His Eternal Bond Was Never Mine

Five days until the ceremony.

Dressed in a formal black suit, I walked into the Coven’s council hall.

All the elders were waiting for me.

“Isolde, are you certain about this?” the Head Elder asked, his voice grave.

“I’m certain.” I placed the formal request on the table. “I am requesting to suspend the blood-oath ceremony.”

A hush fell over the hall.

“Why?” asked the Second Elder.

“Personal reasons.”

“Personal reasons?” The Third Elder stood up. “This concerns the alliance between two ancient houses!”

“That is a matter for the two houses,” I said, my voice echoing in the silent hall. “But my bond is my own. And my decision is final.”

A heated debate erupted behind me, but I didn’t look back.

When I returned to my residence, I saw the familiar black car.

They were back.

The elevator doors opened to reveal Darius and Livia inside.

Livia looked radiant, a healthy flush on her cheeks.

Darius’s arm was still protectively wrapped around her waist.

“Isolde?” Darius’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw me. “Where have you been?”

“Taking care of some things.”

The elevator rose in a tense, suffocating silence, the air thick with everything left unsaid.

“You emptied the alchemy lab?” Darius asked as he pushed open the door to our chambers and saw the barren room.

“I gave it all away.”

“Why?”

“I don’t need it anymore.”

Darius frowned but didn’t press further.

Livia walked out onto the balcony, feigning surprise. “Wow, it’s so empty. I bet it was beautiful before.”

“It was fine.”

“Isolde, I just want to thank you for being so understanding,” Livia said, her voice like honey laced with poison.

“How about we all have dinner together tonight? I’d like to thank you properly.”

I just stared at her.

At my coldness, Livia’s expression immediately shifted, and tears welled in her eyes.

“Did I… Did I say something wrong?” She turned to Darius, her voice trembling. “I just wanted to show my gratitude…”

Darius’s face instantly darkened.

“Isolde,” he growled, his voice edged with his princely command. “Get a hold of yourself. Livia is our guest. You’re making her uncomfortable.”

I looked at him calmly. “Fine.”

At dinner, a goblet of Sanctified Blood was served.

Darius had ordered it especially for Livia.

I recognized the botanicals immediately—their power only awakens when shared between two souls linked by an Eternal Bond.

He poured me a glass. “You should have some too. It’s good for you.”

I took the goblet and took a sip.

A foreign, nauseating energy immediately clashed with my own soul’s essence.

My body instinctively rejected it—a physical, painful proof of his betrayal.

Darius froze.

He’d forgotten.

That kind of Sanctified Blood was useless to me now.

My comm chimed.

Ignoring Darius, I walked out onto the balcony, sliding the glass door shut behind me before answering in a low voice.

“Miss Isolde? It’s the secretary from the Vienna Academy. Your passage on the ship has been confirmed.”

I hung up, my heart hammering. Just as I turned, a low voice cut through the darkness behind me, cold and sharp as a shard of ice.

“Who’s leaving?”