I AM A MAGE BUT WITH MILF SYSTEM

Helena’s voice was barely a whisper. “How did it come to this? How did we fall so far?”

“Your husband’s choices,” Mara replied bluntly. “He destroyed your family and then died, leaving you to clean up the mess. That’s how.”

She moved toward the door.

“I’m going to step outside. You have ten minutes to decide. When I come back, you either agree to participate tomorrow night, or you refuse. Those are your only options.”

Mara looked at Julian. “Keep an eye on her. Make sure she doesn’t do anything foolish.”

Then she left, closing the door behind her.

Helena and Julian were now alone in the office.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Helena continued crying quietly, burying her face in her hands.

Finally, Julian spoke:

“She’s very good at manipulation, isn’t she?”

Helena looked up at him through red, swollen eyes. “What?”

“Mara,” Julian clarified. “She’s skilled at finding people’s vulnerabilities and exploiting them.” He paused for a moment, then added. “But you have the choice to reject it, right?”

Helena seemed uncertain and in that moment, Julian could see her eyes—really see into them. It was easy to predict exactly what was going through her head. The deal of cutting the debt entirely, of turning their lives around, was certainly too good to be true.

And as always desperation made people consider impossible things.

“I don’t know what I should do,” Helena said finally, her voice small and broken.

Julian smiled. “You know what you have to do.”

Helena’s hands clenched in her lap. “I know. But will it really be right? Engaging in such acts with my own family?” She looked up at him, her eyes pleading for some kind of answers. “Would you have done it? If you were in my position?”

Julian laughed. He was not expecting such question.

“I already did,” he said simply, not explaining more. The face of Regina, his mother, flashed behind his mind.

Helena stared at him dumbfoundedly, trying to understand what he meant, but Julian had already moved on.

“But that’s the reality of your situation,” he continued, his tone becoming more matter-of-fact. “Go there and let Thomas fuck you. Let Sarah indulge in it. And then everything ends. It’s a simple transaction—your dignity for your freedom.”

Helena flinched at the crude directness of his words, but before she could respond, the door opened.

Mara entered, and Helena immediately noticed she had a cigarette in her mouth. The smoke filled the small office as Mara took a deep puff, then gestured toward Julian with the cigarette, offering it.

He simply shook his head.

Mara shrugged and took another puff before focusing her attention on Helena.

“Well,” she said, exhaling smoke slowly. “What have you thought of, Helena?”

She moved to sit on the edge of her desk, looking down at the broken woman with something that might have been sympathy or satisfaction—it was hard to tell.

“As someone who has made you walk this dangerous crossroad,” Mara continued, “I’ll help you once more. In addition to freeing your debt entirely, I will make sure to pay you enough so that you can start your life somewhere new. Enough money that you and your children can leave Ezakael, leave the Hermes Kingdom even, if you want. Go somewhere no one knows your past, your struggles, your… sacrifices.”

She tapped ash from her cigarette into a small tray on the desk.

“You would have a fresh start. Enough wealth to open a business, buy property, live comfortably for years. All from one night’s work.”

Mara’s eyes locked onto Helena’s. She paused, letting that vision settle in Helena’s mind.

“What’s your dignity worth, Helena? More than your children’s freedom? More than decades of slavery? More than a chance at a real life?”

The manipulation was masterful.

Julian watched this entire exchange with predatory interest. He was genuinely curious about what Helena would choose when presented with such options.

Finally, Helena spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.

“If I do this… if I agree… you swear the debt will be completely cleared? That my children and I will be free?”

“I swear it,” Mara said immediately. “On my life. You’ll have documentation proving it, signed and sealed. No tricks, no hidden clauses, no extensions or additional fees.”

Helena’s hands were shaking as she pressed them against her face.

“And the money? The fresh start you mentioned?”

“Five hundred gold,” Mara said. “In addition to clearing the debt. Five hundred gold coins, paid immediately after the performance.”

It was an enormous sum—far more than Helena could earn in multiple lifetimes of honest labor.

Helena looked at Julian, as if seeking some kind of guidance or reassurance from this strange man who had witnessed her humiliation.

“What do you think?” she asked him quietly. “Should I do it?”

Julian’s expression remained neutral. “That’s not my choice to make. Only you can decide what you’re willing to sacrifice and what price you’re willing to pay for freedom.”

He paused, then added more quietly.

“But I will say this—if you agree, make sure Mara puts everything in writing. The debt clearance, the payment, everything. Get it documented and verified before the performance, not after. Trust in writing, not in promises.”

Mara shot him an annoyed look but didn’t contradict him. “That’s reasonable. I have no problem documenting everything beforehand. I want Helena to feel secure in this arrangement.”

Helena closed her eyes, took a deep, shuddering breath, and when she opened them again, there was a terrible defeat in her expression.

“I’ll do it,” she said, her voice hollow and distant, as if she was listening to someone else speak. “I’ll perform tomorrow night.”

Mara’s face lit up with satisfaction. “You’ve made the right choice, Helena. I know it doesn’t feel like it now, but you have. Your children will be so grateful. They’ll understand what you sacrificed for them.”

She stood from the desk and moved to a cabinet, pulling out papers and a quill.

“Let’s get everything documented right now. The debt clearance contract, the payment agreement, all of it. I want you to feel completely secure in this arrangement.”

As Mara began writing, Helena sat motionless in her chair, staring at nothing. Julian watched her carefully, noting every detail of her despair, her defeat, her broken acceptance.