15: Chapter 15

He could even feel her breath, which carried a faint fragrance. "The agreement between us is completely void from this moment on."

Luo Yu did not say a word.

But Sona's next words completely stunned him. "From this very moment, I am your true fiancée. I will do everything a fiancée is supposed to do. Including sharing a bed."

"Sona, you..."

For a moment, Luo Yu had no idea how to respond.

His mind was currently in a complete mess.

But he could clearly hear the coldness in Sona's voice as she spoke. "Don't say anything. Just let me sleep quietly for a while. My sister always tells me that if you have any worries, a good sleep will make everything better."

Sona closed her eyes.

Her long eyelashes were visible, and her breathing gradually steadied.

Before long, she actually fell asleep.

It was the kind of sleep that was completely defenseless.

Luo Yu looked down at the girl leaning on his shoulder, feeling a bit of mixed emotions.

Even though she was asleep, her brow was still furrowed.

He gently reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, afraid she would slide off his shoulder. "What on earth is going on here?"

He was currently completely in the dark.

Let alone the cause and effect, he didn't even have the most basic clue.

How did Sona suddenly decide to become his true fiancée?

Although they were already engaged before, anyone with eyes could see that it was just a title.

But now, she was actually making it official.

And she was doing so in a way that felt like marrying down. "Partner, you sure are incredibly lucky with women. The next head of a pure-blooded Devil noble family, the younger sister of a Satan, throwing herself into your arms. Countless people can only dream of something like this."

Ddraig's voice echoed in his mind, carrying a hint of teasing. "I don't feel lucky at all. I just find it baffling and incomprehensible."

Luo Yu knew very well in his heart.

Sona was definitely not the kind of woman who would let others dictate her fate.

Yet, she had actually bowed her head.

Staying obediently inside that exquisite cage, no longer struggling.

This in itself was very strange. "Partner, if I'm not mistaken, there's a problem with the contract on her."

"A contract?"

Luo Yu repeated in a low voice.

He hadn't thought deeply about the contract before.

That thing seemed to be one-sided, binding Sona, not him.

He reached out and brushed aside Sona's bangs as she slept.

His finger gently traced across her smooth forehead.

A somewhat familiar contract chain emerged. "This is..."

Luo Yu was stunned. "Just as I thought. The contract on her has grown stronger."

Ddraig didn't seem very surprised to see this.

But just because he wasn't surprised didn't mean Luo Yu wasn't.

The contract chain appearing on Sona's forehead seemed to be only half of it.

But it shared many similarities with the black-gold patterns next to the emerald gem on his Boosted Gear. "What on earth is going on, Ddraig?"

Ddraig didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly. "Remember the hilt of the First Holy Sword you fused with? The contract your Fallen One ancestor signed with the Sitri Clan used that hilt as a medium. But after the hilt fused into the Boosted Gear, the contract transferred along with it."

"The Boosted Gear is a Sacred Gear, countless tiers stronger than the hilt of the First Holy Sword. Once the contract entered the Boosted Gear, it was treated as the new medium, and thus also benefited from the Boosted Gear's boosting ability."

Luo Yu's eyes widened. "The boosting of the Boosted Gear can even strengthen a contract?"

"Under normal circumstances, definitely not. This is just an exception. Otherwise, the Three Realms would have fallen into chaos long ago."

Ddraig paused, then continued, "And that contract chain on her, only half of it remains now. The other half has already extended outward."

Luo Yu's lips twitched.

This contract involved his engagement with the Sitri Clan. He didn't even need to use his brain to guess who was bearing the other half that had extended outward.

Sona's older sister, Serafall, one of the Four Great Satans of the Underworld. The Sitri Clan only had these two daughters in this generation.

Given that woman's temper, the fact that she had held back from coming to cause him trouble until now was already giving him plenty of face. "Sigh."

Luo Yu sighed, finally piecing together the whole story.

After the contract was amplified by the Boosted Gear, the transitional method they originally planned to use to bypass and nullify it was completely closed off.

Although he didn't know how exaggerated the binding force of the strengthened contract was, one thing was certain. Even a Super Devil of Serafall's caliber couldn't handle this thing.

Otherwise, Sona wouldn't have chosen to sacrifice herself to accept the contract.

The contract's core was on her. As long as she, the primary host, accepted her fate and willingly took on this contract, the binding force on her sister would naturally weaken significantly. After all, that part was merely an extension from the strengthening, not the original contract signed.

Making the contract completely void was impossible. But with Serafall's strength, forcibly suppressing it was not a problem.

For the Sitri Clan, if they had to choose between Sona and Serafall...

Serafall was one of the Four Great Satans of the Underworld; her weight was far, far greater.

Furthermore, the entire Underworld would never allow Serafall to be sacrificed.

Luo Yu looked down at the sleeping Sona, his eyes filled with heartache.

She was currently like a child abandoned by the whole world, unable to do anything except accept this unfair fate.

The morning sunlight spilled into the room, landing right on Sona's fair and delicate face.

Sona felt a gentle warmth on her face, as if she were being softly patted awake by the sunlight.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes groggily, her vision still a bit blurry. A throbbing pain in her head made her instinctively raise her hand to massage her temples.

She was a pure-blooded Devil, so theoretically, human alcohol shouldn't be able to get her drunk. But last night, she had intentionally drunk to drown her sorrows; the wine didn't intoxicate her, she intoxicated herself. "Is this... my room?"

Only when her mind cleared up a bit did Sona look around. Seeing the familiar ceiling carved with a Landscape Map, and that large pink bed—everything from yesterday rushed back to her. "It's good that we made things clear... At least my sister won't be dragged down by me anymore."

She stared at the birds flying freely outside the window, Luo Yu's face flashing through her mind.

If it were that man, perhaps her future days wouldn't be as unbearable as she imagined, unlike a bird in a cage.

Of course, the prerequisite was that she had to try to truly fall in love with him.

Ding, ding, ding—

The crisp sound of a bell rang outside the door, followed by a maid's soft call. "Come in."

The door pushed open, and two maids walked in carrying clean clothes and hot water. "The Second Young Lady is awake."

Sona nodded, got out of bed, and walked to the dressing table to let the maids help her freshen up. She casually asked, "Did Luo Yu bring me back yesterday?"

"Indeed he did. Not only did he bring you back, but once in the room, the Second Young Lady held onto the young master's neck in a death grip. We tried to pry you off for ages, but you just wouldn't let go, and only let him leave in the middle of the night."

Hearing the maid's teasing, Sona's face instantly flushed red. She hadn't expected to make such a fool of herself after getting drunk. It seemed she should avoid alcohol as much as possible in the future.

Before long, Sona finished dressing. Just then, Butler Izumi walked in. "Second Young Lady, breakfast is ready..."

"Butler Izumi, please prepare another portion of breakfast and go call Luo Yu."

Their relationship had changed since last night. They could no longer interact like landlord and tenant as they had before.

She also wanted to take the initiative to take a step forward; after all, she would have to face this sooner or later. "Of course, Second Young Lady."

Butler Izumi smiled slightly, stepping out of the room to order an extra portion of breakfast, while he personally went to invite Luo Yu.

Not long after.

At the long dining table in the first-floor living room, Luo Yu and Sona sat opposite each other, eating a simple breakfast. "Luo Yu, someone is coming to the villa later for a Devil Reincarnation to become my Peerage Member."

Now that their relationship was set, Sona felt Luo Yu had the right to know about certain things. "Do you need me to avoid it?"

Luo Yu finished the milk in his glass and asked, wiping the corner of his mouth.

Sona shook her head and smiled. "That won't be necessary. The Devil Reincarnation ritual isn't something that needs to be hidden from others, it's just..."

She paused, her tone carrying a trace of helplessness. "It's just that this future Peerage Member of mine has a rather difficult temper. Furthermore, she won't acknowledge me as her master; that was a condition we agreed upon beforehand."

Luo Yu raised an eyebrow, a surprised look in his eyes.

A Peerage Member who doesn't acknowledge their master's identity?

What was the point of taking in such a Peerage Member?

pure-blooded Devils of the Underworld didn't have high loyalty requirements for Reincarnated Devils, but who would want someone under them who could defect at any moment?

Even more troublesome was that, according to Sona, even if the other party really ran away, she couldn't even be branded as a Stray Devil—after all, it was agreed beforehand.

Sona saw Luo Yu's confusion and continued to explain, "She is very strong. She can fight a High-Class Devil with a human body and even has a Sacred Gear hidden as her trump card. Her combat strength is not inferior to mine."

"So, I can accept the conditions she proposed. If you want a powerful Peerage Member, you always have to pay a price, don't you?"

Luo Yu's mind spun.

Sona's first Peerage Member was her Queen, named Tsubaki Shinra...

But in his memory, Tsubaki Shinra had always been completely obedient to Sona. How could she be so rebellious?

Wait, that's not right.

Could Sona have tried to recruit other Peerage Members before this, but failed?

Luo Yu grew interested and asked, "What is her name?"

"Tsubaki Shinra."

Luo Yu was taken aback.

It really was her.

Shinra... the Shinra Clan...

Wasn't that an Exorcist Family?

He remembered that back when he had just completed the Balance Breaker of his Boosted Gear, he had saved a little girl on a whim who was being pursued by the Shinra Clan.

Wasn't that little girl named Tsubaki?

It was just that he had always called her Little Tsubaki, so he had forgotten her full name.

Luo Yu looked at Sona, his lips twitching as he let out a helpless smile.

What a fucking coincidence.

The little girl he saved back then had actually become Sona's Peerage Member.

It was not surprising at all that Tsubaki Shinra had her current strength. Luo Yu had personally taught her martial arts and cultivation methods for a period of time, giving her a solid foundation.

More importantly, according to the original plotline, she would have been placed under house arrest by the Shinra Clan due to her Sacred Gear, completely wasting her golden period of cultivation. Sona only saved her later, which was when she became a Peerage Member.

But because he had intervened early, Tsubaki Shinra regained her freedom early on and didn't miss those most crucial years for laying her foundation.

However—

Becoming a Peerage Member but refusing to acknowledge her master, being this rebellious and willful?

This was completely different from the Little Tsubaki in his memory.

That girl had always been soft and gentle in front of him. Let alone talking back, she didn't even dare to say a single 'no'.

Time flew by, and soon it was noon.

Sona and Luo Yu sat on the living room sofa, waiting for their guest while drinking the black tea served by the maid.

To be honest, the quality of this black tea was mediocre.