Bonding

Alastor refrained from asking directly, instead, he kept the comforting gesture he was doing. Although he was getting closer with Vian, he knew that he should never be too confident. 

Vian was a young woman who would lean on him when he offered, but if he forcefully inserted himself into her life and secrets, that would make them go back to step zero. 

There was also a reason why he did not use that mark he put on Arisa. 

'Vian is stronger than Arisa, and her ability to sense mana is also far higher.'

Arisa was unable to locate the spell that was slowly but surely invading her body, which would be her downfall when Alastor needed. 

The spell was not that dangerous, the effect would be clouding her judgment whenever it was about him. And, if worse came to worst, Alastor was going to be able to control her body for some time. 

For now, after a while of silence, Vian turned to Alastor. 

"Do you know the truth about the contract with partners?"

"What kind of truth?"

"Mhmm, I suppose I should've expected that," she bitterly looked down, then reluctantly added, "I'm unsure how much I'm able to tell… But one thing for sure, if you were allowed to have a choice, never, NEVER, sign a contract with one of the partners. Whether they were high level ones or low level ones."

Her words were laced with bitterness, exhaustion, and concern. Thinking she may have said so much, Vian fell silent again before letting out a sigh. 

"If you were someone else, I'll tell you to forget what I've said. But you are too unique, you may have such a chance. That's why I'm warning you."

She sounded a bit upset, and Alastor could not help but think it was due to her being forced to do this. Perhaps her father pressured her, alongside the princess trying to take hold of the phoenix. 

'It all make sense, the two girls should be pretty competitive together as well.'

More than wanting to conquer the phoenix, it was painfully obvious how Vian felt forced to do that. 

Alastor fell silent for a few minutes, his mind racing against the time. Should he, or should he not? Was it worth it? Perhaps she would always be happy in that way, actually? 

For his next step, he needed to ask Vian first. Alastor did not want to manipulate the girl without giving her some benefit, if anything, he preferred using people while rewarding them as well. 

"Vian, why do you sound like you hate it?"

"Because… Maybe I do? I'm unsure, to be frank…"

Vian heaved a deep sigh and pulled Alastor's collar, which he allowed her to grab, and inhaled more of his scent before jumping back to her feet. 

"Oh well! That does not matter anymore, I did the job and had a nice time with you, I'll consider that as a reward!"

She left the room with a grin, trying to ignore the voice that was warning her in the back of her head. Vian knew how weird and stupid her actions were ; trusting Alastor with a lot. 

But… 

'He already has something on me, trusting a person who was already holding off exposing such a shameful act of me is easier than believing my family.'

The family that had always told her she was a creep who should hide away from the public's eyes. 

When a person is being cornered and criticized by all, they would eventually lean more to trust an outsider rather than someone they knew for their whole life. 

Once Vian reached her room, she plopped to the bed. The chilling wind caressed her face as she remembered what her mother had once told her on that day. 

'One day, you'll understand that opening up for a complete stranger is way easier than doing it to me.'

Like her mother… 

A bitter laugh escaped past her cold lips, she pulled the blanket over her and wished to wake up tomorrow in a better spirit. 

She did not believe her nice night would end up in such complicated, conflicted feelings. But one thing for sure, Vian did not regret what she did. 

Meanwhile, Evan was alone in the middle of the darkness, casting his gaze down as he pondered for a while. 

His next move meant a lot, for him, for his family, and for Alastor. 

Just the memory of the bloody and severely hurt Alastor was enough to make him pause his thoughts and think again. 

Clinching his palm into a fist, Evan finally stopped thinking. He pulled himself from his deep thoughts, and looked at what his palm was almost crumbling. 

'Ha…'

There was a black piece of paper in his hand, with something written on it by some golden blood. 

Evan dreaded it, although he expected it before. 

The black papers were things no one but the Imperial Family used, to show their wealth, and glory. 

The paper itself could be afforded, however, how could you write on it? The Imperial Family managed to raise a certain race that would offer them their golden blood to write with. 

That race was strong, magnificent, and glorious. 

The display of power was clear. People usually liked that, because it showed how great their Empire was. Yet, when push came to shove, they were given a message like this in this format… 

It was also a sign of one time threat. Comply, or they would bid you farewell. 

Evan was not thrilled about this whole thing, and was pondering whether he should tell his friend or not. His friend was not weak, there was no doubt he could help him. 

But the content of the message had clearly stated, 

{Make sure Alastor fails to arrive at the Ascension Battle or at least fail while at it, his Ascension is not acceptable and would never be tolerated. In case you failed in doing so, we may fail in supporting your sister's medical equipment.}

Internally, Evan scoffed at that. He threw the note away and left the darkness, walking away under the gloomy moonlight.