Chapter 34

Now that her own sigil had manifested, Axion’s rampage must have grown even more ferocious. She couldn’t just watch as the man in front of her seemed about to be consumed by madness.

“Axion, are you alright?”

Just as she approached her fiancé and reached to support him—

Thwack.

—Axion struck her hand away with force, murmuring in a low, strained voice.

“Don’t come any closer.”

He seemed intent on not letting his out-of-control powers hurt anyone, least of all her. Yet up close, he looked perilously fragile, as though he might fall apart at any moment, teetering on the very edge of collapse. His fists were clenched so tightly that the veins stood out, as if he were waging a silent war against his pain alone.

‘What should I do?’

The sight of him suffering made her heart plummet. Should she call for the physician right away? But even if she did, there was no way anyone could treat him now, not when his magic had already begun to spiral out of control.

Anxious, she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them with new resolve.

The sigil… She needed to imprint.

‘There’ll be no going back.’

If she formed the imprint with Axion now, there would be no undoing it. She might even come to regret it for the rest of her days. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to turn away from her fiancé. Perhaps, in her own way, she had grown strangely fond of him.

She drew in a shaky breath, then spoke in a trembling voice.

“Listen to me, Axion. Nothing between us will change because of this.”

And with that, she threw her arms around his solid frame. She felt his body tense in surprise at her sudden embrace.

Evelyn closed her eyes, focusing all her healing energy within herself.

“You…”

By now, he must have realized what she intended.

He must’ve realized she’d manifested the same sigil as him.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and complete the imprint.”

In the urgency of the moment, Evelyn’s eyes widened as she pressed him. To her mind, the imprint would last only so long as their engagement did. Or so she believed.

“There’s no use regretting it now.”

With that low warning, he drew her fully into his embrace, leaving no room to escape.

As the matching sigil appeared on her hand, it burned like fire, heat flaring beneath her skin. The magic began to surge, and she let out an involuntary gasp as the searing magic flooded into her.

“Hhht, ngh…”

“It’s hard to bear the first time.”

Axion murmured, his own features contorted with strain as he held her tightly, refusing to let her go.

Their magic intertwined, twisting and colliding together endlessly, like two melodies blending in perfect harmony. How much time passed, she couldn’t say. Evelyn could feel his magic mixing with her healing magic, the turbulence finally beginning to ebb. At last, his once-turbulent magic grew calm, his racing heart slowing as the pain subsided.

‘He must have regained his senses by now?’

Yet, she couldn’t help but notice the strange, heated breath brushing against her neck. As the imprint seemed to be settling, she slowly lifted her gaze—

“….!”

In that moment, her slender shoulders flinched in surprise. She hadn’t realized when it happened, but Axion’s cool, unwavering gaze was fixed intently on her.

‘Aren’t we… a little too close?’

Suddenly all too aware of the distance, or lack thereof, between them, she stole a glance at her fiancé. Just moments ago, she hadn’t noticed at all, but now her hand rested against the firm plane of his chest.

‘Th-this isn’t how it’s supposed to be…’

Sensing the atmosphere turning steadily more peculiar, Evelyn slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again. In Axion’s eyes, there flickered a strange and unreadable light as he studied her closely.

“Don’t close your eyes. You never know what I might do.”

Unable to hide her flustered confusion, she repeated his words silently to herself, stopping short.

‘What… is he even saying right now?’

He was clearly not in his right mind yet. Otherwise, there was no way he would say something so outrageous.

Evelyn, who had been pressed so closely against him, belatedly tried to pull away from his arms. But Axion’s hold around her slender waist only tightened, as if he were a black panther refusing to let its prey slip out of its territory.