(From Blue''s Perspective)


    I climbed up the stairs slowly. Every single ce in the round and narrow tower was untidy. Wherever my eyes went, there was nothing but books. I wondered if Luc read all of those. Dem did not tell me much about him, but the way it seemed, it was clear that they were friends though my husband was too reluctant to admit it.


    It was still hard to believe what he said a moment ago. He truly made sure my family was punished. Perhaps I was evil, but I was happy. From the beginning, I knew that the things they were doing to me were wrong. But I could not do anything. I had lost all my hopes.


    Living in that hell, I had never learned how to dream. And I did not know if I would be able to know the real meaning of dreams.


    But I was wrong. Now I knew what dreams meant. After all, I was living in a dream myself. And I did not want to wake up either.


    I was d that Maxen was now able to attend a university. He always wanted this while I only wanted to get away from my family no matter what I did. He was not abused like me. Perhaps that was the reason he had the heart to dream big while I had never learned the word ''dream''.


    But Demetrius taught me this word. It was the first time someone held my hand and took me to step by step. There was one thing I was sure of- I would never be able to leave him. Even the thought of leaving him was painful.


    Since the moment he brought me here, I was afraid he would leave me. But he always kept telling me not to leave him. Was he insecure or was he afraid of me leaving him? But why would I leave him? Who would want to leave someone like him? Even if I was crazy, I would never even think of leaving him.


    "Are we going to the top?" I asked.


    "Yes," Luc replied. "That''s where I do the research."


    "Is it too hard for you?" Dem asked.


    "No, I''m fine," I smiled.


    Demetrius had been holding my hand all this time. It always surprised me how big his hand was. When he came back at night, his hand would be cold. But his hand always warmed up pretty quickly. I envied him for that. Sometimes my feet would not warm up even if I stay under the nket all night, while if he just entered our room, his hands would warm up in a moment.


    "The shining is not too much, but enough to attract attention," Luc said.


    "It''s more than enough. Just stop it from shining," Dem said. It seemed he did not like the ne shining at all. I did not care about it even if I could see it as well. To me, it was just a mere glimpse of a drop of rainwater under sunlight. But I did not understand why he hated it that much.


    "I can''t see the brightness in your eyes when I look at you. That stupid light fucks the mood up," he grumbled under his breath.


    "..."


    I did not even know what to do- cry orugh. He was being unintentionally funny. He looked so serious that the thought ofughing seemed like a serious sin. It was embarrassing as well since Luc was here as well. But he seemed not to care. Perhaps he knew Dem a lot better than others.


    We reached the top of the tower atst. It was just like a typical circr room. There were books and pages lying here and there. An old sofa was ced in a corner with a white nket on top of it.


    "Is it alright if I call you Blue?" Luc asked.


    "Sure," I said and smiled. It felt good when someone called me by my name here since almost no one did so. Demetrius would rarely call me by my name. He would always call me ''my wife''. No matter how many times I had told him not to call me that, he never listened. He would always ask- ''Can''t a husband call his wife what he wants?''.


    I had given up on trying to make him understand. And for some reason, I did not hate it.


    Others would call me- ''Your Highness'', ''Your Royal Highness''. It was tiring, but there was nothing to do about this. Even Demetrius said he hated to be called by that, but it was necessary.


    "Alright then, Blue, can you please give me the ne?" Luc asked.


    "Oh, sure."


    "Let me."


    Demetrius helped me unhook the ne. His warm breath fell on my nape. I had a feeling that he did that on purpose. There was no need for his nose to be that close to my nape if he wanted to take the ne off only.


    "Your fragrance is dangerously appealing, my wife," Dem whispered in my ear.


    "Hey, I am here as well. You''re making me feel nauseous," Luc said in a disgusted tone.


    "Just get the hell out of here if that''s the case," Dem grumbled.


    "You''re kicking me out of my own tower? That''s not possible," Luc said.


    "A king can do anything he wants. Now don''t waste our time. Tell me what you''ve found out."


    "There is a way to stop it from shining. If we can surround the ne with darkness, then it''s possible."


    "Don''t tell me... Then it''s easy," Dem said.


    I could not understand a single thing they were saying. But by the look on Demetrius''s face, I was sure that the n was something mischievous or forbidden.


    "If we can transform even only a bit into the ne, then if something bad happens, she can even be able to protect herself," Luc said.


    "Good. So what are the things that you need?" Dem asked.


    "A bag of your blood and another bag of Blue''s blood..."


    "What? You bastard! Do it with my blood! I will give not just one or two, five bags of my blood, but don''t even think about bringing my wife into this!"


    "Calm down," I tried to soothe him.


    "It''s not my choice. It''s what needs to be done. She is the owner of the ne, right? And you''re the one with the power. As it''s forming a connection between your power and the ne''s original power, there needs to be a bonding between the owners," Luc exined.


    "We''re already mates."


    "That''s true, but it''s not enough. Do you want to do it or not?" Luc asked.


    "No. There is no need to do anything like that," Dem said firmly.


    Was it because he did not want to give my blood? Was he worried about me? But it was necessary for us to remove the brightness of the locket. If another magician found out, then it would put his secret at risk. I could not just let that happen.


    "Dem, it''s alright. It''s just a bag of blood, right?" I said, pulling his sleeve.


    "Just a bag of blood? Have you gone mad? It''s not less at all," he said angrily.


    "But you''re giving that much as well."


    "Things are different for you and me. Just look at me. Do you think I''m unhealthy? Even if I lose five bags of blood, nothing would happen to me. And besides, as I am a werewolf, my health issues can be fixed pretty quickly. But you''re just a human and also a tiny one at that.


    If you lose blood, it''s going to be bad for your health. So just don''t agree to this."