Making a Decision

I do not know what the hell happened in this man's mind so he could come up with such an idea. Suddenly I felt my face become very, very hot. How can a man be such an asshole, even though he is so important? Or rather... SPECIALLY BEING SOMEONE SO IMPORTANT???

Any good thought that I might had come to have for him for having remotely worried about mine and Henry's safety in trying to make a scam for the Wisdom Relic possession was wiped out of my mind. It was obvious that, as Henry had said, his only hobbies were to play with the feelings of others, and to use us as pawns for his own plans. I do not think I've ever felt such contempt for anyone at all.

" propose to you an agreement…", he continued smiling and sat down again, crossing his legs, and elegantly landed his clasped hands over his knee, making sure to not notice my revulsion, "I grant you the pardon on the attack you made me and at the same time an imperial favor, and you give me a kiss that is satisfactory, what do you say?" He smiled as if the offer was unmissable and beyond reproach.

I laughed.

"What's the point of this? What could I want from you?" I mocked.

It is interesting to think that he was simply offering me an imperial favor for no reason at all. A request that the Emperor himself was promising! What kind of joke was that? Before, when I had a normal normal girl life, I might not even think twice about accepting... after all what was a cheap kiss? But that possibility was in the condition where I did not know him, and he was not even taking it from me like blackmail. It was so immoral that I could not even take it seriously.

"Things are possible with the emperor's endorsement, my dear, that such an agreement is more valuable than whole planets." Then he leaned forward sinuously toward me, and I felt again the harrowing pressure that his mysterious look possessed, holding me to the point where I could not move. "Even if you don't want anything for yourself, what's preventing you from asking anything for others? Wouldn't it be a shame if Henry's brief happiness out there would never happen again? I can feel his emotion taking shape from here," I began to shake and force my body to let go of that perverse aura. He was speaking as if he were a demon of temptation, "Or perhaps, it would be a pity if, by chance, there was a drop in the investments directed towards Sátie... the people there would suffer so much from a sudden recession."

"You're a coward... let me go!" I gritted my teeth to speak.

"I will…", he got up and walked around me, and stood on the door of the room. I was no longer in direct visual contact with him, but I still felt the overwhelming pressure that his gaze caused, unable to escape, unable to even breathe right, "I'm quite reasonable... just agree with me and make your request... not much I want in return."

"But you obviously want to condition my request to something you want me to ask... You're forcing me to stay here!", I was getting more and more nervous " And why would I kiss you? It's not like I'm such a big deal to you!"

"You're certainly no big deal at all", he agreed as if I had commented something ridiculously obvious, "You are simple and without great attractions. So I thought... what kind of weak spot can someone as simple as you have? "The malice in his voice mingled with a shadow of danger. "I'm not going to let you down for what you've done, even if that's the only thing you have to suffer for is your precious and beloved safe harbor, Henry... after all, you've been here from the beginning thinking that if you distracted me, you could buy more time between him and Isaac…"

I was already starting to feel dizzy and scared. He was not really someone to play with. From the beginning he was controlling the situation. He had read any idea and thought and memory that had passed through my mind, either voluntarily or involuntarily. And with that inconvenient power of his, he was also crushing me with the horrifying pressure that his gaze caused. He could only get out of here by giving him what he wanted, or waiting for someone to come and intervene.

Someone show up to intervene? What a joke... who would challenge the emperor? They all bowed their heads and submit before him.

"You're just saying that you're going to give me the right to choose between suffering some absurd condemnation or being forgiven in exchange for a kiss ... there's no way to be just that…" I argued, trying not to express the panic in my voice as I forced every cell in my body to get rid of that lock.

Marco stopped in front of me, less than a step away, and leaned over to face me, almost showing a friendly smile.

"Of course it's not just that... but it's none of your business. So your answer?"

"Why?" I groaned shakily, unable to move "What do you really want from me?"

A kiss would be no big deal. I had kissed other people before, but still... I was feeling that sensation of danger rolling in the depths of my soul. And what could be more dangerous than being helpless in a room locked with someone who could not be stopped? It wasn't long enough since I've been to this world to be able to desire anything that would be useful, or at least not unwise... but what I feared most was that he was deliberately forcing me to want something. And change for a kiss? I bet that neither he wanted kiss me either. That was blatantly a way to make my "choice" turn against me someday.

It was a trap. It was more than obvious that it was a trap. The problem was not the kiss. The kiss probably was nothing more than a seal I could afford for an evil contract. The problem was this contract itself. And that damn pressure kept me from reasoning right, having to stare into those lilac eyes as I knew he was aware of all that was in my thoughts.

And after all, what answer could I give to him? If he really fulfilled this desire, there would always be the possibility of being by his terms. So I would never have any advantage in that. And choose not to ask for anything? He could very well claim some of his earlier blackmail to force me to ask for anything he wanted me to ask.

Marco watched my silent debate without moving, but began to imitate a metronome as if measuring a countdown "tic-tac, tic-tac...". He was deliberately wanting to unbalance my mind and cloud my judgment.

The anger then grew stronger and stronger inside me, and controlled my thoughts. I pinched my own skin, trying to distract my senses from the pressure that kept me from moving and moved by impulsiveness, poured the first thing out of my mouth.

"I want the right to make decisions about my own life, without you getting in the way!" I replied urgently.

Marco raised an eyebrow and his smile faltered for a fraction of a second. Then he stood up and countered in mocking voice:

"What kind of request is this? As if you had maturity or even the ability to decide something about anything. If I think I should get involved, in this universe who can stop…", but he did not finish the sentence. I jumped on him from where I was as soon as I, somehow, regained my movements due to my rage.

I wrapped my arms around his neck furiously, and slid my body into his. Before he could react properly, we were already entwining our lips dancing between one and the other. He at first was petrified. Rigid hands gripped my arms trying to pull me away. If he really wanted, it would be easy to push me, but his resistance soon stopped and his hands slowly moved around me pulling my body and squeezing me even harder against him... then he wavered completely and corresponded the kiss with intensity.