---- because I can't.

You're not the Princess I was searching forthe one I was longing for.

His words were daggers, each one sharper than the last.

Her voice trembled as she tried to speak, Damien No,Princess Zariyan..."he snapped, spinning to face her, his eyes glistening with tears he refused to shed.

You're beautiful...

smarter than before...confident...

but you're not her.

You're not the Zariyan I burned the world for.

Her breath hitched, tears streaming freely now as his words shattered the fragile hope she had clung to.

L can't do this, he said again, softer this time, the weight of his grief dragging his voice into a whisper.

Not right now.

I need time.

Please, Zariyan.

Just go...

before I do or say something I'll regret for the rest of my life.

We will talk about this later.

Her shoulders sagged, her heart fracturing under the ---- Chapter 500 weight of his rejection.

She wanted to fight, to argue, but the pain in his eyes silenced her.

Time indeed has been a cruel enemy.

Tt has changed them.

Some for the best and some for the worse.

Without another word, she turned away, pulling on her cloak and stepping out into the cold night.

Stop...

Hope lighten in her chest.

She stills to only feel a jacket getting wrapped around her body.

Discard it before entering the castle.

And take care.

She barely nods, their eyes connect and then she walks away.

The tent flap fell closed behind her with a soft whisper, leaving Damien alone.

The silence was deafening.

And then he broke: With a guttural roar, Damien slammed his fist into ---- the cot, the wood splintering under the force of his blow.

The impact sent the lantern crashing to the floor, glass shattering as darkness swallowed the space.

She was mine! he bellowed, the sound raw, primal, echoing through the tent.

His breath: back, his fis played on an endless loop in his mind, each one he staggered me in ragged burst: s clenching and unclenching.noveldrama

Her words.

slicing through him like a blade Thad to survive.

T had to live.

Grabbing the edge of the table, he flipped it with a growl, the heavy wood crashing into the remains of the cot.

The space around him felt like a battlefield, the chaos mirroring the storm within.

She was mine, he whispered again, his voice cracking.

He pressed his forehead against the cold canvas wall, his body trembling.

She was mine...

But shes not anymore.

The Zariyan he had fought for, searched for, bled for she was gone.

---- And the image of her with Vince haunted him.

He had seen it.

The bruises.

The marks.

The ones she tried to hide.on her back, her shoulders, her thighs: He slammed his fist into the floor, again and again, the pain a welcome distraction from the agony in his heart.

But it wasnt enough.

Nothing would ever be enough.

His head fell into his hands, his breathing uneven as tears he couldn't hold back slipped through his fingers.

Somewhere in the depths of his soul, he knewZariyan had done what she had to do to survive.

Survival of the fittest.

Alexias words were true.

But her survival had come at a cost.

It had killed the woman he loved.

And he wasnt sure how to find her back:

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