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Helena sat there for a long moment. Her fingers worked the edge of the blanket, folding and unfolding the same crease.
Arthur understood the weight of it all so he gave her some time.
Finally, she responded.
"How much stronger?" she asked. "How exactly are we talking about?"
Arthur tilted his head, as if pondering the question. "Well, when Mira and I first started, she was just a measly Early Iron. Nothing you wouldn't expect from a sixteen-year-old who'd just started her cultivation journey." He paused. "Right now, she's Peak Iron. Give it a few more weeks, and I'm sure she'll reach Bronze."
Helena looked at him with surprise.
"And that's with no cultivation on her own part? No training, no studying, no improving her skills?"
"Yep," Arthur said, nodding.
"That's insane." Helena shook her head. She knew better than most that commoners born with Iron-tier bloodlines were fiercely unlikely to ever reach Bronze. Most spent their entire lives stuck, and here was a maid with no formal training climbing ranks through nothing but the Mark.
"What rank is your bloodline?" Helena asked. "Surely it can't be less than Diamond with such properties."
"Well, I hate to disappoint," Arthur said, sucking his teeth. "I'm only rated Emerald."
Helena blinked.
"You see, the returns become more diminishing after Silver. Now, we don't know the full extent of it there are a few key aspects of my bloodline that I haven't awakened yet. But from what I can tell, only a select few would see meaningful returns past that point."
Helena considered this. Her eyes drifted to the far wall.
"Yes. That is quite annoying, I imagine." She turned back to him. "But even with diminishing returns, any increase to someone's cultivation without the need for training or combat is extraordinary. Most mages would kill for even a fraction of that kind of growth."
Arthur didn't respond. He let her sit with it.
Helena's gaze dropped to her lap, her fingers still working the blanket. Then her hands stopped.
"What about bottlenecks?" she asked. "What could you do with a bottleneck? Let's say hypothetically somebody is at Peak Silver and they needed that extra push over the wall. Do you think you could provide that?"
She looked at him.
'Gotcha.'
"I would say yes," he said evenly. "I'd be able to help someone get over a bottleneck." He folded his arms. "Note that whoever I mark has sex with the stronger they are, the greater the effects. So if the partner is a higher rank, or even within the same tier, the returns will be significant."
Helena gulped.
The thought of it was barbaric. Crude. Everything she'd been raised to consider beneath her.
But the thought of what it could mean —
'What if I do it?'
'No. Helena, you can't. You're — you're going to —'
'But think about it. If I break into Gold rank — and if I keep having —'
She couldn't even say the words in her own mind.
'Then maybe I could become so powerful that it doesn't matter how strong Damien's bloodline is. I know for a fact he doesn't have the will to break into Gold anytime soon.'
'Maybe — maybe I can —'
The gears turned. Ways to break free. Ways to make the engagement meaningless. Ways to stand on her own two feet for the first time in years.
It would all depend on one person.
She looked at Arthur.
"Tell me, Arthur." Helena swallowed, steeling her nerves and her resolve. "What would it take for you to mark me?"
She looked him dead in the eye.
Arthur held her gaze for a long moment. Then the corner of his mouth curved slow, deliberate, as this was what he was waiting for.
"Marking you is all I need for payment, the only thing you need to worry about is not letting it go to waste."
Helena meets Arthur's eyes. "If I have to cuff myself to another chain, then so be it."
"Good. You'll need to have that resolve if you are to go through it." Arthur settled back against the headboard. "But before we go any further, I need you to understand what the marking entails."
Helena straightened. "Tell me."
"It's not as simple as snapping my fingers. There has to be a physical bond between us, a consummation. Nothing as far as full intercourse, but I need your body to be aroused. The Mark won't take otherwise." He said it plainly, as if he were explaining a rune component to her.
Helena's face reddened. "You mean —"
"Yes, Helena. I'll make you feel good, so don't worry." He paused. "And Damien won't know the difference. I know you have to save yourself for him so I won't put you in that position."
She let out a tired breath of relief. That was the one line she couldn't cross.
"Okay then. What else?"
"The Mark, It'll show up on your body as a tattoo. I don't control where it appears."
"And if it's somewhere visible?"
"Then you come up with a reason for Damien." He glanced at her. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."
Helena nodded. A tattoo was a simple price to pay for possible freedom.
'Once I do this, there's no going back.'
She knew that. Trading one man's claim for another was a terrible fate. But just maybe this one would be kinder.
"Do it," she said. "Tonight. Before I change my mind."
Arthur looked at her, searching for hesitation and doubt.
He found none.
He rose from the bed and reached for the hem of his shirt, lifting it over his head.