<CHAPTER 04>
Eternal Salvation Relationship
After returning to the Inevassel marquis estate, Evelyn went straight up to her room and flopped down onto the bed.
Ugh, that was exhausting.
After facing those people and Aksion, fatigue came rushing over her.
Soon, as she stared at the bracelet he had given her, she let out a deep sigh.
“What on earth is he thinking.”
Although imprinting could stabilize disordered abilities, finding one’s imprinted partner was like picking a star from the sky.
Even if the mark manifested, those who failed to imprint would suffer for the rest of their lives.
The transcendent power that had existed since the founding myth granted them immense abilities in exchange for extreme pain.
No matter how much you don’t want that power.
In this world, the mark was no different from a cursed brand.
Just like the title “Eternal Salvation Relationship,” the female protagonist of the original story always freed the male lead from that curse.
That was why, to the male lead, the female protagonist was his one and only salvation.
On the other hand, unlike them, Aksion, who failed to find his imprinted partner, was destined to live his entire life in pain.
Although she felt a little pity for him, having known him for so long, Evelyn shook her head vigorously.
No. Why am I worrying about him?
Instead of worrying about others, I need to survive first as a villainous side character!
Since her healing ability was not offensive, even if a mark appeared, it wouldn’t affect her much.
However, if by any chance she manifested the same mark as Aksion, that would be a problem in its own way.
In the original story, clearly……………….
Aksion eliminated the people around the woman he loved one by one.
While manipulating situations to isolate her.
When the female protagonist later found out, she became furious.
In response, he kidnapped and confined her instead.
So that only he could see her, and she could look only at him.
And escaping wasn’t easy either!
True to his status as the head of the underworld, Aksion assigned executives of the dark guild as her watchers.
It was meant to prevent her from escaping.
Though it was under the pretense of protection, it was no different from locking her in a cage disguised as a comfortable paradise.
“And knowing all that, you expect me to marry him?”
After briefly imagining a married life with Aksion, Evelyn made a disgusted expression.
If she ended up marrying him and he later met the woman he loved, it would only accelerate her death flag.
“Yeah, absolutely not.”
There was no need to worry about something that hadn’t even happened yet.
Especially when she wasn’t even sure if a mark would appear on her.
Even so, Evelyn clenched her fist tightly, determined to survive no matter what.
The servants of the Inevassel marquis estate were busier than usual.
It was because the Marquis and his wife were making a fuss preparing for their only daughter’s coming of age.
If I had known, I would have prepared in advance like they told me to.
After finishing her dress fitting, Evelyn lay sprawled on the sofa with an exhausted face.
With the coming-of-age ceremony just around the corner, she had been extremely busy.
At that moment, her personal maid entered the toilette room with a light knock.
“Miss, as you instructed, I’ve sent all the gifts back.”
Not even a day after the marriage news broke, Aksion had released a correction as promised.
The announcement had been an exaggerated rumor, and for now, they would remain faithfully engaged.
However, quick-moving nobles had already sent wedding gifts one after another.
So she had to return each one along with a letter of refusal.
Recalling the line of carriages that had filled the front of the estate, Evelyn let out a sigh.
“Good work, Rarie.”
“They were all things that would suit you so well, Miss……………….”
Seeing Rarie pouting in disappointment, Evelyn raised one eyebrow.
“Do they all really want me to marry Aksion that much?”
From the Marquis couple to the servants of the estate, everyone had shown great disappointment at the correction report.
Among them, the most disappointed was none other than Viaron Inevassel.
He even lamented that if Aksion didn’t take his sister, then who else would marry her.
Thinking of her brother who was practically asking for a beating, Evelyn suppressed a laugh.
No matter how I think about it, that’s not it.
She truly couldn’t understand why everyone wanted her to marry Aksion so badly.
At that, Rarie clasped her hands together lightly and spoke with a bright smile.
“It’s because you two look so good together!”
At her confidant’s absurd answer, Evelyn let out a hollow laugh.
“Us looking good together? Even a passing cat would laugh.”
“But you two get along well, don’t you?”
Rarie said it as if it were obvious.
Evelyn genuinely wondered how she could possibly think that.
“What makes you think that?”
Rarie answered quickly, as if enchanted.
“What man would go as far as turning a brooch into jewelry and gifting it like that!”
That part especially made Evelyn feel wronged.
Because of the nobles who saw Aksion giving her the bracelet, yet another rumor had spread.
His actions, so different from men who followed tradition, were enough to win the favor of many women.
Just looking at how gossip magazines praised the Young Duke Valentino as a romantic of the century.
Because of that, even her parents, who had been disappointed by the correction report, began to harbor new expectations.
Imagining their daughter exchanging wedding vows with Aksion someday.
I’m the one who got played by him.
The bracelet he gave her felt less like a gift and more like silent pressure.
He had deliberately given it in front of others in case she acted uncooperatively.
Letting out a shallow sigh, Evelyn looked at Rarie and said.
“It’s not like that, so can you explain it properly for me?”
“Yes, I will.”
Nodding slightly with a downcast expression, Rarie soon left the toilette room.
Rising from the sofa, Evelyn glared fiercely at the ruby bracelet she had just worn with her dress.
Perhaps because it resembled its owner, it only looked pretty on the outside but was nothing but trouble.
I seriously can’t live because of that guy.
Her eyes blazing with determination, she steeled herself once more.
Once she broke off the engagement, she would definitely meet a man far better than Aksion.
Evelyn took out an antique jewelry box from her vanity drawer and placed the bracelet inside.
Then, after hesitating for a moment, she picked up an old pendant marked by time.
“I haven’t taken this out in a while.”
Gently caressing the pendant, she opened it with a faint smile.
As she looked at the portrait of a couple inside, her green eyes gradually dimmed.
Closing and opening her eyes tightly, Evelyn recalled the tragedy of her childhood.
The day she lost her biological parents in an instant.
The tragedy of the Inevassel family that had happened long ago was something she must never forget.
When Evelyn was eight years old, her biological parents were brutally murdered on their way back from the imperial palace.
The cause of death was poisoning.
The imperial family had tried to disguise it as a carriage accident, but failed to conceal the poison that remained in their bodies.
Among the nobles, it was almost an established fact that the imperial family was behind the poisoning.
It was all part of the Emperor’s plan to suppress the growing power of the reformist faction.
