Chapter 74: The Choice

"Meira."

"Hmm?"

Erik looked into the green eyes mere inches from his own, then asked directly, "Do you want to sign a Contract with me?"

The hand resting on his chest immediately froze, and Meira went completely still. For several seconds, the woman who had filled the sky with lightning and sent six high-ranking Succubi flying with a single lift of her hand could not react to such a simple question.

Her green eyes slowly widened. Her lips trembled faintly.

"What... did you just say?"

Seeing her expression, the corners of Erik’s lips curved slightly. "I asked if you wanted to sign a Contract with me."

This time, Meira heard him clearly. Joy erupted across her face almost instantly. Her eyes lit up, and the corners of her lips rose uncontrollably. The soft body in Erik’s arms even shifted closer, as if she wanted to throw herself around him.

But only a second later, that smile slowly vanished.

The arms around Erik’s neck loosened. Meira lowered her head, golden hair falling across part of her face. The change was so obvious that Erik frowned.

"What’s wrong?"

"I..." Meira’s voice became much quieter. She lightly clenched the corner of his shirt and remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "I’m sorry."

Erik was even more confused. "What are you apologizing for?"

"I once signed a Contract with another man."

Erik did not respond, merely watching her. Meira did not dare raise her head. "When the laws of the world first changed, the first generation of Succubi had to adapt quickly to the new Contract system. I was one of those chosen."

She laughed softly, but there was no joy in it.

"It sounds like a great honor, but the truth is, no one ever asked whether I wanted it. That Contract was formed for the benefit of both sides, for research, and for the stability of the new system. There was no love, no choice, and no real life together."

Meira and that man had carried the title of Partners for many years, yet the distance between them was so vast that even strangers might not have treated each other with such indifference.

"I never slept with him," Meira said very quietly. "Even Elowen has nothing to do with him. Elowen’s father only provided genetic material for the artificial insemination."

Erik did not interrupt. Meira lowered her head even further.

"But the Contract still exists, so..." Her hands slowly tightened. "I’m not a woman who has never belonged to someone else."

By the final words, her voice had nearly disappeared.

Erik gazed at the woman in his arms for a long time before suddenly understanding. Meira was not afraid that he would hate the fact that she had once signed another Contract. What she truly feared was that Erik would believe she was no longer good enough.

A woman who possessed immense wealth, who had once stood at the pinnacle of the Elven race, and whose mere appearance was enough for the entire city to recognize her... was now lowering her head in his arms because of something that had happened before they ever met.

Erik reached out and lifted her chin. Meira flinched slightly, forced to look directly at him.

"Did I ask who came first?"

Meira stared at him blankly. "No..."

"Then what are you worried about?"

"But—"

"Meira." Erik interrupted her. His voice was not loud, but it was enough to silence her. "I don’t care who you were forced to sign a Contract with in the past."

His thumb gently wiped away the moisture that had just appeared at the corner of her eye.

"I only care about the present." Erik looked straight into her trembling green eyes. "Who does your heart belong to?"

Meira opened her mouth, but no sound emerged. Her eyes grew hot almost instantly, and she hurriedly raised both hands to cover her face. One tear slipped between her fingers, followed by another.

"Meira?" Erik was slightly startled.

"Don’t..." She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling faintly. "Don’t say things like that."

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No." Meira’s voice choked. "That’s why... I’ve waited far too long to hear them."

Erik was about to say more when Meira suddenly threw herself into his arms. She wrapped both arms tightly around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder. All traces of her usual maturity and composure vanished as she truly began to cry like a child.

"Yours." Her broken voice sounded against Erik’s neck. "My heart belongs to you. It has belonged to you for a long time."

Her embrace tightened with every word. "I was only afraid you wouldn’t want me. Afraid that one day, you would learn about my past and think I was dirty. Afraid I was no longer good enough..."

Erik frowned and placed a hand on her back. "Don’t say such nonsense."

Meira sobbed. Erik slowly stroked her hair.

"You are Meira," he said. "That is enough."

Those words seemed to shatter her final defense. Meira cried even harder, yet a smile appeared amid her tears. She raised her head. Her eyes were red from crying, her cheeks still wet, and her lips trembled faintly.

Before Erik could wipe away her tears, Meira cupped his face in both hands and kissed him.

The first kiss was somewhat chaotic, not because of uncontrolled desire, but because she was overwhelmed by too many emotions. Meira laughed and cried at once, her lips repeatedly seeking Erik’s as though she needed to confirm that he was truly there. Erik was initially surprised, but then his hand settled around her waist and pulled her closer.

The last distance between them disappeared.

The kiss slowly deepened. Meira immediately softened in his arms, her breathing becoming ragged. Her soft tongue was clumsy at first, but grew increasingly greedy once he began responding. Both arms remained tightly wrapped around Erik’s neck, unwilling to release him and unwilling to stop.

The instant the energy between them began to resonate, a notification appeared before Erik’s eyes.

[Target Meira is currently bound by a first-generation Contract.]

[The existing Contract and the Primal Contract cannot coexist.]

[If the old Contract is forcibly broken, the target’s energy foundation will suffer severe damage.]

[Projected level after dissolution: Silver.]

[Warning: First-generation Contracts inflict life-force backlash.]

[The Primal Contract can protect the target’s Soul Origin, but cannot completely prevent the loss of levels caused by the old mechanism.]

[Proceed?]

Erik immediately stopped.

Meira, lost in the kiss, opened her eyes as well. Their faces remained extremely close, their breaths mingling. Erik looked at her and asked, "You know what will happen if the old Contract is broken, don’t you?"

Meira remained silent for several seconds.

Of course she knew. The first generation had been the earliest subjects to test that form of Contract, and the price of betrayal or voluntary dissolution had been etched deeply into the history of that era.

"My strength will fall," Meira said softly.

"Not only that." Erik frowned. "There will also be a backlash against your life force."

Meira looked at him, then smiled without the slightest hesitation.

"I know."

"You could fall all the way to Silver."

"Mm."

"You could lose much of what you’ve accumulated."

"Mm."

Meira raised a hand and gently caressed Erik’s face. Her smile was so tender that it seemed to warm the entire room.

"But Erik, I’ve lived long enough with a Contract I never wanted. I don’t want to die with it."

She pressed her forehead against his, her green eyes filled with tears.

"Even if I have to start over from the beginning, I want to make my own choice this time."

Erik fell silent.

Meira gently kissed his lips.

"I choose you."

One sentence.

Nothing more needed to be said.

Erik took a deep breath, then spoke within his mind.

Proceed.

[Confirmed.]

CRACK!

The sound echoed directly through their souls. Meira’s body immediately trembled violently. It was not physical pain. It felt as though a chain that had been wrapped around her soul for decades had suddenly been pulled taut.

Ancient runes appeared around her body. Pale gold, cold, and utterly devoid of emotion, they wrapped around Meira’s wrists, neck, chest, and lower abdomen like invisible shackles.

Meira frowned slightly.

The first shackle shattered in the very next second.

CRACK!

Then the second.

The third.

BOOM!

All the runes exploded into countless fragments of light. The old Contract shattered, and Meira’s level began to plummet.

Gold.

Silver Stage 10.

Silver Stage 7.

Silver Stage 3.

At last, her aura settled at the lower end of Silver.

Meira’s body weakened slightly, but rather than pain, her eyes widened. A sense of relief unlike anything she had ever experienced erupted from the depths of her soul.

The shackles were gone.

There was no longer a cold thread connecting her to a man for whom she felt nothing. No longer that invisible sensation that told her, even from tens of thousands of kilometers away, that she belonged to someone else.

Meira suddenly laughed as tears streamed down her face once more.

"Erik..."

Before he could ask anything, Meira kissed him again. This time, the kiss was fiercer. Her arms tightened around his neck, and her entire body pressed into his embrace. She did not care about the levels she had just lost, nor did she care that her strength had fallen.

Only one feeling remained in her mind.

Freedom.