Chapter 5

Cecilia's expression turned cold instantly.

She had been asleep for three years, and the first thing she woke up to was a stranger saying something like this to her face.

"Are you negotiating with me, or are you taking advantage of me?"

Luciano didn't back away or move closer. He stayed right where he was, leaning in, close to her.

"If I wanted to take advantage of you, do you really think you could stop me in your condition?"

It was blunt, almost cruel, but Cecilia had to admit he was telling the truth. She could barely sit up. Three years without moving had left her muscles nearly useless. Fighting back wasn't an option — even getting out of bed and taking a few steps would be a struggle.

But that honesty was exactly what made her more suspicious.

When someone who could just take what they want chooses to negotiate instead, it means one of two things — either they have limits, or what they're after is worth more than your body.

Either way, this man was not simple.

"You just said the curse inside you has weakened significantly," Cecilia said, staring at him. "So tell me — what makes you think kissing me or sleeping with me will break it completely?"

Luciano was quiet for a moment before he answered. "Someone told me that awakening my power and unlocking the Bloodseed bloodline inside me would break the curse. And that process requires..."

"Requires a kiss? Requires sex?" Cecilia cut him off. "I've only heard that breaking a curse requires intense stimulation — but that's theory. No one has ever tested it. You haven't even confirmed whether that information is true, and you're using it as a bargaining chip?"

Luciano's eyes shifted. "How do you know about any of this?"

"Being asleep for three years doesn't mean I knew nothing about the outside world," Cecilia said, her voice calm. "My family's curse puts people into a deep coma, but it doesn't completely shut off your awareness. On and off, I could hear things."

Elena gasped beside her. "Cecilia, you mean this whole time you were..."

"Not constantly," Cecilia said. "Most of the time it was just darkness. Occasionally something would come through — like listening to people talk underwater. Blurry, broken. But certain words stuck with me. Like the Costa family. Like ritual. Like curse."

She looked back at Luciano.

"I know you were sent by the Costa family. That's all I know. Who you are, where you came from, what you want — I have no idea."

Luciano straightened up and took a step back.

He was reassessing her.

She hadn't picked up much while she was unconscious, but she knew how to make judgments from limited information. That was more dangerous than knowing everything.

"So what you're saying is," Luciano said, sliding his hands into his pockets, "you're not accepting my terms?"

"No," Cecilia said. "For a simple reason — a wild rumor you heard from somewhere? You haven't even verified it yourself, and you're treating it like the only solution. That's no way to do business."

Luciano went quiet.

Because she was right.

He hadn't verified it. He didn't know how much of the old man's words he could actually trust. But the moment he had grabbed Cecilia's hand, the burning from the tattoo on his chest had been real. The return of his power had been real. So he had taken the old man's words as the only answer, without thinking.

But what if it wasn't? What if there was another way?

Cecilia saw him hesitate and pressed her advantage.

"And have you thought about what happens if we actually sleep together and word gets out? Edmond will use it against me. He'll say I was defiled by some man with no background, that the Helsing family's heir isn't fit to lead. Those old men on the elder council have been looking for any excuse to push me out. This would hand it to them."

"Your curse doesn't get broken. I lose my family. We both lose. And the only one who wins is Edmond."

Luciano was silent for three seconds.

Then he laughed.

Not the cold, dangerous kind from before — this was a real laugh, like he genuinely found this interesting.

"You're a lot harder to deal with than I expected."

Cecilia didn't respond to that. She wasn't done.

"I can help you break the curse — just not the way you're suggesting. The Helsing family's archive has a large collection of ancient texts on the Bloodseed bloodline. My father spent his life studying them. If there's a way to break this curse, it'll be in those books. And there will be other ways too."

Something lit up in Luciano's eyes.

He hadn't expected this.

He had spent seven years on Mornveil Isle surrounded by knives and fists. Nobody had ever told him this kind of thing could be solved in a book.

"But," Cecilia's tone shifted, "the key to the archive is in the elder council's hands. Which means it's in Edmond's hands. To get those texts, I need to take back control of the family first. I need your help to do that."

She needed his strength to fight Edmond. He needed her resources to break the curse. Both sides would get what they needed — but as partners, not as husband and wife.

Luciano understood.

"So what exactly are you proposing?"

"We tell everyone the ritual worked and that we're a married couple. That shuts the elder council up and gives Edmond no immediate grounds to move against me. But privately, we live separately. Nothing happens between us."

Elena had been listening in silence and finally spoke up. "Cecilia, this young man just saved your life. Couldn't you be a little kinder to him?"

"Mom, that's exactly why I need to be clear with him," Cecilia said, glancing at her. "Owing someone a favor is the hardest kind of debt to repay. If we don't set the rules now, things will only get messier later."

Elena sighed and looked at Luciano. "What do you think?"

Luciano didn't answer right away.

He was thinking it through.

What Cecilia was offering wasn't bad for him. A fake marriage meant he could stay inside the Helsing family with a legitimate reason, get access to their core resources, and still have no strings attached. And that archive genuinely interested him. If there was another way to break the curse and awaken the Bloodseed bloodline, that was a lot more reliable than sleeping with someone he had just met.

The problem was, his curse wouldn't wait.

In those last two years at the fighting ring, his power had been fading faster and faster. What if the archive had no answers? Or what if it had answers but not enough time?

This was a gamble.

Win, and he could break the curse without owing anyone anything. Lose, and he might not make it out alive.

He looked at Cecilia.

This woman had been asleep for three years and woke up with him already figured out. She wasn't the type to lie about something like this.

"Fine. Fake marriage. Nothing happens between us."