"That's right." Nedaric nodded and explained, "I was originally waiting until you inherited the family before giving you this, but now that you've renounced your inheritance rights, I can give it to you right now."
"It was always yours; I was just holding onto it here. In the past, I was a royal knight, fighting on countless battlefields, so the Empress granted me a marriage contract."
"Of course, this marriage contract was meant for my sons, but I think... it suits you better."
Aldric glanced at Nedaric and laughed, "Hahaha... then I don't need it. After all, I only need money."
"In that case, you cannot leave this family." Nedaric sighed and said, "I have decided to pass this marriage contract on to you, and this matter has already been reported to the Empress. If you refuse, the entire family will not be at peace."
"Ack!" Aldric frowned, silently cursing in his heart: 'Damn it! This old man definitely has some scheme, I just can't prove it.'
He took a deep breath, knowing full well that the marriage contract was 90% likely a trap, but now he couldn't refuse.
Staying meant his life would be threatened, but leaving meant falling into another trap.
He frowned, thinking carefully, then said, "Fine! I agree."
Nedaric nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction flashing in his stern eyes.
Even though he knew it was a trap, Aldric couldn't avoid it. After all, he was facing a Royal Knight, a man who had spread nightmares across battlefields with other races.
He wasn't sure whether his father would choose his interests or his family ties.
Aldric now only wanted to develop peacefully and hoped that his penis wouldn't be shortened by the system.
Nedaric opened the box, inside was a small piece of paper, he smiled and said, "You read it, then sign it."
Aldric picked up the paper, the content on it was very simple.
This marriage contract was issued by the Empress, if Nedaric did not accept it, he could let his son carry out the marriage contract.
The person to carry out the marriage agreement with him was a woman from the Fanlaxi forest.
Other than that, he saw no information about the woman he would marry or her family.
It was just a few short lines.
Aldric frowned, knowing in his heart that this was definitely a trap. It was just that... he didn't know what harm this trap would cause him and what benefits it would bring to his father.
Finally, he signed the marriage contract.
Immediately afterwards, Aldric could feel his soul connect with someone far away, but the connection was very faint, and he couldn't feel it clearly.
Nedaric saw Aldric sign the marriage contract, a satisfied smile appearing on his face that made Aldric shudder.
"Hahaha... good, very good. I'll have the steward load 500,000 gold coins onto the carriage. You can have that carriage, and I'll also give you 10 D-rank energy crystals and 10 life recovery potions."
"Ah!" Nedaric sighed, saying softly, "After all, I am your father. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can come back to me."
Aldric nodded slightly, feeling both uneasy and happy inside, that strange feeling forming a chaotic vortex in his mind.
"When will you depart?"
Hearing Nedaric's question, Aldric said, "Right now."
"Good! Then go. I support all your decisions."
Aldric stood up, bowing deeply as if to thank the family for allowing him to live among them, then turned and left the room.
Crack!
As the door closed, Nedaric smiled wickedly, utterly satisfied.
He cheerfully picked up the teacup and slowly sipped a mouthful of tea. But if Aldric were still here, he would surely notice the silver strands of hair on Nedaric's head gradually turning black.
The pace wasn't fast, but at this rate, it seemed that in just a few days, Nedaric's hair would be completely black.
Even the wrinkles on his face were slowly disappearing at an extremely slow pace.
"Master!" At that moment, a dark figure appeared behind Nedaric and bowed his head.
Nedaric took a sip of tea, then said, "Wait until he's in a secluded place, break his limbs, then throw him into the Fanlaxi Forest. As for what happens next, I don't need to instruct you further, right?"
"Yes, master. I know what I need to do." The mysterious figure behind Nedaric slowly retreated, then vanished into the darkness.
Nedaric laughed contemptuously: "Hahaha... Aldric, thank you. It's because of you that I was able to escape that damn engagement. Now, the heir has no meaning anymore because I... will continue to live. Hahaha..."
...
Leaving the castle, Aldric saw a carriage waiting for him. He stepped into the carriage and saw two large chests placed inside.
Crack!
Aldric opened one of the chests, and immediately had to close his eyes because the light of the gold nearly blinded a poor man like him.
"Wow! This light... is this the light of wealth, the light of truth?"
Aldric happily looked at the chest of gold coins in the carriage, immediately waved his hand, and all the gold coins in the chest disappeared and then appeared inside his 'Storage Space'.
"Hahaha... this thing is really convenient." Aldric laughed happily. He continued to open the second chest, his eyes lighting up: "Wow! It's recovery medicine and energy crystals. It seems he really is my father, hahaha..."
Mana – 5
Aldric: "..."
Suddenly, a notification appeared stating that his mana had been reduced, leaving him stunned.
"What's this..." Aldric asked in confusion: "System, I didn't sleep with anyone, why was my mana reduced?"
[Ding! You have just signed a contract with a special being, she is draining mana from you through that contract.]
Aldric: "..."
"Damn it! You old bastard!" Aldric yelled: "You... you bastard! I take back what I said earlier, you're not worthy of being my father, you damn old fool."
Although Aldric knew the marriage contract was a trap, he didn't think the trap would be this terrible.
"Does this mean she'll continuously drain my mana?" Aldric said anxiously.
[Ding! At the current rate, you will lose 5 Mana per hour.]
Aldric breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "Ah! Only 5 Mana per hour? I can recover 10 Mana per hour, hahaha..."
He felt there was no need to worry, as the amount of mana lost was only half of his mana recovery rate.
[Ding! However, this rate will increase, and no one knows when.]
Aldric: "..."
"Damn it!" Aldric forgot that if the mana depletion rate was this slow, his father wouldn't have needed to fear anything, rushing to lure him into this trap.
"This is bad! I have to quickly find a way to level up and deal with this damn curse, otherwise, it's no different from a time bomb."
Aldric waved his hand, storing all the energy crystals and 10 life-restoring potions into the 'Storage Space,' then quickly drove the carriage out of the Sterling family compound.
In the darkness, a shadow watched the carriage, its eyes gleaming with terrifying murderous intent, like two swords ready to pierce Aldric.