Rows of bare-limbed trees lined the path, a quiet river glimmering just beyond them.
The last rays of sunlight filtered through swaying branches, scattering gold across the snow-dusted grass and flickering along the dark water.
And there they were — Selena and Noel — hands intertwined, walking side by side as if the chill in the air meant nothing at all.
Each breath unfurled into soft white clouds, mingling like unspoken words between them.
The gentle crunch of their boots on the frozen path, the distant hum of the city, the breeze that stirred her long hair and tugged at his scarf — each tiny sound only deepened the sweetness of the moment.
In the fading light, with the sky painted in soft hues of rose and orange, Selena glanced up at him.
A teasing smile curved her lips, her golden eyes glinting with something playful.
"Don’t you feel like nothing’s really changed from our usual outings?" she asked.
Noel returned her look with a quiet smile. Then, lifting his hand, he brushed a strand of her silver ash-blonde hair behind her ear. His fingertips lingered lightly against her cheek.
In a voice just above a whisper, he said,
"How can it be the same?"
The words seemed to drift into the wind — gentle, deliberate.
They had come to a natural stop, their steps halting without thought.
Noel leaned in — slowly, steadily — his intention clear in every breathless second. And then, he kissed her.
Not deep — but not just soft either.
He caught her lower lip with his, briefly, tenderly, before pulling back just slightly.
A smile broke across his face — warm, dazzling.
"It’s not the same... right?"
Selena stared at Noel.
At the man of her life.
At the one who’d just flashed her that smile.
A fake one. She could tell.
But even so... it dazzled her.
Her cheeks flushed with a bloom of pink.
And her golden eyes, once gleaming, dimmed, losing their luster for just a moment.
Like the spark had been stolen, only to be replaced by something deeper.
The air around her seemed to thicken.
Something in her presence — subtle, yet undeniable — had shifted.
The aura she gave off in that moment made it unthinkable for anyone to interrupt.
It wasn’t modesty that shielded them, nor shyness—
But something commanding.
Something possessive.
Something that controlled the very space around them.
They seemed utterly alone—
Cut off from the world not by distance,
But by sheer force of presence.
Selena was love-struck.
And in that moment...
She had thought she was already lost in him.
She could sink even deeper.
Her love hadn’t peaked.
Her madness hadn’t either.
So without hesitation, she moved.
Her arms wrapped around his neck like a silken snare, and she pulled him toward her.
This time, she kissed him.
Their first kiss had tasted like winter.
Crisp and pure — cool like snow.
A kiss that bit lightly but left a warmth in its wake.
But this second kiss?
Sun-scorched skin and breathless heat.
It was needy and unreserved.
A kiss with the rhythm of thunder in a dry sky, lips clashing with the quiet desperation of two people trying to possess, to claim, to consume.
It was the taste of stormy longing — of hunger wrapped in velvet.
When they finally broke apart, a thread of saliva still connected them — thin, trembling in the cold air.
And Selena’s eyes... had changed.
No longer glowing bright, but dark — deep and molten.
They looked at him not just with desire, not just with love... but with something more.
As if she wanted to swallow him whole.
To etch herself into every corner of his soul.
To own him — completely.
He didn’t understand everything going on with her.
Didn’t fully grasp the depth of her feelings.
But he understood enough.
The simulation he’d read yesterday still lingered in his mind.
He’d wondered — should he swallow his pride and ask for her help, just once, in the next simulation? To defend against his sister?
Now, he could already imagine it.
A life under Selena’s hand wouldn’t be any better.
Not if he was the weaker one.
Until now, he hadn’t been certain whether she truly possessed any supernatural power — any force capable of standing against his sister.
But somehow, Noel just couldn’t picture her as an ordinary girl.
Unprecedently special.
Maybe that was what drew him to her?
He could still remember it clearly.
He was just ten years old, still trying to fit in, still treating time like something to simply endure until the school day passed.
And then... she walked into the classroom.
From the moment his eyes landed on her—
Something sparked inside the stillness of him.
They became close soon after.
So close that holding hands and hugging had long stopped meaning anything unusual.
Their bodies spoke a language neither had needed to learn.
It wasn’t romantic then, not officially, but their touches lingered, their words softened, their distance... always disappeared.
They had always hovered somewhere past the line of friendship—
Just never crossed it.
And that’s why Noel felt surprisingly content.
This step may have been small... but it was still a step forward.
And now, with the sun fading and her breath warm against his cheek—
They were still leaning into each other, breaths mingling.
Selena’s arms wrapped around his neck, his hands resting at her waist.
Their foreheads touched.
And their eyes locked.
Then, suddenly, Selena pulled him even closer—
Their lips a breath apart.
In a low, possessive whisper, she said,
"You are mine, Noel. No one else."
Was it a reaction to the change she’d sensed in him — however subtle?
But as her gaze held his...
In the gray of his eyes...
Something unmistakably amethyst.
Then, his voice came.
His hands gripped her waist tighter—not enough to hurt, but enough to say stop pretending you own me.
Selena’s eyes flared, glowing more dangerously. Her pupils trembled.
But Noel didn’t flinch.
He met her gaze with madness of his own.
It was the first time he ever showed her this side of him.
But Noel had already made up his mind.
He could afford caution in a simulation.
Twelve years of careful silence were enough.
And now... he saw it clearly.
She wasn’t the solution.
Depending on her in the simulation?
Could prove even more dangerous.