“Come, Astreia… Whatever punishment it is, I’ll accept it all…”
Wendy finished his last sentence, then closed his eyes in resignation, waiting for the final judgment.
Silence.
A long, suffocating silence, more terrifying than any rage.
The arms wrapped around his neck maintained a strange pressure—neither loosening nor tightening.
Yet Wendy felt the body pressed against his back growing hotter, its temperature rising at an unnatural speed.
Scorching.
Was it trembling?
Was it shaking from anger?
Wendy felt uneasy, convinced his neck might be twisted at any moment.
Then, a soft laugh, mixed with warm breath, tickled his ear.
“Hehe… Hehehe…”
At first suppressed, the laughter quickly grew unrestrained, brimming with indescribable joy and release.
Wendy froze.
What… what kind of reaction was this?
She wasn’t angry?
Or… had she gone mad?
The next second, the arms around his neck finally released.
Regaining freedom, Wendy immediately turned around, wanting to see Astreia’s expression.
But what met his gaze were eyes he had never seen before.
Those clear emerald star eyes were now tainted with a bewitching, deep violet, forming a grayish-purple vortex that spun madly, pulling him in.
“I’m happy, Wendy.”
Astreia spoke, her voice carrying a strange hoarseness, yet overflowing with pleasure.
Her fingertips gently traced the Prince’s cheek, the touch so tender it was as if she was caressing a priceless treasure.
“I’m happy… that you could be honest with me.”
Wendy’s Adam’s apple bobbed; he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
“Astreia, you…”
“Actually,”
Astreia cut him off.
In her gray-violet eyes, his shocked and confused face was reflected, but the words she spoke exploded in his mind.
“That night in Berwick City, with you and Laxana—I already knew.”
!!!
Goosebumps shot up all over Wendy’s body, his heart stopping.
She… she knew?
She had known since then?!
“You and her… had each other’s scent. Faint, but you can’t fool me.”
Astreia’s lips curled into a wicked smile, adding an eerie beauty to her noble face.
“At the time… I was very sad, and very scared.”
She admitted her past without hesitation, but her gaze held not a hint of weakness.
“I kept wondering why you would choose me. You’re so perfect, so smart, so beautiful, like a star in the sky. And me? I’m just a laughingstock ridiculed by everyone—a plump, crude, ugly woman.”
“So I was always afraid you’d leave me, afraid you’d realize I’m not worthy of you… But it wasn’t until that night that I finally understood.”
Astreia’s fingertips slid from Wendy’s cheek to his lips, pressing gently.
“So… you’re not perfect, either.”
“You can make mistakes, too. You can be swayed by desire…”
“And your lecherous flaw, to me, is the most perfect strength.”
“Because it brought you down from the stars, made you someone I could touch—a living, breathing human. Because of it… I finally found something to hold over you!”
At that moment, her purple-gray eyes shone with a frightening brilliance.
“With this leverage, I can bind you to my side forever and ever! You’ll never escape!”
Listening to this near-insane, yandere proclamation, Wendy felt a chill run from his feet to the top of his head.
His actions over the past two days hadn’t lit a powder keg—they’d opened Pandora’s Box with his own hands!
Astreia had completely broken!
“But,”
Astreia shifted the topic with interest, scrutinizing Wendy.
“I didn’t expect that, aside from Laxana, you’d even have something with my disobedient little sister. Still, I suppose it’s a pleasant surprise.”
Pleasant… surprise?
What kind of wolfish words were these?
Wendy felt his mind burning, unable to keep up with her logic.
But in this bizarre situation, his instincts told him to keep his mouth shut and quietly observe the woman who was at once familiar and strange.
Astreia was very pleased with the Prince’s obedience.
She lifted his chin with a single finger, regarding him as if examining her possession, commanding in a tone that brooked no argument:
“From now on, without my permission, you are forbidden to get involved with any women besides Laxana and Yekaterina.”
“Understood?”
Wendy’s brain was still rebooting. He could only nod blankly.
Seeing his docile appearance, Astreia’s smile grew brighter—and more dangerous.
“Good.”
“Then, now…”
She pushed Wendy down onto the soft bed, pinning him beneath her with overwhelming force.
“Accept the punishment for your betrayal!”
Punishment?
A sense of dread crashed over Wendy.
He tried to speak.
But Astreia leaned down, her scorching red lips brushing his ear, her breath laced with terrifying madness.
“Don’t be afraid, I can’t bear to kill you.”
“I just… want to carve my name into your soul.”
Before the words faded, one of her hands pressed Wendy firmly into the bed, while the other ignited a sinister purple flame at the tip of her forefinger!
The flame had no heat, yet radiated a soul-freezing aura!
“No! N-no!”
Wendy turned his face, seeing the burning flame behind him, finally realizing what she was about to do.
He struggled violently!
But his strength was laughably weak before the witch.
“Now, you’ll belong to me forever.”
Astreia’s smile was gentle yet cruel.
Ignoring the Prince’s pleas, she pressed the purple-flamed fingertip to Wendy’s back!
“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”
There was no smell of burning flesh, no blood.
But an agony far beyond physical pain exploded from the depths of his soul!
It was a sensation of being forcibly invaded, marked, branded—a feeling of absolute domination!
Wendy’s scream was sharp and despairing, his body convulsing as his vision was swallowed by twisting purple.
He could clearly “see” a name formed of purple flame being burned into the center of his back!
The witch watched the Prince’s suffering with increasing obsession in her eyes.
“From now on, every beat of your heart will move for me.”
“Every breath you take will carry my scent.”
“Your life, your loyalty, your love, your everything… belongs to me.”
***
Meanwhile, outside the Bedroom.
Laxana and Yekaterina sat anxiously, straining their ears for any sound from beyond the tightly shut doors at the end of the corridor.
Suddenly!
Laxana clutched her throat, her pale face turning even whiter.
“What’s wrong?”
Yekaterina immediately noticed something was wrong.
The next second, Laxana collapsed to the floor, clutching her back with both hands, her eyes filling with terror.
“Wendy… Wendy, he…”
“Ugh—!”
The searing pain transmitted through the ‘Empathy’ link, flooding her body without restraint, twisting her beautiful face in agony!
But even as her whole body convulsed, Miss Klein still grabbed the little Queen beside her, gritting her teeth and shouting:
“Hurry! Save Wendy!”
“Astreia… she’s gone mad!”
“She’s branded Wendy with a Soul Brand!”