Adrian
The glow spread like wildfire, faint but undeniable against her pale skin. I saw the way the crowd reacted before I even registered it fully, the gasps, the murmurs, the hungry eyes of gossiping nobles.
They stared at Sera as if she were both a miracle and a curse, a spectacle laid bare for their amusement. And she stood there frozen, as though she had no idea what she'd just unleashed. My jaw clenched, my entire body stiff with the effort of keeping my composure.
Damn her. Damn this cursed bond that chose to reveal itself in front of half the kingdom. Without thinking, I stepped forward, capturing her glowing hand in mine as though to cover the light, my grip just shy of bruising.
"My fiancée is unwell," I announced, voice calm, commanding, the kind of tone no one dared to question. "The celebration is over. You may all leave."
A ripple of disappointment passed through the room, but no one argued. They never did with me. I dragged Sera out of the hall, my mask firmly in place, while inside my fury burned like a storm.
Once the doors shut behind us, the carefully crafted mask shattered. I turned on her, my voice a sharp blade. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" I hissed, releasing her hand as though it carried plague.
She lifted her chin with that defiance I was beginning to loathe, her eyes flashing. "As if I asked for this," she shot back. "Do you think I wanted the entire court to see me glow like some cursed spectacle?" Her tone dripped with sarcasm, but beneath it I caught the quiver of genuine fear.
It made me angrier, because fear meant weakness, and weakness in my fiancée meant ammunition for every vulture circling this family. "That mark doesn't lie, Sera," I said, stepping closer, towering over her. "It binds us whether we like it or not."
Her lips curled into a bitter smile. "Then congratulations, Your Grace. You're stuck with me."
I should have walked away. Instead, I found myself staring at her too long, as if the glow still lingered on her skin.
Before I could unleash another retort, her uncle stormed in with the stench of opportunism practically radiating off him. "Magnificent!" he cried, spreading his arms as though he'd orchestrated this himself. "The court saw it, the bond, the fate, the proof of destiny! This is exactly what we needed."
I shot him a glare sharp enough to cut glass, but he only grinned wider. "We must move swiftly. The engagement contract should be finalized, made public, before any rivals twist the narrative." He looked at Sera like she was a pawn on a chessboard, a gleam of calculation in his eyes.
I loathed men like him, parasites feeding on those they pretended to protect. "Your niece is not a pawn," I said coldly. "And if you think to rush me into anything, you'll regret it."
His smile faltered for a heartbeat before returning, more forced this time. "Of course, of course. I only want what's best for the family." He left before I snapped his neck out of sheer irritation, leaving the room stinking of politics and false concern.
Sera sank into a chair, pressing her temples as though the glow had drained her. For a moment, I considered leaving her there, letting her stew in the consequences of her cursed existence. But then I saw the tremor in her hands, the way her body shivered.
Pain. She was in pain again. My gut twisted with unwanted memory, the night in the hotel, her soft drunken words, the way her suffering had eased when she was near me. I cursed under my breath.
"Damn it, Sera," I muttered, crossing the space and catching her wrist before she crumpled. Her skin was cold, her pulse frantic. She flinched at my touch but didn't pull away, and I hated the way her body seemed to steady under my grip.
"Don't… don't touch me," she whispered, though her voice lacked conviction.
"Then stop trembling like a leaf," I shot back, my hand tightening just slightly.
Her eyes met mine, glassy and furious. "I'd rather suffer than depend on you." The words should have pleased me. They didn't.
Later, when the hall was nearly empty of guests, we were forced to make another appearance, side by side. The court still lingered in the corridors like carrion birds, eager for scraps of scandal. I plastered on a smile, sharp and polished, while Sera looped her arm through mine with the stiff elegance of a woman walking to her execution.
To anyone watching, we were the perfect picture of a fated couple, bonded, destined, untouchable. Beneath the smiles, however, our words were poison.
"If you squeeze my arm any tighter, you'll draw blood," she murmured, lips curving like a practiced actress.
"Perhaps that's the only way to shut you up," I replied smoothly, lifting my glass to toast the gawkers. She laughed then, a sweet, melodic sound that fooled them all, but her nails dug crescents into my skin beneath the tablecloth.
The performance drained me more than any battle. Pretending to adore a woman who despised me while every whisper in the room twisted around us, it was a different kind of warfare. And yet, as I stole a glance at her under the golden lights, I couldn't deny the truth, the mark had bound us in ways no performance could fully disguise.
I could feel it humming beneath her skin, a pulse that tugged at mine, reminding me that her suffering eased in my presence and that mine might soon mirror hers. It was a curse, a prison, and yet… there was a part of me that wanted to know what it would be like to stop resisting. I crushed that thought the moment it surfaced. Desire was weakness, and I had no room for weakness. Not with her.
When the nobles finally dispersed, I left her in her chambers without another word. I needed distance, air, anything to quiet the chaos in my head.
As I strode down the dim corridor, I caught the faint sound of voices, her uncle's low murmur and another noble's oily reply.
I paused, straining to listen.
"Once the engagement is sealed," her uncle whispered, "the Duke will be bound by blood. The girl will serve her purpose, curse or not."
My blood ran cold. So that was it. He didn't see Sera as a niece, or even a cursed liability. She was a tool, a sacrifice, a key to power. And I, the fool, was the lock he intended to turn.
The realization hit harder than any blade. My family had once sworn to guard hers, a duty long broken and twisted into centuries of curses and blood. Now history was repeating itself, binding me to a woman who loathed me, under the schemes of a man who would bleed us both dry.
I should have stormed in, confronted them, ended this charade before it began. But I stood frozen, because some part of me…the darkest, most treacherous part, already knew I wouldn't walk away. Whether I wanted her or not, the curse had chosen, and I was already trapped.
I turned, my mind already racing with strategy, when I caught a glimpse through the slightly ajar door. Sera stood there, her hand faintly glowing again, confusion and terror etched across her face as the noblemen clapped her uncle's back in congratulations. And then her uncle's voice rang out, loud enough for all to hear, "It is decided. My niece is to be engaged to the Duke of Ravenshade. The contract will be signed at dawn."
My chest tightened, not with shock tho, I had seen it coming but with the suffocating weight of inevitability. The
cliff had crumbled beneath my feet, and there was no turning back.