Ezio grabbed the contract from Yves’s hand and gave him a suspicious look before reading through it.

After proofreading it two more times to check for loopholes, Ezio nodded but didn’t sign yet.

"You...there’s something suspicious about this." Ezio said, narrowing his eyes.

Even after checking the contract thoroughly, his gut was telling him something was off.

"I am a man of honour. There’s no way I’d cheat on a contract." Yves said with a smile.

Ezio shook his head. "Not that. It’s how confident you are that’s suspicious."

"Obviously. Because I’m telling the truth."

Ezio frowned.

If what Yves was saying was true, it changed everything. It would be deeply ironic that the boy everyone had written off as useless carried the greatest potential of any child in the Laurent family, including his monster of a sister.

’If...if he’s telling the truth, then a very bright future is coming for the Laurent family...’

But would Yves simply let everything go after everything he had suffered at his family’s hands, just because they would now see his value?

Ezio doubted it. He had been watching Yves for weeks now, and from what he had observed, the boy had quite the merciless streak. He didn’t think things between

Yves and his family would be patched up so easily.

Ezio was tempted to sign.

Why?

Because if he won, he could order Yves around like a butler for a month!

Ezio started imagining the possibilities.

’I’ll send him out to hunt for food while I relax. Have him hand over whatever he’s hoarding in that spatial ring. Or better yet, make him dance for my entertainment like a clown!’

"Hehe..."

Yves caught Ezio giggling to himself and felt a sudden chill crawl down his spine.

"What exactly are you planning in that head of yours?" Yves asked with a frown.

Ezio ignored him and kept daydreaming about all the ways he would make the boy suffer for calling him ugly every single day.

And for some reason he couldn’t explain, he felt as if something, some unknown force, was nudging him to sign the contract.

So he did.

"Ah, kid, you’ve just dug your own grave."

Ezio snatched the pen from Yves’s hand and signed his name on the contract.

Then he pressed his fingertip to the paper until it drew blood.

The paper glowed blue, and both of them felt chains tighten somewhere inside them.

"Done." Ezio said, raising his head to look at Yves, who was smiling widely.

Ezio suddenly felt uneasy, though he pushed the feeling aside.

’There is no way I will lose this.’

Yves took the contract back, smile still plastered on his face.

"Oh, my dear shadow, you really messed up. So I’ll say it one more time." Yves said.

"I, Yves Noctis Laurent, have awakened a Main Story of Mythic grade."

Ezio felt his chains pull tighter instead of releasing.

His eyes went wide. "No...no way!"

"Yes way." Yves said with a smile. His own chains dissolved since he had told the truth.

Had Yves lied, his chains would have tightened while Ezio’s vanished. But that was not what happened.

"You cheated!" Ezio grabbed Yves by the collar.

"Nope." Yves shook his head. "You read the contract yourself. There was no way for me to trick it."

Ezio’s already pale face turned even paler, not just from the revelation that Yves’s story was truly Mythic grade, but from the realization that he had just signed himself into being Yves’s errand boy for over a month.

Why hadn’t he just trusted his gut and walked away?

Ezio was already drowning in regret, but what was done was done.

He had to accept his fate.

He dragged his palms slowly down his face and stared up at the sky.

"Fuuuuuuuuuckkkkkkkkkkk! Why do I keep falling for this?!!!" he screamed.

"You dug your own grave. Why didn’t you just believe me...now you’ll be my servant for more than a month." Yves said.

Ezio walked over and slung an arm around his shoulders.

"You’re not really going to order me around like a slave, right? You’re an honourable man as you said. I’m pretty sure this is the part where you laugh and say it was all a prank." Ezio mustered the kindest smile he could manage.

Yves looked at him with a straight face, and for a brief moment Ezio let himself hope. Then Yves smiled.

"No, I’m not doing that."

"Ah, I’m finished." A tear ran down Ezio’s cheek.

...

’Wallahi, he was finished.’

"Ezio, do a flip for me." I said.

"What? No—" Before he could even finish complaining, his body moved on its own and executed a perfect flip.

"Oh damn, you actually obeyed? Say less."

I was in full control. I could make him do the most outrageous things with a single command, but I wouldn’t go that far.

Honestly, he was a fool for signing that contract after seeing how certain I was.

Anyone that confident isn’t bluffing.

Though, something about it still nagged at me.

He had clearly seen how sure I was, and yet he signed anyway.

Was it his ego, or something else pushing him toward it?

I shook my head.

Probably just the ego. I let it go.

Either way, it would serve me well. I needed him to handle a few things for me anyway.

"Did you seriously just make me do a flip?" Ezio’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

I looked at him and said, "You’re complaining? Want me to make you eat the dead mantis instead? I imagine it tastes fantastic."

I felt mildly disgusted just saying that.

"Y-you wouldn’t dare." Ezio stuttered, eyes drifting to the corpse of the giant mantis as he swallowed hard.

Ah, that look on his face. I wanted to laugh so badly but I held it in.

"I could, but I’m not that petty. Instead, I order you to say that you’re ugly."

Ezio’s jaw dropped.

"Nooo — I’m...I’m ug—" He tried to clamp his hands over his mouth, but I ordered him to lower them too.

"I’m ugly!" He screamed into the bamboo forest.

"Pfft! Say it again."

"I’m ugly!"

"Pfft, ahahaha!" I laughed until tears streamed down my face. "This is going to be a very long trip for you."

Ezio glared at me. "I swear you’ll regret this."

"Yeah, sure buddy."

...

One week later.

"Shit, shit, shit!" I cursed as I sprinted through a cave with hundreds of massive blood-sucking bats right behind me.