Chapter 56: Chapter 53: Night of the Chimera’s Cry – Contract (3)

Although Lucius' tone was calm as he declared his intention of not having any children with her, there was a deep graveness to his voice.

"There are some other things you should be aware of about our marriage." Lucius continued.

"T-there's more...?"

"Yes. In the case we can't break the curse and you do become pregnant, you will abort the child. If that isn't possible, you will give up all rights to raising and seeing the child until he completes his training."

Aurora blinked her eyes. "That harsh?"

Lucius clenched his teeth. He thought she was disappointed in him. "I'm sorry, but it's for both of your sakes. However, don't worry. I will make sure it will never come to that." He will not allow what happened to him, happen to her and his child. And to make that happen, he has to make sure she doesn't carry his child in the first place.

But what Lucius didn't know was that Aurora was thinking something completely different.

'I doubt it'll get that far. The engagement is only temporary at best. It's simply a contract of mutual benefit. By the time we're able to get rid of the curse, our contract as Familiar and Summoner will also break and we will go our separate ways.'

"There's one more thing..." Lucius spoke.

At this, Aurora's brows twitched. 'Really, there's no need to add more....' She wanted to say, but let him continue.

"According to the Rizar's family traditions, divorce is not an option. We don't believe in divorce and remarriage, even in the case of death."

"I understand...I agree with it." Aurora lowered her head and lips stretched into a thin line.

However, when Vale saw her expression he thought she had given up. He thought she had finally understood her rightful place as a tool to help the Duke suppress the curse. 

Unexpectedly, it didn’t happen the way he wanted.

“You have no need to worry, dear,” Aurora called out with a bashful smile and a flushed face of pink.

‘What was she planning?’ Was what Lucius was thinking when he saw that cunning smile of hers.

“As I said earlier, I can’t get pregnant. You can have Doctor Jarvick examine me if you want. And besides…” She stood and walked towards the Duke. She slowly and seductively sat in his lap and wrapped her arm around his neck. “As long as you’re with me, I don’t need anything else.”

Vale widened his eyes in disbelief, especially when the Duke didn’t react the way he thought he would to push her off him. Vale shifted his stunned glare towards Lucius, pleading for him to move.

And he did.

Lucius casually moved his arm to her back and pressed her closer to him. Aurora didn’t struggle and put all her weight into his arms. She lifted her head and pursed her mouth into a complacent smirk.

Huffing in anger, Vale stormed out of the room without once looking back and slammed the door shut behind him.

Lucius picked up the glass of water by his side and took a sip. “Can you tell me what that was about? It wasn’t like you.” He asked her curiously.

Aurora tilted her head to the side. “Me claiming my territory, I guess?” She replied with a question. When she noticed two arms blocking her exit from moving off his lap, her brows scrunched. She smiled and said to him slowly. “Um, your arms are in the way…”

“Oh? Were you not the one who willingly sat on my lap?" He replied with a smile of his own.

…She was trapped!

Aurora wanted to cry but lacked the tears to do so…

Where did that cold, emotionless, stone man from before go?!

Bring him back!

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Despite her earlier misgivings about the change in the Duke’s behavior, Aurora continued to sit comfortably in his lap while she looked at the parchment he handed her with yellow tassels on both end.

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“This parchment is called a Contract Scroll and is made from the evolved beast’s fur. It was further enhanced with Rune Magic. The rune symbols are carved on the parchment during the process to make it, but you can’t see it clearly with your eyes. It’s what we will use to document our engagement agreement.”

Aurora flipped the parchment around, back and forth. “It’s blank.”

“To activate the Contract Scroll, the parties involved must first spill a drop of their blood onto it while saying their names and then voice out the conditions of the contract.”

Lucius took out a small needle and pricked his finger. He let a drop of his blood fall onto the scroll. “Lucius Rizar.” The parchment shined briefly and absorbed the drop of blood. The Duke’s name appeared at the top of the page.

How interesting. There was a similar contract to this used by Nobles and Witches back then, but if a Witch went against it, the consequences were fatal, while Nobles barely received any penalty.

The Duke went on to prick Aurora’s finger and moved her hand over the scroll. Just as it fell on to it, she also said her full name. “Aurora Grannis Di Epheria.”

Aurora didn’t realize that Lucius was staring intently at the scroll.

There was something he didn’t tell her.

The Contract Scroll will not activate if you use a fake name. Meaning, if it absorbs her blood, then the scroll accepted and recognized the name she gave.

Just like before, it didn’t take a full second for the parchment to absorb the drop of blood and for her name to appear below the Duke’s.

Seeing this, Lucius lowered his eyes, his thoughts, and expression hidden from sight.

“Is that all?” The moment she asked this, the scroll changed again and more words appeared.

This is a marriage contract between Lucius Rizar and Aurora Grannis Di Epheria.

Seeing this Lucius regained his bearing. 

“Set conditions. First condition, Lucius Rizar’s engagement with Aurora Grannis Di Epheria will last until she turns 20 years old. In the event that Lucius Rizar is unable to confirm Aurora Grannis Di Epheria’s identity before then, both will marry.”

As Lucius was talking, his words after ‘set conditions’ appeared on the Contract Scroll.

Aurora listened carefully as Lucius continued the saying the conditions, with her back leaning against his chest. If anyone saw them, they would have thought that these were a couple deeply in love with each other.

In the end, a total of 10 set conditions appeared on the scroll.

“Repeat after me, okay?”

Aurora nodded her head.

“I, Lucius Rizar, hereby agree to the following conditions listed above. If I break any of the conditions, the contract will be invalidated and voided.”

“I, Aurora Grannis Di Epheria, hereby agree to the following conditions listed above. If I break any of the conditions, the contract will be invalidated and voided.”

The Contract Scroll then moved on its own and rolled back into place. A red tape then appeared over it, sealing the scroll. It then fell back into Lucius’ hand.

“Will there be no punishments for breaking the contract?” Aurora moved her head to make eye contact with Lucius.

Lucius leaned down, his lips almost touching hers. "Do you want there to be? I don't mind adding it."

“No, thank you.” She said with a deadpan expression. She was starting to get annoyed by his teasing.

The corners of his mouth slightly shifted into a laugh.

The more time he spent with her, the more expressions he revealed.

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