RUAN YANJUN
I smirked as I watched him sleep, his slender fingers still clutching my hand as though it were his last tether to life. Even in unconsciousness, Luo Fan remained as stubborn as ever, refusing to let go.
He puzzled me. For so long, he had resisted me, loathed me, and rejected every attempt I'd made to reach him. And now, this sudden shift—the fragile desperation in his grip, the faint trust he placed in my presence—was almost enough to make me laugh.
Had he finally realized that he needed me?
The thought amused me. A little late for that revelation, wasn't it?
I traced my thumb over the back of his hand, feeling the faint tremor in his pulse. His frailty unsettled me more than I cared to admit. Beneath his calm demeanor, Luo Fan was falling apart, his dual cores threatening to tear him from the inside out.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
For months, I had tried to make things easier for him. Gently guiding him, offering my protection, giving him every chance to embrace his dark core without fear. But he refused to cooperate, clinging to his light core as though it were the only part of him that mattered.
He was a fool.
And yet…
I sighed, my smirk fading as I gazed at his pale face. Even now, he was beautiful. Fragile but unyielding. A contradiction that fascinated me and infuriated me in equal measure.
My time with him was running out.
I had tried to be patient. I had tried to coax him into awakening the slumbering power of his dark core at his own pace. But patience was a luxury I no longer had. The clock was ticking, and the storm brewing within me could not be ignored much longer.
If I didn't find a way to stop the inevitable, I would destroy everything—him, this city, and the fragile balance of the world itself.
The thought of leaving him unprepared, of him succumbing to his condition without realizing his full potential, was unacceptable.
I'd have to push him further. Harder.
I hated to do it. If circumstances were different, I would have taken my time, worn down his resistance with persistence and charm until he gave in of his own accord. But fate wasn't so kind.
This time, I'd have to show him what real adversity felt like.
If Luo Fan was faced with the one thing he valued most—his dignity—being stripped away, and he realized that I wouldn't be there to save him, perhaps then he'd have no choice but to tap into the power he kept buried deep within.
The power of his dark core.
It was a cruel plan, but it was the only way. Luo Fan was too proud, too stubborn, too blind to see the truth unless it was shoved directly in front of him. And if I had to be the villain in his story to ensure his survival, so be it.