Rose looks like she wants to run, yet her body remains rooted to the spot, drawn to Harry by the very {Charm} the system just described.

  "Rose," Harry says softly, reaching out toward her.

  She flinches, a single tear tracking down her cheek.

  "Harry? You... you look so different. Everything is so different. I remember the forest. I remember Loris saying you were dead. I came to the cliff to see... and then..."

  She stops, her voice failing her as she realizes she is in a cave with a man who should be a corpse.

  She clutches her head, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "I'm a teacher... I'm a married woman... and I just... with a student..."

  The weight of her human reality is crashing back down, colliding with the supernatural ecstasy of the night before.

  She looks at Harry, and he sees the fear in her eyes, not a fear of him, but a fear of herself.

  "What have I done?" she asks again, her voice a fragile thread.

  Her behavior is confusing him. Didn't she say she liked me st night? Harry wonders. Only after confirming that will he proceed further.

  You know something about this, don't you? What are you hiding from me, Nova? he demands in his mind.

  After a few seconds, Nova's reply scrolls across his internal vision.

  [Harry, st night, due to being at your limit, you subconsciously used {Charm} and {Seductive Aura}. This resulted in artificially increasing Rose's arousal.]

  Harry feels a cold pit form in his stomach. He is stunned. If what Nova is saying is right, then is everything Rose said st night a lie? A mere byproduct of his demonic pheromones?

  [It is not like that, Harry. The ability only amplified the feelings she already has for you. It did not create them. She genuinely has feelings for you.]

  Even knowing this does not make him feel good.

  To Harry, it feels like he cheated. Looking at Rose's crying figure, curled into a ball as if she is trying to disappear into the stone, he cannot just sit here.

  He moves toward her, his bare skin brushing against the cool cave air, and wraps his arms around her curled form.

  When their skin meets, the contrast is startling, she is shivering and cold, while Harry radiates a constant, demonic heat.

  [Ding!]

  [New Quest avaible.]

  [Do you want to see it?]

  Not now, Nova. Harry dismisses the screen with a thought. His priority is comforting this woman.

  As he hugs her, Rose flinches. She is scared of his touch, scared of the way her own body still wants to lean into him despite her mind screaming in protest.

  "Rose, look at me," Harry says, trying to keep his voice as soft and human as possible.

  She does not raise her head. She just continues to sob into her knees, her grey-white hair shielding her face from view.

  "Rose, please. Look at me," he says, his voice dropping to a low, soothing hum.

  Slowly and painfully, she raises her head. Her dark grey eyes are rimmed with red, swimming with tears and a devastating amount of self-bme.

  Harry can see in her eyes that she is a single step away from a complete mental break. If he does not anchor her now, she will never recover.

  "Harry...sorry... we shouldn't have..." Her words come out in broken, jagged pieces.

  "Shh, Rose, it's alright." Harry gently guides her head to his chest, his hand rubbing her back in slow, rhythmic circles. The sensation of her heartbeat against his skin is grounding. "Everything is going to be okay."

  "Harry, what... hic... we did is... hic... wrong," she says through her hiccups, her fingers clutching at his shoulders as if she is drowning.

  "No, Rose," Harry says, his voice firm yet gentle. "We did nothing wrong."

  "But—"

  "I like you, Rose."

  The words stun her. She pulls back just enough to look at his face, her eyes searching the amethyst depths of his for any sign of a lie.

  "I have liked you since the first day I saw you in that lecture hall," Harry continues. "I didn't say anything because I was just a boy in your css. I thought you'd ugh at me."

  More tears spill from her eyes, but the frantic gasping for air begins to slow. She stays silent, staring at him. Harry can practically hear the gears of her mind grinding against each other.

  "Why have you gone silent, Rose? Didn't you say st night that you liked me too?"

  "But... I am a married woman, Harry," she whispers, the word "married" sounding like a death sentence.

  "We both know the truth, Rose. You haven't been happy since the day you said 'I do.' Loris isn't even a good human being, let alone a good husband. You were living in a prison." Harry's voice rises slightly, his protective instinct fring.

  "It's still wrong, Harry." She lowers her head again, hiding her face in the crook of her neck.

  "Why?" he presses. He knows he is being a little rough, but if he does not break her old way of thinking, Loris will still have a leash on her soul.

  "Because... because we are teacher and student."

  Harry almost wants to ugh. She is reaching for any shield she can find, social status, job titles, anything to avoid the reality of how she feels.

  "I'm in my st semester, Rose. In a few months, I'll be out of that college. We won't be teacher and student anymore. We'll just be two people."

  "You don't understand, Harry... Loris... he is a very powerful man. He has friends in high pces. He'll find us. He'll destroy everything you love."

  Harry reaches out and cups her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes. He lets the violet glow intensify just a fraction, not to seduce her, but to show her the power now coursing through him.

  "Rose, look at me. He already tried to kill me. He pushed me off a cliff and left me for dead. And yet, here I am. I'm standing before you, stronger than I've ever been. I can deal with him. I will deal with him."

  Confusion and awe flicker across her face. She reaches out, her fingertips hovering just over the pale, unblemished skin of his chest where the metal rod should have left a scar.

  "I like you, Rose Evans." Harry moves his face closer until their noses are nearly touching. He does not use his powers. He does not use the aura. He just waits. "Do you like me?"

  He can see the war raging in her eyes. It is a conflict between the fear of a monster like Loris and the magnetic pull of a new, unknown life.

  It feels like an eternity passes in that silent cave, the only sound the distant chirping of birds outside.

  Finally, she leans forward. It is a tiny movement, but it changes everything.

  Their lips touch, and this time, it is not the volcanic, lust-driven explosion of the night before. This kiss is soft, lingering, and filled with a desperate, quiet hope.

  As they kiss, Harry feels a surge of vitality from her, not because he is taking it, but because she is offering it.

  It feels like warm honey flowing into his core. His hands instinctively wander downward, tracing the curve of her back toward her waist, his fingers dipping lower toward her hips...

  "I also like you, Harry. But..." Rose's shy, muffled voice against his lips brings him back to reality.

  Harry pulls back slightly, a genuine smile forming on his face. His hands halt their downward journey and return to her waist. He feels lighter than he has in years.

  "Leave everything else to me," he says, his gaze locked on hers. "And... maybe we should put some clothes on first? I don't think I can keep my resolve for long if I keep looking at you like this."

  The realization of her current state hits Rose like a lightning bolt. She freezes, turning as stiff as a statue.

  She slowly looks down, seeing their naked bodies intertwined on the cave floor.

  "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

  With a sudden, high-pitched yelp, she shoves him away with surprising strength and dives behind a nearby rock pilr.

  Harry cannot help it. He throws his head back and ughs out loud, the sound echoing through the cavern.

  "Hahaha! What's there to hide now, Rose? We spent the previous night seeing everything there is to see!"

  "No! Harry! Don't come over here! Don't look!" Her voice is high and frantic, and Harry can practically see the steam coming off her red face from where he sits.

  "Okay, okay! I'm staying put!" Harry reaches for the shopping bags Velora left by the cave entrance. He pulls out the one filled with women's clothing. "Here. These are for you. Catch."

  He tosses the bag toward the pilr. A small, pale hand reaches out, snatches the bag out of the air, and disappears again. He hears the frantic rustle of fabric as she begins to dress in a hurry.

  Harry turns his back to give her privacy and reaches into the second bag for his own clothes.

  As he pulls on a dark hoodie and cargo pants, he decides to look at what quest Nova has prepared for him.