Chapter 8

A triumphant, vicious smirk flashed across Morrigan's face.

She raised her hand high and, with all her strength, slapped me across the face.

CRACK!

The sound was sharp and clear.

The force sent me stumbling back, the taste of blood filling my mouth.

The slap echoed in the sudden, deafening silence in my head. For the first time in seven years, I was alone in my own mind.

Echo was gone. The voice that had been my constant companion for seven years, my tormentor and my only comfort, had simply... vanished.

As if this final, public humiliation had severed something deep inside me.

I could hear the wind, Morrigan's triumphant panting, and the sudden, ragged sound of Rylan's breathing.

"Is that enough?" I lifted my head calmly and looked at Rylan. "May I go now?"

Rylan's mouth opened, but no words came out.

He just stood there, looking at me with an expression I couldn't decipher—a storm of pain, regret, and something else.

I didn't wait for his answer. I turned and walked away.

This time, there was no voice in my head screaming, "He regrets it! Please, turn back!"

There was only my own, clear thought: Leave this place. Forever.

As I walked, I remembered my mother’s legacy. The moonstone pendant she gave me on her deathbed, the one meant to protect a wolf's soul, was still in my vanity drawer at the manor.

It was the one thing I couldn't leave behind.

I had to go back.

The manor was empty. Rylan obviously hadn't returned.

I hurried upstairs.

As I passed the closed door to his private study, a strange impulse made me stop.

The door was unlocked.

Before I left for good, I had to see for myself. See what this Rylan, the one Echo swore "loved me deeply," was really like.

I pushed the door open.

The sight before me made me freeze.

The entire wall was covered in my portraits. Hand-drawn sketches, chronicling every moment of my past seven years.

On the shelves, arranged like treasures, were all the gifts I thought he had thrown away long ago.

So, Echo had been telling the truth all along.

A dry, brittle laugh escaped my lips. All this proof. All this secret adoration. It wasn't love. It was a dragon hoarding treasure it had no intention of ever using, only possessing.

My heart didn't ache. It was just... empty.

I pulled out the document from my pocket—the official Decree of Severance issued by the Elders, declaring the end of our mate bond.

I placed the decree on his desk, right in the center. Right on top of an unfinished sketch of me, my smile only half-drawn.

After retrieving my mother's pendant, I ran towards the Moon Goddess Altar in the Black Forest without a second glance.

Late that night, at the altar, a short walk from Mia's dock, I climbed the ancient stones alone.

The Elders' announcement had already been made public. All that was left was for me to complete the final ritual.

I pricked my finger, drawing a rune of "ending" on the cold stone with my own blood.

Then, I began to chant the ancient words.

"By the light of the Goddess, I, Aveline Blackwood, reject this bond. I sever my soul from Rylan Blackwood's..."

A magical light flared from the decree, enveloping my body.

I felt the remnants of the brand on my neck burn hot.

A final, sharp pang, like a chain snapping in my soul. And then... nothing. A vast, quiet emptiness. The weight of seven years lifted. I looked down at my neck. The brand was gone, dissolved into dust on the wind.

Seven years of bondage, gone.

I was free.

I ran to the docks without looking back.

Mia's airship was waiting.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready."

The airship ascended into the clouds, and I never looked back.