[Part 2] Between Contracts and Enchantments
That alone unsettled Hanz.
They were seated in Alfred’s office, late in the evening, the city lights pressing against the tall windows like silent witnesses. Hanz had rehearsed the confession a dozen times in his mind, yet when the words finally came, they spilled out with a mixture of bitterness and dark amusement.
The affair.
The spell.
The stolen body.
Grace.
When he finished, there was a pause long enough for regret to creep in. Hanz straightened his posture instinctively, as if expecting ridicule or disbelief.
Instead, Alfred smiled.
Not the polite smile of a businessman, but something slower. Sharper. Curious.
“So,” Alfred said at last, folding his hands on the desk, “my greatest rival is sitting across from me… wearing someone else’s skin.”
Hanz exhaled. “I wouldn’t have come if I had any other option.”
“Oh, I know,” Alfred replied smoothly. “That’s what makes this fascinating.”
He rose from his chair and began to circle the desk, his steps unhurried. Hanz felt the weight of his gaze, not invasive, but deliberate — as if Alfred were assessing an acquisition.
“You realize,” Alfred continued, “that what you’re offering me isn’t just a confession. It’s leverage.”
Hanz’s lips pressed together. “I’m aware.”
Alfred stopped in front of him. Close now. Too close for comfort — or perhaps exactly close enough.
“I could expose you,” he said calmly. “Discredit you. Hand you over to whatever fate waits for men who lose everything and can’t explain why.”
A beat.
“Or,” Alfred added, his tone shifting, “I could help you.”
Hanz looked up, meeting his eyes. “You’d do that?”
A quiet laugh escaped Alfred. “Help you take revenge on the woman who humiliated you, ruined your empire, and thought she could outplay both of us?” He tilted his head. “That sounds less like charity and more like entertainment.”
He returned to his chair, sitting again, but the balance of power had already shifted.
“Here’s the truth,” Alfred said. “You know how to rebuild what I inherited in ruins. You know every weakness Grace is exploiting. And now I know your secret.”
Hanz felt it then — the invisible chain tightening.
“You have nowhere else to go,” Alfred continued gently. “And I have no reason to let you leave.”
Silence filled the room, thick but not hostile.
Finally, Alfred smiled again. This time, openly pleased.
“I want in,” he said. “Not just as your ally — but as your partner. You’ll help me crush her. I’ll give you protection, resources, and a front-row seat to her downfall.”
“And afterward?” Hanz asked.
Alfred’s gaze lingered. “Afterward, we’ll see just how useful you can be to me.”
It was not a threat.
It was an invitation.
Hanz realized then that Grace had underestimated one crucial thing.
She had turned him into someone adaptable.
And Alfred?
Alfred was exactly the kind of man who knew how to enjoy that.
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