Chapter 20: Your Mark (2)

"Your mark," Archer repeated calmly.

Summer pointed at herself. "I did that? When?!"

"When we mated after the guiding session."

Summer opened her mouth, but then closed it again. She truly had absolutely no memory of doing anything that could have created a mark like that.

Did biting his neck count as claiming him?! Why the hell did everything in this world have to be so confusing?

Summer had only bitten him because she wanted to leave a bite mark. That was it! She definitely had not been thinking about claiming him or marking him for life!

"Can I do something about that?" Summer asked awkwardly, scratching her cheek. "I mean, I clearly did it by accident. I didn’t even know I marked you until five seconds ago."

She glanced at the flower on his neck again. From what she knew, marking someone was a pretty serious thing in this world. It was definitely not something people did casually.

Once someone was marked, they were not supposed to have intimate relationships with anyone else.

That was basically the whole point of a mark and Summer had somehow slapped one onto Archer without even realizing it.

"I can remove it somehow, right?" she asked. "There must be some kind of procedure, medicine, or whatever you people use in this world."

Archer gave her a strange look. "For what?"

Summer raised an eyebrow. "For what?" she repeated in disbelief. "To erase it, obviously!"

"Erasing it is such a headache," Archer replied casually. "It’s not like I’m in a relationship with anyone else anyway. Besides, it’ll be easier for us to make an agreement this way."

Summer stared at him with a deadpan look. How could this man be so casual about something like this?!

Sure, he might not be in a relationship with anyone right now, but what about the future?

He would probably want one eventually, right?

Yet Archer was acting as if being accidentally marked by her was nothing more than a small inconvenience that was not worth fixing.

After a while, Summer finally giving up with a soft sigh.

Fine.

If the person who had been marked did not care, why was she the one worrying so much about it?

"Alright," she said. "What do we need to do to make that special agreement?"

"First of all, we have to go over all the rules we want to include in the agreement," Archer explained. "Let’s go somewhere comfortable first."

In the end, they headed to the cafeteria to grab some dinner. While Summer went to get their food, Archer stayed at the table and began writing down everything they wanted to include in their agreement.

Apparently, an agreement formed through soul binding had to be written by hand instead of digitally.

For a world filled with advanced technology, Summer found that strangely old-fashioned. But she quickly pushed that thought aside because there was something much more important in front of her: Food.

Summer had not expected the cafeteria to be this impressive, especially the section reserved for high-ranking Sentinels and Guides.

There were several long counters filled with all kinds of dishes, from grilled meat and seafood to soups, noodles, rice dishes, fresh fruit, and desserts. There was even a separate counter where people could order freshly cooked meals.

Summer’s rabbit ears immediately perked up as she saw those dishes.

In her old world, she could also get almost any food she wanted. Unfortunately, half of her body had been replaced with machines, and eating had stopped being enjoyable.

Her sense of taste had slowly become dull, and eventually, even her tongue had been modified so she could consume certain poisons without harming herself.

But now?

Summer picked up a small piece of roasted meat from her plate and secretly tasted it.

Her eyes immediately lit up when she could taste the seasoning.

The saltiness, the sweetness of the sauce, even the smoky flavor from the grill.

Everything!

Damn. Being fully human again was amazing.

Without the slightest hesitation, Summer began piling food onto her tray.

Meat? Yes.

Noodles? Obviously.

That shrimp dish looked good too. And was that chocolate cake? Summer immediately grabbed a slice.

By the time she was done, her tray looked like she was preparing for her last meal.

As she turned around to return to Archer, her rabbit ears caught the sound of several people gossiping about her from a distance.

"I still can’t believe she’s able to guide an elite Sentinel."

"Didn’t you watch the replay of her livestream? She really did guide him."

"I watched it, but it’s still hard to believe. Maybe she used some kind of drug to fake the Sentinel’s condition? Maybe Archer will get worse after this? Who knows?"

Summer nearly rolled her eyes into the back of her head.

Seriously? These people hated her so much that they were now making up rumors about some mysterious drug that probably did not even exist. She doubted even the researchers had ever thought of creating something like that.

Before Summer could decide whether they were worth her time, another voice joined in. "Honestly, just looking at that F-Rank badge of hers is enough to ruin my appetite."

That did it.

"Oh, dear elite people, could you speak a little louder?" she suddenly called out.

Her voice was loud enough to immediately catch the attention of everyone in the cafeteria. Conversations stopped one after another, and several heads turned toward her, even Archer looked up from the table.

Summer smiled sweetly at the group. "If you speak that quietly, how am I supposed to hear you?" She tilted her head, her rabbit ears twitching above her hair. "Come on. Let me hear you."

The group clearly had not expected her to confront them.

For a few seconds, no one said anything, then one of them, a tall man wearing an A-Rank Sentinel badge, scoffed.

"What? Did I say anything wrong?" He leaned back in his chair and looked Summer up and down with open disgust. "You’re an F-Rank Guide who somehow crawled into the elite section just because you managed to get your hands on an SSS-Rank Sentinel."

A few people around him exchanged uncomfortable looks, but the man was not finished.

"Who knows what kind of invention you lower ranks are using these days to fake compatibility percentages?" He scoffed. "Ninety-six percent compatibility with an SSS-Rank Sentinel? You seriously expect anyone with a brain to believe that?"