[Leif's POV—ThorenVald Estate—Later]
The silence didn't fade. It stayed—heavy, alive, clinging to my skin like smoke. The echo of his footsteps was gone, but somehow, I still heard them.
Down the stairs. Across the marble. Through me. He didn't slam the door. He didn't shout. He just left—and that was worse.
Because anger burns out. But hurt… hurt lingers.
I stood there too long. Long enough for the air to grow cold. Long enough to feel the warmth he left behind fade into the stone, like even the floor wanted to forget us.
And —I knew I was the one at fault here.
I was the one who looked away. The one who stayed silent when truth begged to be spoken.
But how do I tell him? How do I tell Alvar that the man he loves is not from this world?
That the real Leif ThorenVald—the one born in this world, the one who gave power to elowen, the one who was his—might still be out there somewhere?
That I'm just a borrowed name, a misplaced soul wearing another man's skin?
