499 Mary's road to trust I
After a while, all the girls gathered in Cain’s room.
Sofia, Selena, Alice, Gracie, Mary, Marina, Zaleria, Hati, Nemmoxon, Isbert, Farryn, Mei, and Even Melissa, who insisted on talking with Cain about her people.
Cain stared at them all standing in a line, “So, Mary…come sit here beside me.”
Mary slowly walked and sat on the bed beside him, he patted her hair and then glared at the other girls. “Since we’re all here, I like honesty. If you hate her just say it, that won’t be a problem. If you agree with what she did just say it. The goal of all of this is fixing that problem.”
After looking at them, “Now, Sofia you first. What do you think of Mary and how could she make you accept her again?”
Sofia slowly approached them, took a deep breath, and looked at the worried Mary. “I do understand where she is coming from, but I still can’t take her manipulation kindly. I also fear she might try it again.”
Sofia then looked directly at Mary, “Would you do it again?”
Mary took a deep breath, “To fix a small problem, I would need to restart from my birth and live the full twenty years. It’s not easy by human standards and we steels who live like humans find it equally hard. But, if Cain’s life depends on it, I will do it again.”
Sofia sighed, “I see, we can never agree on that. Would you do it again, knowing we will throw you out?”
“Yes, as long as Cain lives’ happy, I wouldn’t mind watching from the sidelines,” Mary replied.
Sofia smiled, “You can stay, just tell us if you wanted to do it again. I bet there is a better way than you spending twenty years restarting.” Sofia turned and returned to her place.
“Selena…” Cain called her to approach him and Mary.
“Hmmm-nya.” Selena glared at Mary, “I only care about Cain’s safety and wellbeing, you hurt him, and you’re my dinner-gaw.”
“Don’t worry about that…” Mary replied.
Selena smiled, “We have more in the pride-nya!” She took a breath, “In that case, I do want you to stay-nya.”
“Thank you…”
Cain looked at Selena, she had always been supportive of the other wives. For her, the more he had, the more she can boast about it. To her, marrying a powerful male was important. There was no indicator better or simpler to power than how many women are willing to stick with him.
In this world, whatever you might be, a man or a woman. The more powerful you are, the easier you can get multiple partners.
“Alice, let’s see what you have to say,” Cain said and Alice approached them as Selena returned to her place.
Alice looked at the other girls, their first and last problem was trust. How could they make sure Mary isn’t manipulating this again, how to make sure she won’t restart again?
Alice brought a chair and sat facing Mary in her devil form. “Cain, am I allowed to do anything?”
“It’s pretty bad if you had to ask me, what do you intend to do?” Cain replied.
“A contract with her. Each time she wants to restart, she would need to get my approval first.” Alice said.
“You can’t make a contract with her as you’re contracted with me, and she is also a free person while you’re a slave,” Cain stated the restriction to magical contracts. Those prevent enslaved creatures from getting any sudden boost of power by getting a powerful servant.
Alice looked at Mary with a smile, “Heard him, want to sight a slave contract with him and then my contract?”
“I did agree on signing a slave contract with Cain and I did sign one, but what do I get from contracting with you?” Mary smiled staring at her, such a contract will slow her response in case of a disaster.
“Everyone’s trust, having someone else monitor you will put them at ease.” Alice glared at her, “Will you take it, or not?”
Mary smiled, “Of course, you have a contract.” After that, Cain cast the contract magic on Mary and had her make a contract with Alice, now she can’t restart without both of their approval.
Alice returned to her place with a smile, everyone’s faces looked more relaxed.
“Gracie, what do you have to say?” Cain looked at Gracie who was still in her defense form, blocking all of her emotions.
“What you decide is for the best, I don’t have a preference in this situation,” Gracie said looking at Cain.
“Come on, say something to her.” Cain looked back at her and then at Mary.
Gracie thought really hard about it and finally came up with a sentence to say.
“Mess again and I will kill you.” She then turned and got back to her place.
“I won’t, you don’t have to worry,” Mary replied with a smile.
“Marina, your turn.” Cain looked at her and she started approaching them with worried steps.
“I don’t have anything productive to say…but can I say something outrageous? It’s just my personal opinion so please don’t take it seriously…” Marina stared at Cain.
“Outrageous? Say it, I doubt it will be a problem.” Cain replied and Mary nodded.
“I…and that’s just me, love you, Cain. Probably more than anyone can expect or see. To me, you’re the savor who dragged me out of my father’s abusive hold.” Marina smiled, putting her hand on her chest. “To stay with you, I’m willing to do anything. But, I do not dare lift my voice or opinion on you or the other wives.” She sat beside Cain and smiled.
“I’m especially in dept. to Alice for helping me get closer to you, I would kiss her feet had she asked me for that. But Mary, I would only say it one time. Trusting you is hard, especially since you can change everything without us knowing.” Marina approached and kissed Cain’s forehead.
“Mary, as long as Alice and Cain trust you, I’m willing to do the same. So…how much do you love Cain?” She said with a serious face. “How much of your actions were for a greater goal and not in care for him?”
“How much do you think it needs to spend a thousand years making sure he is alive? I won’t lie, Metallic want him to win against the chromatic but they don’t want him to erase magic. My job was to make such a thing possible, I also saw what happened to him after erasing magic.” Mary said with a serious face. She bent and kissed Cain’s hand.
“My job is to make him happy, I won’t about anyone else’s happiness, even myself,” Mary replied.
“I see, glad you’re with us.” Marina hugged Mary, “Stay strong, we have a long way ahead of us.” She added before returning to her place.
“Zaleria, what do you say?” Cain looked at her with a worried face, it was clear from her tense expression.
“Kill her, she is too much of an unpredictable person. With such power, she is more of a threat than a friend.” Zaleria seemed to have a clear objective, she can’t know what Mary is doing, so it was better to eliminate her.
“I can’t fault you for not trusting me, but now Cain can remember anything if I restarted and I do need his and Alice’s approval. What do I need to do to get your trust?” Mary asked.
“There is one thing Metallic would die and not do…” Zaleria said.