The Devil's Contract Lover - Chapter 1

“Screech—bang!”

The black sports car swerved in an arc and slammed into the person in front of it, the screeching of tires excruciatingly loud.

Her consciousness slowly drifted high into the sky, where the stars of the heavens seemed to fall toward her.

Drip, drop, drip, drop.

So cold. Who is bleeding?

The traffic light blinked green, allowing pedestrians to cross.

“Beep beep beep, beep beep beep beep…” The alarm clock suddenly went off, and Yao Yuan abruptly opened her eyes.

“What time is it… why is the alarm on when I don’t have class…” She grabbed the edge of the quilt and curled inward, then let out a shriek a moment later: “Oh no, oh no, I’m going to be late for the interview!!”

There was no time for more complaints. She climbed out of bed with her messy long hair, looking for slippers, and headed straight to the washroom to rinse her mouth with cold water. She then used a water-soaked towel to scrub her face thoroughly, finally making her deep brown almond eyes brighten up.

It took the concerted effort of a comb and a hair tie in front of the mirror to pull her long hair into a tight ponytail.

Yao Yuan rushed back to her room, grabbed the clothes she had prepared yesterday—buttoning up a white shirt and putting on a small suit jacket.

She slipped on her high heels and reached for the document bag on the table, accidentally knocking over a stack of Tarot cards with a whoosh.

In a panic, she reached out and caught one of them. A momentary, numb tingling sensation shot from the paper directly to her fingertip.

The Devil image on the card was engulfed in flames. It stood on the hilt of a sword on the ground, cracking a whip down hard on a wailing human.

A burning sensation flared up from her heart: This was not the Tarot card image she was familiar with! Yet the embossed gold title at the bottom definitely read 【The Devil】.

The illusion floating on the card vanished in an instant. She swallowed and turned the Tarot card over: the Devil on the card face was as classical as ever, innocently holding two chains.

Was it a hallucination… Maybe I’m too tired. I should go to the hospital to check it out when I have time.

Yao Yuan clutched her chest and slowly stood up. The pain lessened with every breath.

No time to think too much; she would be late for the interview otherwise! She grabbed her phone and ran out, taking a moment to glance at a group chat message that popped up on the screen: 【Next Saturday noon, assemble for the tea party.】

The divination enthusiasts group was holding an offline event?

Could the upright Devil card and the chest pain be a warning not to attend? Thinking carefully, she woke up in a sweat, so maybe she just had a nightmare.

It was better to believe a strange premonition than not. Her fingers flew across the chat box: 【Sorry, I need to go out and look for a job recently, so I won’t be participating in this event~】 After pressing send, she rushed out of the dorm without looking back.

Fifteen minutes later, Yao Yuan wiped the remnant of her pancake off the corner of her mouth with a tissue, standing by the street light and intently watching the traffic signal across the road. Once the 120-second countdown was over, she could rush across and hail a taxi.

Ding, ding ding ding, ding ding ding ding…

Her phone vibrated relentlessly in her bag, the request to talk ringing continuously.

She unzipped the bag and glanced—oh no, it was her Master’s call… The divination group matter wasn’t over after all.

She hesitated for a moment and then answered: “Hello, Master, I really don’t have time~ You know, I’m graduating soon, and if I can’t find a job, the school will—”

“No one can escape fate, Moonstone.” The voice on the other end of the line was utterly indifferent.

“Master, I still need to work~ I’ll treat you all to dinner another day.”

She waited a few seconds, but there was no response. She looked at the screen—the other party had already hung up.

Tsk, that cold tone… Is she angry? I’ll talk to her properly when she calms down.

I really envy those little rich girls who can indulge in their occult hobbies without worry. Her group members didn’t have to worry about the future, but she did.

Yao Yuan lightly kicked the waiting line with her left foot, her gaze caught by a pair of young people walking across the street.

【What a beautiful mixed-race couple.】

Both looked like high school students, wearing fairy-tale-style wizard robes.

The girl, likely a native with colored contact lenses, had strikingly beautiful purple eyes. The boy, however, clearly had foreign ancestry, with silver hair, violet eyes, a high nose, and a deep-set gaze, his lips curved in a smile that was almost mocking.

Were they role-playing as mages from a game?

Her vision gradually blurred, the color and numbers of the traffic light fading at the edges.

Pushed by an unknown force, Yao Yuan took a step onto the crosswalk.

“You, you—” Why did she want to chase that high school pair? There seemed to be no reason.

“Screech—bang!”

Yao Yuan slowly lost all sense of gravity. A viscous liquid splattered on the road.

Eh… Who ran the red light? Her will pulled a flash of green into her mind.

Good, I didn’t run the red light—since it wasn’t my fault, is that why it doesn’t hurt as much?

“Human, do you accept this?”

Who is speaking? Yao Yuan, who was about to close her eyes and embrace death, struggled to open her eyelids.

A heavy black shadow pressed down on the sun’s brilliance. The sky was no longer azure; silver chains emerged from the gloom.

Points of light flickered upon them, as if stars were looking down.

A hand covered her eyes, obscuring her sight. She could only vaguely make out that a woman was speaking through a voice filled with temptation.

“Human, answer me, are you willing to die here just like this?”

Answer what? Her throat was so dry.

The fingers moved away inch by inch, and Yao Yuan finally saw the figure in front of her.

It could only be described as a “humanoid figure.” “She” was a black shadow barely maintaining the shape of four limbs, with only a pair of crimson eyes, like stellar gems, gathering all the attention, making it easy to overlook her flickering form.

Is “she” injured? Yao Yuan thought dazedly, looking at the semi-transparent gap at the end of the shadow.

“Do you really want to die here, meaningless?”

“I don’t know…”

“Confess to me, confess the obsession that is great enough for you to offer your soul.” The crimson gem met her gaze, and indifference traveled from her heart to her soul.

“Obsession?” Going to the interview definitely didn’t reach that level. What about just muddling through life? Money? How much money could buy a soul?

“Make a wish. Speak the deepest reluctance in your heart…!” The shadow wrapped around her shoulders, and pure darkness enveloped her: “Whether it’s to repay a debt, settle a score, or satisfy a personal desire.”

“Make a wish?” She didn’t have any deep reluctance, but speaking of a wish… if she could make one wish…

“That’s right, this is your last chance.” The black shadow locked onto its prey, and silver chains bound her soul, blocking the path to heaven.

“Indeed… I shouldn’t die right now. I still haven’t…”

How could she not cling to life when first realizing death was imminent? The instinct to survive was irresistible. Her deepest inner desire burned fiercely, exploding within her soul.

Tears welled in her eyes, and the shadow’s hand touched her fingertip.

Under the witness of a hexagram, a parchment scroll materialized in the flames, covered with unknown symbols.

Two slender fingers pinched Yao Yuan’s index finger and pressed it onto the bottom of the parchment.

“State your wish. The price is your soul.”

“I still haven’t…”

Blood seeped from her index finger, drawing symbols and text with sharp precision.

At the very moment the text was completed, despair burst from her chest.

“I haven’t been in a relationship yet!!!” The contract, which should have been unchangeable, instantly lost all its text and became blank.

“What—”

“I want to live and fall in love once! Sweet, sweet love, woo woo woo woo! I want to meet the most perfect lover!!”

Countless grievances were drawn out by the parchment, conveyed to a void consciousness.

How much she wished someone could understand her, reach out when she was most helpless, and never let go when she was most triumphant. Someone she could share everything with, happy or sad, without having to be careful.

How much she wished to see the sea in summer and eat hot pot in winter.

How much she wished to be each other’s reliance, mutually a sword and shield.

How much she wished not to bicker over trivial things and fully enjoy a wonderful life… Countless fragments of thought coalesced into an unrealistic, miraculous beautiful love.

【Is this your statement?】 A certain will responded. It read the complex wish without joy or sorrow, turning it into symbols engraved on the parchment.

The human could not understand these words. Her soul, in a trance, conveyed the expression 【Yes】.

【Contract established】

A cold voice sounded. The parchment devoured itself in the darkness, and the wails from the abyss faded away.

“What contract?” Yao Yuan suddenly felt the weight of her tears. Can a soul cry too?

Her pupils widened, and stars spun rapidly before her eyes.

The black shadow solidified at an incredible speed. Flames whirled within the shadow, each burn adding more color.

In a few breaths, an utterly beautiful “living being” was born. “She” devoured the “starry sky,” and the sun returned to the world.

Pitch-black long hair was given by the wind, her dark brows more skilled than a master’s fine brushwork.

A vibrant crimson was reserved beneath her long lashes, forming a structure with her high nose bridge. Her red lips were slightly thin, captivating the soul.

Sunlight shone down, and her knees could still feel the hardness of the ground.

The established fact had changed: she was now kneeling by the traffic light, completely unharmed.

The only things unchanged were the clasped hands and the now cooled eyes of the other. She could see a dark red deep within the black pupils but felt not a trace of warmth; even the fingers holding hers were ice cold.

The beauty slowly curled her lips, pulling her up forcefully, with her other hand steadying Yao Yuan’s waist. Yao Yuan stumbled a few steps into the other’s embrace: So tall, definitely over 175cm! And very well-endowed.

“What would you like me to call you?” Her tone was extremely intimate, the air around her earlobe feeling ambiguous.

She took a few seconds to confirm her current situation: if the previous moment was a death and a resurrection, the person in front of her… probably, no, certainly something like a Devil, right?!

Taking a deep breath, Yao Yuan pushed the beauty away and bowed deeply at the same time: “You can call me Xiao Yao from now on!”

The silence didn’t last too long. The tall beauty approached step by step, finally lifting a strand of hair near her ear.

Yao Yuan wanted to back away, but her legs weren’t cooperating, and her waist was trembling: “I, I haven’t asked what to call you?”

The beauty lowered her head, first placing a finger vertically over her lips, then naturally lowering it: “What name do you want to use?”

Little Black, Little White, Little Cat, Little Dog…

“Starry Sky.” A name that didn’t sound like a name slipped out. That boundless starry sky had occupied her mind earlier.

The Devil, named Starry Sky, wrapped an arm around her waist, their cheeks touching.

A sharp pain pierced through her earlobe, erupting with a burning sensation from the inside, instantly cutting off the previous ambiguity.

“What are you doing!” Yao Yuan struggled free abruptly, leaning against the roadside railing with a feeling of being wronged.

“I was stabilizing the contract just now. It’s fine now.” The Devil’s smile was superficial.

Hiding was impossible. Starry Sky walked beside her as if protecting her, yet was more dangerous than any passerby.

Yao Yuan quickly touched the back of her earlobe. There was no bump or wound, no extra earring—it was as soft and smooth as usual.

“A very small brand, representing the connection between you and me,” Starry Sky’s “kind” information lingered in her ear, a faint darkness tracing her fingertip.

“I, I still have things to do! Don’t stand so close to me.” Ignoring the surprised looks of passersby, Yao Yuan picked up her bag and stumbled forward a few steps in a hurry.

“Worried about the interview? Don’t worry, you will definitely be rejected.” The Devil hooked her arm from the right side: “How about we go on a date first? To fulfill part of the contract.”

Fulfill the contract? The previous scene flashed rapidly through her mind: 【“State your wish. The price is your soul.”】

【“I want to live and fall in love once.”】

【“Contract established.”】

Yao Yuan took a deep breath, her voice trembling as she retorted loudly: “Is that so? You saw me get rejected? Well, then I reject your rejection.”

The Devil responded with a knowing smile.