"Why did you call here?"
Norvan tilted his head, the hood of his cloak casting a shadow over his grin. "You know, I’ve been observing you for a while now."
Verena scoffed, crossing her arms with all the sass of a woman who’d rather be napping. "Creepy. Try again."
She wasn’t about to let him monologue her into submission.
Not today.
She ca prepared, dressed in her old practice armor, scuffed but reliable, her training sword strapped to her back when she was on her way here.
If this was going to turn into a duel, she’d at least look fabulous doing it.
Norvan’s gaze flicked to the sword, and he let out a chuckle. "And...? Planning to stab through my emotional damage?"
"Tempting," she said with a smile far too sweet to be innocent.
There’s a reason Norvan was the main villain of Volu One. And it’s also why Verena really hates Scorpios.
Norvan’s Natal Affinity, Resonance Magic, lets him bind emotionally and ntally to others by syncing with their past traumas, regrets, or desires.
Once linked, he can "echo" mories — replaying emotional monts, dredging up guilt, nostalgia, longing... or fear.
It’s not just mind-reading. He feels it with you. And worse — he knows how to twist it.
That’s why Evelyn was stuck with him for almost half the volu. It wasn’t love. It was emotional hostage-taking.
He doesn’t control people outright.
No, he plays mirror — reflecting back the rawest, darkest, or most aningful pieces of soone’s life until they flinch. Until they feel.
And that’s when they’re vulnerable... easier to sway, easier to break.
"If you’re here to manipulate , I won’t give in."
"I’m not here to manipulate. I co as a seeker of truth..."He stepped forward.
Verena instinctively flinched, her foot sliding back across the dusty stone floor.
"I know your secret..."
His grin stretched wider, those golden eyes gleaming like a devil basking in moonlight.
"What secret are you talking about?" Verena kept backing up, her grip tightening on her sword.
[WARNING: RESONANCE FIELD DETECTED.]
There it was—the dreaded ping. His magic was activating. That ant she was no longer just in danger. She was inside the trap. A serpent’s duel had begun.
"Well, I wouldn’t call it a secret," Norvan drawled, voice velvet-smooth, "but I figured it out..."
[DANGER LEVEL: RISING — 52%... 68%... 81%...]
"Don’t play gas with —"
"Maybe I am," he smirked. "Maybe I’m winning."
She hit the wall with a sharp gasp. Damn it. She should’ve run sooner.
But her legs felt heavy like her body rembered sothing her mind hadn’t caught up with yet. Her Fate Manipulation wouldn’t help here. Not against this when it’s too late.
[WARNING: DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT.]
"Hey..."
"Hey..."
"LOOK. AT. ."
[WARNING: DISENGAGE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE.]
[EMPATHIC INVASION IN PROGRESS.]
Verena’s breath caught. Her knees trembled.
A thousand whispers invaded her mind, each one tinged with guilt, nostalgia, and buried regrets.
Her heartbeat wasn’t even hers anymore. It was syncing with his.
Her mories twisted, reshuffled, pulled to the surface like pages ripped from an old diary.
"I don’t know if it’s ti or fate that fuels you," Norvan said softly, "but I know what you do... you bend it. You regress."
[CRITICAL THREAT: RESONANCE BREACH INITIATED.][SYSTEM: MORY ANCHORS UNSTABLE.][DANGER! DANGER! DANGER!]
And for a terrifying second—she almost rembered sothing she’d tried to forget.
They ca in flashes, too fast, too vivid.
A childhood mory.
A mont of sha.
A ti she wished she’d chosen differently.
They didn’t just appear. They played like haunting echoes in a theater of her own mind.
Norvan’s resonance slithered deeper, syncing with the tempo of her breath, the stutter of her heart, the tremble in her hands.
She tried to ground herself, recite her training mantras, focus on her breathing, grip her sword—
But the hilt was slippery now. Not from sweat.
From fear.
[WARNING: NTAL LINK AT 96%... 98%... 100% ESTABLISHED.]
They piled like waves, one after another, until her mind cracked under the weight.
It wasn’t pain. It was too personal for that.
It was intimacy weaponized.
"Verena," he whispered gently, far too close. "You’ve buried so much."
Too late, she realized that even her defenses were mories and Norvan was already inside them.
Then she passed out.
***
All she could see was was black, the sa suffocating darkness that had once imprisoned her entire being.
It stared back at her, almost mockingly, a relentless reminder of the nightmare she was now trapped in.
Her soul wandered aimlessly, mories of Norvan flickering weakly in the recesses of her mind like a distant, fragile spark, barely smoldering as hope slipped away like sand between her fingers.
As she turned her head, a jagged arrow of pain shot through her temples, each throb a reminder of her helplessness.
"Ow... where am I?" she murmured, her voice barely a whisper.
[System Update: Major Plot Shift Detected.]
[Alert: Verena has been kidnapped. Previously, Evelyn was the target.]
[Conflict Status: Evolving.]
Verena’s heart skipped a beat.
Kidnapped? How? Why?
No fucking way...
She paused, her eyes scanning her surroundings.
It was unmistakable. It was in a cold, damp dungeon.
She was back in the sa place where Evelyn had been trapped in the novel.
Her mind imdiately raced to the castle.
She recognized the looming, oppressive architecture—the Huliet Castle, owned by the notorious Huliet Ducal Family.
Once a formidable fortress, it had long since fallen from its military significance, now serving rely as another asset in their sprawling collection of wealth and power.
But this particular one was Norvan’s domain.
In the novel, Evelyn had already been completely ensnared by Raphael’s charm, and that’s why she’d ended up here.
But why was she here? She’s not Evelyn!
Before she could think further, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You’re probably wondering... why you?"
Verena whipped around, her heart skipping a beat.
There he was—, Norvan, erging from the shadows like a phantom, the thick tal bars standing between them like an obstacle, but not enough to hide the glint in his eyes.
Damn him.
She’d always thought of him as just another villain, a manipulative, cold-hearted monster.
But as she stood there, the reality hit her: this wasn’t just about Evelyn or Raphael.
Even the villains could have their own monts of developnt.
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