Villain, Let Me Touch You! - Chapter 26
Late at night, Helios sat in his chair, staring straight ahead. At the end of his gaze lay Rienna, who had fallen asleep after complaining of headaches throughout the night.
Quietly, Helios observed Rienna: the furrowed brow, softly closed eyes, long eyelashes, determined bridge of her nose, and…
Lowering his gaze, Helios gritted his teeth. Her lips, which glowed the color of ripe apples, were covered in white crumbs. Her cheeks were pale, and the once sparkling skin now appeared rough. Rienna screamed sick with every fiber of her being. Her appearance was the same as when Helios had struggled to free himself from the sickness.
Suddenly, his chest felt heavy, as if a boulder of dull agony had sat on it. He knew this is the pain of love, not disease. Helios rubbed his palm over his heart and closed his eyes.
‘Helios Perry Augustine. Your Highness’s name appeared!’
Jamie’s voice echoed in his mind.
“A**hole,” muttered Helios. “A damned unlucky a**hole.”
If Jamie and Vincenzo had heard him, they would have been horrified. To call the little sun of the Empire an a**hole…
But as far as Helios was concerned, it couldn’t have been more fitting. He despised the imprint that others considered a blessing. No, he abhorred it.
He knew a woman whose life was ruined by an imprint, and he knew an unlucky man who was born because of it. That was the story of Helios’s mother and Helios himself.
The Emperor, Terman Perry Augustine, and Helios’s mother, Bailey, had a one-sided imprint but fell in love. They claimed their love transcended fate. Then the name of the current consort appeared on Terman’s body.
Demyr Lucille.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Terman and Demyr were a happy pair, and Bailey was abandoned. Pure love was like the morning mist. An insignificant thing that would dissipate as the sun rose. Betrayed by the one she trusted, Bailey had gone mad, and her body, unable to receive the care of her unrequited imprint partner, crumbled.
To make matters worse, she was pregnant. Terman secretly met with Bailey, hoping to save her child, but Demyr interrupted him. She reasoned that if Bailey were to die, the child should die with her lest he become a source of trouble. Perhaps influenced by their happy pairing, Terman respected Demyr’s words. Throughout her pregnancy, Bailey, living a hellish life, breathed her last on the day Helios was born.
Terman eventually took in Helios, but abandoned him immediately in the palace. Helios grew up under the care of attendants, only to encounter yet another curse of imprinting.
Discord between a happily married couple—torn between a love of his own volition and a love ordained by fate, Terman cheated. Demyr asked for everything, body, soul, and pure love, and Terman gave her everything he could. But it was a foregone conclusion. Neither Terman nor Demyr liked Helios, who reminded them of Bailey.
Terman sought to break free from destiny, even bringing in another woman and making her his Empress. Shortly thereafter, Empress Priscilla bore Macaulay, and Demyr was not the type to forgive him for his infidelity.
The relationship between the Emperor and Queen had reached a breaking point. Priscilla took advantage of the gap to seize power. No one in the royal family was happy.
It was during those times that Helios thought to himself: “An imprint is nothing but a curse.”
He cursed the gods who made damned fate. And he prayed that the curse would not reach him.
And so it was, or so it seemed. The curse was directed not at Helios but at Rienna. Everything felt like it was his fault.
Exhaustion overwhelmed him. Helios gently placed his dry hand on his forehead.
“Your Majesty… Why are you here? Are you in pain?”
He heard a faint voice. Her feeble tone, her concern for him despite her suffering from being imprinted with his own name, and the sincerity she had—it all deeply touched him.
Helios slowly lowered his hand and approached Rienna. She seemed to have woken only briefly before falling back to sleep.
Maybe I’m just losing my mind.
Helios gently Rienna’s sweat-drenched hair from her forehead. As his fingertips made contact, her complexion noticeably improved. The side effects of imprinting were diluted by the touch of the imprinter.
As her breathing grew calmer, Helios’s tumultuous heart settled. Somewhere along the line, he found herself completely at her mercy. Her smallest gesture stirred a frenzy in his mind, and her words shook the heavens.
But she was imprinted with me.
Then what about him? Even if it was a curse, he was more than willing to endure if it meant being with Rienna. However, there were no signs on his body whatsoever.
What if Rienna’s name never appeared on his body? What if someone else’s name appeared?
Helios’s face grew cold.
