If there had been too much to do in the past, now there was too few things to do. This was true for both Yves and Shuraina.
Yves had worked hard because he didn't want to have the time to think, and Shuraina had worked hard because she hadn't wanted to become financially tied down. But Shuraina came to Yves, and Shuraina was able to become filthy rich thanks to Yves.
Shuraina made magical devices on occasion as a hobby, but she made one or two before stopping. She read books on magic and held the sword, but soon put that down because she wasn't learning anything new. Whenever Shuraina looked bored, Yves started new businesses for her to play around with. A restaurant, an apparel store, finance, an information center, etc.
If the business that Shuraina started was a success, then she just earned more money on top of the money she already had. If it failed, then there wasn't much of a loss. Life was incredibly easy.
Being under Yves' shadow meant that she was given more freedom, but was also tied down in equal measure. It took quite a while for her to accept that Yves was completely hers and that she was completely his.
And then, finally, when her heart was finally able to accept him, Shuraina accepted his feelings more easily than before. That meant that there were times when she was the more active one in the relationship. She seduced him first, kissed him first, or ran to him to give him a hug first.
"Yvnes. My back hurts."
"..."
Shuraina clung to his waist and smiled lazily. Her eyes curved. Yves stiffened. He knew that Shuraina was going to change, but he didn't know that she was going to change like this. He had just thought she was cute, but there were times when she was devastatingly seductive. Her sambaekan eyes weren't always fierce, after all.
Chiiiiik. Fire danced on the match. Gray smoke curved into the air and disappeared.
Yvnes lit a lavender-scented candle. The room began to smell fragrant. He applied some gel on his hands and placed them on Shuraina's back.
"Does it feel nice?"
"Mhm."
He gently pressed down each vertebrae down her spine and helped relax her back. He smiled as she let out noises of relief at each of his touches.
He suddenly remembered a time when the two of them were attending the academy and Shuraina had tried to relax her back muscles by bouncing her back on a tree. And he remembered how he had given her a back massage on the nearest seat he could find. He laughed as he remembered Shuraina from back then.
"Why are you laughing?"
"It's nothing."
"...?"
Shuraina frowned as she laid down on the bed. She decided to let it go because of how soothing his massage was. Her frown disappeared.
There was a large towel covering Shuraina's lower half, but an orange-shaped tattoo peeked out from below the towel. She had said that she had an orange-shaped tattoo on her butt from their contract from back then, but it was actually placed a bit higher than that. It was right between her back and her butt.
Yvnes' eyes lingered on the tattoo. He had the same tattoo in a similar position on his body.
"You said that you wanted me to be honest, right? I have something that I want to do with you."
He traced the tattoo with a finger and whispered something into Shuraina's ear.
Shuraina twisted up her long orange hair and had a pair of round glasses on her face. She sat on a comfortable chair as she scribbled a magic circle for a new device on her notepad. She was relaxing in the room and trying to figure out how to lay out the circle a bit more effectively when Yvnes entered her workroom.
"Oh. Is this what you wanted to do before?"
"Mhm. A permanent contract."
Yves sat on Shuraina's work chair and put down an array of tools on her desk. Shuraina hugged her knees and stared at him before walking towards him and sitting on his lap.
She stretched out her hand and touched the sharp objects he had brought in. Her finger began to bleed when she put her hand on a sharp blade. She wiped off her blood on Yves' cheek.
"Where in the world did you get these? Aren't they illegal?"
"Through dark routes."
Permanent contracts were contracts that had been used in the past for slaves. There was no way to erase the tattoo even after the death of the contractor, and the penalties of the contract didn't go away after death, either. The orange tattoo and Yves' crescent moon tattoos were difficult to erase but had been possible to do so, but permanent contracts meant that the tattoos were just that–permanent.
"The contract that you and I had when you were a junior seems to be losing its effect, so."
"Sounds about right."
All magic circles had some sort of expiration date. She hadn't expected her relationship with Yves to go for so long, so she had set a short time frame for the aforementioned circle. When the magic circle's penalty effect lost power, then the tattoo just became a tattoo. Most likely, the tattoo left on their bodies were just a tattoo by this point. Yves wanted something more permanent.
"What can you promise me if I do this?"
Shuraina asked gently, wrapping her arms around Yves' neck.
"Promise? I don't know. What do you want?"
Shuraina's face was close, so he pressed his lips on hers. If it was Shuraina's request, then he was confident that he could do it. If it wasn't a request for her to leave, that is.
"I want you to trust me completely."
Shuraina said, pulling her mouth away from his in a breathy whisper.
"Okay."
I'll try. Yves stroked Shuraina's back and nodded.
"Tell me if you're putting any sort of listening device or location finder on me."
"...…okay."
"I'll tell you if I'm putting any sort of magical device on you too."
"Okay."
Shuraina gulped as she looked at the sharp objects laying on her desk. She wasn't showing it, but she was kind of scared.
"Hand."
When Yves stretched out a hand, Shuraina erased any of her hesitation and put her hand on his.
He held her waist and turned her to face the desk. He placed her left ring finger on the desk and held up a pen-like blade.
"Eugh, euugh..."
Chik. Hiss. Hisssss. Whenever the object touched her finger, it left a fine line behind it. There was a faint smell of burning flesh. The magic circle embedded itself deeply in her bones alongside the line.
Shuraina lowered her head and rested it on his body. She bit her lip at the pain. Her lips began to bleed.
"Bear it a bit longer."
Clean lines were being applied on Shuraina's hand, just like the blueprint she had drawn earlier. And then, once the line had been drawn in a circle around Shuraina's finger, Yves hurriedly put the object down.
Is it over? Shuraina asked, voice watery. Yves shook his head. There was one more step left. It's almost over. Yves patted Shuraina's back and comforted her. He took out a device with a slightly blunter head and put it near the line around her ring finger.
Hiiiissss. Her skin burned as a magic circle embedded itself under her skin. Yves placed an orange jewel at the end of the object. The object sucked in the jewel. And soon, the jewel embedded itself into Shuraina's finger.
As soon as the ring-shaped tattoo was drawn, Yves hurriedly cut the tip of his finger and placed a few drops of his blood near the jewel. The jewel absorbed Yves' blood and shined even more brightly.
"It's pretty."
Shuraina's eyes were teary as she stared at the ring.
"Is it my turn now? Give me your hand."
When Yves handed her his hand, Shuraina drew the tattoo in the order that Yves had done to her.
"Doesn't it hurt for you? You're not even making a single sound."
"Ouchie."
"..."
Unlike herself, Yves was casually accepting the pain. Seeing Yves act normal through the pain made her feel like she was a bit too dramatic earlier. She felt miffed.
Not too long after, Yves' left ring finger also had a ring. Shuraina added a few drops of her blood to Yves' jewel too.
"Now we're slaves to each other."
Yves said, satisfied as he joined their bleeding hands together. When Shuraina stared at his hands with a slightly guilty look, Yves anxiously began to speak.
"Isn't it the same as getting married? It's not bad. Now we're just walking the same road together forever."
Shuraina curled her toes and hesitated at those words before looking up. She stretched out her hands and wrapped her arms around Yves' waist and buried her face into his chest. Yves sharply inhaled at Shuraina's sudden move.
Shuraina opened her mouth, unable to think about anything. Seeing how she felt a bit happy, her feelings weren't just pity anymore. Thank goodness. Shuraina felt relieved as she rubbed her face into his chest.
"We're eating rich tonight."
Yves sighed in relief as he nodded. Dinner was an elaborate feast that night.
The two of them were rich and had plenty of time on their hands, so they went traveling often. They went to the flower village, they went to the beach. They travelled and ate and played as much as they wanted. They had even gone to the beach and had eaten hwe* that they had fished. Puppy Shushu followed them in their travels.
The two of them had travelled to a small rural town. Shuraina laid down on Yves' lap and stared at the expansive blue sky.
"Ah….. I have so much to do... The knight exam…. I'm done with the devices, though. When am I going to finish?"
Yves slathered on some white mud, which was good for your skin, onto Shuraina's face before stopping. Shuraina was also doing the same before she stopped.
The two became silent for a moment.
"Shushu, there's a pizza festival happening in the west."
At that, Shuraina pushed her plans for the future aside. Work was meant to put to the side, after all.
She ate watermelons with Yves until the mud mask dried as they stared at the clear blue skies ahead.