them once both were dead.

Morvana didn't understand why he had brought something like that here or what was he planning?

She had just only sent a report to the Demon King this morning to get his approval for the engagement of Arza and Rael.

He never cared about such things and even about the deaths of his own children… so, she had expected him to just approve as always.

But instead of that, he had arrived directly in the academy with a smile.

Morvana didn't know what the Demon King was planning but she knew one thing with absolute certainty:

Ashavar was not here only because of Arza.

Her gaze sharpened.

No.

He was here because of Rael.

Because the boy held something that even the Demon King wasn't willing to ignore.

And Morvana hated not knowing what that "something" was.

—

[Rael's POV]

[Engagement Pact is made with Arza Ashen Noctharion]

The moment the notification echoed in my head, a blinding light shot out from the matching rings on our fingers.

Glowing green chains moved through the air before they merged into my body. It felt like something was trying to bind the very core of my soul.

A pact, huh?

I was surprised for a moment… but calmed down almost immediately.

So this was the reason the old bastard was here.

I knew something was off from the moment he walked in smiling like that.

Still, I couldn't understand why he pulled this stunt… or more importantly, how the hell did he cheat my Monocle?

It should've been able to see through any artifact.

Tch.

But honestly?

His little surprise only caught me for a second.

Because pacts, binding contracts, soul chains, whatever dramatic nonsense demons loved, had absolutely zero effect on me thanks to my Myth.

I closed my eyes for a heartbeat and entered the space where my Card of Arcana resided, my personal soul space.

The green chains were already trying to latch onto everything… but the Card of Arcana glowed once and the chains began to disintegrate immediately.

But before they could vanish entirely, I willed them into my domain instead.

I didn't know what these chains were supposed to do…

…but letting them vanish outright was basically the same as telling the Demon King:

"Nice try, old man. Your toy tricks don't work on me."

And I wasn't about to show my cards that easily.

So instead of erasing them, I tucked them neatly into my domain like a polite guest pretending to enjoy the meal while secretly feeding it to the dog under the table.

Let him think his little stunt succeeded.

Right as that thought passed, a foul-mouthed voice echoed inside my head. "You bastard, what kind of fuckery are you sending in here NOW?!"

Of course.

Who else but my split soul and the guardian of my Domain—Ra.

"Oh? You can talk to me like this?" I blinked, genuinely surprised he could reach me even when I wasn't inside the domain.

"Yes, I can but I just don't WANT to do it often because it takes energy." Ra snapped. "Now answer me, what the hell is this green crap?"

"Can you not see what's going on outside?" I asked, confused.

"No, you deepshit. Do you think I have enough energy to be wasting it to spy on your monkey circus?"

Right. I forgot he was always like this.

"Don't worry about it. Just keep those chains stored for now," I ordered.

Ra was trying to say something extremely unholy but he obeyed or at least I thought he did because the connection was cut off the moment I opened my eyes again.

Barely a minute had passed in the real world.

The green light still glowed around the ring for a brief moment longer…

…then slowly faded and vanished completely.

I looked around, my face completely surprised. "What was that?"

Arza, as always, didn't have any expression on her face either but Morvana showed a variety of expressions I didn't even understand.

"It was an engagement, what else?" The Demon King smiled.

"It feels… warm?" Arza murmured, tilting her head the slightest bit.

Of course she felt something.

The chains only broke the restrictions inside me, not her. So her body reacting was perfectly normal.

Still, I played along.

"Yeah… I feel it too," I said, touching my chest with the most natural confusion I could muster. "What were those rings?"

I even furrowed my brows a little.

Truth was, I had no idea how I was supposed to act.

I didn't know what those rings should have felt like..

I didn't know what kind of reaction Ashavar expected from a normal person.

So, I just acted confused.

"Let's have a chat, shall we, Rael?" Ashavar smiled at me, signaling Morvana something as she exited the room, taking the blankly standing Arza with her.

As soon as the door closed, a surge of mana erupted from his body, sealing the room completely.

"Have a seat." He pointed towards a chair as he sat opposite it.

With Morvana gone, I didn't need to act like a successor.

"Why did you do that?" I asked without holding back. "And why are you here in the first place? I thought you and Trickster had a deal that you won't interfere with my business."

Ashavar's lips curled into the slow grin of a man who had been waiting to be asked that exact question.

"Deal?" he mused. "Yes, we made one but that deal was between me and the Trickster."

His eyes shone.

"It was never between me and you."

I frowned. "That's basically the same damn thing."

"No," he chuckled softly, tapping the armrest. "The Trickster didn't care if your life gets slightly… pushed and as long as I don't break any major conditions, I am free to 'nudge' you."

He leaned forward.

"And today, Rael… I nudged you."

Tch, this bastard.

"And the pact?" I asked. "What was that supposed to be?"

Ashavar replied without missing a beat.

"The pact was an engagement chain. It doesn't bind your soul. It binds your fate and ensures your life and Arza's life become connected."

I narrowed my eyes. "Why did you do that?"

"Would you believe me if I said, it was to save you?" Ashavar smiled.

"No." I didn't bother saying much because I was starting to get really annoyed now.

He chuckled as if that answer pleased him.

"In any case, you don't need to worry. The pact is not dangerous." He continued. "At most, you will die if Arza dies and your fates are tied more deeply than before."

"As such, make sure to take good care of my daughter."

"At most?" I nearly held back my curses or at least I acted like I did because that pact would have no effect on me.

But still, I had to put up an act, didn't I?

He got up from his chair.

"I look forward to meeting my grandchildren." Ashavar added casually. "Perhaps one of them will finally be strong enough to kill me."

He said it like a father discussing future career prospects.

And then he vanished.

Leaving behind only silence, mana residue…

…and a deep, painful urge inside me to scream countless curses into the void.

"That fucke—"

Before I could even complete my beautifully crafted curses, the smug bastard reappeared in the exact same spot, cutting me off mid-sentence like he had been waiting.

"Oh, and one more thing," Ashavar said, his tone casual. "Don't trust that scammer blacksmith. The bastard was just a sore loser who couldn't even save his own child, he once scammed me and sold those rings to me in my first life."

He dropped the bomb, smiled like he enjoyed detonating it…

…and vanished again.

This time, I didn't even dare breathe loudly because knowing him, if I so much as whispered "fu—", he would pop back up to deliver a third trauma package.

At the very least… one question had finally been answered.

He did know about my Monocle.

Hell, judging from the way he talked, he probably knew its creator personally.

Tsk, just my luck.

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