Dagger to the Heart

On our wedding night, I happily drank the wine Cain Liebert offered me and felt my strength leave me in an instant.

As I collapsed limply on the bed, Cain remained expressionless. He put down his glass and reached for my clothes.

The tips of his fingers were icy, leaving me shuddering.

Presuming this was the consummation rule, I did not resist, even giggling, "Do you have to be so impatient? I'm finally marrying you…"

Cain glanced at me but quickly looked away in guilt as he tore my clothes open.

I couldn't help flushing as I felt the coolness of my chest.

Before embarrassment sank in, however, I watched as he drew out a small dagger.

The pheromones in the air seemed to vaporize as my smile stiffened, and sweat started trickling down my brow.

I was all too familiar with that dagger—it pierced my chest nine times before, extracting my precious heartblood.

I grabbed Cain's hand and tried to push myself up right then, but couldn't find the strength.

All I could do was exclaim in panic, "What are you doing, Cain?!"

His hand stiffened. Pursing his lips, he lowered his eyes to hide the conflict in his gaze, "Yvette's sick again. I need your heartblood to save her."

My fingers clenched around his wrist as I couldn't help exclaiming, "I've already saved her nine times! Is she really that frail? What illness could it be that she needs my heartblood to live?"

Cain easily freed himself, frowning as he quietly said, "It's urgent—I will explain it to you when I save her."

"I know I'm doing you an injustice, but don't worry—I won't bother with her anymore after this. Once I'm back, I'll marry you again."

Seeing that he was determined, I cried out right then, "I'm not saying no, Cain. But I only have ten drops of heartblood, and you already took nine. I'll die if you take the last drop too!"

My words were earnest, but he sighed, clearly not listening.

"You don't have to be afraid," he told me instead. "And don't try to fool me—I know how precious heartblood is to members of the Wisteria clan. Be good now… This is the last time."

He leaned down, kissing my forehead before getting to his feet.

When he did, he did a double take as his gaze reached my chest.

It was riddled with holes—a gruesome sight of new cuts overlapping with old. On top of that, the wound from the last time he stabbed me had yet to heal.

As if in pain, he brushed his fingers over my skin as tears welled up in his eyes, and breathed quietly, "I know you've suffered for your loyalty to me, but I owe her. I'll come back to you and love you when I've repaid her—"

Flustered, I blinked even as I begged with a quivering tone, "I really can't give it to you, or it would kill me! I'm not lying—"

Shunk—

The icy touch of his dagger plunged through my chest before I could finish.

I screamed in pain, bean-sized sweat appearing over my brow as Cain extracted the last drop of heartblood.

All I could feel was my thousand years worth of training going to waste while my spiritual energies faded into the air unwittingly.

Plop.

Even as Cain pulled out his dagger with shuddering fingers, his tears trickled down my chest while he spoke in his emotionless, bewitching voice, "Be good. I promise this is the last—just give me time, and we can do this again."

As he put away my heartblood and started to leave, I withstood the agony in my heart and caught his sleeve with the last ounce of strength I had, breathing feebly, "Give it back to me now, or I'm really going to die—"

Even so, Cain never once looked at me as he hurried outside, mumbling to himself, "I owe Yvette. I have to repay her favor…"

His voice faded into the distance, while I lay immobile, too hurt to move.

As I felt my heart wilting, all I could think about was this:

If Cain was using my heartblood to repay Yvette's favor, what about what he owed me?

What would he repay me with?