Can I think about it?

He had only just become an adult and there was already talk of having a child and one that would be royalty at that.

"Um, I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet.", he carefully said.

"Well, that doesn't matter. This is a condition that isn't negotiable."

"Urgh. Please tell me that this isn't urgent.", he pleaded, only for her next words to throw him into despair.

"It is. It's our fallback after all if you suck at creating the company. So we have at least something."

"Then can I at least think about it?"

"Nope.", it seemed she enjoyed his distraught, as she was now smiling widely. She grabbed a tablet lying on the table and pushed it over after turning it on. "But I can let you select your partner."

On the tablet was a collection of pictures. Each of them showing a young woman, that was unmarried and whom he could select as his partner.

He didn't even look at them, because he had a sudden thought. Maybe this was a possible way of getting back at the woman in front of him. Maybe he could use this to get his revenge for being tortured by her so much.

Before he could think about it more, he already blurted out, "Then I want you to become my slave."

He hadn't even finished the sentence when he felt a glare filled with killing intent focusing on the back of his head. He didn't even need to turn his head to know that it was the guard who was staring at him like this. He was sure that if not for her excellent training, she would have already made a move at him, trying to kill him for uttering those words.

The woman in front of him, on the other hand, stayed completely calm. "That is impossible."

As expected she directly rejected the idea. That was what Ivan had already expected since asking her to be his slave went much farther than what she had offered.

All the more shocking her next words were, "Although it is impossible for me to become your slave, acting like that inside this villa on one day of the month would be fine." When she said that, there was a faint smile on her lips.

Although the smile was faint he was able to see it and it made him understand what she intended to do. He smiled and said, "So you still want me to continue helping you with your stress."

She chuckled in response, "I see, you understand me. But even so, wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"

Ivan knew that the main reason she had come to the orphanage was to relax from the stress of her daily life. She didn't enjoy domination per se, but the act of freeing herself. For her acting like a slave was just another way of freeing herself, a way that might even be better. It not only removed any constraints from her daily life but would also allow her to give up control and just be, without having to think about much.

She was right, this could be seen as a win-win situation but he still felt like he got the shorter end of the stick, so he tried to think of something else he could ask for, something in line with what he had already asked for.

"You said that you want to have a child from me and that it is urgent?", he asked again, just to make sure that his idea might work.

Although Miss. Lucia didn't know what he was thinking about she still nodded after all this was the truth.

Having gotten her reassurance, Ivan pointed at the guard standing behind him and said, "Then I want her too. This will increase the probability of success."

It was something he had realized when he had first seen the guards face. She looked a bit similar to Miss. Lucia, so he guessed that they were related in some way. But her position seemed to be lower since she worked as a guard, so his request just might go through. This way he would get more out of this deal and besides, her constantly glaring at him had started to seriously annoy him. And what was the worst that could happen?

As soon as he had finished his sentence he knew that he had made a mistake. Well, maybe not a mistake but he surely had played directly into her hands. This was made clear from the satisfied twinkle in her eyes as well as her sly smile. Something he knew just too well.

'Damn, I really can't outsmart that woman.', he cursed internally while helplessly waiting for the trap, she had created for him, to fall shut.

"Well, although she is only a member of a side family, that is of course also normally not possible.", Miss. Lucia stated.

Ivan who knew her quite well, instantly knew that the point would be the word normally. With her using that, it meant that there would be a possible way and he didn't think that he had a choice. He could only sigh and ask, "What way."

Seeing his expression of resignation, the woman in front of him chuckled happily. "Guess"

"Hm, it should be something you really need and that only I can provide. Sending her to me should then be a way to control me as well as observe me. It is just that I can't think of anything."

"Good guess. If you agree to help us with something else, then she will act as if she is your slave. Of course, she won't really become one since she will still report to us. But it would still be a great deal for you, right?"

Once again she didn't say what exactly they wanted from him, making him even more curious as well as warry.

"Can I reject it?", he asked just to make sure.

And the answer was what he had expected, "No."

At the same time, the guard was still glaring at him with killing intent, making it not any better for him.

"Then can you at least tell me what it is? What else could be so important?"

"Do you know about class locked dungeons?", she asked while leaning back relaxedly.

"Aren't they the rare ones that can only be entered by people with specific classes?", he wasn't sure about it, since they were rarely mentioned in all the material he had read. But from what he had found, they were just as the name implied. They could only be entered by certain classes and were mostly geared towards them. The rewards and challenges would have to do with the class and they were seen as the best way to grow a class if one was capable of finding one.

"Correct. My family has found one for technomancer and we want to use you to farm it.", she came straight to the point.

"Um, what does this have to do with her?", he asked while pointing behind him.

"After becoming a slave, she will count as an object and you will be able to take her into the dungeon. She can then finish the dungeon since it is only low ranked and get the item we want from it."

"Huh? Didn't you tell me that she wouldn't truly become my slave? And now you are telling me that she has to become one for real?", of course, Ivan focused on the important part. Her wanting to use him to get something from the dungeon wasn't surprising. It would surely be something very valuable they weren't able to acquire in another way. And although he wondered how they knew about it, he also knew that it was better not to ask.

"The slave contract will be real, but you will waive most of the rights you would have over her."

"Then why should I accept this if I have to waive my rights?"

"I said most of them. There are some that you can retain."

"Um, I don't feel that she is that willing.", he commented.

"Don't worry about that."

"But if I can't even order her around, then how couldn't I?", he murmured.

Although she surely had been able to hear him, the woman sitting opposite of him, ignored him and pulled out a stack of paper from her storage ring.

"Here, these are the contracts. Read them carefully and then sign them."

"Just out of interest, what would happen if I decline?", he asked curiously.

"Nothing much. We just won't have any partnerships. And maybe someday if you misbehaved, you would find yourself waking up in some cold dark cell."

Although it was spoken jokingly, he knew that she was serious about it. If he declined, then he was a potential security risk for the ruling family. Maybe as long as he hid his class and didn't get into contact with one of the three families he would be fine but there was no guarantee.