Red Thread of Hate

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Well, the seriousness of the situation was slowly starting to dawn on you.

A few days have passed since the announcement, not much, but enough for you to cool down and allow your thoughts to form a logical whole. The initial shock had passed and you felt as if everything inside you had been replaced by a heavy and palpable emptiness. You had sleepless nights from stress these few days, still not fully understanding what was happening and that it wasn't a joke. You would expect that after thinking about this matter, you would feel chaos and anger at everything, but it was different and you could honestly say that it was worse. Instead of a bunch of emotions boiling inside you, you felt peace, emptiness and numbness. You were surprised that you weren't crying, but you didn't really feel up to it.

You thought so hard for a few days that it was just a dream, a nightmare that you could wake up from, but reality finally hit you. You guessed that you weren't the first, of course that arranged weddings were known not only in hell but also on earth, but you heard about it mainly from history and you didn't expect that you would ever experience it. After all, such things affected young people who had just entered adulthood, and you were already in your thirties! You felt that you almost missed the chaos you initially felt, because the overwhelming emptiness and the desire to adapt to a new reality terrified you. It's as if after the storm there was a calm and you were walking through a quiet and empty city, seeing the damage that had been caused. An irrational comparison, ridiculous and exaggerated, but that's the only way you could describe it at this point.

You hated the uncertainty, but maybe that's what you wanted to feel. Instead, you were sure of what the future would bring, and it was a life filled with arguments and endless rage to the point of exhaustion. You really didn't think you deserved such punishment, even if you were in Hell. You didn't do anything wrong in your life, except maybe one thing in self-defense. And could you be blamed for it?

At least you wanted a fresh start even if it was hell. And yet here you were, feeling like you were going to repeat your mother's fate. Perverse fate finally decided to catch up with you, no matter how much you ran and no matter how much you thought you didn't deserve punishment. Maybe that's why you were in the Pride Ring now, you thought. Maybe because your pride wouldn't let you believe that you were guilty.

After the day you went to sign the papers, you and the Radio Demon were called again for the same purpose because you had argued so much earlier that you forgot about it. You came to the second meeting a little calmer than before, which wasn't a big difference, but you didn't want to scalp and skin Alastor anymore. He, on the other hand, seemed less angry but more tense and stiff, tense, with a nervous eye twitching and his hands behind his back. Apparently you both were coping similarly, which was completely hopeless.

Lucifer presented the documents to you this time and no one else spoke to him the entire time, even when he asked for your opinion.
Then, when you were given the rules to read, you felt as if you were dying again, but this time longer and in pain.

You swore that after reading the first one, bile rose in your throat and the second one made you want to vomit.

“Rule 1. Husband’s last word rule.
In any quarrel or decision-making, the husband's decision is mainly taken into account, the wife may nod and agree.”

You then read it first on the list and had to read it again several times before you fully realized the meaning of the words. You looked blankly at the paper and didn't even want to look at your now unfortunately husband.

“Rule.2 Submission Performance:
The wife's task is to write a report every week on Sunday about what she has done for her husband to make his life better.”

You turned pale and your throat tightened not only with anger but also with helplessness.

“Rule.3 An hour of silence for wisdom.
A wife is obliged to remain silent for at least an hour without a break every day to listen to her husband's wisdom.”