Time always slips by unnoticed when you’re absorbed in something… In the blink of an eye, the fiery crimson dusk outside the window had bled into pale tangerine. Soon, the encroaching night would dye it deep indigo, speckled with starlight like scattered silver dust.

After an afternoon of magical torment, my room had transformed from cozy comfort into a rubble-strewn wasteland. To a passerby unaware of the truth, it would look less like ruins and more like "a garbage heap vaguely shaped like a house."

After all, magic wasn’t a joke. Coupled with this body’s potent talent, even ice-elemental skills shattered glass and lamps. But when my earth magic gouged a crater several meters wide and deep into the floor… I started worrying about the maids who’d have to clean this up.

"Next time," she murmured, voice steady but hands trembling slightly, "this young lady will practice in an empty field." A flicker of pain crossed her face—renovations here couldn’t be cheap, even in another world.

Still… even if *she* claimed my magic was trivial against a Crimson Dragon, practice had kindled a sliver of hope. By afternoon’s end, I could barely control three Frost Arrows simultaneously—each moving independently, striking separate targets. A huge leap from barely summoning one arrow and freezing myself to the bed days ago.

Perhaps thanks to the wings on my back, exhaustion never came. Instead, my body felt limber, almost euphoric. The trade-off? Her kneading those sensitive wings while I helplessly surrendered under the Contract’s pull, whimpering as she sighed with envy-laced admiration: "Angel wings really do absorb elements fast."

I never expected her to sulk. I wanted to resist, but the Contract made it impossible. Damn this body… Though even without it, she’d eventually stop—just a tsundere girl nursing her pride. No real need to fight back.

After triple-checking for spies with detection spells, she dropped the barrier and handed me a third-tier magic beast’s crystal. "Get familiar with valuables," she said. Books had prepared me, but holding it felt unreal. Smooth to the eye yet jagged to the touch, unnaturally hard, warm like living stone—typical for fire-element crystals, she explained.

Then came her cheerful offer: "Nah-nah! Payment for your hard work—a crystal with a little energy left!" So I ate it. Literally. As her Contract Beast, I could consume and absorb its power… though even I doubted that.

Surprisingly, it melted on my tongue like soft bread. Warmth flooded my veins—and it tasted delicious, better than Longwen fruit. But seeing her pained expression and recalling crystal prices… I wondered if I’d bankrupt her before the Throne Struggle even began.

Not my problem. Tonight’s auction awaited—she’d buy anti-dragon tools for me. Books described this world’s magical artifacts, but how would they feel in person?

Doubt gnawed at me. Could any tool truly counter a Contract Beast like the Crimson Dragon? And wouldn’t the Third Princess prepare countermeasures too?

*What do I care about a Throne Struggle?*

Yet watching her pour her heart into plans… I couldn’t refuse to help. Not because of the Contract. My own choice.

…Though I couldn’t deny wondering if the Contract had already shaped that choice. Would my heart change after the Struggle? Suddenly, the auction lost its luster.

Enough. Overthinking changed nothing. I had no real choice anyway—and I refused to believe a mere Contract or this pet collar around my neck could make me *want* to be owned.

Focus on the auction.

I knew, even without attending one, it would make her bleed gold. Good. Maybe the pain would make her break the Contract. Then I wouldn’t have to—

*Ugh.* My head throbbed again. Damn this Contract…