The night stretched endlessly, heavy with unspoken words and unbearable distance.

She was gone.

He let her go.

And for the first time in seventeen lives, he feared he had lost her forever.

A Heart Divided

He didn’t know how long he stood there, staring at the empty space where she had been. His hands clenched at his sides, his breath slow and controlled — too controlled. It was the only way to keep himself from breaking.

“How do I trust you now?”

Her voice echoed in his mind, louder than the sound of his own heartbeat.

His past sins had finally caught up to him. And the one person he had sworn to protect — his only reason for living this life — had turned her back on him.

Not because she hated him.

But because she couldn’t bear to love him.

A bitter laugh escaped his lips. He had been ready to fight a thousand enemies for her. To burn down the world if it meant keeping her safe.

But the real battle?

The real battle was proving to her that he was not the monster she remembered.

And that, perhaps, was the hardest fight of all.

Nowhere Left to Run

She ran.

Through dark alleys, through unfamiliar streets, through a city that suddenly felt suffocating.

Her heart pounded against her ribs, her breath coming in shallow gasps.

I need to get away.

I need to think.

But no matter how far she ran, she couldn’t escape the truth.

The man she had trusted, the one who had protected her, who had made her believe she wasn’t alone in this — had once been the very person who destroyed her.

Her hands trembled.

She had spent all this time trying to break through his walls, trying to understand the storm inside him. But she had never realized — she was part of the storm.

Was it all a lie?

Had he only been protecting her out of guilt? Had she been nothing more than a ghost from his past that he wanted to fix?

Or…

Had he changed?

Had this life truly made him different?

She didn’t know.

And that terrified her.

The Past is Never Silent

She had barely caught her breath when she heard footsteps.

Not his.

Someone else.

Too steady. Too controlled.

And too close.

Her entire body tensed, instincts screaming at her to move — but she was too late.

A hand closed around her wrist. Cold steel pressed against her throat.

“Running away in the middle of the night?” A low voice chuckled. “That’s not very smart.”

She froze.

Not because of fear.

But because she recognized that voice.

Slowly, she turned her head.

And the moment she saw his face, the world seemed to stop.

“You — “

His smirk deepened.

“Long time no see, Princess.”

Her blood ran cold.

Because standing before her wasn’t just anyone.

It was the man who had once betrayed her in a past life.

And he was supposed to be dead.