FOREVER GOODBYE?

The silence between them was unbearable.Leyla stood still, arms crossed over her chest, her face as cold as ice.Naru didn't know what was worse—if she yelled, hit him, screamed that he was an idiot—or this.This silence.This calm Leyla.

Because when she looked at him like that, without anger, without tears… he knew.This time, he had truly lost her.

— "Leyla..." His voice was quiet, cautious, as if he feared that one wrong syllable would cost him everything. "Please..."

— "No."

Rejected in a second. No room for negotiation.

He felt a lump in his throat but didn't give up. He took a step closer, hands reaching out, desperate to touch her, to hold her, to convince her that things weren't as they seemed.

— "I never meant to hurt you. I swear. I just... I didn't know how to tell you."

She blinked.A brief smile crossed her lips, but not the warm, mischievous one he loved.This one was bitter.

— "You didn't know how to tell me?" She tilted her head. "You told me no more secrets. No more lies. And what did you do?"

He took a deep breath but had no answer.

— "You lied to me again, Naru."

His name on her lips felt different now.Colder. Distant.

— "Do you know how many times you've lied to me?" she continued, too calmly. Too damn calmly. "First about the contract. Then about why you needed me. Then about who you really are. And now… now you hid from me that I once loved Raizen."

— "But you did!" Naru raised his voice, stepping closer. "Maybe you were someone else before, but now you're Leyla! My Leyla! That past doesn't change that!"

She simply looked at him.

— "Your Leyla?"

Two words.But they cut deeper than a blade.

His breathing grew heavy.

— "You can't just... just end everything over this." His voice was hoarse. "Please."

But Leyla stepped back.

— "I can, Naru."

And that broke him.

— "We're done."

She said it so effortlessly that his stomach twisted.

— "Leyla..."

— "Don't worry." She cut him off. "I'll help you find the artifact. But other than that… you and I have nothing left to talk about."

She turned toward the door.

Panic surged in his chest.

— "Where are you going?"

— "To another room." Her voice was cold. "I have no intention of ever sleeping next to you again."

Naru stood frozen.He watched her leave, watched her disappear behind the door, slipping through his fingers…

And then he realized.

It would have been easier if she had just killed him outright.