The school infirmary.
Vesper had a dumbfounded expression on her face as she stared at Axel who felt familiar but at the same time also felt unfamiliar.
She had been waiting for him to say these words to her a long time ago, to finally see that that person wasn't worth his efforts, yet when it happened, she found it hard to believe.
It was all too sudden, like being stuck in a desert with no sign of rain all year round, and just when you think you'll end up dying of thirst, it suddenly starts raining, reigniting the hope to live that you had long let go.
"You….."
Vesper found it hard to compose and had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself.
"Are you serious?" She asked after calming down.
Axel could understand her doubt, the change was too sudden. If it were him, he would also find it strange.
However, what he said was the truth and he had to make sure she was convinced.
"Yes." He said with a serious expression. "I was stupid in the past."
As Axel said this, he cursed the original host numerous times in his heart.
"Since we're engaged, I won't go after someone else anymore. Everything in the past was my mistake."
He couldn't possibly tell her that he was a soul from another world and not exactly the original host, at least not for now, so this was the best explanation he could provide.
As Vesper listened to his words, her eyes began to turn misty but she was really trying hard to hold back her tears.
Her gaze was especially soft as she looked at Axel.
Axel couldn't help but reach out to slowly wipe the tears that were about to fall out.
In his impression of Vesper, who always maintained her cold expression no matter the situation, but she would always turn into an emotional mess whenever Axel was involved.
He felt a very sharp sting in his heart, it was especially painful.
Axel was still helping her clean her tears when they heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue behind them.
"Yo, it seems to be quite lively here."
Axel slowly lifted his head to see a short-haired girl strutting in.
To be honest, he noticed their arrival even before they got to the door but he just didn't care.
If he noticed it, Vesper naturally also noticed them, but just like them, he didn't care.
There was nothing special about a lackey like her, his gaze was directed at the person slowly walking in behind her.
Rina Sandan.
This was the person the original host had been infatuated with and having a look at her from his own perspective, he could somewhat understand why that idiot was so entranced.
While Vesper was a vampire who always gave off a cold and oppressive feeling, Rina gave off a calming and pure feeling.
Her long blonde hair swayed softly with the wind coming in through the window and her bright brown eyes were especially enchanting.
With one look, she could draw in the admiration and infatuation of countless males.
Unfortunately, the current Axel was no ordinary person.
He looked her straight in the eye as his lips curled into a mocking smile.
Rina saw his smile and felt that something wasn't exactly right with his look but she just couldn't figure it out.
Suddenly, she saw Axel gently helping Vesper smooth out her hair that appeared to be a bit scattered before returning to his bed.
He seemed to have whispered something to her, but neither of the two who were standing was able to catch it.
A frown appeared on Rina's face but her expression quickly returned to normal in mere seconds.
However, Axel's eyes were sharp enough to catch the little change in her expression.
"Interesting." He muttered before lying down to close his eyes.
He acted like whatever that was to happen next was none of his problem.
When Mena, who was Rina's fairy lackey, saw this, her expression was quite ugly.
"Axel, didn't you just say yesterday that you like no one but Rina so what's with her. Are your feelings that fickle?" She glared at Axel before pointing at Vesper who still had her back facing them.
When Axel heard this, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart, but he couldn't be bothered to open his eyes.
Ridiculous.
When Mena saw that Axel didn't even react to her, her face turned red in anger and she quickly stormed toward Axel.
However, before she could even take two steps toward Axel, she screamed in fright and jumped back in fright.
A bolt of lightning from nowhere had suddenly struck right in front of her, creating quite a huge dent in the ground.
If that lightning had hit her while she was defenceless, if she didn't die, she would at least end up seriously injured.
She was about to curse out when she met Vesper's cold eyes.
Suddenly she felt like she had fallen into an ice lake in a dark abyss. The water was suffocating her and so was the darkness.
It was so uncomfortable that she found it hard to breathe not to speak of uttering any words.
How could she have forgotten that there were very few people in the Academy who could afford this vampire?
Suddenly, Axel's low chuckle rang in the room.
"Be careful when you're thrown out as a shield lest you'll still be wondering how you died even after entering your early grave." He commented, a faint smile on his face.
Rina raised her brows in surprise at Axel's words.
That didn't sound like something Axel would say.
As if reading her thoughts Axel said, "Don't worry, there'll be bigger surprises in the future."
Rina felt her heart sink at those words but she tried her best to control the turmoil that was growing in her heart.
"Go wait outside." She said to Mena after taking a deep breath.
"O…kay." Mena stuttered.
She didn't need to be told twice and quickly hurried out, even making sure to close the door as she didn't want to be in the same space as Vesper.
She was too terrifying!
With Mena gone, Rina now had her gaze fixed on Axel who still had his eyes closed, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes
The moment her gaze landed on Axel, she felt the temperature around her drop by several degrees.
This freezing and suffocating atmosphere was especially uncomfortable.
She tried her best to maintain her composure and shifted her gaze to Vesper who was looking at her with her cold and expressionless eyes.
"Your highness." She greeted with a respectful tone. However, if one paid close attention it would be seen that there wasn't much respect in her gaze or action.
For a second there, it seemed Vesper's gaze had turned sharper, and it was like there were suddenly heavy sparks in the air.
Vesper's aura was especially fierce but Rina stood her ground with a calm expression.
It was at this moment that Axel lazily opened his eyes.
He wasn't surprised by the way Rina addressed Vesper, after all, she was one of the few people who knew about Vesper's real identity. It was also because she knew about her identity that she also knew about the engagement between Vesper and Axel.
This engagement was the reason his brother had entrusted him with an especially important task.
Unfortunately, it seemed that things had begun to escape her realm of control.