Chapter 129
“Well, this isn’t something we can carelessly recommend to the Commander.”
“Please tell me.”
“If an Awakened imprints with a Purifier, their compatibility rate rises dramatically.”
“……”
“That’s why Melvers desperately wants the Commander and Miss Odriann, who is a first-rank, to imprint with each other, but it seems there are many complications.”
Imprinting.
So imprinting would solve it.
I had finally found the answer to the problem he had suffered from all this time like a chronic illness.
But as Theor had said, it was never something that could be recommended lightly. Imprinting was a far deeper and more tenacious bond than a marriage that merely tied two people together through paperwork.
Two people bound by an imprint had to periodically come into contact with each other’s bodies and energy. The interval differed from person to person, but if too much time passed, they would not only develop various illnesses, but could eventually die. Once engraved, an imprint could never be reversed or severed. It was an absolute bond.
That was also why Gerard hadn’t imprinted with me while we were dating. If he died in battle, I would be left alone, craving his energy until I eventually withered away.
“Still, judging by what I saw today, it does seem like the relationship between the Commander and Miss Odriann has progressed. The problem is whether House Castion will accept Miss Odriann… Ah, please pretend you didn’t hear that last part.”
As though he had misspoken, Theor hurriedly asked me to keep quiet.
I nodded slowly.
There was no way Madam Marcella would be satisfied with a mere Countdom. Moreover, even if they were both first-rank, the status held by an Awakened and a Purifier was clearly different.
“…But if the two of them secretly imprint with each other, wouldn’t even their families be unable to do anything about it? They couldn’t exactly relegate someone bound to him through an imprint to the position of a concubine.”
“I suppose that would be true.”
There seemed to be many obstacles, but finding a possible solution lightened the burden on my heart a little.
Moreover, if he imprinted with Arvina, it would become even easier for him to forget my existence.
Talking with Theor made me reflect once again on my own existence.
I was a foreign object lodged between the two of them.
I should never have climbed over the wall of the Odriann estate in the first place. I should never have met you again.
“Thank you for telling me. I’m cold, so I’ll go inside first.”
After bowing to Sir Theor, I began walking. Stumble. When my foot slipped slightly, he supported me by the shoulder.
“Ah, I’m alright. I’m fine.”
“There should be vacant rooms on the second floor of the central hall. They are guest rooms, so you may enter any of them and rest. I’ll show you the way.”
“I’ll go alone. I’m not used to having someone look after me.”
I indirectly told him that it made me uncomfortable and headed toward the second floor. My head was slightly dizzy, but I wasn’t drunk enough to lose my judgment.
As Theor had said, I would probably feel better after sitting down and resting for a while.
Perhaps because the banquet was still in full swing, the second floor was relatively quiet compared to the crowded first floor.
At the end of the corridor, I chose the shadowed room least likely to catch anyone’s attention and opened the door.
But there were already guests inside.
Two people were tangled together beneath the moonlight pouring through the window.
I froze where I stood.
A slender white hand was pulling forcefully at the man’s neck. The man, whose waist was slightly bent, turned at the sound of my presence.
The moment our eyes met, his pupils widened.
It was Gerard.
And naturally, the person hidden beneath his enormous body was Arvina.
She also flinched when she saw me. Even so, she didn’t remove the arms wrapped around his neck.
“Louize.”
My mind, which had gone muffled as though submerged underwater, returned at his call.
“I’m sorry.”
I stepped backward as though fleeing. My hands were trembling so badly that I struggled even to close the door.
Seeing the two of them with my own eyes was an entirely different shock from merely imagining it. I had thought I would be alright.
Despite the resolution I had made only moments ago, I walked aimlessly, trying to calm my startled heart.
Had his confession in the alley that day truly been nothing more than a momentary whim?
I felt like a fool for agonizing over it so seriously without realizing that. But I couldn’t allow myself to be hurt over something like this.
Rather, this is for the best. If the two of them imprint, everything will be resolved.
