Chapter 113: Vivian: Just Watch Me Work
Vivian's Spiritual Sense was surprisingly strong.
Perhaps it was because after the Prophet was rejected by the great calamity of the future, she had improved while resisting this rejection. But in any case, the strength of her Spiritual Sense was something even someone as experienced as Mary could never have imagined.
So although Vivian truly didn't know at first whether Noah was aware that he was Romulus, after a brief conversation, her Spiritual Sense began to take effect.
First, she discovered that Noah genuinely had no idea.
Then, she started to scheme, thinking she could take advantage of the fact that Noah didn't know she could recognize Romulus through her Spiritual Sense.
Unfortunately, her plan was ruined by Merlin!
—That's why Merlin deserves to die!
Seeing the situation unfold like this, Vivian sighed inwardly.
Meanwhile, after Vivian agreed, Noah smiled.
"In that case, Vivian, I'll first use my life force to restore your body, and then you can help me make a prophecy regarding Romulus's situation."
Hearing Noah say this, Vivian quickly nodded.
After all, faced with such a complicated situation, Vivian had never felt so in need of her prophetic abilities!
As long as she could prophesy again, she could still maneuver!
Even if this opportunity was lost, as long as she could temporarily hide the truth from Noah, prolong the matter, and later create other opportunities to act—then this plan could still work!
As for directly telling Noah that he was Romulus…
She hadn't said it at first, and then she'd already missed her chance. Now that things had progressed to this point, even if she wanted to say it, she couldn't bring herself to speak up!
Although she could adapt on the fly, her other clansmen were accustomed to following the Prophet's instructions and lacked the ability to improvise.
Now, even though she knew the situation, they didn't…
She couldn't reveal the truth in front of Noah and Merlin, and even if she hinted at it while speaking, Vivian doubted whether they would be able to grasp her meaning in the moment.
So the plan had to remain as it was.
As for finding an excuse to gather her clansmen first and then rearrange things… that might have worked if Merlin weren't here, but Merlin was present…
It wasn't the first time he'd eavesdropped on their conversations!
And yet, Vivian had no way to stop him from eavesdropping!
Moreover, although Noah seemed fine now, if he truly was the King of Knights as he appeared, how did the Fairy Forest fall?
Not a single Fairy from the entire clan survived!
So without her prophetic abilities, Vivian was completely caught off guard, and every step she took was incredibly difficult!
Thus, regaining her prophetic abilities became exceptionally important!
But…
Merlin spoke up at that moment.
"Although it's not about trust, I think it would be better to sign a soul contract or something for matters like this."
Hearing Merlin say this, even Vivian couldn't hold back her frustration!
Even without a soul contract, how could she possibly defeat Noah, the king who single-handedly destroyed the Fairy Forest!
How could she dare to take Noah's offerings without giving anything in return!
She felt Merlin was just stirring up trouble for no reason!
And indeed, that was exactly the case.
Merlin had previously felt that Vivian had used her informational advantage to make him look like a clown. This time, he followed Noah here, and even after being sidelined, insisted on coming to the scene himself—all for the purpose of stirring up trouble!
He knew very well that Noah was someone with strong opinions of his own.
So even if he stirred up trouble, it wouldn't affect Noah's judgment—it would just annoy Vivian a bit.
When Vivian heard Merlin say this, she let out a long sigh, didn't speak, and just smiled as she looked at Noah.
Noah, meanwhile, glanced at Merlin... He could roughly tell what Merlin meant, or rather, Merlin hadn't even tried to hide the fact that he was just being annoying.
Well, it's no wonder his relationships were so poor, given how he acted...
Noah had originally intended to stick to his initial idea.
But before he could speak, Mary spoke up directly.
"Let's just do as Merlin says~"
If Merlin had said it, Noah wouldn't have paid much attention, but since Mary said it, Noah began to ponder, while confirming with Mary in his mind.
"Mary, even without signing any Soul Contract, these Ladies of the Lake wouldn't dare to break their word, right?"
"They wouldn't dare, but none of us have the ability to foresee the future—and your Clairvoyance doesn't seem to be something you can activate at will, so even you can't confirm whether Vivian's prophecy is true or false."
Mary was looking at Vivian through Noah's eyes.
"And as a half-incubus who usually simulates emotions to interact with humans, I can sense that Vivian seems to be hiding something. Merlin, though usually a bit of a jerk, probably noticed it this time, which is why he's causing trouble in this way."
Mary felt that Merlin had finally done something a decent person would do.
But after saying this, seeing Merlin's exaggerated expressions and winks at Vivian, she wondered if she had overthought it...
While she was thinking this, Noah nodded directly after hearing Mary's words.
"Alright then, as Sir Merlin suggested, Vivian, since none of us intend to break our word, shall we symbolically sign a Soul Contract?"
Huh!?
Merlin was clearly taken aback, but Vivian nodded directly.
And she blamed all the trouble this caused entirely on Merlin!
As for the contract itself, she didn't really care.
After all, she wouldn't dare to break it anyway, so signing or not made no difference.
Besides...
Signing it would also increase her credibility, making it easier for her to delay the news that Noah was Romulus for a while longer... At the very least, she couldn't let the person who single-handedly wiped out the entire Fairy race think she had deceived him about his life force.
And so, to demonstrate her sincerity, Vivian deliberately made the penalty terms on her side particularly harsh when signing the Soul Contract.
The terms of the contract were that Noah needed to offer his life force, while Vivian was required to help Noah prophesy the specific circumstances regarding Romulus and assist him in searching for Romulus.
If Noah failed to provide his life force, it would be considered a breach of contract.
Similarly, if Vivian did not help Noah with the prophecy or the search, it would also be considered a breach.
The penalty for breaching the contract was forced enforcement.
If a contractor forcibly refused to fulfill the agreement, the contract would enforce it on their behalf. If the contractor was incapable of fulfilling the contract, everything belonging to the breaching party—from soul to body—would be forfeited to the other contractor, effectively turning them into a slave.
However, as long as neither party breached the contract, there would be no issues.
To demonstrate her sincerity, Vivian added additional conditions and penalties on her side. For instance, if she failed to provide substantial assistance to Noah, it would count as a breach, and she would have to agree to one reasonable request from Noah. Similarly, if she could prophesy but deliberately delayed for a long time, it would also count as a breach, and she would have to give Noah an item belonging to the Lady of the Lake...
In total, she listed seventy-two conditions!
It could be said that her sincerity was overflowing.
The overall duration of the contract was until Noah discovered the true identity of Romulus.
At that point, whoever failed to fulfill the agreement would face the contract's penalties—either forced enforcement or, if incapable of enforcement, forfeiting themselves to the other party.
She felt that her sincerity was already quite evident.
Noah, upon reading it, felt that Vivian's sincerity was more than sufficient, and even Mary had nothing more to say.
Seeing Noah's expression, Vivian secretly glanced at Merlin. Though she showed nothing outwardly, Merlin couldn't help but feel that Vivian was mocking him...
This time, however, he said nothing.
After all, he had initially assumed that Noah wouldn't pay any attention to his words, which was why he had acted playfully. But now that Noah had directly agreed to his suggestion... he decided not to cause any further trouble.
"Alright, let's proceed like this."
Noah repeatedly told Vivian that the penalty conditions didn't need to be so extreme, but Vivian refused each time. Even when Noah suggested adding a few conditions for himself, Vivian wouldn't allow it.
And so, this rather extraordinary soul contract was signed.
Afterward, as agreed, Noah directly transferred a large amount of life force to Vivian. Vivian then felt her previously immobile legs regain movement, her hands restored, her sense of smell returned, and her sense of touch revived.
Her eyes, which had been closed all this time, finally opened. It was only then that Noah saw Vivian had heterochromia—the eye she had kept closed was red, while the other was blue.
Both eyes were pure in color, equally mysterious and wise.
Feeling her condition recovering, Vivian used her ongoing recovery and slight drowsiness as an excuse to temporarily adjourn the meeting.
She was indeed recovering, feeling somewhat fatigued and sleepy, to the point that even her powerful Spiritual Sense had quieted down.
Moreover, she intended to take this opportunity to return and prophesy the situation, then explain the matter to her people and make new arrangements.
After all, if Noah and Romulus were the same person, then the issues she had worried about earlier might not come to pass.
So she planned to quickly use her prophetic ability after returning to see how the Lady of the Lake should plan for the future, and also to figure out the best way to handle matters concerning Noah.
Only after her prophetic ability was about to be restored did Vivian finally feel at ease.
Although her prophecies were not absolutely accurate, so far, aside from Vortigern—that freak she truly failed to predict, and even after he transformed into the White Dragon, she could no longer foresee anything about him—
During the second-to-last prophecy she conducted while King Uther was still alive and her health was not yet so poor, she had predicted King Uther's death and foresaw that Britain's new king would be a surprising figure, though she did not know who it would be.
By then, she no longer had the ability to delve further into the prophecy.
Now it seemed that Noah becoming king was indeed quite unexpected.
As for this Soul Contract, she didn't care about it at all.
After all, she had cleverly devised seventy-two different triggering methods for the seventy-two conditions, most of which were either restrictive or involved directly granting treasures. Although, after recovering from the state of being so angered by Merlin that she nearly cracked, Vivian did think seventy-two was a bit excessive.
But unless all seventy-two conditions were triggered—for example, if Noah suddenly realized right now that Romulus was himself—
Otherwise, even if sixty were triggered, the Lady of the Lake could afford it!
No need to worry at all!
That was what she thought.
Noah, on the other hand, didn't dwell on it too much. He simply began to speculate about what Romulus's prophecy might be and readily agreed to Vivian's request.
After all, her reasoning was perfectly reasonable.
Then Vivian was helped away to rest, while Noah and Merlin, under the arrangements of the Ladies of the Lake, temporarily stayed in the magical realm.
And they received the same treatment as before.
Everything Noah used was provided by the Ladies of the Lake with the best they had to offer.
As for Merlin... a few Ladies of the Lake tossed him a large leaf as his arrangement.
When Merlin tried to gain sympathy by saying, "You're really going to make me sleep on the ground with just a leaf?" the Ladies of the Lake exchanged glances—they truly couldn't bear to see this—so they drove Merlin out of the magical realm!
Oh, and they let him keep the leaf!
Watching this scene, Noah exchanged a glance with Merlin before he was driven out, confirming that he didn't need to speak up. Noah then let out a sigh of relief.
Prophecies... I wonder what kind of person that Romulus is, and what exactly is his connection to the Titan...
Thinking that Vivian would be able to conduct a prophecy once she recovered, Noah couldn't help but feel inexplicably nervous.
Meanwhile, as Vivian was recovering and Noah was feeling nervous, Merlin, who had been driven out of the magical realm by the Ladies of the Lake, sighed helplessly and continued his search in the lake for a way back into the magical realm.
He knew those Ladies of the Lake weren't actually planning to make him live in the forest with just a leaf—they were simply targeting him.
He had encountered situations like this countless times before.
Otherwise, how could he be so skilled at finding the keys to the Lady of the Lake's magical realm?
But just as he began searching for the key, he discovered that someone else was already looking for it.
And this person was even someone Merlin knew.
It was Noah's knight.
"Isn't this the White Knight? Why are you searching for the key to the magical realm? Do you need to see the king?"
Merlin went up to greet her, and White nodded at him.
Seeing White like this, Merlin smiled.
"Then leave the key search to me. Let me tell you, I'm especially good at this sort of thing!"