The second VOW

The banquet hall glittered with light. Crystal lamps cast golden warmth over polished floors, and nobles filled the room with chatter and laughter.

To everyone else, it was just another celebration — a chance to flatter the young heir of the Li family. But to Mos, the scene was a ghost of his past.

He had been here before.

He knew the way the musicians would falter when he stood, the way the guests would whisper about his arrogance, the way his vow to Banky would one day become a chain too heavy for either of them to bear.

Yet now, standing amidst the crowd, his hands clenched at his sides, Mos felt an unfamiliar weight pressing on his chest.

This is my second chance.

---

Banky stood beside him, gentle as ever. His pale blue robes fell neatly around his frame, his brown eyes calm like still water. He refilled Mos’s cup with quiet care, as though nothing had changed.

Mos’s throat tightened. In his last life, he had crushed this gentleness beneath obsession. He had mistaken Banky’s silence for acceptance, mistaking fear for love.

This time, he wanted to reach out—wanted to say something different.

But the words that came to his lips were the same as before.

“Banky…” Mos’s voice trembled, low enough that only the boy beside him could hear. “Stay with me. No matter what happens, promise you won’t leave my side.”

The vow spilled out like poison he couldn’t stop himself from drinking.

Banky’s hand froze mid-motion, the wine jug tilting slightly. He blinked, startled. Then he smiled faintly, masking the pause with practiced ease.

“Young Master Mos,” he said softly, “you always say such things. You know I’ll always be here.”

Mos’s chest twisted at the answer.

He had lived this moment before. He had clung to those words before. And in the end, it had destroyed them both.

“Always…” Mos echoed under his breath. His hand trembled as he gripped the wine cup. Do I dare make the same mistake again? Do I dare keep him in chains?

From across the hall, Jamie watched silently. Her fan hid the lower half of her face, but her eyes were sharp as blades. She had seen this once before. She knew how this story ended.

And yet, something in Mos’s gaze was different this time.

Was it regret? Or was it still the same hunger disguised as love?

---

Later, when the banquet ended and the guests retired, Mos stood alone in the courtyard. The night air was cool, the moonlight spilling over the stone path.

He clenched his fists until his nails bit into his palms.

“I swore I would change,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “But one look at him, and I—”

He stopped. The vow still lingered on his lips, unspoken yet inevitable.

Even reborn, even with regret carved into his soul, Mos could not let go of Banky.

Because to him, Banky was not just a person. He was salvation, possession, punishment, and redemption all at once.

And so, the second vow was made—not with words, but with a heart that refused to release its grip.

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✨ End of Chapter 5 – The Second Vow.✨

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