Starting With an SSS-Rank Goddess Summon!

Chapter 381: An Agreement [Bonus Chapter]

He was perfectly happy living his current life, and tying himself to the Bloom Clan was nothing more than an open invitation to get walked over by arrogant aristocrats.

But at the same time, he couldn’t simply tell the daughter of House Bloom to go screw herself.

Blatantly rejecting her on the street would wound her pride, trigger an immediate clan blood feud, and paint a massive target on his little sister’s back...

’I really despise dealing with nobles,’ Silas concluded mentally, letting out another silent groan.

Beside him, Harper was watching the exchange with wide, glittering violet eyes.

She was genuinely surprised.

She knew Silas was sharp, but watching him effortlessly dismantle Seraphina’s aggressive marriage proposal using pure undeniable logic was nothing short of a masterclass.

’That’s why I asked for a date,’ Harper thought happily, a warm competitive flutter rising in her chest. ’I don’t want a contract... I want him. I already spent three hours last night planning out the ultimate itinerary!’

Seraphina stood in the quiet sunlight for nearly a minute, her sharp mind processing Silas’s words.

Slowly, reluctantly, she nodded her head.

”You’re... you’re right,” Seraphina admitted softly, her voice barely a whisper before she forced herself to look back up into his eyes.

Her pride fought violently against the concession, but the logic was unbreakable.

”I know next to nothing about your personal preferences, your habits, or your daily life. Therefore, I will not force the formal registration of the marriage contract today.”

She stepped forward, closing the distance between them once more.

”However,” Seraphina stated, her tone shifting back into a fierce one. ”that does not change our reality... You have seen my unblemished form, Silas Graves. Under the sacred traditions of House Bloom, you are already my designated property. You belong to me.”

Before Silas could pull away, Seraphina reached out with her manicured hand.

She grabbed his large calloused palm and held it tightly between both of her own, interlacing her slender fingers through his.

A radiant beautiful rosy blush bloomed across her pale cheeks, highlighting the fierce burning intensity in her crimson irises.

”I will learn everything there is to learn about you,” Seraphina declared, her voice trembling slightly with genuine emotion. ”I will learn your favorite foods, your combat styles, your ambitions, and your flaws. And once I know everything... I will marry you.”

She paused, her fierce expression suddenly cracking into a look of childlike confusion.

She blinked her long eyelashes, tilting her head slightly as she looked between Silas and Harper.

”How... how exactly do people learn about each other anyway?” Seraphina asked, sounding completely lost.

Harper let out an exasperated, disbelieving laugh. ”Dates, you sheltered noble princess! You go on dates!”

Seraphina’s brow furrowed, but she didn’t release Silas’s hand immediately.

She slowly let go of his palm, turned on her heel, and marched back over to the limousine.

She shoved the heavy leather folder containing the multi-million-credit marriage accord directly into Reginald’s chest.

”Hold these, Reginald,” Seraphina ordered briskly.

Reginald caught the binder with practiced ease, but internally, his entire worldview had just been violently upended.

’He... he turned down the marriage contract?’ Reginald thought in flabbergasted shock. ’A commoner from Sector 4 was just handed the golden key to the apex of high society... an alliance that would grant him billions of credits, unlimited territorial resources, and political immunity and he pushed it aside because he wanted to ”get to know her first”?!’

In Reginald’s forty-five years of service, every single man who had ever approached Lady Seraphina... including foreign dignitaries, corporate heirs, and even the Crown Prince of the World Alliance had scrambled desperately to secure her hand, completely unconcerned with trivial concepts like ”getting to know each other.”

They wanted the power of House Bloom.

Yet this young man, standing barefoot on the sidewalk in nothing but sweatpants and a trench coat, had casually brushed the most coveted maiden in the country aside, demanding basic mutual respect.

Reginald adjusted his glasses, staring at Silas’s relaxed broad-shouldered silhouette.

’Lady Seraphina is an untamable dragon that no patriarch in the city has ever managed to rein in,’ Reginald realized, a deep sense of genuine respect settling into his chest. ’And this boy just disciplined her in three sentences... I must reassess everything. Lady Etilga’s assassination directive is officially suspended.’

Seraphina turned back around, crossing her arms as she looked at the two of them with a deeply skeptical expression.

”What in the world is a ’date’?” Seraphina asked genuinely.

Silas and Harper both stared at the crimson-haired noblewoman as if she had just grown a second head.

”Are you serious right now?” Harper asked, throwing her hands in the air. ”What kind of dystopian sheltered bubble did your parents raise you in?! What have you been learning at home for the past eighteen years?!”

”I was educated in high-tier arithmetic, ancestral elemental theory, multi-dimensional logistics, and aristocratic etiquette!” Seraphina defended herself fiercely with her cheeks burning. ”My curriculum did not include commoner mating rituals!”

Harper rolled her eyes so hard it looked painful.

”A date is when two people who are interested in each other go out into the city, do fun activities together, eat good food, talk without stabbing each other, and see if they have romantic chemistry... And for your information, Princess, Silas and I already have a full, private date scheduled for today! So you can take your limousine and go back to your palace!”

Seraphina’s eyes narrowed into lethal slits.

”Cancel it.”

”Excuse me?!” Harper barked.

”I said cancel it,” Seraphina commanded with noble authority. ”If a ’date’ is the required prerequisite to acquiring comprehensive information on Silas Graves, then I will be the one accompanying him today. You may leave.”

”Fuck off, bitch!” Harper snarled, taking an aggressive step forward, her purple lightning sparking around her ears once more. ”I asked him first! I drove all the way here! I planned the entire itinerary! You don’t get to hijack my afternoon just because you showed up with a notarized piece of paper!”

”I am the heiress of House Bloom!” Seraphina shouted back, stepping right into Harper’s face with her crimson aura flaring. ”My time is exponentially more valuable than yours! If a date is to occur, it will be with me!”

”I don’t give a damn about your dusty family tree—”

BUZZZZZZZ-CLICK!

The sharp hum of the wrought-iron security gate unlocking cut straight through the escalating shouting match.

The heavy black gate smoothly swung inward.

Stepping out onto the threshold was Martha, the household maid.

The middle-aged woman was dressed in her neat, pressed outdoor coat, carrying an insulated shopping tote over her arm and holding the keys in her hand.

She took one step onto the concrete, stopped dead in her tracks, and blinked rapidly.

”Uhh... Master Silas?” Martha asked, her voice trembling slightly as she took in the absurd scene before her.

Standing on the sidewalk was her master, surrounded by a purple-haired woman and a crimson-haired noblewoman who looked like a supermodel, a luxury limousine, and an elderly butler in a tailored tuxedo who looked like he had seen a ghost.

Silas, Seraphina, Harper, and Reginald all instantly snapped their heads toward the housekeeper.

The moment Martha felt the collective gaze of two terrifyingly powerful, high-tier Lords locking onto her, the older woman’s motherly instincts short-circuited.

She immediately dipped into a deep, incredibly swift and respectful bow, practically trembling as she scurried across the pavement straight to Silas’s side.

”Master Silas!” Martha whispered frantically, keeping her head lowered. ”I am so sorry to interrupt! I was just heading out to Valoria Academy to pick up little Lady Lia and her classmates. They finished their project, and I promised to walk them back safely for an early dinner.”

Silas let out a relieved breath, nodding quickly.

”Right. Thank you, Martha. Go ahead and hurry up. Make sure they stay safe...”

”Of course, Master!” Martha replied as the gate shut behind her.

She turned to leave, took half a step toward the sidewalk, and then suddenly paused.

A look of frantic motherly realization flashed across her face.

”Uh... Master Silas,” Martha murmured softly, stepping back into his personal space.

She reached into the deep pocket of her outdoor coat, pulled out a small, sleek foil-wrapped cardboard packet, and discreetly shoved it directly into Silas’s palm, wrapping his fingers around it.

Silas looked down at his hand in genuine confusion.

He opened his fingers, taking in the bold glowing branding stamped across the packaging.

[AURA-SHIELD: ULTRA-DENSE REINFORCED STAMINA PROPHYLACTICS - 12 PACK].

Silas froze. His brain completely flatlined for the third time today.

Standing two feet away, Reginald’s aristocratic composure completely shattered.

The elderly butler let out a choked, horrified cough, violently turning his head away and covering his mouth with a white handkerchief as his face twisted into a grimace of pure scandal.

Harper, who was standing right next to Silas, caught a crystal-clear look at the box.

A nuclear bright purple blush instantly exploded across Harper’s entire face, rushing all the way down to her collarbones.

She squeaked, clapping both of her hands over her mouth with her violet eyes bulging.

She only knew what that specific brand was because she had spent forty-five minutes secretly browsing the high-tier adult section of the pharmacy last night, frantically buying a packet of her own just in case her date with Silas went exceptionally well!

”Martha,” Silas said, his voice dropping into a dangerously flat soul-dead monotone as he stared at the box. ”What the hell is this?”

”I am just fulfilling my domestic duties, Master Silas!” Martha whispered loudly, completely ignoring the fact that everyone on the street could hear her. ”You have been gone in the Sovereign Realm for far too long, and a Lord’s physical needs are very demanding! Master, remember what I told you in the kitchen~!”

Silas didn’t hesitate. He raised his index finger and forcefully flicked Martha right in the center of her forehead.

THWACK!

”Ow!” Martha yelped, clutching her forehead with both hands, though a massive mischievous grin spread across her face.

”Return this to the cabinet, stop reading degenerate internet forums, and go get my sister,” Silas ordered ruthlessly, shoving the packet back into her shopping tote.

”Yes, Master! Have a wonderful vigorous afternoon!” Martha chirped happily.

She bowed once more, completely unbothered by the flick, and scurried down the sidewalk at top speed with her laughter echoing down the quiet street before she rounded the corner and vanished.

’She didn’t take the car?’

Silas stood in the awkward, suffocating silence left in her wake, pinching the bridge of his nose until his fingers went numb.

”Well...” Silas began, letting out a long breath.

Before he could even suggest going inside to put on a damn shirt, Seraphina stepped forward, her crimson eyes locked onto Harper with unyielding defiance.

”It is settled,” Seraphina declared, crossing her arms. ”I will be accompanying the two of you today. This will be a three-way date and naturally, given that Silas is the designated property of House Bloom, I will receive the vast majority of his attention throughout the afternoon... not the other girl.”

”I am not ’the other girl,’ you arrogant noble jackass!” Harper roared back, pointing a furious finger at Seraphina’s nose. ”I’m Harper! Get it right! And you’re not getting any of his attention!”

”You are an uninvited variable in an official matrimonial observation,” Seraphina countered coldly, lifting her chin. ”You should be grateful I am permitting your presence in our perimeter.”

”I’M PERMITTING YOUR PRESENCE, YOU CRIMSON-HAIRED PARASITE!”

”ENOUGH!” Silas snapped, his voice ringing with enough force to rattle the gate.

Both women flinched, shutting their mouths simultaneously.

Silas looked between the furious sparking Lightning Lord and the haughty, blushing noble heiress.

He realized with terrifying clarity that if he left them alone on the street, they would literally level the block, and if he tried to go back inside, they would break the door down.

”Five minutes,” Silas muttered, turning his back to them and walking toward the front door. ”I am putting on a shirt. If you two are still screaming when I walk back out, I am going to lock the gates and spend the rest of the day sleeping.”

...

Ten minutes later, Harper’s custom-built midnight-purple luxury sports coupe purred smoothly down the wide pristine avenues of the Central District.

The vehicle’s interior was a masterpiece of high-tier engineering... lined with dark supple leather, accented by ambient violet LED strips, and completely sealed against the exterior noise of the bustling metropolis.

Harper gripped the leather-wrapped steering wheel, her eyes locked on the road ahead.

’Fuck...’

Her jaw was set in a tight annoyed line as she glanced into the rearview mirror.

Sitting directly in the center of the plush leather back seat was Seraphina Bloom.

The crimson-haired noble sat with her spine perfectly straight with her legs crossed at the ankles and her designer blazer immaculately adjusted as she stared out the tinted window with an expression of pure detached superiority.

’Why do I have to do all of this?’