Two more days passed.
The house was louder now—angry, growling from its hollowed bones. It whispered cruel things to Seraph when she passed the halls. It begged. It demanded. Kill him. End it. Free yourself.
But every time she entered the room with the knife in her trembling hand, something stopped her.
Something... broke.
Not him.
Her.
And today, she gave in—to neither the house, nor herself. She simply came to sit.
In the hall of thorns and gold, under flickering candlelight, she sat in front of Vale's chained body. Her legs folded neatly beneath her. Her gown dragged across the stone like ghost's breath. Her face was hollow, but her eyes told the truth—red-rimmed, swollen. She had cried.
Too much.
Vale stirred. Slowly. Weakly. His arms hung in shackles, wrists blistered and bruised, but his lips still managed a small smile.
"Seraph," he whispered.
She looked at him.
That one look almost made him weep.
But instead—he smiled.
"I won't beg you to kill me," he said gently. "Keep me alive. I'll stay here in these chains if that's what you want. Just…"His voice cracked."Just keep coming. Once a day. Let me see you. That's all."
There was no trick in his tone.
No calculation in his gaze.
Just quiet truth.
He had made peace with it—this prison, this pain—because it still meant she was near.
Seraph stared at him blankly. Her lips were still. Her voice calm.
"You were right, Vale," she said softly, coldly. "I used you."
He didn't flinch.
"I don't love you."
That—that nearly broke him.
His heart, barely hanging on, dropped deep into the pit of himself.
But even then…
He lifted his eyes to hers, throat dry, voice raw.
"I don't believe you," he said."Even if it's true—I won't let go."He smiled, just a little."I'll make you fall in love with me."
For a second, Seraph's breath caught.
But then she stood without a word.
Turned.
And walked away.
The candles flickered in her wake.
Vale slumped against the chains again—smiling through the pain.He meant it.
Even if it took a hundred years.