Contract in Black

Chapter 3:Breaking Traditions & The Divine Chains

Honestly, everything changed the exact second that kiss ended. Before it happened, they were both playing this exhausting game of keeping their distance, acting like the boundaries between the Heavens and the Netherworld were something they actually cared about respecting. But once their lips met, all those unwritten cosmic rules just snapped. Leonis had spent literally hundreds of years ruling over the darkest depths with a brutal, iron fist, making the entire universe tremble at his name, but now? He was completely defenseless against her. The terrifying King of Hell was suddenly totally at the mercy of a single woman, and he didn't even know what to do with his hands half the time. And Roselia completely dropped the whole reserved, proper goddess act. She got bold. Like, seriously bold, completely owning exactly how she felt and tossing away all those shy, distant glances she used to give him. It actually became the funniest thing to watch around the obsidian palace. Leonis would be sitting up on his massive throne of shadows, trying to look completely terrifying and ruthless in front of his demonic generals, and Roselia would just casually stroll into the room like she owned the place. She’d walk right up to the throne, look up at him with this intense, incredibly sultry gaze, and just lock her fingers with his right in front of the entire court. Then she would lean in close and whisper something teasing in his ear just to watch him completely freeze up. The demonic generals literally had no clue where to look when it happened. They were used to this cold, unstoppable sovereign who destroyed realms without blinking, and suddenly his entire face is turning bright red just because a girl laughed at him. But behind all the playful teasing, the two of them were completely locked in. His crushing dark energy and her brilliant holy light stopped fighting against each other; instead, they just blended together into this perfect, quiet harmony. They didn't give a damn about what the old laws said anymore. As news spread that they were completely rebelling against the cosmic order, the initial shock across the realms turned into massive hype for what was coming next. By the end of the cosmic cycle, the dark, gloomy halls of the Netherworld were being covered in midnight silk and gold banners, setting the stage for a massive wedding ceremony that would change history forever.

Honestly, the entire obsidian palace looked completely ridiculous on the wedding day. The demonic subjects had spent the last three weeks basically scrubbing centuries of old battle blood off the dark stone walls, and they looked so out of their element trying to hang up these massive, shiny celestial gold banners just to make Roselia feel at home. The sky wasn't even pitch black for once, which completely threw off the locals. Instead, it turned into this weird, deep twilight purple color because her holy light from the Heavens was literally bleeding into the dark atmosphere of Hell, making the whole realm look like a massive canvas. Leonis was standing right at the front of the altar in his heaviest, most terrifying black sovereign armor, looking like he was ready to start a cosmic war single-handedly, but internally, he was totally losing his mind. His hands were shaking so bad under his cape that he had to grip his sword hilt just to keep them still, and he was secretly sweating bullets under his helmet. The fearsome King of Hell, who had slaughtered gods and conquered the abyss, was genuinely terrified of a wedding ceremony. He kept glancing at his demonic generals, who were all sitting in the front rows looking incredibly awkward in formal clothes, whispering to each other about how soft their king had gotten. Then the heavy iron doors finally slammed open with a massive echo, and every single monster and demon in the crowd went completely dead silent. Roselia started walking down the long aisle wearing this insane bridal veil that looked like it was woven out of actual starlight, and she looked so beautiful it didn't even make sense for a place this grim. She walked right up the steps to the altar, totally ignoring the thousands of terrifying creatures staring at her with wide eyes, and gave Leonis that same playful, sultry look she always used to fluster him. When they finally stood face-to-face and said their forbidden vows, they didn't even care about the cosmic laws they were breaking. The second their hands touched, the whole realm literally started shaking from the absolute core. Their dark and light energies just slammed together, creating a massive explosion of purple fire that swirled all the way up to the sky, and right then, everyone in the universe knew they were officially locked in for eternity, no matter what the gods had to say about it.

The honeymoon phase lasted about a year, and honestly, it was the most peaceful the Netherworld had ever been. But that peace completely shattered one night inside the deepest, most secure sanctuary of the palace. The heavy silence was suddenly broken by the sharp, echoing cries of a newborn baby. Roselia was lying there, holding the tiny, fragile infant tightly against her chest, with tears just streaming down her face. It was a weird mix of pure, unfiltered joy and absolute, paralyzing terror because she knew exactly what this birth meant. Leonis knelt right beside her, completely mesmerized, as the baby slowly opened her eyes. They weren't black or gold; they were this incredibly brilliant, deep blue color that looked exactly like two precious gems. "Sapphire," Roselia whispered, her voice sounding super weak as she leaned down to kiss the baby's warm forehead. "Your name is Sapphire. You're the token of our eternal bond, okay?" But the second the name left her lips, the twilight sky outside literally split wide open. This blinding, super harsh white light poured down from the heavens, completely ripping through the roof of the dark sanctuary. The gods back in the Heavens were absolutely furious. To them, a goddess birthing a hybrid child with the King of Hell was the ultimate, unforgivable sin against the cosmic ledger, and they weren't about to let it slide. Huge golden chains of divine judgment started descending from the clouds, rattling with this terrifying, heavy authority that demanded a sacrifice. "Leonis, protect our daughter!" Roselia screamed at the top of her lungs as the holy chains violently wrapped around her waist, completely pinning her arms. Before Leonis could even react, the metal links started yanking her backward toward the empty, cold void that was opening up in the sky. Leonis went completely feral, unleashing his massive, crushing dark aura and desperately slashing at the golden metal with his sword. But it was useless. The divine power was already actively erasing her very existence from the realm, making his blade pass right through the links. Roselia just looked at him and smiled tearfully right before she completely vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind but one final, desperate promise that echoed in his head: "I'll find you both again."