Chapter 85

“So… you’re saying half her soul got taken, and that’s why she’s mistaking you for her lover?”

 

Silri widened her eyes at Caldeon.

 

Throughout his explanation to Enria, she’d been sitting sideways, legs crossed and arms folded, glaring at Belona as if to say, ‘Are you getting off her man or not?’

 

Hearing the full story — that Belona had lost half her soul to Panz, lost all her memories, and was now equating the black mana that saved her with the lover she once adored — Silri couldn’t help being shocked.

 

“Yeah. And because she’s a light-attribute mage, I can’t pull her off by force. So we’re stuck like this.”

 

Caldeon ended with a short sigh, then turned to Enria.

 

“I’ll fix this as fast as I can, Enria.”

 

“How?”

 

Enria tore her gaze away from Belona and stared at him.

 

Now that she’d heard everything, she knew none of this was actually his fault — but watching her own man being clung to by another woman was not a situation any lover could endure. It was irritating, uncomfortable, and in a way she hated to admit, it made her unreasonably sharp toward him.

 

“I’m trying several methods—”

 

“You mean you haven’t tried them already?”

 

Enria cut him off, cornering him.

 

A sharp remark — Are you actually enjoying this? — rose up her throat, but she swallowed it. She knew she was blaming a man who had done nothing wrong.

 

“I don’t know how long you plan to stay like that, but—”

 

“I said I’ll fix it. Soon.”

 

Caldeon cut her off this time, firm.

 

“Then until you do, I guess I’m staying here.”

 

He blinked, speechless. Enria sighed and continued.

 

“From what I see, you two are stuck together twenty-four hours a day. Does that mean you’re sharing a bed too? If I go back to the grand duchy like this, I’ll be nothing but a joke—”

 

“There are five of us!”

 

Caldeon practically yelled.

 

When she looked at him like Five who?, he swallowed and rattled off the explanation without a single stutter, clearly prepared in advance.

 

“Since this happened, I’ve been sharing the room with, Arsen, Tearen, Rahar, and Lady Kaznaren.”

 

“All five of you sleep in one room?”

 

Silri cut in, staring.

 

Caldeon nodded once.

 

“At first it was just Arsen and the two of us. But rumors started going strange. So I figured if more people stayed in one room, the rumors would die. And… with all the discussions we need about the black mage and Panz, it’s actually been convenient.”

 

He added quickly,

 

“That doesn’t mean I’m not trying to fix this. I will. As fast as I can.”

 

“Can’t you use your black mana to tear her off?” Silri asked.

 

Caldeon shook his head once.

 

“Partly. But light-attribute magic can’t be cut by Rahar or Lady Kaznaren either.”

 

He’d only recently learned that light-attribute magic and black mana — unlike the standard elemental magics — sat on a higher tier altogether.

 

“Hmm… then what about using that illusionist?”

 

At Silri’s mention of Tearen, Caldeon shook his head with a worn expression.

 

“Tearen’s illusions only fool the eyes. But right now, her own brain is fooling itself. It won’t work.”

 

Silri clicked her tongue softly and looked at Belona again.

 

Belona, catching her gaze, clung to Caldeon even tighter.

 

Enria felt the jealousy crawl up from her feet like something vile.

 

She tried to understand — tried to be rational — but the sight of Belona hugging him made her vision go white.

 

“Don’t come near me for a while.”

 

“What?”

 

Caldeon’s eyes widened. Enria flicked her eyes toward Belona.

 

“Until you fix this, I don’t want us meeting.”

 

“Enria—”

 

He tried to speak, panicked, but she snapped her head away. No matter what he said, she wasn’t listening.

 

He tried to soothe her. She refused to soften — not with Belona glued to him like a parasite.

 

“Hey. Light mage.”

 

Silri finally snapped at Belona.

 

Belona looked at her, wary.

 

“Look closely at the man you’re holding. Is he really your lover?”

 

“…….”

 

“If the person you actually loved saw you like this, they’d be sad. Are you sure this is what you want?”

 

Belona’s eyes slowly drifted up toward Caldeon.

 

But Caldeon’s attention was entirely on Enria — not even a shadow of interest in Belona.

 

Seeing Belona’s expression shift, Silri pressed on.

 

“Remember the person you loved. Half your soul missing isn’t an excuse. Maybe you didn’t love him as much as you think and—”

 

“It’s Groen!”

 

Belona snapped.

 

“Daddy.”

 

Hayden answered calmly.

 

Belona’s gaze snapped down to him.

 

“The child of prophecy,” she murmured — recognizing him instantly.

 

“Not Gwoen. Daddy. Calden.”

 

“Who is that?”

 

Caldeon arched a brow at the mangled pronunciation of his name.

 

Hayden pointed at him boldly.

 

“**Daddy.**”

 

So confident it was almost absurd.

 

Caldeon stared at him, speechless, while Hayden beamed.

 

Looking at him, who resembled Hayden, she felt confused, and then, as she examined Caldeon’s appearance in detail, she began to doubt whether this man was truly Groen.

 

This doubt eventually developed into the realization that the lover she firmly believed in might not be her lover, causing deep confusion in Belona.

 

‘Oh…’

 

Her grip loosened.

 

The light-threads around Caldeon slackened.

 

Caldeon felt it, looked down at her, and spoke cold as steel.

 

“If you finally realized I’m not your lover, then let go. Now.”

 

Belona flinched.

 

Her lover would never have spoken to her like that, never looked at her with eyes that cold.

 

“Drop the light-threads.”

 

Only then did she realize her subconscious had wrapped them together again.

 

Panic surged; the threads vanished.

 

The moment they did, Caldeon wrapped himself in thick, dense shadow — ready to push her far back if she tried again.

 

Belona’s face tightened — and then something else happened.

 

A clear, sacred light, like a transparent shield, wrapped around Caldeon.

 

Enria’s barrier.

 

Silri and Caldeon both snapped their heads toward her.

 

Enria flushed under their stares.

 

“S-she might wrap you again, so I… put a barrier.”

 

Caldeon didn’t let her finish. He stepped in and pulled her hard into his arms.

 

Enria wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest.

 

He held her tighter, exhaling long and shaky.

 

“These few days felt like years. I couldn’t breathe. I can finally breathe now.”

 

His voice rumbled into her hair as he kissed the top of her head again and again.

 

Her irritation melted.

 

Feeling him hold her like he’d been starving for her, she rubbed her forehead against his chest — her silent apology.

 

Caldeon stroked her hair, pressing more kisses into her crown.

 

“Groen…”

 

Belona’s voice quivered.

 

Hayden, now beside her, tapped her hand gently.

 

“Not Gwoen. Calden. Daddy.”

 

Belona looked down at him.