8. PHOENIX'S SEAL

"The seal on her neck?" Brandon frowned slightly, looking enthusiastic. Eden nodded chimed in. "Isn't it just an ordinary seal?"

"No, Bran." Eden fixed his position for a moment, then sighed. "It's the seal of immortality. The person who drinks the blood of the owner of this seal will live eternally, more immortal than the Immortals here."

"You mean, Jasper is eyeing Clara's blood?"

"Not only that," Eden replied. "The biggest possibility is that he wants to multiply offspring by taking advantage of Clara."

Brandon's drooling was sputtering. His hands were clenched into fists holding back something turbulent within him. "You mean, he used my wife only as a ranch?"

Anne looked at Brandon with a worried look on her face, then looked towards Eden as if beckoning to the man. Eden, who saw the code from the woman, then looked back at the blonde-haired man sitting not far from his bed.

"The Owen clan was the greatest of its time. They controlled one-third of the Immortal's territory first. However, due to the rebellion of one of the members who joined the Black Witcher, their order was damaged little by little and left only about 100 people until now," said the heterochromia-eyed man. "Very few when compared to their numbers in the past."

Eden stared deep into Brandon's eyes. The red eyes seemed to flash and hinted at something. "I know, every single Werewolf man will be endowed with one mate for him and that won't change until the next reincarnation," he continued. "Elana was Jasper's previous mate and that's the reason why I became a BlackWitcher. Become an Immortal and supervise Elana's subsequent reincarnation so as not to experience the same thing as herself."

"Did your sister also used to be like my wife?"

Eden nodded. "She was tempted by Jasper and ended up marrying the Werewolf, then gave birth to many kids until death picked her up," he replied. "I've warned her many times, but she ignored me."

"What about the kids now?"

"I don't know, but obviously ... Jasper hid them in a safe place in order to form a new army to fight us."

Brandon sighed. He leaned on the nightstand, then combed his hair back. "Are they stronger than Jasper?" he asked later.

"It's possible that way," Eden said. "We don't know how the power of the Owen Clan and the phoenix seal is combined, right?"

"Stronger than imagined," Anne said. "Since a long time ago, the phoenix was the epitome of immortality and was always used by wizards to concoct things, but not for strength."

The two men nearby cast their eyes at each other at the white-haired woman. Brandon folded his hands in front of his chest. In the meantime, Eden was silent and seemed to be thinking.

"There must be something Jasper is planning that we don't know," Eden muttered, drawing the attention of two people nearby.

***

After talking a lot about the phoenix seal, Brandon returned to Clara's room. The woman was still closed. The dark circles on her eyes have not disappeared completely. Her body was also thin as if she had lost a lot of blood.

Brandon clasped his wife's hand, hoping that Clara would wake up quickly. His mind was still complicated about everything he had just known. Moreover, Eden's remarks regarding the phoenix seal added to the contents of his brain even more full.

"Are you going to give birth to as many kids as Elana too?" the blonde-haired man murmured.

A few seconds later, Clara moved. She opened her eyes slowly and made Brandon get closer to the woman.

"Clara, it's me," the man said.

Clara circulated a glance, finding the faint thing getting clearer little by little. She found a man beside her. His forehead frowned instantly.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Brandon took a huff of saliva. He sighed for a moment. "I'm Brandon. Brandon Hover. Your husband," he replied softly.

Clara looked thoughtful for a moment. Her hand fingered the man's cheek, and then suddenly the woman woke up. She groaned with her hands holding her belly, while Brandon tried to help her.

"Don't move just yet," the man scolded.

The woman shook her head. She actually tricked the man nearby. "Why are you here?" she snapped, making Brandon stop instantly. Clara hissed, enduring the turmoil in her stomach. "I must be dreaming right now," she murmured back to circulating his gaze.

"You're not dreaming, Clara," Brandon said. "I caught you up here to take you back."

Clara turned her head. "You're not Brandon," she said. "Brandon doesn't have the eyes of a Black Witcher like you!"

Brandon gasped. He turned to look at the mirror standing by the bed and found that both eyes were red and just realized it. The man looked back at Clara. "I can explain it, Clara," he said.

"No! You're not Brandon!" the woman snapped. "Jasper! Jasper!"

The blonde-haired man clucked. Annoyed when his wife actually said the name of another man in front of him. "There's no Jasper here," he said.

"Shut your mouth!" Clara actually pointed at the man nearby. She got up from the bed and walked quickly to the balcony. "Jasper! Help me!"

"Clara!" Brandon caught up with the woman. He held both of Clara's arms, then turned the woman's body to face him. "There is no Jasper here! This is my friend's house!"

"You're trying to lie to me, aren't you?"

"I'm not lying, Clara!"

The female ceased to rebel. Her eyes were still staring at the man in front of him, even though she had already forcibly removed the man's hand. "Don't approach me!"

"But I am your husband—"

"You are not my husband! My husband is only Jasper!"

Brandon was taken aback. How could Clara mention if her husband was just Jasper, while she—Brandon—was her husband too?

Meanwhile, Clara looked strangely at the blonde-haired man. She looked at her up and down, then went back upstairs. "You're a Black Witcher in disguise, right?"

Brandon's saliva was swallowed instantly. His breath escaped his nostrils and mouth. He shook his head. "Don't you remember something?" he asked. Clara was visibly frowning. "Your origin is not from this world, Clara. You are a human."

Clara now looked at herself. Her clothes were a little wrinkled because of the rebellion she had made to Brandon just now. She looked back at the man before her.

"Someone is waiting for you there and I'm here to pick you up," Brandon continued. His face looked expectantly, if the woman in front of him could recall it.

"Who's waiting for me?" asked Clara.

"Your husband."

Really, Brandon is trying to deceive himself even his own wife now. All he did was just so that Clara would accept it this time. He is even willing if he has to be someone else in front of his wife now.

"I ...." Clara looked thoughtful. Her head felt throbbing as she tried to recall the last incident that brought her into this world. Brandon approached her, but one hand stretched out, restraining the man's movements.

"Sorry, but I don't remember anything."

***