* * *
Ellyn grinned, saying she was beyond satisfied now that she had settled down with Xenon, who matched both her taste and her personality perfectly, and whose compatibility score was outstanding.
But then, as if something had crossed her mind, she clicked her tongue quietly.
For a brief moment, a trace of displeasure flashed across her face before disappearing.
“You can tell by his personality. In bed, that’s a whole other issue… Anyway, there’s no way we could’ve been a good match.”
“Uh… Ellyn… Miss Ellyn…”
“Don’t worry, my pretty baby. I much prefer devouring you.”
“I-I wasn’t worried… B-but… thank you.”
Just by looking at Xenon fanning himself to cool down, it was clear his emotions were leaning more toward bashful excitement than actual worry.
Ben could also see that Xenon’s fluttering was something Ellyn simply couldn’t resist.
Watching her cuddle him and nuzzle her face against his, Ben felt a twinge of envy mixed with a vague sense of relief.
Still, the fact that she was once Haimar’s “former Guide” kept lingering in Ben’s mind.
Despite thinking he had put his shaken feelings to rest, conflicting emotions kept surfacing from a deeper place, throwing him into confusion.
‘This is so childish. I’m not a moody teenager going through puberty.’
Ben wanted to stop reacting to everything so emotionally and remain calm and detached.
He knew Ellyn had no lingering feelings for Haimar.
Even so, the emotions that rose up against his will only made him feel like digging a hole to bury himself in.
If no one had been around, he honestly might’ve smacked himself upside the head.
“Looking back, I can’t find a single redeeming quality. He can’t compare to my Xenon.”
“Ah, no! I-I wouldn’t dare say that… B-but… thank you again…”
“Aigoo, you cute thing. I really need to get you branded and stamped.”
“M-me… too…?”
Though it was the dead of winter, it felt as if the area around the two of them was bathed in the warm glow of spring or summer, with roses blooming all around.
You could believe it was a flower field in May, where they wouldn’t even need a heater or scarves.
Ben pursed his lips, and his mind wandered back to the idea of Imprinting—something he’d pushed aside.
It was proof that two hearts were bound together.
Before, he’d been too uncertain to even consider it—but now things were different.
Honestly, a small part of him—just a little—wanted it.
But that wasn’t possible.
‘Our hearts probably aren’t in the same place, so how could there be an Imprint…?’
Even if there was a bond, imprinting required more than just affection.
If it could be done through sex alone, anyone and everyone would be Imprinted by now.
It required steady effort to bear fruit.
And with irregular Guides like him, the “Sign Ring” wasn’t even properly understood, which only made him more hesitant.
“B-Ben… do you not… want to?”
Xenon, who had been quietly cuddled up with Ellyn, must’ve felt bad seeing Ben rubbing his forehead with a troubled look.
After a short pause, he suddenly asked the question.
Xenon probably didn’t mean much by it, but for Ben, it felt like someone had dropped a bomb in his lap.
He flinched visibly.
“Wh-What?! Oh, no, I mean… for irregulars, there’s something called a Sign Ring, or a Binding Thread or something, but it’s still a bit of a mystery—”
“Oh, I know, I know. But the principle’s universal, isn’t it?”
Caught off guard, Ben ended up blurting out something he wouldn’t normally dare to bring up—not to just anyone, and definitely not to Haimar.
The second the words left his mouth, regret hit him hard: ‘Why didn’t I just dodge the question?’
But that regret was instantly wiped away by what Ellyn did next.
With a relaxed smile, she swept her long orange hair behind one ear, formed a circle with her thumb and index finger, and started poking into it repeatedly with the index finger of her other hand.
“This. This is what I mean.”
‘So that’s why they call her a pervert…’
Ben hadn’t expected to find out the reason for Ellyn’s nickname in such a vivid way.
Just like Elgran, she had no problem making dirty jokes in public—except she was even bolder.
If Elgran had done it, Ben might’ve snapped and told him off.
But Ellyn did it so cheerfully, even proudly demonstrating the obscene gesture toward Xenon, that Ben was too stunned to stop her.
“Pffft! You’re all so bashful. Adorable.”
What finally stopped her wasn’t Ben or Xenon, but her own laughter.
Bursting into hearty giggles at the sight of the red-faced, squirming Xenon and the frozen-stiff Ben, Ellyn wiped away the tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
“My theory is that for normal Espers and Guides, Imprinting makes the two become each other’s only one. But irregulars are pretty much already in that state, even without an Imprint, right? So maybe that’s why for you guys, it shows up as the Sign Ring. There must be something special about it—look at the twins, for example. They’re totally unique.”
Having barely stopped laughing, Ellyn offered her theory with some rationality.
Watching Ben deep in thought over her words, she glanced at Xenon in her arms, then back at Ben, then again at Xenon.
Finally, she folded her arms with a satisfied nod.
‘It’s coming. I can feel it.’
Her intuition, honed over years of experience, was kicking in.
Within [Integra], Ellyn was unmatched when it came to love and relationships.
Right now, she clearly saw the difference in temperature between Xenon’s love and Ben’s.
‘Oho…’
Then all that was left—was to confirm.
“Ben—”
Ding dong—
Just in time, her call overlapped with the order bell, and their food number popped up on the screen.
Both Ben and Xenon stood up, but Ellyn specifically asked Xenon to go get the food.
Left with nothing to do, Ben had no choice but to sit back down.
“You called?”
“You like him, don’t you?”
The next blow came fast and hard, straight to the heart.
Ben froze up completely, even more than before, unable to say a word.
His ears burned bright red, his only visible response.
Though it was phrased like a question, Ellyn’s face was full of certainty.
The judge had already struck the gavel—three times.
“N-No, it’s not like that… I mean, well—”
“Oh, please. Anyone would know. If you want to be Imprinted, it usually means you have feelings.”
“I-I never said I wanted that.”
“But you didn’t deny it when Xenon asked. If you weren’t interested or disliked the idea, it’d be obvious.”
Ben might not have realized, but when Xenon asked that question, he had definitely shown the look of someone grappling with love.
Xenon was in love—gently warmed by it.
Ben, on the other hand, seemed stuck in limbo, emotions rising and falling, unable to fully ignite.
Most people wouldn’t have picked up on such subtle cues, but Ellyn prided herself on being sharper than most in these matters.
She’d read Ben like an open book. His inability to lie helped.
“I think it’s possible.”
“Please don’t joke around. Haimar is just a Guide. He’s only nice to me because of that.”
“There’s no way Haimar would be kind to someone with a shitty personality just because he’s a Guide. If he didn’t like you, irregular or not, he would’ve slit your throat and moved on. I guarantee it.”
Ellie’s confident words—though maybe just words—still brought Ben a strange sense of comfort.
He didn’t have that certainty, but she did.
He wished he could have that conviction for himself, but all he could do was reply bitterly:
“That’s just what you think, Miss Ellyn…”
“Hmm, really? Well, it’s just a theory, after all. I suppose I need some confirmation too… Oh, perfect timing. Xenon!”
Xenon, who had just arrived carrying packaged food, blinked in surprise at Ellyn’s sudden call.
As Ben stepped out of the takeout place with his share of the food, Ellyn smiled wickedly like she had been waiting for this very moment.
If a scheming strategist straight out of a fairy tale were to appear, it would look exactly like Ellyn right now.
Even though her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, her constant chuckling made her feel anything but normal, and even Xenon looked tense.
“It’s nothing serious. Could you help our Xenon out a little?”
“Out of nowhere?”
“100 percent. I guarantee this will be 100 percent fun.”
…For her, probably.
It wasn’t even Ellyn who needed help—it was Xenon, who had been minding his own business.
That was suspicious in itself.
But before Ben could say anything, Xenon seemed to catch on to something in Ellyn’s words.
Stammering, he suddenly clutched Ben’s hand tightly.
“P-Please help me… Mr. Ben…”
“Well, maybe tell me what this is about first—”
“Please… Won’t you help…?”
What the hell? What’s happening all of a sudden?
Ben had the distinct feeling that some disaster spawned by Ellyn was now heading his way.
But Xenon looked so desperate—ridiculously so—that he thought, ‘How bad could it be?’
Of all the people Ben knew, Xenon was easily the shyest and most delicate.
Helping someone like that couldn’t be too hard, right?
“Alright, I’ll help. What’s going on?”
“R-Really?! Thank you, Mr. Ben…!”
Only after Ben agreed did Xenon finally smile with relief.
It was a bit unsettling to see Ellyn clenching her fists in victory off to the side, but he didn’t realize it yet.
That this was the moment he got pulled into Ellyn’s mess.
* * *
