41. I Couldn’t Bear to Lose You a Second Time

l"Why didn’t Elyon heal your wound?"Fiora’s voice was soft in the mansion’s main hall, still strewn with debris. She sat beside Vael on a long sofa near the fireplace, while the other four continued clearing the wreckage. An open medical kit rested on a small table, and Fiora tended to his hand with a solemn, focused expression.Her fingers moved gently as she wiped away dried blood, her brow furrowing at the sight of the deep gash across his knuckles. "This nearly cut straight through to the tendons…" she murmured.Vael had been watching her in silence all this time. The dim light softened the glow of her curly red hair. The way she looked after him felt achingly familiar—painful, yet somehow calming."I refused it," Vael answered finally, his tone as even as ever. "I prefer my body heals on its own, rather than relying on Elyon’s power."He spoke as though such an injury meant nothing at all. But Fiora lifted her face to meet his gaze. "What really happened?" she asked quietly.

Last Updated : 2026-08-18

42. I Will Always Find You

Fiora frowned deeply at Riven. "What do you mean… it hasn’t fully gone away?"Riven twirled a small screwdriver between his fingers and hopped casually down from the table."This resonance isn’t some ordinary sickness," he said lightly. "Once our bodies recognized you as the ‘core’, our minds never forgot it.""The core…?" Fiora whispered."Mm." Riven’s smile was thin. "More or less like an addiction."The air in the room shifted, growing heavy. Darius, who had been repairing the support beam, stopped abruptly. Zephyr glanced over from the window. Elyon sighed, as if he disliked Riven laying everything so bare.Fiora twisted the hem of her shirt. "So that means… you could still lose control again?""Absolutely," Riven answered without hesitation.Elyon shot him a sharp look. "Riven.""What? She deserves to know." He shrugged. "The difference is—now we can still think clearly." His blue gaze dropped to her hands. "But the deeper the emotional or physical bond between us… the deeper

Last Updated : 2026-08-20

43. Nightmare

Fiora jolted awake, her body jerking violently.Her eyes flew wide open in the darkness, breath coming in short, ragged gasps."…huh… huh…"Cold sweat drenched her neck and back, her chest heaving rapidly. The memory of Darius’s face from the dream remained vivid, terrifyingly clear—those glowing red eyes, the rough pressure against her lips, the low timbre of his voice, all felt achingly real.Trembling, she scrambled out of bed and hurried to the door. Her hand reached for the handle and pulled.And… CLICK.Ah, thank goodness. It was still locked.She let out a long, shaky breath of relief, leaning back against the door. "It was just a dream…" she whispered to herself.Yet her body still trembled, for it had felt far too real. She could still recall the weight of him holding her down atop the mattress. She wrapped her arms around herself. "Why… did I dream something like that?"Was it because of Riven’s words earlier? Or was it because she was truly beginning to fear the resonance

Last Updated : 2026-08-21

44. Blood

"The scent of blood…?" Fiora whispered, repeating his words. A chill ran straight down her spine. Instinctively, she turned to look toward the dark forest behind the mansion. Thin mist curled between the trees, blurring everything into indistinct, menacing shapes. Yet there was nothing there—no sound, no movement, only silence and shadow. "Whose blood?" she asked, her voice growing smaller. Vael didn’t answer at once. He stood slowly, his gaze sweeping the perimeter of the yard, alert and wary. "…That, I do not yet know." The answer only made her heart beat faster. Vael was never one to be easily unsettled—but now, he looked fully prepared for battle. A sudden gust of night wind blew, colder than before. And almost simultaneously, a branch snapped somewhere in the woods behind them. CREAAK… Fiora froze. Vael’s eyes locked onto that exact spot. "Go inside," he commanded, voice low and sharp. "Huh?" "Now, Fiora." There was no room for argument in his tone. She hurried

Last Updated : 2026-08-22

45. Sedation

CRASH!!Darius’s body was thrown hard against the hallway wall, the decorative wood paneling cracking under the impact. Yet the red-eyed man was on his feet in an instant—breath ragged, chest heaving uncontrollably.Several paces away, Vael stood with perfect composure. In his right hand, he held a metal syringe filled with a pale blue liquid. A sedative, double the dosage he’d given Elyon, Zephyr, and Riven.That was why he had been delayed. Minutes earlier, he had raced down to the mansion’s emergency storage room. There he found Elyon leaning against the wall, breathing erratically. Riven was still trying to smile, though his hands trembled. And Zephyr stood farthest from the stairs, the wind around him swirling wildly. All three had caught the same scent—Fiora’s blood.Vael knew he could take no chances. Without hesitation, he administered the impulse-suppressant sedative. One shot for Elyon. One for Riven. One for Zephyr. They protested—especially Zephyr—but Vael gave them