Contract Marriage

An unapologetically attractive woman was sitting in front of them, similar to how an emperor would act meeting his subjects. Her dominating aura permeated the entire room as it making it even hard for Gwen to breathe properly. This didn't come from her overwhelming power, nor did it come from her status, instead it came from her bloodline.

Rachel felt ashamed and didn't even dare look her mother in the eye. It was similar to how a child who did something wrong was now being forced to face her mistake.

"Rachel, come here," Carol slowly moved her hand and waved for Rachel to come closer, stretching her arms out to hug her. In Gwen's eyes, Carol had a warm look as if completely welcoming Rachel into her arms. In Rachel's point of view, however, it seemed as if it was a death trap, specifically meant to entrap her within her mother's grasp.

Nonetheless, Rachel slowly took her time, her next step taking even longer than the last until she was a few steps in front of Carol. Left with no other choice, Carol sighed and stood up, her towering figure completely overshadowed Rachel as she went out of her way and hugged her tightly.

"Rachel, you know what you did wrong, right?" Carol's warm voice didn't dissipate the oppressive aura around her, even breathing was a daunting task.

Rachel gritted her teeth yet and nervously nodded, "Yes, Mother."

"Why do you keep doing it? You very well know how much effort we put in to get to where we are right now," Carol's tone was filled with love and warmth as she tried to calmly explain to her deviant daughter. "Besides," Carol's voice suddenly turned bone-chilling, "If we wanted to rule the world, no one would've been able to stop us in the first place. Now, go to the dungeon and face your punishment."

Rachel visibly shivered as Gwen could see her eyes lose focus and her subconsciously rub her arms together from the psychological impact of hearing it.

The old servant sighed, "Rachel, come follow me. I'll guide you there." Rachel didn't even make it difficult for the old man as she obediently followed through with it, completely clashing with her previous actions of desperately not wanting to meet her mother.

Finally tackling Rachel's recent outburst, she could finally focus on the main topic at hand, Gwendolyn's marriage.

"Gwendolyn, your father told me that you started to feel mana in the air. Is this true?" Carol's voice turned soft and warm once more, it gave Gwen the feeling of a mother's love and concern. This feeling made her instinctively drop her guard and be comforted by her.

Even with her instincts rising up within her, she still stayed with her previous story, "A little bit but I can't control it."

Carol gave the same disappointed look on her face as Nio, a grand plan that they worked extremely hard for was still all for naught. She recomposed herself and brought on the main topic, "Gwendolyn, we're willing to give you a choice in the future, whether you want to continue being part of the family or leave."

'Leave the family…? What's going on? Was this what Gwendolyn experienced or was it something else? There are too many missing pieces to figure out!'

"Mom?" Gwen's confused voice was all Carol needed to hear. A slightly teary voice could be heard from the

Carol leaned in closer to Gwen and lovingly raised her head, "Gwendolyn, my child, I'll ask you the same question in the future on your 10th birthday. I want you to think about it, even though it's unfair to you, there's no other way to go about it. Our family's in a dangerous predicament, not for us, but rather, for you. You're the only one in danger."

'I'm in danger? Can't you just protect me, then?'

"There are too many parts at play that even we can't do anything about it. To help you make your decision, we arranged a marriage for you. Whether you grow to love him or hate him, I'll take responsibility for your future."

"What's going on?"

Carol worriedly looked into her youngest's eyes and said, "I guess this will make it easier. Damian! Bring in Felix."

A man wearing a fully purple mask entered the room, not even having holes in his mask, guiding a bright-eyed child with him. This bright-eyed child had golden hair and blue eyes, the hallmark of the Mascre Family. Although they weren't well-renowned for their strength or status, their kindness and moral values were so solid that they were considered as one of the kindest families.

"Gwendolyn, in this world, those with great power are corrupted to succumb to their desires. The Corruption... it's the very reason why those who are powerful are tyrants and madmen. But not all hope is lost, not everyone has been affected the same, one of these families who have kept their bloodline pure is the Mascre family."

Felix came forward, wearing a white suit, showing off his family's pure and untainted bloodline. He respectfully bowed before Carol, "Madame Carol, my Father told me to pay proper respect. He also told me to agree with your proposition."

Carol nodded and calmly created two magical circles underneath Gwen and Felix. Gwen was extremely confused as she could tell that whatever her mother was doing required an immense amount of power, even greater mana than what Rachel used to wipe away a segment of the wall. This is signified by the thickly condensed amount of runes within the magic circle, countless and endless, the further one observed the contents of the magic circle, the even more defined it would become.

Felix seemed prepared for this as he merely let the extremely terrifying magic circle encircle him. As Carol inserted her monstrous amount of mana into the magic circles, she seemed to be a little strained yet managed to fully activate it. The slow feeble glow of the magic circles turned extremely vibrant and it illuminated the entire room in its purple glow.

Gwen and Felix simultaneously rose up in the air, unable to control their body as this magic circle right below them started condensing and getting smaller. It left the very ground that they were sitting on and rose to attach itself to Gwen and Felix's bodies.

The first purple magic circle turned itself into a pitch-black tattoo on Gwen's eyes. Gwen could feel an indescribable heat rush into her eyes, feeling as if she was being blinded by the power that was contained within it. It was only for but a brief moment of this agonizing pain yet this sensation was something Gwen had never experienced before in her previous life. The scorching pain was so intense that Gwen didn't have enough strength to scream out, only silently accepting the pain despite its intensity. Then… it was gone. Gwen couldn't feel that sensation anymore but still subconsciously touched one of her eyes.

On Felix's side, it was etched on the side of his neck, his face visibly contorted, trying to keep his pride as his arranged wife didn't even utter a single sound of pain. He also knew that the more sensitive the organ, the more painful it would be, compared to having both her eyes etched, the searing pain in his neck was nothing. Right after it finished, compared to Gwen's pitch-black eye tattoos, Felix's tattoo was rainbow-colored, the difference was striking. It felt that Gwen's tattoo was incomplete, like something was missing from it.

Carol uncontrollably coughed for a while, a few droplets of blood came out dripping from her mouth, leading both Gwen and Felix to immediately be concerned for her, "I'm fine… it's just the price I have to pay. Now the contract's been fulfilled, Damian will explain everything. Leave, I need some rest."