Chapter 74: Let’s Bet?
Serafall kept her gaze fixed on the open suitcases for a few seconds, as if ntally organizing the best way to present them, not for lack of clarity... but because there was clearly intention behind every detail.
The air around them still carried that strange, dense, almost oppressive weight, and now that Victor was no longer moving, lying on the floor trying to recover a minimum of physical dignity, the presence of those things seed even more evident.
Slowly, she raised her hand, and the blood around her responded as if it were a direct extension of her own will, sliding across the floor and enveloping the objects with absurd precision before bringing them to her.
There was no exaggerated shine, no flashy ornants, nothing that scread power in an obvious way. On the contrary, they were too discreet, smooth, dark, almost like old tal... but the kind of thing you look at and feel you shouldn’t touch. Sothing about them seed to absorb the environnt, as if they were constantly "pulling" sothing invisible around them.
And then— she threw them.
"Put them down." "Ordered Victor."
Victor was still on the ground, on his back, his chest rising and falling with difficulty while one hand held the water bottle that Scarlet had practically forced on him monts before. He had drunk half of it without thinking, more by instinct than by conscious decision, but now... he turned his face slightly, following the movent of the pieces that fell beside him with a dry sound.
"...This seems like a bad idea," he murmured, his voice still slurred, but already recovering so of that critical awareness that never completely disappeared.
Serafall crossed her arms.
"Training is training," she replied, as if that, in itself, resolved any logical question.
Victor let out a small sigh through his nose, turning his body with effort until he was on his side, supporting himself on his elbow as he observed the objects more closely. There was sothing about them... sothing that made his skin crawl slightly, as if his own body was reacting before his mind could process it.
"...Okay, but training for what exactly?" he asked, taking one of the bracelets between his fingers, twisting it slightly while narrowing his eyes. "Because this doesn’t look like normal weight... it looks like a problem."
Serafall gave a mocking little smile.
"These are training tools that manipulate gravity," she explained, finally tilting her head slightly as she watched his reaction with genuine attention. "From the mont you put this on... your body will start to be pushed beyond its natural limit."
Victor was silent for a second.
"...How much ’beyond’?" he asked, already suspecting he wouldn’t like the answer.
"Every five days... the gravity on your body will increase by one," she said, with the sa naturalness as soone explaining a simple routine. "At the end of six months... you’ll be operating at thirty-six tis the current gravity."
Victor didn’t react imdiately.
He just stared.
And then— he let out a laugh.
But it wasn’t exactly humor.
It was the kind of laughter that cos when information crosses the line of what’s acceptable.
"...I’m going to die," he said simply, still staring at the bracelet as if seriously considering throwing it away. "Not ’maybe.’ Not ’possibly.’ I’m going to die at this rate."
Serafall shrugged.
"Then die," she replied, without any trace of softening. "Or else... stop acting like a pathetic failure and endure it."
The impact of the sentence wasn’t physical. But it was imdiate.
Victor didn’t move imdiately... but his body remained completely still for a second that stretched longer than it should have.
And then— he raised his head almost chanically until his eyes fell on Serafall’s... And, for the first ti since he had fallen to the ground— his eyes turned red.
It was a rage, so primal that it made Serafall’s eyebrows furrow as she felt that sinister aura emanating from him.
’Provoking him like that generates so pretty amusing reactions.’ She smiled slightly, staring intently at him until he finally spoke.
"Twice." His voice ca out low and hoarse, but there was no hesitation in every letter of that sentence.
Serafall blinked once, slightly surprised, not by his physical resistance... but by the change in tone.
"Twice what?" she asked, narrowing her eyes, curious.
"It’ll double the gravity," he replied simply. "No small talk."
The silence that followed wasn’t empty.
It was... heavy.
Carmilla, leaning further back, arched an eyebrow slightly, clearly interested in the sudden change in his behavior.
Scarlet, on the other hand, crossed her arms, observing in absolute silence, her eyes attentive, as if she were analyzing sothing she hadn’t yet decided whether it was impressive or problematic.
Serafall... well, a devilish grin stretched from ear to ear~ "How fun~" She said smiling. "You think you can handle it twice? When did I recomnd once?" She smiled, "Now you really want to die?"
Serafall’s laughter, almost like a breath escaping between her lips, grew slowly, taking shape, gaining presence, until it filled the space with a lightness that contrasted completely with the absurd weight that dominated the environnt.
"HAHAHAHAHA–"
There was fun there, yes... but there was also sothing deeper, sothing that only soone like her could demonstrate in that kind of situation: genuine interest.
"Twice...?" she repeated, tilting her head slightly, as if savoring the idea before fully accepting it. The smile widened, revealing teeth in a gesture that wasn’t exactly gentle. "You can barely move now... and you want to double that?"
Victor was still on the ground, his body slowly reacting to its own limit, his muscles trembling in involuntary microspasms as he supported his own weight against the pressure that hadn’t even been fully activated yet. But, contrary to what one might expect...
He didn’t look away from her, quite the opposite. The corner of his mouth lifted with a smile even more mocking than his incredulous laugh.
"Want to bet?" he asked.
Yes, that phrase that makes your enemy completely full of themselves.
The silence that followed was short, but enough for the weight of that proposal to settle in the air. Carmilla uncrossed her arms, now clearly interested, while Scarlet leaned slightly forward, as if she didn’t want to miss absolutely anything that was about to happen.
Serafall narrowed her eyes.
"Bet?" she questioned, "And what exactly do I get?" "Let’s bet favors," Victor said, without changing his tone, as if proposing sothing simple and not an agreent that clearly carried too much weight to be treated so lightly. "If I win, you owe . If you win, I owe you."
Serafall began to respond almost imdiately, with a slight frown.
"I don’t see where that—"
"If you ask
to break the marriage contract with those two... I’ll break it." Victor cut her off, directly, without giving her a chance to finish.
A heavy silence fell.
Carmilla reacted first, her body tensing imdiately, her red eyes narrowing with a clear mixture of fury and disbelief. Scarlet was not far behind, her sharp gaze fixed on him as if assessing whether this was provocation or madness.
But their reaction didn’t last.
"Let’s bet favors," she said, crossing her arms again as she took a step forward, now closer to him, her shadow falling over the body still on the ground.
"If I win, you owe . If you win, I owe you."
Serafall began to respond almost imdiately, with a slight frown.
"I don’t see where that—"
"If you ask
to break the marriage contract with those two... I’ll break it." Victor cut her off, directly, without giving her a chance to finish.
A heavy silence fell.
Carmilla reacted first, her body tensing imdiately, her red eyes narrowing with a clear mixture of fury and disbelief. Scarlet was not far behind, her sharp gaze fixed on him as if assessing whether this was provocation or madness.
But their reaction didn’t last.
"Let’s bet favors," she said. Because the realization ca.
Victor wasn’t bluffing.
There was no hesitation, no visible calculation, none of that common trait of soone who says sothing hoping to test limits. He simply said it. As a fact.
And, more importantly—
As soone who didn’t consider the possibility of losing.
Serafall, on the other hand, didn’t read it the sa way.
Or perhaps... she simply didn’t care.
Her smile widened, quickly, distorted by that dangerous excitent that always appeared when sothing awakened her most possessive side.
"HAHAHA—" the laughter ca out loud, unrestrained, without any attempt at restraint. "Of course. Why not?"
She tilted her head slightly, her eyes shining unsteadily, completely engrossed in the situation.
"I would love to have you all to myself," she finished, not hiding anything behind the phrase.
For soone like her, that wasn’t a small detail.
It was reason enough.
If she won, she’d settle everything at once. No division, no interference, no other presences orbiting sothing she already considered hers.
And if she lost—
She shrugged, almost imperceptibly.
A favor.
Nothing that couldn’t be dealt with later.
"Deal," she said simply, as if concluding sothing trivial.
On the other side, Carmilla and Scarlet exchanged a quick glance.
Neither of them spoke.
But they both understood the sa thing at the sa ti.
This wasn’t a balanced bet.
And, sohow—
That wasn’t a problem for Victor.
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