Reincarnated As A Lion In Another World-Chapter 99: Betrothal Contract
"Contract?" Burdo asked, unable to understand what his brother was talking about.
Burdo cast his gaze on the golden-haired humanoid, his eyes devoid of the usual fierceness it once had. He had not just been beaten physically, but also emotionally.
It was one thing to be defeated, it was another to be defeated so badly that he could not escape.
To think that he had always taken pride in the fact that he could always come back to deal with his enemies after he got stronger.
Him killing that pride leader at the beach had given him so much confidence that he felt like he could support the sky with his back alone. Now Kael had ruthlessly stepped on the confidence and had destroyed it completely.
Right now, Burdo was just trying to think of a way to revive his ego and dignity in front of his lionesses. If he didn’t, the events of that day would forever be a scar in his mind.
He was thinking of how he could possibly overpower Kael one day but the more he thought of it, the more unlikely it seemed. Kael was already superior to him even when they were cubs.
Whether it was in physical size or hunting prowess, Kael was far ahead. And now, that gap has only gotten bigger.
He was trying hard not to imagine what his life would be like if he didn’t find a way to become stronger than Kael.
"Yes, a contract," Kael said, he looked down at the Water Lion with a cold indifferent gaze. Kael was very much tempted to kill Burdo and forget about him, but Burdo still had uses.
"First of all, do you know the way back to the beach?" Kael asked with his muscular arms folded.
"Yes, I think so," Burdo replied, the tone of his voice weaker than usual.
"Good, that makes things easier."
Two shining rectangular golden papers appeared in front of Burdo’s battered but still healing face. His amphibious-slit eyes stared at the first contract with curiosity, reading the contents and understanding it perfectly.
This Primordial contract was not the same as the contracts Kael had given the consorts of the Ol-mytee Pride.
The contract Burdo was given was a clan contract, not a pride contract. A contract that would give Burdo a ’high-rank position’ in the clan Kael wanted to create.
Normally, the most powerful lions who formed clans did not have the privilege of creating Primordial contracts. The only guarantee that the Prince lions would not overthrow the king was the king’s strength.
The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓.
Looking at the contract, Burdo could see that Kael was offering him a position as the leader of the subordinate pride in his clan, the position of a prince.
In return, he would be loyal and any act of treachery depending on its results would cause pain that would lead to death.
It was basically like the consort contract, but with different stakes. Signing this contract was automatically signing away his freedom.
He would have autonomy but only to a certain level and that point made Burdo think twice about it.
The second contract was even stranger. It stated that the first compensation for Kael sparing Burdo’s life was for Burdo’s first daughter to be betrothed to Kael and become his consort.
Burdo didn’t even have any offspring yet, talk less of a grown daughter. But according to the contract, as soon as his first daughter is born, the betrothal contract would automatically turn into a consort contract.
That is, this unborn child, who was supposed to be Kael’s niece, would have her fate decided before she was even conceived. Perhaps, only Kael knew why he offered this contract to Burdo.
Burdo looked at the two contracts, the five lionesses behind him also looked at the contents of the contracts with interest. To think that Kael would not harm them but instead offer them benefits.
They weren’t thinking ahead so they did not understand just how significant it would be to Burdo if he signed the contracts.
He didn’t have a problem with the betrothal contract, he could barely care about a daughter who was not even born yet.
The clan contract was what unnerved him. He wanted to be a pride leader, yes, but did he really want to achieve that while being a subordinate of his younger brother?
Without the contract, he still had hope that he could possibly get stronger in the future and wrestle away Kael’s material powers. But now, even if he got stronger, it would take a godly level of scheming to actually betray Kael.
The contract had loopholes, but he didn’t have the ability to exploit it. And even if he did, would he dare to use it?
The betrothal contract shattered into countless moats of light that spread out, Burdo signed the betrothal contract first.
Kael nodded his head, he had expected this. Whether Burdo signed it or not did not matter to him now. He could still use brute force to make his brother obey him.
The main reason clans were established was that Kings could not do everything by themselves, they needed to delegate.
Kael’s kingdom would continue expanding as king as he did everything right. The more it expanded, the harder it would be for him alone to control everything.
Kael’s preferred clan structure was to have the Ol-mytee pride as the dominant pride of the clan and have each subordinate clan represent one of the lionheart types.
His obsessive-compulsive disorder was still kicking.
Now that he had seen a pride comprising of only water lions, he of course would like them to join his clan as soon as possible.
This way, he could satisfy his OCD while effectively delegating. If he could find a better candidate to lead the Water Pride, he would immediately kill Burdo. Keeping threats beside him was not his style, especially after learning about Darius.
He just wanted to use Burdo as a puppet leader.
"If I sign this contract, does that mean you have spared my life?" Burdo asked. The cold gaze Kael was giving him told him that he would not be safe, even if he signed the contract.
"If you sign this contract, you can think of it as a chance to redeem yourself before I find your replacement." Kael was blunt.
He wanted Burdo to know that he would be actively searching for his replacement and that he was very much replaceable.
By being aware of his situation, Burdo would have to thread carefully from now on and make an effort to show his value. Only by showing value could he prevent Kael from seeing the need to eliminate him.
This psychological manipulation would keep Burdo on his feet and allow Kael to take his eyes off him for some time.
"...And if you don’t, I will kill you now." Kael finished.
Burdo’s body shook from fright, long gone was the thought of overthrowing Kael…for now. At least, he knew Kael was not joking.
Burdo signed the contract unwillingly.
A golden crown tattoo appeared on his scaled forehead, just like on Kael’s forehead. The crown tattoo was shorter and less decorated compared to the one that flashed on Kael’s head.
The five lionesses also had tattoos appear on their foreheads. Since they were technically part of Burdo’s pride, they were roped into the contract against their will.
Kael glanced at them, he could see the way they looked at him. He could also pick up some intentions from reading their surface thoughts. They were all emotionally attached to Burdo but they didn’t mind if Kael was to suddenly kill him and take them for himself.
After all, Kael represented power, majesty, and stability in their lives. In the human world, he was the equivalent of a wealthy businessman or politician, very few women can resist a man with that kind of status.
The golden contract shattered into moats of light and the golden tattoos on their foreheads disappeared. Only now did Kael smile.
"Who knows, maybe we could visit Father later in the future. You know, just to check how he’s doing if he’s still alive." Kael said casually while observing Burdo’s reaction.
Burdo’s eyes twitched at the mention of his father. Indeed, the banishment of that day was a deep scar in his mind.
Kael used his leg to kick one of the stones, the magic stones encircling the water pride lost their glow as the magic shield dissolved. They were free, that’s what it looked like.
As Kael walked away, his nose twitched as a very familiar scent entered his nostrils. This was a scent he hadn’t perceived in a long time.
A smile crept on Kael’s face but he was inwardly confused, ’I thought she would never come back.’
At the same time, a large red fox entered the vicinity of N’bayé’s cave. Diane, who was sharpening her claws on the side of a nearby boulder, was the first to notice the fox.
"Vixy?"
