Chapter 217: Canceling the Contract

The Silver Snake tribe was fully located in a narrow valley, where steep cliffs covered with green moss surrounded it like natural city walls. The air here was damp and cool, completely different from the dry, spacious environment of the Golden Lion tribe.

Kaelen stood in front of the stone cave allocated to his family, taking a deep breath. The smell of damp earth, moss, and a very faint fragrance from some wild flower crept in the air. He smiled slightly. If it were not for the many worries accumulating in his heart, perhaps he would have found this place very suitable for resting.

"Papa, this place is too damp, I do not like it." Finnick wrinkled his nose, tightly hugging the soundly sleeping Ryder in his arms. Chloe on the boy’s shoulder was also dejected, her deep red tentacles drooping lifelessly. Trees originally favored moisture, but the dampness here made her feel as if she was about to grow mushrooms.

"Endure it a little bit, child, we will only stay here for three days." Kaelen rubbed Finnick’s head, then turned to look at Sane, who was arranging belongings in the cave together with Siley.

Siley placed the purple egg into a basket lined with soft animal skin, his movements so careful that they were almost cherishing. But his gaze when looking at the egg made people shudder - a dark red glint subtly appearing at the bottom of his silver pupils, like a chained wild beast, thirsting to possess and protect to the extreme.

Kaelen observed Siley very carefully, sighing silently in his heart.

This was exactly the problem he had discovered two days ago after Nova whispered in his ear reminding him about Siley’s abnormal expression. Nova was not like Chloe; Chloe was restricted in movement, her vision only stopped at the place where she took root and the fragmented stories heard from passing living beings. As for Nova, she was a Spatial Spirit taken by her former master to the ends of the earth; she knew everything she should know.

Under Nova’s searching assistance, Kaelen had also read the classic records about the Supreme Mate Contract, the benefits it brought as well as the unwanted side effects. Besides, there was also a method to cancel the contract formation; although the complexity was quite high, it was familiar to the Magic that Kaelen had encountered for hundreds of years in his previous life. In merely two days, Kaelen had finished learning the contract cancellation ritual.

This Supreme Mate Contract, if both parties were willing and both were adults, having a warm life like other normal married couples, then this contract was indeed a perfect pairing.

But Oliver had forcibly signed it with Siley while both were not clear-headed. It had unintentionally planted a poisonous seed into Siley’s and Oliver’s hearts. The fear of losing the mate had transformed into a morbid possessiveness; pure feelings were distorted into a desire for imprisonment.

One person was already an adult beastman, while the other was still an innocent young cub not yet understanding the ways of the world; if they did not forcibly terminate the contract as soon as possible, the consequences would be extremely unpredictable.

"Siley, come here for a moment." Kaelen waved his hand calling.

Siley was startled, the red light in his eyes dissipated, returning to its usual clear appearance. He walked over, somewhat nervously: "Did Papa call me?"

"Sit down." Kaelen pointed to the flat rock opposite him: "We need to talk."

Kaelen spoke, calm and clear: "You also know our purpose in returning to the Silver Snake tribe, there is no need to pretend not to know anything anymore. Tell me what you think?!"

Siley clenched his fists, speaking through gritted teeth: "I do not agree!"

At the same time, the purple egg on the table vibrated strongly as if violently protesting.

Kaelen remained silent, letting the two children vent all their emotions. Waiting until Siley’s breathing returned to an even pace and Oliver’s wobbling subsided, he then spoke gently:

"Papa knows you two will protest. But before refusing, answer Papa one question."

He turned to Siley first, his gaze calm but sharp.

"Siley, are you sure that the person signing the contract with you at that time was Oliver?"

Siley looked up, his eyes wide: "Papa... what do you mean?"

"At that time, Oliver forcibly used the God Possession skill - a thing that he supposedly had to wait until adulthood to be able to use. He borrowed the Snake God’s power, transforming into the adult form for twenty minutes."

Kaelen paused for a moment, his gaze still pinned tightly on Siley:

"Can you be sure that the person who bit your neck, who asked you if you wanted to be his mate was the real Oliver, and not a portion of the Snake God’s power dominating his mind and actions?"

Siley stood frozen like a rooted tree. He seemed to have thought about it, but then this thought just disappeared, as if it never existed.

"At that time, the boy had only broken out of his shell for a few months. A few-month-old child, even if carrying the Snake God’s bloodline, would he be mature enough to understand the meaning of a mate contract?"

Siley could not answer. His hands trembled, hanging loosely at his sides.

Kaelen turned to the egg, his gaze gentler but still not faltering at all.

"Oliver, your turn. Papa asks you one question, are you sure that was your own wish? Not because of gratitude to Brother Siley for saving your life. Not because of fear when facing death. Not because of anything else. But because you truly wanted to be beside him, in the capacity of a mate?"

The egg remained silent.

He was still just a young cub, how could he know what a mate was. Before that, he clearly only considered Siley as an older brother; later on, he did not know for what reason he just liked to stick to Siley, always having a screaming voice in his mind saying: Siley is mine!

What is Siley to me? The boy had never thought about it.

"See. Putting the negative influence of the contract aside, you two yourselves also realized the problem, right? This contract was signed when both of you were not truly clear-headed. One person was dominated by the God’s power, the other was dizzy from just having his core recreated. This is not a solid foundation for a mate relationship."

He turned to Siley: "Do you want Oliver to be bound to you by a contract that the boy signed while nearing death, when he still did not fully understand its meaning?"

Siley clenched his fists. A teardrop rolled down his cheek: "I... I do not want to."

"Oliver, do you want to grow up later, look back and realize that the most important decision of your life was made when you were not mature enough to understand it?"

The egg remained silent as if thinking, then wobbled twice.

"Then just decide to cancel the contract." Kaelen sighed: "The future path of you two will no longer be related to each other; who you form a relationship with will be out of your own willingness, not a hard-to-control contract document anymore. Later on, if you two meet again, if you still cannot avoid this destiny, then Sane and I will also not oppose."

Siley burst into laughter amidst tears. He reached out to wipe the teardrop on his cheek, then bowed deeply towards Kaelen: "I agree. Please help us, Papa."

Kaelen nodded, they went together to the stone square in the middle of the Silver Snake tribe.

The news that Kaelen wanted to dissolve the mate contract between Siley and Oliver had already spread throughout the Silver Snake tribe early on.

Seeing Kaelen’s group standing in the middle of the square, everyone in the tribe coincidentally gathered here; whispering and discussing sounds rang out incessantly.

Some people showed agreement; after all, an adult beastman and a Sub-Beast still in an egg, this matter originally made many people find it bizarre. But there were also people who violently opposed; a mate contract was witnessed by the Beast God, how could it be dissolved just because one wanted to?

Lorenzo and Jude stood beside watching Kaelen busy writing and drawing on the ground, their complexions complex. They had long considered Sane’s family as in-laws, also long considered Oliver as a daughter-in-law; now people suddenly did not want to be in-laws with them anymore, the couple’s mood suddenly felt a bit empty.

What the Silver Snake tribe people thought, Kaelen did not care. He took out gold ink and cinnabar to mix together, then used a wolf-hair brush, dipping ink to draw the array on the ground.

The undulating lines were like a coiling snake, in the center were two intertwined symbols - one symbolizing the soul, one symbolizing the contract.

Sane stepped forward, placing his hand on his mate’s shoulder. A vast stream of Magical Energy was gently transmitted into Kaelen’s body, stabilizing the energy during the drawing process.

When the array was completed, Kaelen placed Oliver’s egg in the center position, then signaled for Siley to step in opposite.

"Place your hand on the eggshell. Close your eyes."

Siley complied. His large, calloused hand gently pressed onto the purple eggshell surface - the thing he had embraced and protected all these past days.

"Now, think about the moment you two met for the first time. Not the moment of signing the contract. But the moment before that - when you found the injured Oliver, when you decided to save the boy."

Siley closed his eyes. Memories rushed back.

He saw a tiny Half-Snake Sub-Beast fleeing from the claws of the Three-Eyed Demonic Wolves, then the boy stumbled and fell, rolling down the slope. He saw himself - at that time also merely a silver snake cub, having just experienced the shock of betrayal and losing everything - lunging to bite into the throat of the Demonic Wolf about to bite into the little Sub-Beast’s main artery.

"Do not be afraid. I am here."

That was the first sentence he uttered to Oliver, carrying no other emotions, simply because he did not want this child to die.

The light from the array flared up, enveloping both of them. The invisible threads of the contract appeared in Kaelen’s divine consciousness. They were gradually loosening, each knot being gently untied, completely without resistance. Kaelen smiled slightly.

It turned out, when both parties unanimously wanted to let go, the contract was also no longer a dead knot.

The contract cancellation process lasted from that evening until noon two days later.

When the light dissipated, the purple snake tattoo on Siley’s neck had disappeared. And on Oliver’s eggshell, the silver snake tattoo wrapping around the sword had also dissipated.

Siley opened his eyes. He gently placed his hand on his left chest.

That place felt as if a patch had just been hollowed out, but strangely, it beat extremely calmly and steadily. There were no longer negative emotions occupying it, and his gaze when looking at the small egg also became more normal.

Oliver inside the eggshell was dazed, seemingly having a short segment hollowed out in his memories. The boy tried to recall what he had forgotten, but the memory only stopped at one second before he used the God Possession skill.

[Yawn, so sleepy~]

The baby immediately threw the doubt behind his head, curled his body up, and slept soundly.

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The author has some words to say:

I originally intended to prolong Oliver and Siley’s contract until baby Oliver was ten years old, but it seems everyone did not like this detail very much, therefore I have revised the plot, letting these two separate right away.

Thank you everyone for loving the work~