The System Gave Me A Yandere Husband

Chapter 25: Esme’s Weapon

Esme stood frozen in the center of the cage. Desperate, she tried to use the skills she had just acquired. She reached for the shadows, hoping to slip through the gaps in the bars. But nothing happened.

Her [Master Illusionist] and [Silent Lockpick] abilities were completely disabled, neutralized by the overwhelming strength of Eveyr’s ancient bloodline magic.

The system’s interface began to crash before her eyes. A flood of glitching error windows cascaded across her vision in blinding red light.

[CRITICAL ERROR: HOST QUARANTINED]

[ERROR: CONNECTION TO EXTERNAL WORLD SEVERED]

The text warped violently, the font turning alive.

Architect Override Initiating...

Listen to me, Host. You must break his domain. If he locks himself away with you in this void, there is no friction. There is no story. If he remains content, I starve. We both die in the dark. Break him! Make him bleed!

Then with a loud hiss, the red text vanished. The system was gone, suppressed into dormancy by the cage. She was on her own now.

Esme slowly turned around and saw Eveyr sitting on the edge of the velvet chaise lounge. He looked like a king who had conquered the world and was now resting in his throne room. His usual tense shoulders were relaxed, and his hands rested casually on his knees.

"You fought beautifully, Esme," Eveyr murmured and gestured to the cage around them. "But the game is over now."

Esme’s heart pounded rapidly. Panic crept over her, threatening to overwhelm her. Her first instinct was to scream. She wanted to throw herself at the cage bars, throw things at his head, and curse his name until her throat bled.

But her analytical mind caught up with her panic.

If I fight him, I will be proving his delusion right. He thinks I thrive on conflict. He feeds on my fire, my defiance, and my sharp tongue. If I rage against the cage, I will still be playing his game. I will still be engaging with him.

She knew anger and physical violence were useless against him. She had only one weapon left now, and that was complete emotional withdrawal.

Esme didn’t scream, cry or bang her fists against the bars. Instead, she walked to the corner of the cage, as far from the velvet chaise as possible.

Refusing the luxurious bed and warmth of the rugs, she sat on the freezing floor. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around her legs, and turned her back to him.

She closed her eyes and built a wall in her mind so high and thick that not even a god could climb it. She shut him out completely.

Hours passed. The silence in the cage was heavy, broken only by the soft hum of the magic. Esme didn’t utter a single word. She didn’t look over her shoulder or react to the sound of Eveyr pouring a glass of wine or shifting on the chaise.

At first, Eveyr remained patient. He was used to waiting. But as the third hour approached, his calm demeanour began to crack. The monster inside him thrived on her friction. He needed her to look at him, even with hatred. She was starving him out.

"The floor is cold, Esme," Eveyr said, softly. "Come sit with me. You will get sick. There is tea on the table and a few books you would like."

Esme didn’t react. She remained sitting there like a perfect statue staring at the stone wall outside the bars.

"Why are you fighting this?" Eveyr asked. "Your world only wanted to use you. I am the only one who just wants you. I built a beautiful sanctuary for us. Why are you treating it like a tomb?"

Esme still didn’t acknowledge him. Eveyr sighed in frustration.

"Are you going to pout like a spoiled Duchess now? That doesn’t suit you. I saw the brilliant, ruthless fire in your eyes when you cut your own arm to leash me. Show me that fire again, Esme. Yell at me. Tell me how much you despise me."

He waited. He literally begged for her insults. But Esme gave him nothing. Eveyr’s boots hit the floor with a thud as he abruptly stood up.

"Speak to me," he ordered this time, the magic around him beginning to swirl uncomfortably. "If you think by staying silent you are punishing me, then you are wrong. I have all the time in the world. But I will not let you turn yourself into a ghost inside my house."

But Esme still didn’t give him any reaction. The void she had created was too much for Eveyr. Eventually, his patience snapped.

His magic crackled in the air, sparking with wild anxiety. The possessive obsession in his chest spiked, but this time with desperate need instead of jealousy. He needed her to acknowledge his existence.

He walked to her in three strides and loomed over her small body.

"Look at me," Eveyr ordered.

He reached down, grabbed her chin, and forced her to look at him.

"Esme, I said look at..."

BOOM

A massive explosion rocked Aldric Keep. The force of the blast shook the underground vault so hard that Esme was thrown sideways against the cage bars. Dust and mortar rained down from the ceiling. Outside the cage, the floating orbs of blue light flickered and hissed.

Before either of them could recover, another explosion hit the Keep. This one was much closer, a deafening roar of destructive magic that shattered the stone blocks above them.

Eveyr’s hand froze inches from Esme’s face. He snapped his head up towards the ceiling, narrowing his eyes angrily.

His anxiety had vanished now, replaced by his wrath on realizing his territory had just been invaded.

The tracking curse Eveyr had branded onto Sylas’s neck in the greenhouse hadn’t just served as a warning. Sylas had used the curse as a beacon to understand the frequency of Eveyr’s bloodline magic to guide Crown Prince Julian’s Imperial Siege Mages directly to the Keep’s weakest ward.

Eveyr had sealed himself inside a world where no one could take Esme away from him. But unfortunately for him...the outside world had found the door.