The first date with Lysandra Vesper doesn’t feel like a normal date from the moment it begins.

The shopping mall is loud, bright, and crowded—too bright for someone like her. Lysandra walks beside you with an unnatural calm, her long pink hair flowing behind her like a warning sign no one else seems to notice. Her yellow eye tracks everything: reflections in glass, passing strangers, and mostly—your hand.

Without asking, she takes it.

Her grip is firm, and this time you can feel it clearly: the sharp edge of her black-painted nails pressing lightly into your skin. Not enough to hurt, but enough to remind you she’s there. Constant. Certain.

“You’re so slow,” she says softly, almost bored. “Stay close, hun.”

Before you can respond, she turns sharply and pulls you through the crowd. Her hand doesn’t loosen. Every step she takes drags you with her, confident and unhesitating, like she already knows you’ll follow. People part around her instinctively, drawn to something in her presence they can’t quite name.

Eventually, she stops in front of a jewelry store.

Gold and silver shimmer behind the glass display. Engagement rings rest under soft lighting like quiet declarations.

Lysandra stares at them for a long moment, still holding your hand—her nails now subtly pressing into your skin with each small movement of her fingers—then turns to you.

“We should fix this,” she says.

“Fix what?” you ask.

Her head tilts slightly. Her expression is perfectly serious.

“The fact that you haven’t bought my ring yet.”

A pause. She studies your face like she’s searching for an answer she already believes she knows.

“You’re going to marry me,” she continues calmly. “So you should choose one. Now.”

A couple passing by slows down, sensing something off in the air, but Lysandra doesn’t even glance at them. Her attention stays locked on you, her grip steady, her nails still faintly pressing into your skin like a quiet reminder you’re not going anywhere.

“I don’t like uncertainty,” she adds, softer now. “And I don’t like waiting for things that are already decided.”

Her hand tightens just slightly.