Ronan walked across the polished stone floor and seated himself across from Vulcan, Irene, and Victoria. The arrangement felt deliberate: three against one, isolated and exposed.

Aura remained perched on his head, tail curled around the side of his face.

Vulcan’s gaze shifted upward briefly.

"What is that creature on your head?"

"My pet," Ronan answered simply.

Vulcan dismissed it with a slight nod and returned his focus to Ronan.

Victoria, however, lingered. Her eyes studied Aura with quiet interest, the way someone might examine an unusual artifact or rare specimen.

Aura remained perfectly still. —

"I heard from Irene that you made it into S-Class," Vulcan said.

Ronan nodded.

"I did."

Vulcan leaned back slightly.

"You’ve proven me wrong," he said, and the admission carried weight. "Going to Luminara was something that truly helped you grow."

Ronan kept his expression neutral.

"Thank you. Your praise is too much for me."

The response was diplomatic.

"Can you beat Irene now?"

Ronan let out a light, slightly self-deprecating laugh.

"I’m nowhere near that level yet. I doubt I will ever reach that level."

It was the truth, but framed to avoid offense.

"How humble," Irene scoffed.

"I’m simply being honest. How could I ever match up to you? Even I do not dream so big."

Irene rolled her eyes, but she didn’t look away, studying his expression closely.

Victoria was still not speaking, uninteresting with all of it. Her gaze was solely fixated on Aura.

It was starting to get concerning, but it didn’t look like recognition that she might be a demon.

"If I may ask, Father, why did you call me here?"

Vulcan didn’t waste any time.

"Why did you end your engagement with Iris Lockhart?"

There it was.

Vulcan continued before Ronan could answer.

"The engagement with Iris was important to the Ashbourne family. It would have officially tied the two houses together and made us allies."

"Of course, I am aware."

"So you know the significance of this arrangement, yet you still chose to end it?"

Irene’s eyes narrowed slightly, watching Ronan closely.

She wanted to hear this too.

Ronan met Vulcan’s gaze without flinching.

"I don’t wish to be engaged to her. Neither does she. It would be a loveless marriage. I ended it out of respect for her, and respect for myself."

"Bull– that is utter nonsense," Irene spat, "You have been obsessed with her forever. Like I’d believe that."

Vulcan’s expression remained calm.

"That is irrelevant. You must think of the goals of the family above all."

Ronan agreed calmly.

"It was a mistake on my part."

Vulcan’s expression showed satisfaction, and maybe even approval.

"Good. Then you understand–"

"But the matter is in the past," Ronan interrupted gently, not wanting to offend. "It cannot be changed."

Vulcan’s shook his head.

"You are wrong." He leaned forward, folding his hands on the table. "I spoke to the head of the Lockhart family, Selis Lockhart. He has approved for the engagement to go back through, and we have gotten Iris to agree to it as well."

Ronan’s eyes narrowed.

That explained why Iris had been sending him dirty looks before class.

But still, that was annoying.

"Elaborate," Ronan said quietly.

Vulcan’s tone did not waver.

"There is nothing to elaborate about. It is exactly as I said."

He slid a folded parchment across the polished table.

The engagement contract.

"Sign it."

Ronan stared at the document for a long moment. Aura remained perfectly still on his head, though he sensed the slightest bit of tension as her tail rubbed the back of his head.

He sighed internally.

I didn’t want to do this this early.

Antagonizing his father this early was annoying, but delaying this issue constantly would be even more annoying. He would end this here.

Ronan picked up the contract between two fingers.

He lifted it, so that Vulcan could see it clearly.

And then he set it a blaze.

The paper curled, blackened, and crumbled into ash between his hands.

A sharp gasp came from the corner of the room; Lucia’s voice, horrified and disbelieving.

The room froze.

Irene’s eyes widened.

Even Victoria looked at him directly, her expression no longer indifferent but genuinely surprised. Not even she dared disrespect their father that way.

Vulcan did not move.

His gaze remained fixed on Ronan, cold and unreadable.

"Explain," Vulcan said, his voice hard as steel.

Ronan leaned back in his chair, looking at Vulcan with blank eyes. He spoke in a cold voice.

"This contract is not in my best interest. So I will not be signing it."

Silence.

Then an insurmountable pressure filled the room.

It arrived like a wave crashing through everything. The air itself became heavier, denser, suffocating – and everyone in the room was instantly affected.

Behind Ronan, Lucia let out a choked gasp.

Irene’s breath hitched audibly, her posture stiffening as she fought against the weight bearing down on her.

Even Victoria’s face drained of color.

This was the pressure of a Rank 5 mage.

A force that could flatten cities.

Ronan should have been crushed.

He should have been on his knees, gasping, unable to move, speak, or breath.

Instead, he sat calmly in his chair. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The pressure washed over him like a powerful wind in a thunderstorm... but that was it. Winds could be resisted, and Ronan was doing just that, somehow.

He blinked.

What?

He could move. Breathe. Think.

The overwhelming force that should have paralyzed him simply... didn’t.

For a brief moment, confusion flickered through him.

He searched internally, trying to understand why Vulcan’s pressure didn’t crush him on the spot.

Then he felt it.

The second heartbeat.

Faint, steady – beating in his chest.

The Demon Leech.

It was shielding him, or so he assumed.

So it can be useful after all.

He had no time to think further.

So he went with the flow.

Ronan lifted his teacup, took a slow, measured sip, and set it back down with a soft clink.

He met Vulcan’s gaze directly, an action the old Ronan wouldn’t have dared take in a million years.

"If you have a problem, Father, use your words."