As Kairon and Elira approached Varn's lifeless body, an unsettling stillness hung in the air.
He wasn't moving.
Kairon dropped to his knees, his hands trembling as he pressed two fingers against Varn's neck.
"N-no… His pulse… it's gone." His voice cracked, and tears began to gather in his eyes.
"What!? That's impossible—let me check!" Elira stepped forward, panic flaring in her tone.
But Kairon's arm shot out, stopping her. His hand gripped her wrist a little too firmly for someone heartbroken.
"There's no need…" He lowered his head, shoulders shaking. "He's dead."
Silence followed, as both their expression darkened.
Suddenly, Varn murmured something.
They both turned their heads.
Kairon brought his ears closer to Varn's face. He could hear a slow and heavy voice of a almost-dead man.
"..The contract.. please give it to...Elira..."
Kairon's eyes widened.
"W-what!? But Isn't that yours?" He yelled, grabbing Varn's collar.
"What is he saying? What contract?" Elira spoke, confused by the unknown information they were talking about.
Kairon froze for a heartbeat, then spun toward Elira, face twisted with grief and urgency.
"Elira… it's his family contract." His voice was hoarse, trembling like a man on the verge of breaking. "He… he wants you to inherit it."
"Family contract?" Her brows knitted. "What are you talking about? Why me?"
Varn coughed weakly, blood staining his lips. "..i am sorry..Elira...if i could live a little longer.. maybe.. We would have been...to..get..her..." His words were barely a whisper before his head slumped to the side again.
"V-varn!? Hey! Varn!" Elira couldn't hold it and shot at him, pushing Kairon to the side and grabbing his collar, but he didn't respond.
Kairon grabbed her hand and once again stopped her.
"Leave it. Don't disturb a dead man," he said as he handed over a scroll contract and a pen. He didn't show the contents of the paper, not did elira try to read it. "Here.."
Elira's trembling fingers clutched the pen. Her breath came in short, uneven gasps as she stared at the blank line, Varn's name faintly visible above it. Her chest ached.
Kairon knelt beside her, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do it for him… his last wish. Don't let it go to waste."
Tears blurred her vision as she pressed the pen to the parchment. Each letter felt heavier than the last.
E-L-I-R-A.
The final stroke fell. The ink gleamed for a heartbeat before settling into the paper.
Kairon let out a long sigh, lowering his head as though the weight of the world had just crushed him. "It's done…" he murmured. His voice sounded hollow, broken.
Elira wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve and turned toward Varn one last time—only to freeze.
Varn's eyes were half-open now, glinting faintly in the dim light. His lips curled into a sly smirk as his right hand twitched… then slowly lifted, giving a clear thumbs-up toward Kairon.
Her blood ran cold.
Neither Varn nor Kairon realized she had seen them.
She turned to Kairon who was too busy giving thumbs up to Varn, and the same was for Varn.
Elira's nails dug into her palms as her heart pounded like war drums. They… tricked me.
The pen slipped from her trembling fingers, clattering onto the stone floor. The sound broke the silence for a heartbeat. And that was enough to get them both back to reality, where they were going to face something horrific.
They both stared at Elira, then eachother.
Kairon quickly fled.
"Y-you traitor!" Varn, who was actually injured by that carrot wasn't strong enough to run away. But he still tried.
Elira grabbed his back collar.
Elira yanked Varn back with such force that he nearly choked on his own breath. He hit the grassy floor hard, coughing, his smug grin instantly shattering.
"E-Elira, w-wait—" He raised his hands defensively, eyes darting toward the side of the house where Kairon had vanished. "It… it was just a joke! A harmless joke!"
"A joke?" Her voice was ice, her shadow falling over him like a blade about to drop. The black marks on her arm pulsed faintly, as if feeding on her fury. "You call binding me with a blood contract a joke?"
Varn laughed nervously, scooting backward on his elbows. "I-I mean, technically it's not blood, it's ink! Totally different!"
She grabbed his collar again and slammed him against the house wall. The impact rattled his bones.
"You think this is funny?!" Her eyes burned with rage, tears still streaming down her cheeks—but now they weren't from grief. They were from betrayal. Well, anger too.
Varn winced, trying to release his shirt from that iron grip.
"O-okay, okay! Maybe it wasn't funny! But come on, it's not that bad. You'll… uh… grow to like it!"
Her grip tightened. "Undo it. Now."
Varn froze. His grin faltered completely. "…I… can't."
The words hit her like a thunderclap. Her breath hitched, anger mixing with cold dread. "What do you mean you can't?"
Before he could answer, the contract on the ground ignited in black flames, crumbling into ashes that vanished into thin air. At the same time, the marks on Elira's arm burned, spreading further up her shoulder like living ink.
Varn swallowed hard, his smirk gone, replaced by real fear. "…I mean… now it's permanent."
Elira let go of him, head down as her bangs covered her expression.
Then.. she feel on to get knees and started crying like a child.
"Wahhh!!! You bastard! You used me. Liar! Liar! Liar!" Elira shouted, her head staring at the blue sky and tears falling like rain.
"Hey, hey, calm down." Varn spoke, bad move.
"Shut up! You are a lying bastard! How long have you been lying to me? You even lied about loving me!"
"H-huh?"
Varn blinked, completely thrown off by the sudden accusation. "W-wait, what? I never—"
"You said if you lived longer, we could have been together!" Elira wailed, snot and tears mixing in a spectacularly tragic display. Her voice cracked so hard it could break glass. "And then you tricked me?! Was that all a lie too?!"
Varn froze, eyes darting around like a trapped animal. "T-that was…! Uh… emotional damage control!"
"CONTROL?! You emotionally catfished me!" she screeched, pounding the ground with her fists like a toddler denied candy. The black marks on her arm pulsed in rhythm with her sobs, spreading faster now, creeping across her neck. The air itself felt heavier, humming with some ominous energy.
"You are a cat!?"
" YOU BASTARD!" Elira roared, voice booming unnaturally, like something else was speaking through her. The shadows around her writhed like snakes. "You bound me to you! I'm your slave now, aren't I?! I can feel it!"
Varn gulped so hard it sounded like a rock hitting water. "I-it's not like that! You're not my slave, it's more like… a partnership!"
Her head snapped up, eyes glowing faintly. "What kind of partnership requires me to sign in tears while you fake-die in front of me?!"
"…A very dramatic one?" Varn offered weakly, trying for a smile.
...
Just before Elira could beat Varn to a pulp, Kairon shouted.
"Hold up!" He shouted.
They both froze.
Varn had a sense of relief.
'He must have came back with a pla-' He thought.
Kairon jumped and hit Elira with a glass bottle. The bottle broke, a silk-like red liquid pour down Elira's head.
Varn's face straightened. 'F*ck'.
But that wasn't it, he really did came with a plan.
Suddenly the black vein-like ink going from her back of the palm to her cheeks started glowing.
A blinding light locked Varn's and Kairon's vision.
As it faded, they saw the lady. Her hair, previously brown, now was crimson red. The black ink still remained but now her expression was much calmer.
Varn immediately spoke to lessen the tension.
"S-see? It was for your good!"
But she wasn't quite happy with it either.