The Ring of Bondage - Chapter 3.3

In the end, Leticia took the contract and a pen out from her clothes.

“Gold enough to rival a king. Power that could let you look down even on the Pope. Whatever your wish is, we can grant it all. We’re different from the God who leaves you in suffering and tests you. Now then, what is it that you desire?”

Leticia lifted the corners of her mouth as high as she could and asked in a whisper. Say it. It doesn’t matter how dark, sinister, or wicked your wish is. You can tell me anything. A voice like a snake’s hiss flowed from Leticia’s throat. So that the vague sensation of not knowing whether this was reality or a dream would draw out desire and cloud judgment.

Leticia stood beside him, placed a hand on his shoulder, and poured words of temptation into his ear. Say anything. What do you want? Confess to me the wish so impious that you couldn’t even pray for it to God.

“Would it be possible to wish for someone to love me?”

When the man finally let a clue slip, Leticia narrowed her eyes and smiled. Love. What an easy, trivial wish. Wishes like this could even bring the other person’s soul along as a bonus, if luck was on her side. She felt foolish for having found him suspicious.

Many young people threw their souls into the fires of Hell for the sake of grasping a single passing strand of emotion. How innocent and pitiful. He had acted sly and composed, but he too was nothing more than a pathetic human.

“If you can make me possess the love of the one person I want, I’ll gladly bind my soul to this contract.”

“A good choice, human.”

In an instant, a splendid pen and a parchment document were in his hands. The sharp nib made of gold easily sliced across his wrist. Soon, the nib, holding red drops of blood like ink, descended onto the contract without hesitation. While Leticia licked her lips and forced herself to hide her anticipation, his name was elegantly engraved on the parchment.

“Mikhail Becker. An unpleasantly radiant name, but I like it.”

Because there was no sight more beautiful and thrilling than light becoming stained and going out.

“Now then. Whose love is it that you want?”

If he was making a wish to a demon, it was probably someone extraordinary. Perhaps he had the Saintess in his heart. Just imagining God’s faithful servants coupling in front of a statue of their master sent a thrill down her spine.

Or what about the Empress? The end of that love would surely be the gallows. Then she would drag the rope tangled around his neck and head straight to Hell. If she stripped this man, who looked more sacred than anything, and dragged him around the floor of Hell like a beast, every demon who saw the sight would drool.

It was ecstatic. She wanted to draw the answer out of him and fulfill the contract immediately. Leticia slowly exhaled her excited breath and waited for his answer.

But.

“I want your love, demon.”

Mikhail’s answer shattered Leticia’s pleasant imagination in an instant.

“…You don’t even know me, do you?”

“When I saw them earlier, your wings were quite pretty. They were bright red, and the feathers sparkled too.”

Leticia was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t continue speaking. The incomparably innocent and stupid contract had transformed at once into a cunning scam. Wordplay like this was the role of a demon like herself, not something the sacrificial lamb should do.

“Of course, I like your figure too. I’m curious what you’ll taste like.”

A calm voice, a smile playfully irritating enough to be hateful. Even his way of speaking didn’t suit his clean and virtuous face.

Leticia looked into Mikhail’s brilliantly blue eyes and suppressed her bewilderment. It was certainly an unexpected wish, but it wasn’t something that would harm her. Her seniors would proudly say that when they found prey they liked, they sometimes slept with them right after the contract. They called such acts extras or bonuses.

Mikhail Becker was a handsome man of striking beauty. Like a flower bred by gathering and refining only every beautiful trait. Leticia savored Mikhail’s delicate features and imagined the body hidden beneath the white hem of his clothes.

Judging from his tall height and broad shoulders, it was obvious that the body beneath would be firm as well. He was the sort of man any demon would drool over and covet as a bonus.

Besides, the clothes wrapped tightly around his body were none other than the uniform of the theological academy. A beautiful man in clothing that would become priestly vestments if only a collar were added, panting for breath as he held back his moans.

What demon would refuse a sight like that? There was no need to think about it.

“Alright, Mikhail Becker. I hope you don’t regret making such an easy wish.”

It was a vast mansion without a single servant, so there was no need to be picky about the place. Without hesitation, Leticia undid the fastening cords of her clothes.