~Chapter 123~
“A real married couple…?”
For about three seconds, I didn’t understand what Damien meant.
When I finally realized it, I gasped without meaning to.
“W-wait. Does that mean…?”
“Yes.”
Damien held my hand tightly and said,
“I want to end our contract marriage and live as real husband and wife with you, Ruby.”
My mind suddenly went blank.
“W-wait, a real married couple? That’s—”
My face burned red as I turned to Damien.
Standing under the purple full moon that looked just like him, he lifted the corners of his lips and gave a meaningful smile.
“It means exactly what you’re thinking, Ruby.”
“What?”
“Please think about it.”
He smiled softly, holding my hands in both of his and shaking them like a handshake.
“I’ll listen to your answer after the ritual.”
“Wait, hold on!”
My mind was in complete chaos.
‘A real married couple… what does that even mean?’
A couple not bound by a contract.
That means truly cherishing and loving each other as family, with no conditions.
Was that what he meant?
‘With me? Why?’
Suddenly, memories of my time with Damien flashed through my mind.
It had only been a little over a year, but we had laughed and cried together.
His amethyst eyes, always gloomy behind his mask, had slowly brightened.
He started smiling more, standing in front of the world without a mask.
He used to keep his distance, but now he told ghost stories in a happy voice.
All those moments, we were together.
‘Is that why?’
I realized it.
At some point, my head had become full of Damien.
Whenever I saw a blank canvas, I would end up drawing his face.
My heart beat faster whenever I was with him.
So, that must have been the reason.
I held his hand tightly.
I wanted to keep going together like this.
But first, we had to finish the ritual.
“Ruby, come here.”
“Yes!”
I wiped my eyes with my sleeve so I could see clearly, and followed Damien.
We ran together to the center of the magic circle, hand in hand.
“You know the order of the ritual, right?”
“Yes, I memorized everything.”
I had memorized it over and over, just in case something went wrong.
“Let’s begin.”
As soon as Damien spoke, the magic circle glowed a soft purple.
A breeze brushed my skin.
Ghost butterflies rose from under our feet.
The moon in the sky shone even brighter.
“Ancestors.”
As Damien called out, the magic circle glowed more brightly.
“Another Maledictus and his spouse wish to bind their souls and spend their lives together.”
Ghost butterflies surrounded us.
Now it was my turn to chant toward them.
“Please witness our vow and give us strength.”
Damien took a dagger out from under his robe.
The dagger shone coldly in the moonlight.
First, he pricked his left ring finger with the dagger.
Red drops of blood fell to the magic circle below.
I took out the small glass bottle I had prepared and held it under his finger.
When enough blood had pooled, I put the bottle away and wrapped Damien’s finger in a bandage.
Damien cleaned the dagger with a cloth and handed it to me.
I also pricked my own left ring finger.
This time, Damien caught my blood in the glass bottle.
When it was enough, he put the bottle away and bandaged my finger.
‘They say blood is the vessel of the soul.’
We chanted the spell with each other’s blood in our bodies, and finally, with a vow’s kiss, the soul contract would be complete.
Drinking each other’s blood was the requirement for binding souls.
“Can you drink it?”
Damien checked again.
I nodded.
Luckily, it wasn’t enough blood to taste too metallic.
“Yes, I’ll drink it.”
I brought the bottle with Damien’s blood to my lips.
It tasted like iron.
Even after swallowing, the strange taste lingered in my mouth.
Damien also drank my blood.
“My mouth is all red now. I must look silly.”
Maybe to lighten the mood, Damien grinned.
I smiled and answered,
“Not at all. Red is the classic color of temptation, isn’t it?”
“Oh, are you trying to tempt me now? That’s impressive.”
Seeing him respond with another joke, I looked down quickly, embarrassed.
“Oh, come on…”
He was always so smooth, I didn’t know what to say.
While I looked down, he suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Then, I’ll clean your mouth for you.”
His smiling silver eyes were so beautiful.
His bright silver hair, which others said looked cold and ominous, just looked like pure moonlight to me.
Even the red blood on his lips didn’t look scary at all.
I just wanted to keep seeing that smile aimed at me.
“Ancestors.”
Damien started to chant again.
That was the signal.
I nodded, and together, we kissed and chanted,
“We vow to be one forever.”
Damien’s purple eyes turned to me.
He leaned down and whispered softly,
“Close your eyes.”
He came closer and closer.
So close I worried our noses would bump.
I could even hear his hair rustling.
I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for him.
Then, his lips touched mine.
They were warm.
Here, not at our wedding, we shared the vow’s kiss.
We gripped each other’s hands tighter, and our bodies pressed closer together.
This moment felt like it could last forever.
For the first time, I wished I could stop time and stay in this moment.
After a while, our lips parted.
In front of me was my contract husband, a little flustered.
“Ruby…”
He softly called my name.
Right then, the magic circle glowed brighter than ever.
My heart suddenly pounded hard.
‘This feeling…’
It felt like someone was pulling at my heart.
No, more precisely—
It felt like my heart was slowly connecting to someone else’s.
“Uh…?”
I put my hand over my heart without thinking.
It was a strange and amazing feeling.
Damien and I… our heartbeats were becoming one.
‘Did it work?’
Really?
Did we really succeed in disguising the Devourer as a Maledictus curse?
A feeling of hope grew inside me.
“Ruby, we really—”
“Yes!”
Damien, his face bright red, wrapped his arm around my shoulder.
It was almost done.
But then—
“Huh?”
The feeling of our hearts syncing suddenly stopped.
I nervously touched my chest.
But the strange feeling was gone.
“Did it… stop?”
Damien tried to calm me down.
“Wait. Let’s try again. It’ll be okay.”
He took a deep breath and began again.
“Ancestors.”
We both spoke together.
“We vow to be one forever—”
But I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Ruby!!”
Blood suddenly poured out of my mouth.
