"Right..."
The word fell like a ceremonial blade on the silence.
The black contract trembled between them, and the golden lines began to shine more brightly. The letters ford with divine precision, as if an invisible scribe were carving promises into living stone. Each stroke was absolute. Each curve, irrevocable.
Vergil leaned in to read.
[{ABSOLUTE CONTRACT OF THE QUEEN OF WITCHES}]
~SINGLE CLAUSE – VALIDITY AND OWNERSHIP OF THE BOND:
[The Witch Queen, Seris D'Arkhan, will take under her direct supervision the potential and magical growth of Alice, the Demonic Witch. This monitoring will be continuous, subtle, and will not directly interfere with the girl's free will, except in cases of absolute risk to the magical integrity of the plane she inhabits.]
~CONTRAPART – UNCONDITIONAL DESIRE:
[In exchange, Vergil Lucifer — The Demon King Lucifer — will be entitled to one absolute wish. A single favor from the Queen of Witches, which must be fulfilled without question, without resistance, and without delay. This wish can only be refused if it involves the destruction of the Queen or her sisterhood as a whole, The Kingdom of Witches.]
At the end of the contract, the last line was still blank.
Blood Signature:
The space waited.
Vergil remained silent, rereading each line with clinical eyes. There were no traps. There were no linguistic tricks. The text was crystal clear, like a cruel prophecy.
He looked up at Seris.
"You wrote exactly what you promised," he said. "No frills. No traps."
Seris just nodded, her voice silent, but her eyes shining with the anticipation of a child delivering a Pandora's box, waiting for soone — finally — to open it.
Vergil then bit his thumb. A drop of purple blood glistened, like rcury tinged with cosmos.
He pressed his finger onto the parchnt.
The signature appeared like an explosion of purple light, rging with the gold of the clauses. The contract trembled one last ti... and sealed itself.
The parchnt rolled itself up, sealed by a ribbon made of mist and blue fire. Then it disappeared—as if it had never been there.
Silence.
Vergil leaned back in his chair again. There was a shadow in his eyes, but also... a spark of cruel satisfaction.
"Now it's official."
Seris took a deep breath. Not out of relief — but out of pleasure. A refined, ritualistic pleasure, like soone finally hearing the final chord of an opera written centuries ago.
"Wonderful." She stood up, spinning as if celebrating with the wind. "Oh, Vergil... you don't know what a gift you've just given ."
"No. But you also don't know what you've just promised ." His voice was low. And now, dangerous.
Seris stopped. The smile didn't disappear, but it gave way to that old seriousness she displayed when the curtains of eccentricity fell and the stage revealed the real power behind the theater.
"When you want to collect on your wish... will you know how to find ?"
Vergil stood up, his hands in his pockets. He looked at her as if observing an enchanted bomb—beautiful, unstable, and inevitable.
"Don't worry. I'll know exactly when to use it."
He started to turn away, but stopped.
"Oh... and Seris?" She raised an eyebrow.
"If you cross the line with Alice... there will be no contract, no kingdom, no veil of chaos to save you. She is my star. Don't turn her into your candle."
Seris smiled slightly. That wasn't a threat. It was a declaration of war, varnished in poetry.
"Understood, my dear." She bowed slowly. "But you know... sotis it takes a witch to teach a star to explode without going out."
Vergil disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only the scent of arcane power in the thin air.
And Seris stood there, alone, looking at the changing sky, with the sa gleam in her eyes as soone who has just started sothing that not even the gods can stop.
The light in the mansion changed suddenly.
A purple crack cut across the Persian rug, as if the air itself were being torn from within. Then, with a dull crack and a burst of contained energy, Vergil reappeared in the center of the hall.
His presence was like an invisible current running through every room. Restrained power. Sculpted determination. And sothing else... sothing that even the enchanted walls seed to perceive: a decision had been sealed.
Katharina was the first to feel it. The book floating in front of her fell to the floor without warning. She turned like lightning, her eyes wide. "Vergil!"
Sapphire appeared, her dress trailing like shadows. She said nothing—she just ran with an elegance that seed to contradict her speed.
Ada appeared soon after, panting, with Roxenne close behind, her hair loose and her nails already half-transford, as if she were ready to fight before she even understood who against.
"Vergil!" Ada called out to him with a mixture of relief and anguish. "Are you okay?!"
Vergil barely had ti to answer.
The four surrounded him — like gravitational moons drawn to a sun that threatened to go out. Each of their eyes reflected a different feeling: concern, fear, suspicion, and... love.
But before any of them could say another word... Alice appeared at the top of the stairs.
Small. Barefoot. With ssy hair, as if she had slept and woken up to the absence of an entire world. She descended the steps in silence, and when her feet touched the marble, she ran.
"...Dad!"
She didn't know if she could call him that, not yet. But in the shock and longing of his disappearance, she let it slip. And she hugged his legs tightly, squeezing as if afraid he would disappear again.
Vergil didn't respond right away.
He just bent down, wrapped his arms around the little girl's fragile shoulders — and, for the first ti that night, his gaze softened.
"I'm here, little star. I didn't leave forever." His voice was low, controlled. But true.
Sapphire moved closer, her eyes sharp. "Where have you been? Salem, well, it doesn't matter... What did she do?"
Roxenne growled softly, as if sensing sothing more. "YES, WHAT DID THAT BITCH DO?!"
Vergil stood up slowly, keeping Alice by his side.
"I signed a contract."
The silence was absolute.
Katharina frowned, taking half a step back. "With... who?"
Vergil took a deep breath. His purple eyes burned like embers beneath the calm surface.
"Who do you think? Seris D'Arkhan."
The na sounded like a forbidden spell. Sapphire clenched her fingers as if resisting the urge to conjure sothing instinctively. Ada turned pale.
"You... you gave Alice to her?" Ada whispered, her voice breaking.
"No." Vergil looked directly into each of their eyes. "But I allowed her to observe. To guide. To inspire. In return... I gained sothing I could not obtain with a thousand swords or a hundred armies."
He looked at Alice, who stared at him with a mixture of admiration and doubt.
"I gained a wish. One that even the Witch Queen cannot refuse. And when the ti cos... I will use it very well..."
Before Vergil could continue... "You're going to ask her to be yours, aren't you?" Sepphirothy appeared beside him.
"W-well..." Vergil stamred, his mother's gaze was very... powerful...
"Ah..." Sapphire sighed... "I've seen this happen before... he's really going to covet the Queen of Witches..." she sighed... After all... she herself had fallen for it...
"Holy shit." Katharina, Ada, and Roxanne said at the sa ti...
"Hm? Do I have a master now?" Alice said...
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