After finishing opening the tomb, Pearl came to me inside the Grill.
"I heard my daughter sold her soul to you," Pearl said in a calm yet irritated tone. "I would like you to remove that doubt from her."
"Impossible… I don't work for free," I replied evenly. No one breaks my contracts.
"You don't seem to know who you're talking to," Pearl said, narrowing her eyes. "I'm five hundred years old, boy… I could kill you in less than a second."
"Of course you could," I answered with a small smile. "But I guarantee that if you kill me… you won't have peace even after death. I'm a Bennett. You know we hold power over the world even after we die."
Pearl didn't look away when I mentioned the Bennetts.
But I saw the exact moment she understood.
It wasn't fear.
It was recognition.
Like a general realizing she isn't standing before a talented soldier — but another general.
"A Bennett…" she repeated.
I shrugged, slowly spinning the glass on the table.
"I try to honor the name. My grandmother haunts me if I agree to work for free."
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Humor always helps. People relax when they think you're not taking things as seriously as they are.
I am.
I just don't show it.
POV — Nik
She is ancient.
Very ancient.
It's not just strength — it's presence. When Pearl walks into a place, the place changes.
Having that at my side…
No one gets close to my family without thinking twice.
Having Anna too…
Emotional loyalty. Mobility. Discretion.
Two layers of protection.
This isn't about ordering them around.
It's about no one touching the people I love.
Never again.
"Release Anna," she said. "Place the bond on me."
I tilted my head as if I were truly considering it.
In truth, I had already done the math.
A five-hundred-year-old vampire is power.
Two are a defense system.
"You know what the problem with Mystic Falls is?" I said lightly, calm tone. "This place is a mouth of hell…"
She frowned — she didn't get the reference.
"This town attracts the supernatural and every horrible thing you probably saw in your four hundred years outside the tomb," I continued with a soft laugh. "Any of them can just show up on a Wednesday and start a massacre."
Her eyes narrowed.
She understood.
Of course she did.
"Having a five-hundred-year-old vampire in this town discourages most monsters… having two," I added, licking my lips, "would make even gods think twice before causing trouble in my city."
"You want both of us under your control," she said, irritated. "Two five-hundred-year-old vampires in town would make even gods hesitate… two five-hundred-year-old vampires enslaved to a witch would make even the devil fear you and your kingdom in this city. You want to be feared."
I smiled to the side.
"Better to be feared than loved. Better to be a king with the power to protect those he loves than a simple, vulnerable witch without enough influence to protect anyone," I said, refuting her. "I don't want to be feared… I have to be."
Silence.
She tried to maintain the perfect political posture, but I saw the conflict.
Mother.
Leader.
Survivor.
"Anna was not born for this," she said, sadness in her eyes. "Despite being over five hundred years old, she is still a child."
"Anna chose this for herself… she is mine… for one thousand years," I replied calmly. "She signed a contract to get you out of the tomb."
That hit.
I didn't say it with cruelty.
I said it as a fact.
Because it was.
"Total freedom for her," Pearl insisted.
I slowly shook my head.
"Total freedom is a beautiful concept… but no one is truly free. Not me. Not you. Much less Anna. However… I can grant her certain privileges if you become mine as well, by contract. Nothing against your dignity… I only want your name and your power."
She crossed her arms.
"Explain."
I leaned over the table.
"She lives her life, in the city where I am. She does whatever she wants, loves whoever she wants…" I continued calmly. "But when I need her… she comes to me like a well-trained dog."
She closed her eyes for a second.
She's good.
She understands the difference between servitude and priority.
"And me?" she asked. "To what extent will I have freedom?"
"None," I answered dryly. "You will live for me for the next thousand years. Completely in service of my will."
"That is not a term."
"Of course it is," I replied quickly. "You are sacrificing yourself to save your daughter from a contract she signed without caring about the consequences. Any term I place — even one that goes against your dignity, which I will not do — would still be valid. Don't forget… you came to me. Not the other way around."
She studied me as if dismantling every word.
"I will not be your sexual slave," she growled, almost hitting the table.
"Good," I replied without changing my tone. "As I said, I will not attack your dignity."
This time she almost laughed.
"I only want your name… your will, your power, and your loyalty."
" I keep my name."
"Of course. The name Pearl causes more fear than Nik…" I replied, lying — since I was a Mikaelson, Klaus's son, my name was more frightening than any here. "It would be foolish of me to change it."
"And Anna cannot be used against me," she declared, defiant.
"Of course. As long as she is obedient and you are a loyal, well-behaved guard dog… I will not use Anna to hurt you," I answered with a gentle smile.
Heavy silence.
She looked at me differently now.
Not as a boy.
Not as a threat.
But as something she recognized.
Someone who builds instead of destroys.
"You would do anything for them?" she asked, melancholic. "Your family… I researched you. That's why you want to be feared… Very well. I will be your guard dog and I will be loyal to you… and you guarantee this conditional freedom for Anna."
I gave a small smile.
When she spoke again, she wasn't just the five-hundred-year-old vampire.
She was a mother.
"Anna needs to feel free," Pearl said sadly. "She cannot know I sold myself to you in exchange for her freedom."
"She will know… but she won't know the terms," I replied, extending my hand and weaving the binding spell into my palm.
She nodded and took it.
The magic answered immediately.
When we let go, I felt the bond — as if Pearl's life were resting in my hand.
It was the certainty that from that moment on, anything that came against me would have to pass through five hundred years of experience and power first.
Pearl gave a small, tired smile and walked away, knowing she had just lost her freedom.