Chapter 99: Chapter 50.1

“tell me what you want.”

naturally, the weight of her words carried over her voice. if someone asked seira to sell the ancora’s crystals, would she have agreed to deal?

‘i would’ve refused…’ she thought at the back of her mind.

depending on how they were combined, power could become a terrifying weapon, or a tool to save lives. if the usage hadn’t been as clear as it was now, louis wouldn’t have tried to trade his power either.

“because acting as your lover depends on how you define it.”

she was sure it couldn’t just be all about accompanying him to any public occasions.

louis looked at seira with gentle eyes as he said, “there are two things i want from seira.”

seira listened intently, partly curious and partly apprehensive of what he wanted from her.

“i want everyone to believe that seira askan is head over heels in love with louis franto,” he added.

she raised a brow at his words and asked, “all, without a single exception?”

“i hope so. can’t you?”

she’d like to meet all his demands, but unfortunately, there was one problem at hand…

“well… there’s someone who already knew about our contract,” seira said.

“are you talking about the count helford?”

“yes,” she nodded, “it is impossible to deceive him because family matters are always discussed and decided with him.”

aven knew more about seira than anyone else. he wouldn’t be fooled even if she insisted that she liked louis.

“alright, he’ll be an exception.”

fortunately, louis understood her situation.

“thank you,” she sighed with relief, “so, what’s the second condition?”

“i don’t want you to imprint it on anyone until the end of our contract.”

at louis’ words, seira’s eyes blinked rapidly, unable to respond immediately at his demand.

“why?” he tilted his head curiously, “do you think it’s going to be difficult? is there an alpha in mind that you want to imprint on?”

“oh, no. it’s not that kind of problem…”

she had no one in mind she wanted to imprint on with aven being around. it’s just…

“i haven’t found a way to defend his majesty’s power yet,” she said.

louis’ face was puzzled for a moment, but he responded, “come to think of it… what happened truly got you into a pinch.”

she’ll try to avoid being left alone with calrad, but there would be no guarantee. wasn’t she summoned to attend the grand meeting in four days? not to mention calrad made sure no one could deny their presence or else be branded the nation’s traitor.

“seira, how much do you know about imprinting?” louis asked suddenly.

it was a struggle to keep up with how seira’s mind worked.

“what, as much as others know?”

an alpha to omega, an omega to an alpha… the imprint was like a token of oath to recognize the other person as their lifetime companion.

to the eyes of the betas, alphas and omegas changed partners so frequently to the point it was promiscuous. but after an imprint, alphas and omegas would never lose sight of their significant other until they die.

some had even taken their own lives after struggling with their loss over an imprinted partner’s death.

“but do you know that love must precede to make an imprint?” louis asked.

“does it?”

“an imprint that doesn’t come from love is just a false covenant. when you meet the person you really love and hold an imprinting ceremony, the previous false imprint would be broken.”

“really?” seira’s eyes widened.

“i guess you didn’t know,” he hummed.

“i’ve never heard of it before,” seira shook her head, “an imprint is usually a condition for arranged marriages to prevent any acts of betrayal.”

louis shrugged his shoulders, his expression unchanged, “that’s just funny. it’s no use.”

seira looked at louis while he talked and nodded, “if what you say is true, then i don’t have to worry. i don’t love calrad.”

calrad used his dominating power to force her to imprint. what he would’ve gotten was a false covenant if it had succeeded.

“even if it’s merely a half imprint, it’s still an imprint, right? you’d have to make a real imprint with someone else to escape his majesty’s clutches.”

“well… that is true,” she groaned.

even if louis made an exception of a half imprint, she had to make a real one so she could totally get away from calrad, which in the end would violate their contract.

“this part can’t be helped. as your contractor, the responsibility to protect you still falls on me, so let’s try to find a way around to defend you from his majesty’s power.”

“i know,” seira sighed softly and looked at him.

both of his conditions had exceptions, so one or two more things would have to be conceded to balance things out.

“louis, do you have any relationship you want to have with me in mind? you can tell me in advance, as we also need to add provisions to things related to this in the contract.”

“well…” he hummed low as if thinking, “there is the concern of children.”

seira nodded her head and said, “as expected. many approach me for the same purpose of securing a successor.”

getting someone from the line of seira askan was something all of the noble families of hesrad wanted, and her child would then be treated as the most valuable thing in the kingdom.