'Stupid Catherine! Don't you dare laugh!'

Catherine gritted her teeth.

'But fuck! The one who stabbed me told me that something will spill out of my stomach! I hate this! I'm the victim who got stabbed, why do I think it's funny!? Is it because he tried hard to tell that joke?'

"Hm?"

Teren's face perked up when Catherine began to tremble.

"You..."

"No!- haha..-ufh!"

Catherine closed her mouth again.

'It leaked when I replied!'

"You actually laughed at that?" Teren pointed at her with a humorous smile, "You're the victim, you know?"

"Urgh...!"

Catherine began tearing up from restraining herself. It was not that funny but the way Teren became proud of himself upon learning she found the joke funny made it funnier.

"Is... is Catherine crying?"

Eline stood up from her seat as she clenched her fists. From their perspective, they just saw Catherine lowered her head and covered her mouth while trembling. She then wiped her eyes. They couldn't see Teren's face but they could see him pointing his finger at her.

Their imagination ran wild.

'What a scumbag!'

They all thought. With Teren's bad image, this conclusion was almost inevitable.

"Is it really that bad to hold yourself?"

Teren persuaded but Catherine still persisted and after a while, she calmed down.

"Haa..."

She breathed out and remembered the gravity of her next question, making her solemn once more.

"Since I cannot go against your word, if you ask me to do something I don't like... are you breaking the contract?"

"Ah... you've calmed down."

"S-stop it."

"So that's what you really want to ask about. Sorry but I'm the owner of the Spirit of Contract. Ultimately, it benefits me. So those loopholes don't affect me. If you're harmed by the contract because you denied my order, I'm not at fault. If you're harmed because of my order, I'm not at fault. The rules are vague in the first place so it will likely be biased in favor of me. Unless I specifically asked you to harm yourself, I will not be affected. But who knows, this is my first time using it. I'm just speculating from what I know."

"So it's like this... if you ask me to jump from the rooftop, it depends on me if I survive or not?"

"Oh, you get it! That's right. Tons of people with Spirit will be able to survive that, maybe even without scratches. So even if my intention is to actually harm you, the contract will not punish me for it."

"That's shit."

"I know, for you, at least."

"So... that means you basically have my life at your hands."

Teren just nodded as he took a sip of his drink.

Catherine gulped once more and clenched her fists. If what Teren said is the truth, she had already sold herself to the devil. Her toughness began to melt.

"I have been acting tough against you, will you do something to me because of that?"

She asked.

"Now that I think about it... why not?"

"Why not w-what?"

"Is there something you don't want me to do to you?"

"And you will do it?"

"Just asking."

"..."

Catherine began to frown as if about to cry.

"Catherine, that's an order."

For the first time, Teren used his authority as her master. There was an indescribable feeling inside Catherine to do what Teren asked her. The contract was not doing anything to her right now, no, it was the thought of defying Teren that scared her.

Thus, she began to be honest.

"I... don't want you to plunge your dick into my-"

"Wait, wait wait! Not too specific. In general, answer it in general." Teren stopped her. He was the one who got embarrassed hearing the word "dick" come out of her mouth.

"Ugh... I don't want you to sexually harass me."

"Okay, I get it. Then, is there something you want to achieve or get?"

"Eh?"

"Answer it, it's an order."

Teren said casually before taking a sip but it was still as powerful as ever.

"I... I actually want to be a singer..."

Catherine's voice squeaked at the end from the sheer embarrassment of telling her dream. Even her friends don't know about it.

"Do you know how to sing?"

"I'm tone-deaf..."

"What will you choose, a super ability to be able to sing immediately or train to eventually learn how to sing?"

Catherine was getting confused by what Teren was saying.

"Of course... I'll choose to train. I'm passionate about it...!" she spoke with emotion even though her voice was getting lower and lower, "But... I don't know where to start. I don't want to sing in our house, my parents will just berate me. I once tried going to karaoke once but I noticed that I'm just wasting money. I especially don't want to attend a singing school or getting a tutor. Not only do I not have money but to get one before I even know the basics is just..."

Without her noticing, the conversation just took a weird turn.

"Hm, tell me when your free time is."

"Huh? Why?"

"Tell me."

Another order, Catherine was unable to defy.

"I don't really have anything happening. As long as it's not school time, I either hang out with my friends or just go straight home. But we're always hanging out so..."

"We could've gone today but I have something else to do and you have your friends waiting for you."

Teren pointed at his back, taking the cat out of the bag.

'D-did he just point at us? Does he know?'

Those were Mike and the others' thoughts.

Still confused, Catherine stayed quiet. Is he saying that he will teach me how to sing? Yeah, no way!

That thought was immediately shot down, not having a chance for redemption.

So what's his deal?

Catherine began to perspire.

'Is he going to remove my tongue or something so that I can never sing!?'

"BAHAHAHA! I will only return your vocal cords if you **** ** **** *** ***** **!"

Teren's demonic face appeared in Catherine's head. It was illogical but that's what being confuse mean in the first place.

"T-that's disgusting...!"

She spoke in spite.

'I think she just misunderstood it but I'll let her be... it's her fault.'

Teren thought and pointed.

"Are you going to eat that?"

"Tsk! I will! No girl hates chocolate cake! (her opinion)"

Catherine began to eat while glaring at him. After taking the last sip of the drink, she got out of the cafe.

"She's become amusing rather than annoying now."