The Ring of Bondage - Chapter 1.19

The unfamiliar expression cast over that familiar face made her anxiety grow. Yuria suppressed the urge to turn around and run at once, and faced Luke.

And then Yuria realized.

Luke’s cold gaze wasn’t directed at her, but behind her.

Yuria looked at Derek, who had gone pale and was retreating backward. Seeing Luke’s pheromones spreading so thickly she could barely breathe, and Derek backing away until he finally sank to the ground, Yuria wavered over whether she should stop Luke, support Derek, or worry about herself instead.

Before she could finish deciding, a strong hand seized Yuria’s arm.

“Teacher.”

Luke spoke while gripping Yuria’s arm tightly. It was a voice she hadn’t heard in a long time. It was cold, but even so, it was Luke’s voice. His face, his scent, and his voice were all Luke Cunningham.

Until just a moment ago, the urge to flee like a rabbit before a wolf had come first, but the other person was Luke. She wanted to leave, and at the same time, she wanted to be caught by him.

With her throat tight, Yuria wanted to answer his call, but there was nothing she could say. I’m sorry, let me go, but have you been well, I really missed you. There were so many things she wanted to say but could not, so Yuria only moved her lips soundlessly.

But unlike Yuria, Luke seemed to have something clear to say.

“Teacher, after running away that far, is that inferior alpha all you chose?”

“…What?”

Unable to understand Luke’s words right away, Yuria asked back. Luke paid no mind to her reaction and continued with a fierce expression, spitting out the words as if chewing them up.

“You ran away like that without a single word to me, you fled as if telling me not to even look for you, and the one you met was someone like him? It’s absurd.”

His voice, pressing down on her, was thick with anger.

“I thought you left because I was lacking. Because I was too young, too lacking, because I did something wrong, or because, whatever it was, there was something about me that wasn’t enough for you. But looking at this now, I suppose that wasn’t it?”

“L-Luke?”

Yuria looked up at the student who had once been so kind with bewildered eyes.

“Or did you find something in a man like that too that was better than me, hm? Yes, I suppose that could be it.”

In his expression, twisted fully with anger, a glimpse of sorrow appeared.

“Tell me. What about me is so lacking? Should I kneel and worship you and treat you like the Emperor? Or should I cling to your side, act cute, and obey your every word like the tongue in your mouth?”

“Luke, what are you…”

“Anything you want to have, anything you want to enjoy. With just one gesture, I can have it brought before your eyes.”

Yuria felt the harsh strength in Luke’s hand gripping her shoulder tightly.

As she listened to his voice, like a beast growling, Yuria couldn’t answer at all. She couldn’t understand what he was saying. These were not words that someone who had come to make a criminal kneel would say.

Wasn’t Luke treating her as though she were his runaway lover?

“Teacher, you can do anything you want and have anything you want. Because I’ll make it that way.”

When Luke pulled Yuria into his arms, her small body was enveloped as though trapped inside his embrace. The scent of his pheromones, so thick it made her mind blur, coiled around Yuria.

“Except for one thing.”

The sound of a heartbeat rang loudly from their joined bodies. Yuria found it difficult to tell whether this heart, pounding so wildly, was hers or Luke’s.

“Teacher. You cannot run away from me anymore.”

Yuria nodded blankly. She couldn’t understand this situation in the slightest, but she felt as though she had to.