I pretended not to care, casually tugging at the corner of my mouth.
“It is fine,” I said. “We are dissolving the bond anyway. From now on, you can stand together openly.”
My voice was calm.
Yet my heart felt as though it were being torn apart inch by inch, the pain so sharp I could barely breathe.
Hearing me say this with such indifference, Evan’s gaze flickered with complexity for a brief moment.
Then he spoke.
“I will give you sufficient compensation,” he said. “Land, resources, protection. I will arrange everything. You will never lack the means to survive in this lifetime.”
He said it as if it were only natural.
As if everything could be settled through exchange.
I forced a faint smile, as though completing a final formality.
“Alright,” I said. “I have already sent the runes for dissolving the mate oath to the council stone. Find a time to complete it.”
With that, I turned and left.
“Diana.”
Evan suddenly called after me.
“Let us go together. I will see you to where you plan to go.”
I did not turn around. I only replied softly.
“No.”
Once I had decided to leave, there was no reason to leave behind any unnecessary ties.
Evan kept his promise.
He granted me a stretch of borderland territory and left behind enough supplies and protection contracts to last a lifetime. It was more than enough for me to survive in the wastelands, the forests, or any forgotten corner of the world, and to live decently.
That had always been his way.
Using compensation to bring everything to an end.
On the day I was leaving the main house, Karen suddenly caused a scene.
He blocked my path in tears, his eyes red, his voice trembling.
“Did you take the engagement ring Evan gave me?”
He grabbed my arm, almost dropping to his knees.
“Diana, please. I am about to renew the oath with him. That ring was forged especially for me for the Moon Rite. It belongs to me.”
His voice grew more frantic.
“If you do not want to return it, do not do this instead.”
“You can have anything you want. I can exchange anything with you. Just give the ring back to me.”
I looked at him coldly.
“I did not take it.”
I pushed him aside and turned to leave, only to have my wrist seized by a powerful hand.
Evan stood behind me, his gaze icy.
“If you took it, hand it over,” he said. “I can compensate you, but I will give you nothing else.”
His tone was that of an order.
“I did not take it, and I do not need it,” I replied.
I knew very well that this was Karen’s usual trick.
He was always good at creating chaos and directing all suspicion toward me.
I tried to pull free from Evan, but he suddenly exerted force and dragged me straight back into the house.
“Until this is cleared up, you are not leaving.”
“Evan, have you lost your mind?” I demanded angrily. “I said I did not take it.”
My voice was loud, yet my body trembled beyond my control.
Fear crept up my spine bit by bit.
I was afraid he would do what he had done before, that for the sake of some so called token, he would once again treat me as a vessel that could be cut open at will.
He locked me in the bedroom.
The door was sealed with runes. Alfred was explicitly forbidden to approach, forbidden to bring any food or water.
He wanted me to hand over the ring.
But I did not have it.
What proof could I possibly give?
As night deepened, hunger began to gnaw at my stomach, low sounds echoing in the empty room.
Just then, the door opened.
It was Karen.
His footsteps were light, as if savoring the final struggle of his prey.
Smiling, he walked toward me step by step.
“Diana,” he said softly. “Guess what this is.”
He raised his right hand.
Under the moonlight, a dazzling ring gleamed on his ring finger.
A vow ring forged of moonstone and silver bone.
It sat there perfectly, firmly upon his hand.
