Chapter 260 - Shouldering Your Burdens

"Winters!" Roman, who stood outside the dorm, called Julie while she continued to float just above the surface of her bed. Her arms and legs were relaxed, and her head was thrown back, unaware of what was going on with her. 

"It is the after-effects," came someone's voice a few steps away from where Roman stood. His eyes were quick to snap and look at who had just spoken—a man with dark hair, a black cloak around his body. "Cillian Blackburn," introduced the man to him. 

Roman's eyes narrowed, as according to Julie and Mr. Evans, the Corvin couldn't be resurrected, and he had died. But at the same time, there were patches of mud on the man's face, mud that belonged to Willow Creek. 

Without another exchange of words between them, Roman quickly grabbed Cillian's collar and demanded, "Why is her body reacting like this?"

"Julianne stepped foot in the place that holds the forbidden magic. Any witch who walks through the forbidden door, though they benefit on one side, the place tries to compensate for what one takes from there," explained Cillian with a grim expression. "Let me go see."

Roman could sense the way the energy that was filling up in the room was trying to repel him, similar to the way Julianne's energy had once made him throw up blood. But when Cillian stepped into the room, with his one foot and one hand entering the space, his face twisted in pain. He quickly pulled himself back. 

Cillian looked down at his hand and noticed it had turned back to its Corvin state. Fingers like twigs and hand made out of branches. 

"Looks like it doesn't like you much too," replied Roman, and he glared through the door before deciding to step right inside Julie's room.

As expected, the energy that surrounded the dorm didn't welcome him, and instead, he felt the immense energy that tried to make him fall on his knees. 

The reason the energy was trying to reject Roman at the moment was because of the vampire blood that coursed through his veins. Not a second later, he threw up black blood from his mouth, coughing as if something had entered his chest and was hindering his breathing. But the only reason he kept going towards Julie was that he knew there was one thing he and Julie had in common. It was the witch's essence. 

The closer he got to Julie, the worse his condition turned. And maybe if it was another regular vampire, the person would have either fainted or thrown up more blood than Roman had. 

But the core in Roman's heart, it consisted of the dark stone that came from the very forbidden side, which conflicted to accept or reject him. 

Reaching Julie's side, Roman wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her back down on the bed, and checking her pulse. Her body had turned cold as if her soul was leaving her. He turned to Cillian, who stood outside the dorm with a worried look.

Roman shouted, "Is your bond still intact?" 

Cillian shook his head, "It broke the moment I passed through the other side. We aren't bonded anymore." 

Roman let out a frustrated curse, as there was no way of knowing if Julie's soul was leaving her body to turn into an empty shell or if it was just her body trying to process the magic she had touched. 

He turned back to look at her, checking her pulse, which was weak, and he couldn't hear it that well. He bent forward while parting her lips in front of his. He parted his own lips, and when he sucked in the air, soon the black vapours that surrounded her started to slip into his mouth. 

"I don't think that is a good idea!" Cillian shouted in a slight concern. Because what the vampire was doing was voluntarily inhaling and welcoming the smoke that belonged to the forbidden side. He would be doing more damage to himself at this rate. 

But Roman didn't listen to Cillian, and Cillian clenched his jaw. 

Even though Roman had the dark stone, everything had a limit, and it could crack under pressure. This would only remove the boy's support system, which could eventually lead to his body to break down and crumble into dust. 

Roman's thumb caressed Julie's face, which had turned pale. 

"I won't let you die," murmured Roman, his eyes that were black in colour started to fluctuate between black and light red, like lightning in a cloud that was waiting to shower down with heavy rain. "We aren't going to have you die like Juliette." 

Roman continued to pull out the darkness that clung to her since the time she had visited the forbidden door. Julie's mother had been severely affected, finding no cure and knowing her end was certain, the woman had decided to sacrifice her life in the end. The more time passed, the dark magic that had seeped in here started to reduce, and at the same time, Roman's eyes turned red before it began to glow brighter and rich in colour. 

Once everything was back to normal, the warmth in Julie's body started to return, yet she continued to lay unconscious in the bed. 

Roman coughed as if he had suddenly been attacked by something. His body shook, and he brought his right hand forward to cover his mouth, but that wasn't enough to hold the amount of blood he threw up. 

"Both of you are reckless!" scolded Cillian, his eyes narrowed at the boy, and he looked at Julie. 

"Did you think I was going to let her die, did you?" questioned Roman, wiping the blood off his mouth. He took a large breath while he coughed again. It was as if he had run a mile without stopping. 

"You could have damaged yourself," glared Cillian before coming closer to Julie and staring at her sleeping face. 

Roman's eyes lazily swept at his ancestor, still finding it odd how they were both related with a large gap of time. He noticed how Cillian's face showed expressions, something he hadn't been able to do when he was a Corvin because of his boney bird-like face. Roman wasn't too fond of the way the man looked at his woman in such worry and fondness, knowing well that Cillian liked Julie. 

Cillian stretched his hand towards Julie, and before he could touch her forehead, Roman caught hold of the hand, which still had flesh on it. 

"I am only going to check if her soul is still intact. Nothing more," replied Cillian, and Roman finally let go of the man's hand, watching Cillian place his hand on Julie's forehead for a while. He said, "She is fine, but it seems like trying to go through the forbidden door has exhausted her."

"Do you know what symptoms Lady Opaline's body showed when she finished walking in and out of the forbidden door?" questioned Roman and Cillian gave him a short nod. 

"I did. She used to throw up blood often, and her magic wasn't on par as it once used to be. Her immunity turned weak, and there were some things that weren't the same. Like her feet," explained Cillian, with a small frown on his face and the expression on his face only turning grimmer. "They had grown old, and it was moving upwards. As you know, we witches try to hide our true age, for many decades or sometimes even centuries in some cases."

"Julie mentioned about her not being able to time travel ever again. But if I am not wrong, her mother met me before the day of her execution," Roman's eyes narrowed at the Corvin, who had plainly lied to Julie. 

Julie had been so much grief over Cillian's death that she had failed to realize that the Corvin had lied to her during his last moments with her. 

Cillian stared back at Roman, and he replied, "I didn't want her stepping into the forbidden door and hoped that it would be enough to keep her outside it. Because I know the forbidden door never brings good things, and it will tear out an equal amount of repercussions for what you take. Opaline suffered quite terribly, the constant pain and her inability to do some of the things. She couldn't touch her daughters or son, worried that it was going to infect them too."

Hearing this, Roman turned to look at Julie, who was soundly sleeping. He sat next to her, running his good hand on her hair which had not a single drop of blood. 

He didn't want Julie to go through it, and he was nowhere going to let her die, not when he was alive and next to her. 

Cillian stared at Roman, who freely touched Julie's head, and he then asked, "Aren't you angry?" 

"What for?" Roman questioned Cillian. 

"Julie tried to resurrect me, when she knew what she was going to lose and what could happen to her. Putting her life on line for me," explained Cillian, and Roman's jaw ticked, but he didn't respond to the man immediately. 

Instead of being angry, Roman smiled at Cillian, confusing the man, "What is important to Julie is important to me. And moreover, I think I would benefit better with you being alive. One because we can finally know what the two vials her mother left for her means. And two, because you are connected to her family and she needs someone. More than I do." 

Saying this, Roman was not welcoming Cillian but drawing a line between them. He then continued to speak, 

"To me, Julie's happiness matters the most, and I don't care about the rest. If you are insinuating if I am jealous, then no.. There's nothing to be jealous about because I know her feelings, all of them belong to me."