If, deep down, Hayla considered my dishonesty a betrayal, I would be punished accordingly by the contract. Based on the headaches growing worse and worse, that’s exactly what she did. Who could blame her. We understood her dream for the future, and the overwhelming certainty and confidence she displayed stemmed in no small part from the assumption that we were bound for life.

“Ah... Fuck...” I said, clutching my head.

“Miles?” Riala looked at me with worry.

“I’m okay...” I said through gritted teeth, though I was anything but.

The pain hammering on my brain was worse than any headache I ever experienced before. Even Lilana shouting with all her might could not have come close. Unfortunately the punishment scaled with the severity of the infraction, and trying to annul the engagement was arguably the worst thing I could do. But since I was considering it, there was no talking myself out of it. The contract was very well designed in that regard. The only design flaw of these things was that I hadn’t known what I was agreeing to.

Fucking contract...

“Listen, Hayla...” I said with a grunt. “I didn’t understand this contract before I entered it. Yes, I did consider the possibility of canceling the engagement, but that wouldn’t change anything. Even if I found a way, I wouldn’t cast you out or anything.”

“How can you say that?” Her voice was a mix of sadness and threat. “Your goal is to not marry me, but that’s the whole point! It’s my promise for a better future! I... I left my family for it!”

The throbbing within my skull was beginning to overwhelm me. I kneeled down, unable to focus on standing upright. Berla crouched down next to me. A guilty frown on her face, she laid a hand on my shoulder. Riala meanwhile looked between Hayla and me in a panic, seemingly grasping what was going on.

“Hey... Stop that!” she said to Hayla in no uncertain terms. Her mana was flaring up.

“Wait, Ria... It’s not her... I messed up,” I said hurriedly. At this, she resisted the urge to attempt to stop Hayla by force and looked between us somewhat helplessly.

“But it’s on her to forgive you,” Berla whispered in realization before turning to her cousin. “It was my fault! He didn’t know about the contract, and afterwards his first instinct was to break it, so the situation would be less strange for me! You understand that, right?”

She definitely won’t...

“That just means that he didn’t intend to marry me from the start, doesn’t it? He wanted my help, but he didn’t intend to honor our deal.”

There was very little I could say in my defense. Tomar and I had been of one mind to get her help but not marry her. Though I had thought about ways to give her what she wanted.

“I can’t deny it,” I said. “But I did plan to leave Alarna in your hands. That was your actual end goal at the time, wasn’t it? To secure your and your family’s future. And if need be, I would’ve helped you.”

“We aren’t in Alarna anymore!” she shouted. “What you intended means nothing! That’s why contracts exist! It’s a guarantee far beyond Alarna!”

“But consider the alternatives! I never intended to stay in town. You could’ve been shackled to someone who didn’t show any interest in you. What kind of life would that have been?”

“Don’t pretend that you did this for my sake!”

I lowered my head and sighed sadly. “No... I didn’t. But it played a part. I truly believed we would all get out of it with what we desired. It was to be a good deal.”

Silence fell over the room as Hayla glared at me and the pain spread through my body. My muscles were contracting, restricting my movements as if I was wrapped in a straight jacket. In a way, this feeling was not unlike being in Arax’s grip. I could actually die here, and I didn’t know what to do. There’s no other way to put it, it was scary.

I struggled to even look up at Hayla. “I’m sorry.”

Up until this point, I assumed that she was primarily mad about me not honoring our deal, and her potentially losing the leadership position she was gunning for. But while that was certainly a part of it, her eyes now seemed to glitter ever so slightly, shifting between me, Berla, and Riala. She appeared to feel dejected.

“Are you still trying to break the contract?” she asked, a bit of a quiver in her voice.

“Honestly, I haven’t thought about it in a while... There was so much else going on. I guess... I would’ve gotten back to it eventually.”

She was quiet for a moment, before asking, “Why would you do this, even though you like me? I don’t mind that you have her by your side as well,” she said, gesturing at Berla. “I understand how you think, honoring our agreement should not be difficult. And you must have thought about the possibility that you can’t break the contract.”

“Of course I have... But this isn’t just about you and me.”

Hayla’s gaze fixated on Berla. “The whole problem is her then?” she asked.

Berla’s grip on my shoulder tightened and she looked at Hayla resolutely. “I don’t mind either. Miles, you must not hold back for my sake. Marry her.”

She felt partially at fault and wanted to help me out. Maybe this declaration could’ve even pacified Hayla, but I couldn’t bear the thought of Berla plunging into unhappiness over this. There had to be a different way to solve this situation.

“No, no, no, no,” I said hurriedly, eliciting a surprised frown from her. “That’s not how we’re going to handle this. Listen, Hayla, I might not have been honest in the beginning, but I promise that you will have a place with us and that I’ll do my utmost to get you to the position you dream of. Maybe I won’t be able to give you everything you want, but... You called this group a family... Then let us be a family. We will have each other, come what may, regardless of any contracts.”

Her features softened a little bit. “You promise... hm? What’s different about this one?”

“I don’t break clearly stated promises that I made willingly,” I said with a wry smile.

“You would make me your queen then?”

“I don’t know about the specific title, but in regards to the role, of course. You’ve practically been raised for it and I know you would thrive in it.”

“What if I wanted Alarna back?”

“We might have to talk about the exact approach... But if that’s what you want, I’ll be there to support you.”

“And Cerus? Or its surrounding villages?”

“Sure, why not? It would make sense to unite them.”

Even though this appeared a bit like a hostage negotiation, my words were genuine. For friends and family I would always be there. It seemed like this sentiment was reaching Hayla as well, since I was starting to feel less and less like I was repeatedly getting hit by a semi truck.

“And if I want you to purposefully take me as your wife?” she asked after studying my face for a moment.

I grew curious how much of a sticking point this actually was for her. I knew that she came to like me, but not how serious she was about it. Would she be heartbroken if I refused her outright? Hopefully not, but just in case, I decided to play it safe and appeal to her ambitious side.

“If that’s your goal, you’ll have to put more effort into it. Don’t rely on a contract to do the job for you.”

“In that case... Will you promise me one more thing? Don’t annul the contract until the very last day. Give me these three months.”

Since I hadn’t found a way to break the engagement yet, and there was no immediate need for it either, it wasn’t high on my priority list anyway, so I had little reason to refuse. I nodded in response. “Alright, I promise.”

A mischievous smile crept onto her face. “Very well,” she said.

With these words, the pain suddenly vanished and all the air escaped my lungs. I took a few deep breaths, not having realized how shallow they had been the entire time. To say that this state I had been in was uncomfortable would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions, yet it was quite fascinating how this feeling could just poof away in the blink of an eye.

I glanced at Berla, who still held me tight. She looked conflicted, but mostly relieved. Riala seemed more confused than anything else. She didn’t understand the intricacies of what was going on here yet. Tottering over to us, she looked me over.

“Miles, are you better?” she asked.

“Yea, I’m good,” I said with a smile and turned to my fiance again. “Thanks, Hayla.”

“There’s no need to thank me. It’s a deal, right?”

All her determination was back in full force, and I was certain that she wouldn’t accept a loss without putting up a serious fight first. Her grin was chilling. It seemed to say, You’re on, and then it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. A benevolent smile took its place.

“You two are probably beaten after being on your feet for more than a day,” Hayla said. “I’ll let you rest a little, though I need to advise you to decide on a path forward soon. Your new subjects will want to hear from you, dear.”

I frowned lightly. “You’re going to stick with that, hm?”

“But of course, you’re my beloved fiance.” She stepped closer and reached down to cup my right cheek in her hand. “Sleep well.”

On the way out, she casually explained that she had assigned everyone a room, and that this central one was to be my office and bedroom. She had just started taking charge.

Glancing behind myself, I saw her close the door behind her and let myself fall over. I rolled onto my back, stretching my arms and legs, and let out a deep sigh.

“Hoh boy...”