Eldur POV
She said, "Please leave me alone."
It was quiet. Gentle. Like a whisper begging to be believed.
But it felt like a blade to the chest. A slow one, too. The kind that doesn't kill—just carves out something important and leaves the rest of you behind to wonder why it still hurts.
I walked out.
Not because I wanted to but because she asked me to.
The bell chimed overhead, mockingly cheerful as I left the bookshop. I didn't turn back. I didn't beg. I didn't stay.
Because I'd done that before.
With Mai.
I'd clung too hard. I'd held on like my life depended on it. And I nearly destroyed her for it.
I wouldn't make the same mistake with Nova.
But that didn't mean I wasn't bleeding inside.
