A moment passed where neither of us said anything. Only the whispers of the twins and Aros could be heard, though Icarus would occasionally purr as he relaxed in my lap. I continued to stare into Hazel's eyes, surprised.
I listened to my heart, but my heart wasn't going to hold back. Eventually, Hazel's eyes darted away from mine, allowing the tension around us to relax for a moment. As she looked away, I noticed the edges of Hazel's lips twitch up, though it was only for a moment.
Eventually, she returned her gaze to mine and we continued to stare into the eyes of each other for a few more seconds. Eventually, the awkwardness became too much to bear, so I decided to break the silence.
"So," I muttered, though I wasn't quite sure what to say next. Hazel smiled, then slowly inched herself closer to me. Within a few seconds, she managed to get close enough to rest her head on my shoulder with ease. I smiled, my heart warming a little, as I slowly moved my arm to meet her shoulders.
My arm felt like it weighed a million pounds, but I eventually managed to get it around her.
"No words," She said, silencing any future speech of mine, "Only each other."
I smiled, then nodded as I leaned my head closer to hers. Hazel sighed with relief as she leaned even more of her body toward mine. Eventually, we ended up snuggling. Even though the cave was cold and the ground was rough, I found myself mentally wishing this moment would last forever.
I felt elated like nothing could go wrong. Of course, that feeling is destined to be crushed to nothingness. Not three seconds after we began to snuggle, I heard Aros speak up.
"Lord Aureys, we'll need your help with the rest of the process," Aros said. He turned around, then took a few steps toward us before stopping in his tracks. He stared at us, speechless in his surprise, before he gave out a small happy sigh, "I'm sorry. It seems I've interrupted something. Should I come back another time?"
I looked at Aros, then turned my gaze toward the twins. By now, Jonathan had a massive grin on his face. I could only guess what sort of thoughts or plans he was concocting, and I didn't really want to find out. As I felt Jonathan's stare bore into my body, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed once more. This was the first time I had ever done something like this, yet I neglected to find somewhere private first! How foolish! I sighed in my self-pity, then slowly moved away from Hazel as I brought myself to my feet. Icarus quickly moved away from my lap, groaning in displeasure as he was woken up from his nap.
She looked to Aros for a moment, her eyes full of scorn, before she turned to me. I stretched my open palm to hers, then slowly helped her to her feet. Icarus turned to Hazel, then to me. Then, after a moment of silence, he turned to Aros.
"It's fine, Aros," I said as I turned away from Hazel. I felt dejected, though I knew my duties were necessary to keep this place running. I couldn't depend on Aros for everything, after all. Although, I had no idea what he wanted me for in the first place.
"That is great to hear. If that's the case, why don't we begin?" Aros suggested. I nodded, then began to follow Aros as he walked back to the twins. It didn't take long to regroup with them, though the distance felt longer than it should've because of Jonathan's amused stare.
"Why don't I explain what it is that we're planning, hmm?" Aros suggested. I nodded, avoiding Jonathan entirely, as I paid full attention to Aros. Aros looked to me, then said, "I've already gone over everything with the twins, just so they're aware of what they're getting themselves into. I should already preface that they have both agreed, which makes this task much easier to perform. However, before we do anything, I believe it's best we consult you first, Lord Aureys."
"Understandable," I nodded. Aros bowed once again, then continued his explanation.
"We have two options, both of which will prove beneficial if succeeded. However, both have their disadvantages as well," Aros continued, "The first option, which is the option which I recommend, is physically transferring the twins to a new body, one from the dungeon. Their old bodies, the ones they are in now, will have to be discarded. However, this task is incredibly difficult and may not even succeed."
"Wait, what?" I gasped, shocked. This sounded like we were just killing off the twins, ignoring their physical appearance and bloodline entirely! If I wanted them to have strong bodies, I wouldn't have been against this idea, but I wanted to use their noble connections as well! I instantly shook my head, completely favoring the other idea.
Aros noticed this, then nodded, "I'm not surprised by your reaction. It sounds like a radical idea, even to me. However, the other option isn't any better. In fact, it might be a little worse.."
I stopped shaking my head, almost horrified. How was the other option even worse?
"Our second option, which is the one I strongly ask you to ignore, is called a contract," Aros said. I nodded, recognizing the term. Contracts were something mages used to connect themselves to familiars, but I hadn't experienced it myself. Contracts were merely something I had been born to know, like the knowledge of how to walk. My knowledge, therefore, was barely equal to a cup in a large ocean, "Contractual magic is hard to accomplish but much easier than our first method. However, we'll only have access to familiar contracts, which aren't much different than slave contracts. Whoever acts as the slave in the relationship will have to follow the word of the master like its law, but that's not even the worst part. Because of the difference in rank between you and the twins, the contract will grant you another clause."
"Another clause?"
"It'll make it so you'll automatically consume their mana and life force as the relationship progresses. Over time, you'll kill the twins by just being around them," Aros explained, "Plus, in a relationship such as a familiar contract, neither of the twins will have any free will."
As I listened to Aros, his words struck like sledgehammers, dazing my vision and causing me vertigo. I was tempted to sit down for a moment to collect my thoughts but decided against it as I turned my attention back to Aros.
"There's no other option?" I asked. Aros shook his head.
"No," Aros replied, "If your ranks were similar, I would've recommended the second option. However, with that additional clause, you'd end up hurting them more than helping them."
I nodded, understanding what he meant. Then, after a moment of thought, I turned to the twins and said,
"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked. Even I was beginning to reconsider, mainly because I was the one that wanted them to do it in the first place. My instincts were telling me that they needed it, even though they were my friends. The twins looked at me, then nodded.
"We've thought about it, and we've come up with an idea," Jonathan said. He looked at Evelyn for a moment, then turned back to me and continued, "Dragons can morph into human forms, right? Why don't you just give us dragon bodies? Over time, we'll learn how to morph back into our human forms, like you and Hazel."
"I'm afraid it's more complicated than that," Aros said. I looked at him, confused, as I waited for him to explain. He nodded, then looked back to the twins, "Lord Aureys and Lady Conley are exceptions. They were born to be dungeon denizens. Lord Aureys himself was born into a dungeon, while Lady Conley most likely left the dungeon at an early age and wandered the world in search of another."
"Born to be dungeon denizens? What do you mean?" Jonathan asked.
"I never really told you, did I?" I said. Jonathan turned to me, even more confused than before. I began to explain it to him. I told him how I found out how Hazel was a spirit, a dungeon monster without a home, and how it helped her attain her true race. Jonathan and Evelyn weren't spirits. Sure, there was a chance that problem would be fixed if they were given dungeon monster bodies, but that was based on absolutely no evidence whatsoever.
"In order to unlock the『 Morph 』skill, you'd normally have to reach the strength of an ancient dragon," Aros told the twins, "It's simply impossible, as you'd have to reach level 70 to attain it."
"Level seventy? Only legends from children's fairy tales are that strong," Jonathan gasped. He was beginning to have second thoughts about all of this. Maybe life as a slave was better for him. That way, he could at least keep his human appearance.
"Of course, there's a chance that won't happen," I told them, "You might become an exception, like Hazel or myself. Even Icarus might become an exception. He hasn't even reached level 10 yet. The only question is whether you'd be willing to risk that chance."