The process of healing the princess had taken a few hours. After confirming that Kazuya's procedure was completed successfully on her last limb, Alicia immediately pa.s.sed out. The procedure had lasted longer than they had antic.i.p.ated because the princess had broken the makes.h.i.+ft gag on her mouth due to the pain several times.

Julia silently followed along behind Kazuya and the two maids while covered in cold sweat. She had never seen the princess in so much pain before and she was tasked to prevent her liege from taking any action to relieve herself from it. There were traces of blood on the former royal knight's lips as she had bitten herself in frustration during the entire procedure.

Ivan, the finance minister made himself scarce just after hearing Alicia's first m.u.f.fled scream. He was a n.o.ble that did not have much exposure to blood so he did not have the stomach for it. With the excuse that he wanted to give the princess some privacy. He left the private room with a pale expression.

"I hope you stay well Alicisama…" Julia turned towards the princess' window before she boarded the carriage along with the hero their kingdom had summoned.

The trip back to the Eberbach residence in the capital was quiet. It was unlike the commotion that the trained servants of the duke caused after seeing the Royal knight nervously and submissively following behind the hero.

Though Julia Tisdale's name was basically non-existent in the public's eye. It was different compared to the n.o.bles and those who were aware of their affairs. To them, she was the princess' right hand as well as both her s.h.i.+eld and shadow. She was someone who no one could even consider bringing over to their side because of how she revered Alicia.

Now this same person was entering basically enemy territory submissively. Who couldn't have made a fuss over seeing such a scene?

"Well then, I shall make a report to the duke while Acht gets her hands on a soul contract Kazuysama." Neun bowed together with Acht as they excused themselves.

Julia and Kazuya were left inside the simply decorated room that was a.s.signed to the hero. They silently sat across each other on the round table that was used for having tea.

"I hope you will see this true to the end and stay true to your word." Kazuya served his guest with a cup of tea.

"Please do not make light of a knight's pledge." Julia retorted with displeasure. "It is the only reason why I have yet to take my own life after leaving my liege's service."

"Oh, I was not making light of your pledge when you made it. It is just that now that we're alone, the opportune moment to kill me to avoid signing a soul contract with me is now." Kazuya smiled as what he was talking about had nothing to do with himself.

"I will do no such thing!" Julia glared at him with a gaze that was full of hostility. "In exchange for having my soul be under your command, you will need to provide the princess with the treatment you mentioned after she recovers her mobility. I intend to put that under my terms."

"Do you have any more demands I need to consider? I want to draft a contract before we use the soul contract. I don't know what it actually is but I'm sure that it is something that is considered rare." Kazuya shrugged.

"Yet you dare use it without knowing anything about it?" Julia couldn't make up her mind if the so-called hero in front of her was an idiot who liked to take risks or a brave individual.

"Why would I hesitate on using something that sounds so useful?" Kazuya scoffed at her. "Anyway, just providing after care for the princess is everything? I already treated her anyway."

"I…" Julia stared at the relaxed demeanor of the hero. If one were to see them interacting, they wouldn't have thought that they were discussing something like binding their souls under certain terms. "I want to be able to reject any order that will cause harm to the princess."

Julia didn't know much about Kazuya. The fact that he attacked Alicia for the reason that she looked 'important' was something that she considered reckless and thought that he was more impulsive than he seemed. Though she resented him for daring to put a scratch on Alicia, she didn't want to have a hostile relations.h.i.+p with the person who she was going to serve.

"No can do." Kazuya shook his head sideways.

"You…!! Are you planning on harming the princess more than you already have!?" Julia lost her temper immediately after Kazuya's rejection and put a hand on the sword that was allowed to return to her waist.

"Why would I agree to something so absurd?" Kazuya looked at her as if he was looking at an idiot. "The princess is probably the person who holds the most hostility towards me in this world at this moment. Though it may have been due to circ.u.mstances, I am not a person that will not retaliate if she decides to get her revenge on me." Kazuya rolled his eyes at her.

"The princess would—"

"Spare me the debate if she would or would not. The moment someone tries to bare their fangs at me is the moment they stop being someone I would need to consider coexisting with. It is as simple as that." A metallic object suddenly appeared on his hand. The gun was pointed at Julia.

"Though it's already too late, I want to make sure that you are certain you want to go this path. Death might be a much easier path you know. I've already given back the princess' ability to move and feel her injured limbs. Her recovery is just a matter of time." The hero spoke while keeping the gun pointed at her.

His expression told her that he was not going to hesitate in case Julia's answer was not the one he was looking for. To him, Julia had already died the moment she attacked. It wouldn't have mattered if Julia explained that she had no intention to end his life. The result would have been the same.

"You win… I don't care what you put in that thing anymore. I've already lost my reason for living anyway." Julia quietly sat back down. She only watched the hero in a daze as his hands moved swiftly to state different terms on the contract.

"Then you just saved me from wasting a life that would have been useful to this world." Kazuya talked no further and continued to write.

He may have appeared calm, but Kazuya's thoughts were currently distressed. This whole situation had come at him unexpectedly that he couldn't make up his mind on how to deal with Julia Tisdale. Though the fact that she had attacked him remained, he had already noticed that the sword she brought with her had a blade that wouldn't even cut through the protection under his clothes.

"This…" Julia's eyes continuously moved from the draft and towards the hero after reading the contents. "Just what is it you're up to?" She couldn't believe what she was reading.

As they had talked about earlier, Kazuya would have authority over Julia's soul. Not only was she to sign a soul contract, she would also be receiving a slave's crest. This much was expected but what shocked Julia was that the terms that Kazuya would put upon himself.

Kazuya had rejected her earlier plea, but he put in restrictions that would protect Julia from being treated like an object. Some points she couldn't believe were;

[Julia Tisdale will always prioritize Kazuya's safety above all else.]

[She will not divulge any information about the hero or his secrets unless ordered to do so.]

[She cannot inflict harm to her own self.]

[She cannot be ordered to give s.e.xual favors.]

[She cannot be harmed by Kazuya unless she needed to be punished.]

Julia looked at him in disbelief as her fears of becoming a stranger's slave so suddenly had been lifted off of her mind. As a person who spent most of her time amongst the n.o.bles, she was no stranger to the skeletons that were being kept in their closets.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Did you expect harsher terms?" he grinned at her.

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"Yes…" she could only reply honestly.

Aside from the fact that she had to follow his orders, this was already more than she could ever ask for. While Julia would bear the shame of having a slave's crest cast upon her, the role she could imagine herself doing under Kazuya was similar to a servant who needed to guard him as well.

"Don't tell me… you were actually expecting those things…" Kazuya shuddered. "perverted knight…"

"You're the pervert!" Julia retorted and slammed the table with a red face. "Who would believe that you were not up to something with terms like these towards someone who just tried to attack you!?" she clenched her fists and breathed in deeply to calm herself.

Julia never considered herself as a person with a short fuse but for some reason, this person knew how to press the right b.u.t.tons to make her feel frustrated. Even what she had thought to be an unconscious action by the hero when he stepped on her sword seemed like it had been done deliberately just to mock her.

"Is that all?" Kazuya sighed and looked at the knight with disappointment. "From the looks of things, you have no experience in serving someone else." He shook his head.

"What are you implying?"

"No matter how you see yourself. The moment you sign the contract and receive the slave crest, you become one of my people." Kazuya looked her straight in the eye. "I don't care how this world treats their slaves or subordinates. Never have I treated a person who was under me cruelly or unfairly without reason."

"…" Julia's mouth opened and closed repeatedly but no words could come out.

She could tell that he was telling the truth. Kazuya's words had just made the fact that she was indeed going to serve a master that was not Alicia sink in. Julia didn't know what kind of future she would have with this crazy person from another world but, for now, things did not seem as bad as she had imagined.

Julia took another look at the draft and still couldn't believe it. It was like the soul contract had put more of a burden on the hero than herself. She did not trust him just yet but she could not think of anything that would make the person who was supposed to have all the advantages give some of it to her voluntarily. Her curiosity to know more about this so-called hero and understand him started growing rapidly.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"I guess they're finally back." Kazuya smiled. "Come in."

He was introduced to a magician under the Eberbach household who would be responsible for putting a slave seal on Julia. He also had Neun check the draft he had written. The maid gave him the same look Julia had given him earlier so he explained his reasons for doing so.

"So it means that this royal do- I mean former royal dog will have the same role as us?" she frowned.

Nuen, the magician and Acht looked a Julia like they were looking at a strange creature. Julia flinched but recovered to glare at the maid who had caught her strike with mere hair ornaments.

"Why are you looking at me like that for?"

"Don't tell me you don't understand just how lucky you are?" Nuen looked at Julia in disdain.

"Lucky?" she gave the maid who didn't flinch despite the pressure she had emitted a hostile look.

She couldn't take her words seriously and a.s.sumed that Neun had been mocking her.

"Never mind. I don't expect someone who only knows how to wag their tails towards their master to understand." She handed a scroll that had been empowered with strong mana towards Kazuya.

The magician had begun to explain to Kazuya the process. The magician had gathered some of the hero's blood and mixed it with the ink bottle. He then left Kazuya to write out the contract in peace while having Julia lay down on Kazuya's bed to draw the slave crest.

After signing the contract with their own blood, the scroll turned into tiny small fragments before being absorbed in both Kazuya and Julia's bodies. They were now under the terms that they had agreed upon whereas Kazuya could feel the authority he had over Julia's soul. He only needed to confirm it in his head before ending the knight's life.

"It is done" the magician excused himself and went towards the duke's office.

"How do you feel?" Acht approached Kazuya who acted as if he was feeling differently.

"It sure does feels strange." He opened and closed his palms. "So this is what it feels like to have complete control over a person's life." The curious look he gave Julia made her back feel cold.

"From this moment on, my life is in your hands… m-master." Julia knelt on one knee and missed the hero shuddering at the way she addressed him.

"(To think such a day would come… I wonder how the you I know would react if she saw you like this, Julia.)"

"Is there something else that you require a.s.sistance with, Kazuysama?" Neun ignored Julia and talked to Kazuya.

"Come to think of it, could I ask you to go to her place and recover her things? As her employer, I need to consider what I should be providing her with."

"I understand." Neun bowed politely. "We will also be examining those things to make sure that there are no spells placed on them."

"Thank you." Kazuya smiled and saw the two of them off before turning back towards the kneeling knight.

He took another look at Julia's attire and decided what he needed to do next. Their trip had taken longer than he thought so he needed to make up for it. Fortunately he had solved the biggest problem which was separating himself from his two escorts. The two maids already let down their vigilance after Julia had been bound by both the slave crest and the soul contract.

"Stand up and come with me." He watched as his command compelled Julia to obey. He walked out hiding the satisfied smile from the proud knight.

"Where are we going?" Julia asked. She might have been forced to serve Kazuya, but unlike what it was with Alicia, she did not consider treating him as politely and respectfully as her former master.

"While those two are busy, I'll use this chance to explore this strange world." He grinned. "I'm sure that with a former knight like you by my side, I can convince the duke's people to let me roam around on my own."

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