Chapter 77 – I’ll Be Satisfied With This Much for Now

Axion rose from his seat and moved toward her at an unhurried pace.

‘W-Why is he doing this?’

Taken aback by his sudden approach, Evelyn nearly let out a cry. She managed to stifle the sound, but her heart pounded wildly in her chest.

Propping his chin in one hand, he gazed at her.

“Are you nervous or something?”

“…What?”

Before she knew it, he had a handful of her rosy hair in his grasp, his eyes flickering with a dangerous light. There was something almost perilous in the way those red eyes glimmered.

‘Surely he hasn’t already lost control…?’

I’m not ready for this yet…!

Torn between anxiety and resignation, she squeezed her eyes shut and spread her arms wide. If it had to happen, she might as well get it over with quickly, striking while the iron was hot. Yet when her fiancé showed no reaction, she cracked open one eye and peeked at him.

Axion watched her quietly for a moment, a subtle furrow appearing between his brows.

“…What are you doing?”

His gaze, as if trying to read her intentions, made her eyes dart anxiously.

“Isn’t… isn’t contact necessary?”

With the time of his magical rampage drawing near, the need for the imprint must’ve been pressing. Meanwhile, Axion let out a thin smirk at her words. Then, without warning, he gently drew her hand toward him.

“….!”

Pulled awkwardly into his embrace, Evelyn blinked slowly, caught off guard by how close they now were. Before she had time to be flustered by how close they now were, their eyes met and held. The man’s eyes, shining with a vivid crimson light, gleamed all the more dangerously.

Tick, tock. Tick, tock—

In the heavy silence of the office, the ticking of the clock rang out all the more clearly. Maybe it was simply the closeness, but in that instant, it felt as if time itself had stopped around them. Evelyn found herself focused on his breath, which had been troubling her for some time.

As his uneven breaths gradually began to steady, Axion broke the silence that hung between them.

“I’ve no intention of doing anything with you right now.”

His unexpectedly earnest words sent a tremor through the green of her eyes.

‘Then what about later…?’

The question rose to her lips, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to ask. She had the distinct feeling that if she did, things would quickly spiral out of control.

Evelyn’s lashes quivered as she deliberately lowered her gaze, avoiding his eyes.

Her mouth felt suddenly dry, and she was about to draw back from him when Axion’s hand closed over hers, his fingers slowly weaving between hers, one by one.

The moment their fingers entwined, the sigil on the backs of their hands began to appear, glowing with a molten heat, as if the two were irresistibly drawn to one another. As the warmth of their skin pressed softly together, an overwhelming sense of comfort washed over her entire body, impossible to resist.

‘I never realized it when we first imprinted…’

The pain she’d felt when the sigil first appeared was long gone now, replaced by an unfamiliar sensation that sent a shiver deep into her chest.

As the flow of magic between them gradually subsided, she blinked slowly, caught in a pleasant haze. One of her hands was still braced against his solid chest, the sculpted muscles beneath her palm as firm and defined as if carved from marble.

‘No, what am I thinking right now?’

Axion let her go without resistance, the corners of his mouth curling up in a faint, regretful smile. He then lowered his head until it hovered above her slender shoulder.

His strange, heated breath grazed her neck, sending a shiver down her spine.

As if she’d forgotten how to breathe, Evelyn gazed blankly at her fiancé. Then, as he wetted his lips with his tongue, a low, deep voice slipped from him.

“Well, I’ll be satisfied with this much for now.”

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

“—Lyn. Evelyn.”

“Y-Yes…!”

At the sound of her mother’s gentle voice calling her name, Evelyn quickly gathered her scattered thoughts.

“Whatever are you thinking about, barely touching your dinner like that?”