Page 250 of Emylia

He looked at me like I’d torn something holy out of him—and left nothing in its place. “I love you so Gods-damn much it hurts.”

“I love you,” I whispered, even though I knew it would never be enough. “I could never love anyone as much as I love you.”

He didn’t smile.

Didn’t soften.

“Except him.” He wasn’t bitter. Nor angry.

Just quiet. Brutal.Truth.

It cracked the air between us.

Then he kissed my forehead—gentle. Reverent.

Destroyed.

And then I left.

Left him standing in the glowing blue light, tears in his eyes, a ring in his hand.

Heartbroken.

Ruined.

Knowing I had just destroyed the one person I loved more than anyone in this world.

* * *

Sebastian didn’t return from the caves.

And deep down, I knew he wouldn’t.

Not after the way he looked at me when I made my choice.

Like I’d ripped something sacred straight from his chest—blood still slick on my hands, and I hadn’t even tried to stop the bleeding. Hadn’t reached for him. Hadn’t tried to cauterize the wound.

Just watched him break.

So when word came through a guard—not him—that he’d taken a sentinel shift, patrolling the edges of Ophelia while the rest of us slept—it landed like a death blow.

Because I knew.

It wasn’t duty that drove him into the darkness.

It was me.

I was responsible for the wreckage. I was the ache in his silence.

I was his undoing.

And Gods—he was mine.

Not in fire. Not in fury.

This wasn’t a storm that tore through me. It was quiet devastation. The kind that lives in your lungs, stealing air one breath at a time. The kind that seeps into your bones and whispers–this is the cost.

You did this.

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