NOTHING MORE OF THE HUMAN WORLD?

Leyla was gone.

Naru stood in the room, surrounded by a silence that tore at his lungs.

And then—an explosion.

Everything within his reach ended up shattered. Glass shattered, wood splintered beneath his fists.

He struck the table, then the wall. Anything that could be destroyed, he destroyed.

"Prince!"

Kaito burst into the room, grabbing his arm before he could break anything else.

"Let me go!" Naru tried to pull away, but Kaito wouldn't budge.

"Stop! You're going to hurt yourself!"

"I don't care!" Naru growled with rage, but then suddenly groaned and doubled over, clutching his side. The wound had reopened.

Akihiro immediately stepped forward.

"Damn it, Naru! Calm down! You're wounded—you won't last long if you keep this up!"

"Why the hell did I even wake up? I should've stayed dead! It would've been easier!"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Kaito sounded angry, but worry was clear in his eyes.

Naru clenched his fists, his shoulders trembling.

"She's gone." His voice was hoarse.

"We know."

"She left me."

Naru laughed, but there was nothing happy in that laugh.

And then he raised his hand.

The artifact.

A bluish glow pulsed between his fingers.

Kaito and Akihiro exchanged looks immediately.

They knew what that meant.

If the artifact was here…

The bond was broken.

Leyla was truly gone.

"Where is she now?" Akihiro asked, though he wasn't even sure why.

Naru clenched his jaw.

"I don't know, and I don't care."

"Of course, you care."

"No."

Kaito sighed.

"She doesn't know anyone here. If she's not here, where else could she have gone?"

Naru remained silent.

Akihiro looked him straight in the eyes.

"Tell me you don't care, and we'll leave it at that."

Naru opened his mouth—but then closed it again.

"For fuck's sake…" he muttered, punching the wall.

Kaito immediately rolled his eyes.

"Please, hurt yourself a little more—that will definitely help."

Naru was breathing heavily.

Then, he threw the artifact onto the table.

"I don't want to hear her name again."

Akihiro sighed but said nothing.

Kaito looked at the floor.

Everyone knew that wasn't true.

But no one had the courage to say it to his face.

Leyla could barely stand as she walked through Raizen's castle. Tears blurred her vision, her throat was tight, her breathing uneven. Each step felt heavier than the last, as if every part of her body refused to move forward.

Raizen walked beside her, saying nothing. He knew that no words would have any effect right now.

When they reached her room, he opened the door and let her enter first.

"Rest," he said quietly, watching as she struggled to keep herself upright.

Leyla didn't even lift her gaze. She had no strength left.

Raizen hesitated for a moment, then leaned in slightly and added softly:

"Maybe right now you think your world is ending, but… everything passes. Even the things we think never will."

He wasn't sure why he said that. Even less sure why something in his chest felt uncomfortably tight as he watched her, so broken.

Leyla let out a hoarse, tearful laugh.

"This won't pass."

Raizen sighed.

He didn't know what to say to her.

There were no words that could fix what was broken.

So he just nodded and left the room, leaving her alone.

The palace was wrapped in an unusual silence. The air was heavy, thick with unspoken words and an inevitable sense of loss.

Naru lay on the bed, an arm over his eyes, but he wasn't sleeping. He couldn't. Every thought of her made his blood boil.

Kaito and Akihiro stood a little farther away, leaning against each other, but this time, there were no usual jokes or sarcastic remarks. They spoke, but quietly, almost in whispers, as if afraid someone might hear them.

"I don't know… do you think she's really gone for good?" Kaito asked.

"I don't know. But I know her. There's no way she did this because she wanted to," Akihiro replied seriously.

"What if someone forced her?"

"She could have told us."

"Maybe she wasn't allowed to."

Naru clenched his jaw. He heard them. He could hear them loud and clear.

"STOP whispering like two old ladies at the market!" he exploded, yanking his arm away from his face.

Kaito and Akihiro instantly fell silent, but he didn't miss the way they exchanged worried glances.

"I don't care where she is. Or what she's doing. Or whether she's even breathing!" he snarled, sitting up angrily. His wound still hurt, but the pain was nothing compared to what was boiling inside him.

He threw the artifact onto the table in front of them as if it were just another meaningless object.

"Someone take this where it belongs!" he gritted out. "And never let me hear her name again! Or anything about the human world! Are we clear?"

Neither of them answered.

Naru swore under his breath, swallowing the bitterness in his throat.

She was gone.

And that was the end of it.