For a fleeting moment, Myra's breath caught.
His voice so raw, so desperate slipped through the cracks of her anger like a forgotten melody.
Her heart stuttered as she looked at him the same man she once thought incapable of breaking, now shattered before her eyes.
For a moment, her fingers twitched, almost reaching out to him.
Almost.
But then the weight of his silence, the fire of betrayal, came crashing back like a tidal wave.
Her chest tightened; her eyes burned.
She took a step back, her voice breaking, trembling between grief and fury.
"Trust you? You had a thousand chances to tell me the truth, Ranvijay. A thousand moments where I begged for honesty. And every single time you chose silence."
Her tears fell faster now, mixing with the rain.
"Don't ask me to trust you now… when everything I believed in turned to ash because of you."
Her voice trembled, soft yet sharp enough to wound.
"You want me to trust you? Then tell me what really happened that night. Tell me what you're hiding from me!"
"Ranvijay… you loved me, right?"
Her voice broke, trembling through the sound of the rain.
He looked up at her, eyes hollow, water streaming down his face whether it was rain or tears, even he didn't know anymore.
"Then let me go," she whispered, taking a shaky step back.
Her lips quivered, her breath coming in uneven gasps. "If you ever loved me just once then let me go, Ranvijay."
He stared at her as if the ground beneath him had just given way.
Every word that left her lips sliced through his chest, each syllable louder than the thunder that cracked above them.
"And right now…" she paused, her voice breaking into sobs, "right now, I don't even want to see your face."
Her tears fell freely now, blurring her sight, her voice shattering in the storm.
"I can't… I can't breathe around you anymore," she said, clutching her chest as if holding her heart together.
"You took everything, Ranvijay… everything I had left."
He stood there, frozen, drenched, his breath shallow, as though time itself refused to move without her.
She turned away, and for the first time, he didn't stop her.
Because he knew no amount of power, no army, no kingdom could hold back a woman who walked away with a broken heart.
Myra's tears mixed with the rain as she turned halfway toward him again, her voice trembling, breaking between sobs.
"You know what, Ranvijay?" she whispered, her words sharp enough to slice through his silence.
"You do have a heart… but it's not flesh and blood."
Her voice cracked as she pointed to his chest, where her name was still etched near his heart the one she had once traced with trembling fingers.
"It's just stone… cold, lifeless stone. You can't feel, you only control. You only destroy."
Ranvijay took a slow, trembling step closer the distance between them dissolving with each breath.
Myra tried to back away, but the look in his eyes rooted her where she stood. His hand rose, hesitating midair before he cupped the side of her face gently, almost reverently, as though she were something sacred he had already lost.
He leaned in until their foreheads met the cold rain running down their faces, their breaths mingling, uneven, trembling. The air between them felt alive, pulsing with every unspoken word.
His voice broke the silence, low, rough, almost a whisper against her lips.
"If anyone should leave, it's me," he said, his breath warm against her rain-soaked skin.
"This place… this palace, this life it's yours, Myra. The moment you want me gone, I'll vanish. I'll disappear like I never existed."
A tear slipped down his cheek, though his eyes held nothing but fierce truth.
"You're right," he continued, voice heavy with pain, "I don't have a heart of blood and flesh. It's made of stone. But you know what happens when a name is carved into stone?"
He paused, his thumb brushing the corner of her trembling lips.
"It never fades, Myra."
He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes his gaze raw, burning, unguarded.
"And the name carved on mine… is yours. Forever."
The thunder roared as if the heavens themselves couldn't bear the weight of his confession.
For a moment, they just stood there two souls broken, bound, and bleeding in silence.
Myra's chest ached as if her heart couldn't decide whether to break or to forgive.
Ranvijay's voice trembled now, stripped of all the power the world once bowed to. His forehead still rested against hers, his breath warm against her cold skin.
"If you want me gone…" he whispered, his tone raw and desperate, "…you'll never see me again. I'll disappear from your sight, Myra, as if I never existed. But"
His hand slid to the back of her head, fingers threading gently through her damp hair.
"even if you never see me, I'll still watch over you. Every breath you take, every step you walk, every night you sleepI'll be there. Silent. Unseen. But there."
His voice cracked, breaking under the storm.
"You face even a little discomfort and I'll go insane, Myra. The thought of you in painit kills me. And I can't take that risk."
He shut his eyes, pressing his forehead harder against hers as if trying to memorize the feel of her.
"So hate me," he murmured, his voice shaking, "Hate me all you want. Tear me apart in your heart, curse my name, burn every memory of meif that's what it takes for you to live."
He exhaled shakily, his thumb brushing the tear rolling down her cheek.
"But I'll still be there. In the shadows. Watching over you. Because that's all I know how to do."
The storm raged louder, drowning their breaths, their silence
two broken souls standing in the ruins of love, where devotion was both a curse and a prayer.