Two Ends, One Destiny

Instead of killing him, Reina uses her magic to bind Ivor to the forest, creating an invisible barrier he cannot cross.

"You're staying here," she tells him, her tone cold but her eyes filled with regret. "If you leave, they'll use you again, and I can't let that happen."

"You think this is mercy?" Ivor spits, his voice filled with anger and disbelief. "You're no savior, Reina. You're just as selfish and cruel as they said."

Reina doesn't respond. She disappears into the shadows, leaving him alone.

EPILOGUE

Ivor spends years trapped in the forest. At first, he rails against the barrier, calling out for help, for freedom, for Reina to let him go. But no one comes.

Reina watches from afar, ensuring his survival but never revealing herself. She convinces herself that she's protecting him, even as his hatred for her festers.

In the village, the people assume Ivor is dead, a martyr to Reina's darkness. They rebuild, but without his constant support, their prosperity fades.

Reina remains in the forest, a self-imposed exile. She occasionally ventures out to steal supplies or disrupt the palace's plans, but her heart isn't in it. Her power grows, but her loneliness grows even faster.

Ivor, once the beacon of hope, becomes a prisoner of resentment. Reina, once the embodiment of rebellion, becomes a shadow of her former self.

The story ends with Ivor standing at the edge of the barrier, staring into the distance. "She's not protecting me," he whispers to himself, his voice laced with venom. "She's punishing me."

And somewhere in the forest, Reina watches him, her chest aching with a pain she refuses to name.

Reina's chest ached with a strange, hollow pain she refused to name. Her fingers tightened into fists at her sides, trembling slightly. Memories surfaced, unbidden and cruelly vivid.

She remembered another figure from long ago—a warrior who fought with fiery flames. It had been a battle Reina thought she would loose. The warrior had faced her with unwavering conviction, her blade cutting through Reinas movements effortlessly, however the warrior had faltered for a moment and Reina made use of that to pierce through her chest, In those final moments, as Reina stood over the warrior, victorious and bloodied, the warrior had looked up with a bitter smile, speaking her last words.

Those words had lingered in Reina's mind long after she'd delivered the final blow.

Now, watching Ivor walk away, those same words echoed in Reina's thoughts like a cruel refrain. Only this time, it was her life that felt like it was unraveling.

"…I guess this is a fitting end for a villainess," she says softly, echoing words she once heard long ago.

The forest swallows her words, leaving only silence.