Maxi desperately shook her head and stammered, “You are… n-nothing like her. You will… never be miserable. I will… I will be back before you know it. And then… I will never… leave again. Ever… I swear.”

“I’m at my limit.”

Maxi froze as she gazed at his stony face. Only his coal-black eyes showed pain.

“All this time I’ve wanted you… it felt like I was standing on burning coals. Do you have any idea what that means? I had to keep moving. Never sitting, never pausing. Always… always on the run, through a fire that might never end.”

His raspy voice strained with exhaustion. Only then did Maxi realize just how gaunt his face had become over the last few days.

Riftan ran a hand over his haggard face. “I… want to be free of this pain now.”

“Riftan… I…”

Maxi opened and closed her mouth, at a loss on how to respond. The reddish light filtering through the window cast his face in gloomy shadow.

“If you leave,” said Riftan, “I’ll no longer wait for you.”

He continued when Maxi did not answer.

“I’ll stop thinking about you. This time, I’ll wipe you from my mind. I’ll stop making myself miserable.”

Maxi gaped at him, stunned.

He grabbed her forearm and, putting heavy emphasis on each word, said, “Will you still leave me then?”

All the air had been squeezed from her lungs. His black eyes held a warning — that this was the last time he would try to stop her. Maxi faltered and made to back away, but his grip remained vice-like on her arm.

Like a fish out of water, Maxi gaped noiselessly. Her heart pounded, and her throat stung as though she had swallowed glass. Her teeth chattered as she repeated her words over and over like a parrot.

“I-I’ll come back. I’ll come back to you… no matter what, s-so—”

The light in Riftan’s eyes faded. Faced with the bleakness in them, Maxi found herself unable to continue.

Riftan slowly released her hand. “Fine.”

Although she was the one who tried to break away first, seeing him withdraw his hand felt like she was being abandoned in the freezing snow.

His voice echoed hollowly around the room. “Then… go. To wherever it is you want…”

With that, he stood as if to indicate that there was nothing more to discuss. Maxi stood paralyzed, her face ashen, as Riftan walked over to the table. She leaped to her feet when he picked up a new goblet.

As she reached for him, he backed away and barked, “Don’t touch me!”

Maxi flinched, the shock showing in her eyes.

Riftan glared as he snarled like a wounded beast, “If you touch me now, I’ll never let you go. I’ll keep you by my side by force if I have to. If that’s not what you want…”

He took a step toward her, and Maxi instinctively retreated.

“…get the hell out of here right now.”

Maxi did not answer.

“Don’t think for a minute that you’re leaving for my sake,” Riftan continued. “I never wanted this. You’re leaving… for you.”

Maxi stood as immobile as a nail hammered into a door frame. Then, haltingly, she turned around on shaky legs. It felt like a knife was cutting into her flesh at every step.

She stared blankly at the long shadow extending from her feet. Though she wanted to look back, she was too afraid. She paused for a moment, as still as a statue, before stepping into the dark corridor.

When she had made it a short distance away from the council room, a crash sounded behind her. Maxi flinched at the deafening racket. A chill prickled over her scalp, and she wondered what on earth she had done.

Had she gone insane? How could she consider leaving him? She could not bear to lose him, even if it meant losing the whole world.

Maxi whirled around, but her feet would not budge further as if they were glued to the floor. The urge to rush back and tell him that she would do as he wished tore at her insides. Even so, she could not take a step.

Tremors went through her as she stood in the corridor, unsure of what it was that held her there. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Did she really have to leave despite this pain? Why did she have to stand on her own two feet? She just wanted to surrender.

Fighting back her shaking sobs, she turned away once more. The invisible force around her began breaking down with each step. She felt like a chick emerging from an egg. Everything felt bleak, and Maxi bit her lip as her chest filled with grief and fear.

Light from the setting sun pierced her teary vision. She turned to gaze at the crimson light splintered and scattered by the windowpane. Then, she took a step.

She felt as though she would split in half from the pain.

Another step… Then another… .