Contract of Two Devils

   “So... that's it. There rest of this story you already know."

   I stared at the ceiling, letting her words sink in. It was a lot. I felt the weight of it all pressing down on me. After a moment, I turned my head slightly toward her and asked. 

   “So these documents…”

   "Yes." She nodded. “Everything I was able to get on Victor, plus documentation from the facility... I mean, part of it...”

   “Part of it?”

   “There was a highly advanced virus hidden in the files. It destroyed some of the data. That’s why I decided to print everything out, just in case. All that’s left are reports of daily activities at the center along with a list of research subjects and their statuses. However, there’s nothing to indicate the main purpose of the research or why they were kidnapping beings from other worlds. The designs for the interdimensional gates are also gone.”

   Her tapping grew louder for a moment before she stopped, exhaling slowly.

   “…I see,”

   She tilted her head slightly, her sharp gaze softening as she asked, “Are you okay?”

   “Y-yes, I think so. I have to admit that I’m shocked... Like seriously…” 

   I met her eyes, my tone deliberately flat. 

   “I can’t believe you have a real job.”

   “That made you shocked?! How did you think we had food to eat every day?!”

   “Well... I assumed you were some shady door-to-door seller or something. You know, like one of those who go from one house to another, trying to make people buy overpriced vacuums they don’t need.”

   “…You really have zero delicacy if it comes to women, huh?”

   “You really believe that I will treat you as a woman at this point, huh?”

   Her expression turned sour as she glared at me. I caught her silent rage and quickly leaned back, raising both arms halfway in mock surrender.

   It was only then that it hit me.

   Even though she was the head of a noble house, she’d spent over a month holed up in a forest cottage without a care in the world, letting her responsibilities pile up for someone else to handle. For the first time, I gave her a genuinely sorry look.

   “What’s with that face?” 

   “You know… I’ve just realized how much of a nightmare your subordinates must have gone through during that time.”

   “...What?” 

   “Even though you are a head of noble family, you spend time here sleeping off hangovers on the sofa.” I narrowed my eyes slightly. “Aren’t you embarrassed?”

   "Well..." She turned her head away, arms crossed. “I… have nothing for my defence.”

   *Sigh* ...Is that woman serious?

   “Since we’re being honest with each other, why don’t you also tell the truth about the other matter?”

   “Other matter?”

   “On my first day here, I asked you the question: 'Why did you save me?'. Do you remember how you answered?"

   She said nothing, just looked at me with a complicated expression.

   “You said it was normal to help a child on the brink of death... but that wasn’t the real reason, was it?”

   Her lips parted, but no answer came.

   “So I thought... I resemble him, don’t I? Your son, I mean.”

   Her breath caught in her throat. She just stared at me, motionless.

   “...Since when?” she finally whispered.

   “On the first night I slept in the forest, I had a dream. No... a memory. I remembered that night—the night of the disaster. I remembered your voice, and that look in your eyes. After losing your family… you lost the will to live. For eleven years, your revenge kept you going. You held onto it like the last thread keeping you together.”

   Zephyra’s fingers curled around the edge of the chair, trembling faintly.

   “But when you finally found Victor and he ended his own life before you could fulfill your revenge, that thread snapped. Once again, you were left with nothing. So you walked through fire hoping maybe that was your end too. But instead… you found me.”

   I turned to look at her.

   “However, given your mental state at that moment, it’s doubtful that you paid attention to a random child. I must have reminded you of someone. I’m too young to be your husband, so that leaves your son, who now would probably be my age.”

   Her eyes glistened slightly, though she said nothing.

   “You took it as a sign and used me as your life support ever since.”

   Zephyra’s eyes widened, clearly stunned by my words. “Sora, I—”

   “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hold a grudge. After all, I understand it all too well. I know how it feels to lose someone. I know what it’s like to want to die. On that level, we are the same. That's why I know. You made me a reason to keep going, the same way I made the revenge my reason to live.”

   Her breath shook, and her fingers twitched as though she wanted to reach for something, but didn’t know what.

   “But there are two things I want to make clear.”

   Her gaze lifted to meet mine. 

   “Firstly, I can’t be a substitute for your son.”

   "...Yeah."

   “I think I mentioned this already, but we are not family, lovers, or friends. We are partners.”

   "Partners...?" she said quietly.

   “As for the second one… Do you really believe this is the end? That Victor would just throw his life away without even reaching his goal?”

   She looked at me surprised, but I could see it in her eyes—the first stirrings of doubt, curling like smoke through her thoughts.

   “That night…” she said quietly. “After dinner, when he came to visit us—he wasn’t just acting strange. His eyes, his voice… it wasn’t just desperation. It was like I was looking at a man who had already started falling apart from the inside... Are you trying to tell me that—”

   "Maybe he was brainwashed or something else, but something had to be done to him. He was just a pawn in hands of the real director. And that means…?"

   “The real enemy is still out there...”

   “The person who took your family. The one who took my best friend. He’s still alive.”

   Her fingers curled into fists, resting on her thighs. Her breath had steadied, but her shoulders trembled.

   A silence hung between us—full of rage, pain, understanding, and something new. Purpose.

   “So,” I said, rising slightly and extending my hand, a grin tugging at the corner of my mouth, “let’s make a new deal."

   "A new deal?"

   "Yes. We will give everything we’ve got—every breath, every drop of blood. Even our souls, if we have to. Everything needed to fulfill our vengeance.”

   She looked at me, long and hard. There was no hesitation in her eyes anymore. Just the flicker of a dangerous flame, burning quietly behind her gaze.

   Then, slowly, she stood. Her fingers slid into mine with firm, deliberate strength. Her smile—dark, wry, and burning with something deeper than anger—matched mine without a word.

   At that moment, we both knew.

   This wasn’t just a deal anymore.

   It was a contract. 

   Not the magical kind. Not one written on paper.

   But the kind formed in shared grief, in fire, and in blood.

   A Contract of Two Devils.