A deal

Savine smiled widely at Lucius's proposition.

"Alright."

"Eliseline, prepare a magic contract," Lucius said and headed to his office.

Savine followed behind and the two entered.

Lucius did not bother to keep up appearances. He reached for a small drawer and brought out a bottle of whisky. He searched for glasses, but couldn't find one, so he simply gulped down the whisky from the mouth.

The heat burned his throat, but that heat also cleared his mind.

Savine approached him and took a gulp of the whisky as well. She didn't wince, nor did she make faces, she only nodded approvingly. She wasn't a cute kid. No, she wasn't a kid at all.

Lucius scoffed at the thought.

'I've lost. Don't know what game I lost, but I lost. I even tried to break the game itself, but she didn't let me do that. Not only that, she completely ignored my attempt, acting as if nothing happened.'

'I lost and not only that, my opponent needed to take pity on me to save my face.'

It was a bitter experience, but a liberating one.

Finally, Lucius could accept his situation. Ever since Savine came, he was playing a lost game, and he was pissed all the time because of it. Now that it was over, he was finally free. Even if it was a loss.

And now that he was free, he could let go of certain things as well.

"I'll let the slums out of my control," Lucius said. "But I have a few conditions."

"Of course."

"You'll be the leader of the bunch. Officially."

Lucius did not want the slums to be under the illusion that they were free.

"Since you already plan to take control of that place, what's the problem? I'm only making sure that the people know what's what."

"Petty," Savine said, but she soon nodded. "Anything else?"

"I can give you the temple. Full authority over it, just not the title of a bishop."

Savine's eyes rose. She definitely did not expect to hear something like this. Lucius, too, did not understand why he was doing this. But deep down he knew that it was going to happen soon enough. At least this way, Savine wouldn't have any reason to target Sylvester specifically.

"What do you want in exchange?" Savine asked.

"Make a contract that you'll never betray the Fest duchy."

Savine looked troubled. Lucius expected it and wanted to push on, but Savine's explanation was well beyond his expectations.

"I probably shouldn't be saying this, but it's not that hard for me to break magic contracts. I can't do it now, but it definitely won't be long for me to ignore them altogether."

Lucius blinked.

'Well, shit.'

He took the bottle from Savine's hand and gulped two mouthfuls. The booze washed away his worries and he soon found himself shrugging dismissively. He chortled and spoke up.

"Then I'll have your word. Can you at least give me that?"

Savine had a wry smile, but she nodded regardless.

"I'll swear on my title as God's Chosen, I'll nurture the Fest duchy to the peak of this mortal world."

Something about how she worded it felt off to Lucius.

"Promise me you won't hurt me or my family."

"That depends on the circumstances," Savine said, shamelessly. "But I can give my word if you promise to remove Sylvester yourself."

Lucius frowned.

"What is it that you hate about him so much anyway?"

Savine sighed. "It's not that I hate him, really. It's just that he's absolutely useless. Not only that, he's dragging the temple and the ducal family's name down just by being associated with us."

"Aren't you God's Chosen? Aren't you here to save the world? Why can't you save Sylvester?"

"I'd love to lie to you and say God loves everyone, but no. God has no likes or dislikes. God simply creates and witnesses. Us, God's Chosen, have the mission of saving the world, but that doesn't mean we bother with each and every individual."

"And. If someone wants to be saved, they'd better do it themselves," she added.

"But Sylvester can't help himself! He can't even…"

"Then he should ask for help," Savine said flatly. "Since he's too prideful to do so, then he can only suffer in silence. I preach responsibility so I can only tell him to accept the facts."

"What facts? That he ended up like this because of the people that raised him?"

"Accept the fact that he's a helpless, useless piece of shit and that he can't do anything to change it. Regardless of how he turned out like that. Accept the fact that he wants to change, but can't because he's too scared to get out of his comfort zone. Accept the fact that he'll probably die alone and lonely at some point, unless of course, he chooses the easy way out himself."

"…"

'This damn girl...'

Savine always managed to get under his nerves. Even if he was willing to play along, Lucius couldn't help but see red when he was near her.

"It is pointless to squabble over this. Give me your word that you'll take care of Sylvester and I give you my word to not to touch you or your family."

Lucius's immediate thought was to refuse.

At the mention of the word plan, Lucius's own designs to kill the Grand Duchess appeared in his mind. After giving her the duchy and after being forced to work under her, despite his nature, Lucius understood that the Grand Duchess had to go. It was a decision he came to after years of witnessing the horrors she wrought upon her own duchy.

He knew it needed to be done, but he still regretted that he had to resort to that. Every day he wished that he properly fought for the duchy's throne in the first place. If he just did that, none of this mess would've happened.

But the thing he regretted the most was killing the Duchess. Surely, there were better ways to go about things besides a murderous plot like that.

From then on, he swore never to betray a family member, no matter what. He knew he was being naïve. He knew that if he fought for the throne and obtained it, the Grand Duchess would've most likely plotted against him herself. But even so, he wanted to…

'I don't know what I want to do. I just know I don't want to make a choice like that anymore.'

"I refuse," Lucius said.

"I'm not really asking you to kill him or anything, you know? Just to remove him from my sight."

"I know. Even still, I refuse."

Savine heard the answer and only nodded.

"Well, that's fine as well," she shrugged. "As for you and your family… don't worry too much. I don't have a hobby of going around and ruining people's lives. As long as I have the choice, I'll avoid you."

Lucius knew he couldn't really trust her, but something told him that she was being sincere.

"As for the bishop… I can only say I won't allow myself to be trampled upon."

Lucius only hoped that he could convince Sylvester peacefully.

"I understand."

Savine scoffed and walked out.

As Lucius pondered upon things, a messenger came into his room.

He picked it up and, from the seal alone, he knew the Head Temple had sent their answer.

***