581 Vaan's Vow

Vaan raised an eyebrow when Empyrean Scarletsea skipped the exchange of vows in the marriage ceremony process.

But then again, it was a marriage out of convenience instead of love.

Thus, he could understand why Empyrean Scarletsea would skip it. But at the same time, it also seemed like Empyrean Scarletsea wasn't familiar with the traditional marriage ceremonies of mortals. Rather, she appeared to be officiating the ceremony according to her own way.

"Is Henrietta watching all of this?" Vaan asked.

"She is," Empyrean Scarletsea nodded, explaining, "Our six senses are shared in this body. She hears and sees you perfectly, even if I am the one currently in control. She is feeling shy again, if I might add."

"Is that right?" Vaan uttered casually.

Suddenly, he took a step forward and held Empyrean Scarletsea's hands, prompting their eyes to meet. However, he didn't shy away and looked into her eyes directly, as if he was trying to see through Henrietta instead of Empyrean Scarletsea.

"What are you doing?"

Vaan's actions naturally took aback Empyrean Scarletsea.

However, Vaan didn't answer Empyrean Scarletsea's question. He continued holding her hands and gazing into her eyes with solemnity.

"I, Vaan Raphna, take you, Henrietta Rosegarden, to be my wedded wife. I promise to stand by your side through good and bad times, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health. I vow to love you, care for you, and celebrate you from this day until my last."

"If you find yourself in the abyss of darkness, I promise to be the light at the other side of the tunnel waiting to pull you out. Even if you find the whole world against you one day, I will be by your side in the face of this adversary."

"So, my answer to your previous question, Empyrean Scarletsea, is I do," Vaan stated decisively, biting his right thumb until it bled before pressing his hand against the floating magic circle.

Both Henrietta and Empyrean Scarletsea appeared rooted on the spot as the body's heart skipped a beat, surprised by Vaan's vow.

However, it was unclear whether it was Henrietta's heart or Empyrean Scarletsea's that did.

Nevertheless, although Vaan's vow wouldn't have any contract power, the manner in which he spouted those words seemed like he was completely serious.

As such, both Henrietta and Empyrean Scarletsea were moved by them.

"This fella... He doesn't even know the weight behind his words...' Emyprean Scarletsea thought to herself with amusement.

Since her disciple was born with the Seven-Petal Void Soul, she was bound to be targeted by mighty beings if her secret ever got out. After all, the Seven-Petal Void Soul was incredibly powerful and rare, not to mention it could be inherited.

A peerless genius with the Seven-Petal Void Soul was once born in the Divine Realm. The spread of the news caused an absolute bloodbath between divine beings throughout the Divine Realm. In the end, the peerless genius died tragically after a True God refined her Seven-Petal Void Soul.

In other words, the Seven-Petal Void Soul was special enough to even tempt undying existences in the True Divinity Realm.

Empyrean Scarletsea wondered whether Vaan would still stand true to his words if he knew about it.

Meanwhile, Henrietta gazed at Vaan's figure through the windows of her eyes with a sense of doubt and softness.

They had only met a few times and spoken very little. She couldn't even hold a proper conversation with him without acting out. She wasn't the most beautiful nor the most elegant. In fact, she was weird and awkward.

As such, she couldn't understand why Vaan was willing to go so far for her.

However, she wanted to believe in them even if they were lies. She also longed to be loved by someone with this kind of intensity.

Henrietta was suddenly reminded of her loneliness and solitude.

She was also a curious creature.

Seeing countless couples walking down the streets of the capital, hand in hand, and acting lovey-dovey throughout the years, even she would feel curious and wish to experience the relationship between man and woman for herself.

However, she had to suppress her feelings and curiosity due to her master's strict words regarding the disadvantages of love.

Now that her master allowed her to marry a man and even perform dual practice with the person, could she be a little more selfish?

Perhaps if she was with Vaan, she could experience and understand the true meaning of love.

...

"Ahem!" Empyrean Scarletsea coughed, having recovered from her surprise before resuming her officiating the ceremony.

"Do you, Henrietta Rosegarden, take this man, Vaan Raphna, to be your wedded husband? - To share the good and bad times together, to care for, never betray, and never harm one another?" Empyrean Scarletsea asked her disciple aloud, adding the terms to the contract spell.

It was identical to Vaan's - equally binding, with no single party holding any advantages over the other.

It was a far contract.

"Master can only help you up until this point. You have to complete the ceremony and spell on your own," Empyrean Scarletsea said to her disciple.

Shortly after, Empyrean Scarletsea's grand aura disappeared through Henrietta's body as the latter regained control.

Surprisingly, Henrietta didn't shy away from Vaan. Despite the nervousness in her heart, she glanced up and met Vaan's eyes with steely determination.

"I do," Henrietta answered.

Following her answer, she bit her thumb until it bled before pressing her hand on the other half of the magic circle.

In that instant, the blood essences from the two parties were sucked into the magic circle, merging together in the middle.

The magic circle's glowing blue light intensified before turning crimson red.

Afterward, the magic circle split into two halves, each disappearing into their respective hands. It left behind a runic mark of two interlocking rings on each of their palms.

Some heat could be felt from the runic marks with a subtle tugging force, pointing them in a particular direction.

Vaan and Henrietta both followed their guided direction before their eyes met.

The runic marks allowed them to sense each other's location.

From that day forward, they were bound to each other as husband and wife by the spell.