Alia suddenly pointed a finger toward Viktor's back and shouted in mock terror, "Viktor! Behind you... a spider!"
Saying this, Alia jumped off the bed like lightning and dashed toward the door. Viktor, who had been lost in a deep and solemn mood just a moment before, was taken aback by this sudden shift. He turned around, but there was no sign of a spider anywhere.
When he turned back to look at her, he saw Alia standing behind the door, flashing a mischievous grin she had merely staged the scene to break his serious composure and tease him. Instead of surprise, a playful glint appeared in Viktor's eyes. He realized that his 'agent' wife was not only a master of combat but also skilled at catching him off guard. Viktor stood up from the bed and, walking toward her, said in a deep voice, "Do you really think you can escape me with such a small excuse?"Alia stepped out from behind the door, but the mischief in her eyes was gone, replaced by a profound coldness familiar to Viktor. She walked slowly toward him, placed a finger against his throat, and whispered, "Do you know, one day I will actually kill you? Your death will put an end to all the agony of this life I lead."
Viktor stood unmoved. He took a step toward her, closing the distance between them almost entirely. He replied in a calm, firm voice, "I know."
Alia looked into the depths of Viktor's eyes, as if unable to believe the answer. She asked in a trembling voice, "Really? You really know that?"
Viktor reached out and gently tilted her chin upward. There was no fear in his smile, only the admission of a cruel reality. He whispered slowly, "Yes. The day I become the final obstacle in your life, you will end me. And that is the day the final page of our long, agonizing story will be written."
The room fell suddenly silent. Alia's fingers remained still against Viktor's throat was she really going to do it one day, or was this simply the unwritten conclusion of their cruel relationship? The tear rolling down from Alia's eye stopped at Viktor's fingertip. Viktor knew that this tear was not a sign of weakness, but an expression of the complex and cruel truth of their relationship that had been buried between them until now. Viktor's coldness fractured, replaced by a strange tenderness. He wiped the tear from Alia's eye with his thumb and whispered in a very low voice, "Alia, only God knows how our story will end. But as long as I am alive, these tears are reserved only for me."
Alia said nothing; she just kept looking at Viktor. Her gaze now held a strange mixture of hatred and love. She knew that one day she might have to face her decision, but today, in this very moment, she was only feeling the warmth of Viktor's embrace where the boundary between death and love had almost vanished. Alia's tears seemed to break the dam of those agonizing memories. Pulling herself away from Viktor's grasp, she stepped back, her voice filled with a desperate lament. "No, I don't want to! Why would I want to kill you? You were my world, my existence. Have you forgotten... where it all began?"
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. Flashbacks flooded Alia's mind, pulling her back in time.
The scene was moments before her first marriage. Dressed in bridal attire, Alia stood before the mirror, her entire body trembling with an unknown dread. Her father entered the room. His stern voice still rang clearly in Alia's ears there was a strange coldness and detachment in his tone.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, her father had said, "Alia, remember from this day on, your life is no longer your own. The path you are stepping onto has no room for love or affection. Today's wedding is not a celebration; it is a contract. Your husband will determine your destiny, and you will survive in this dark empire only as a servant to that destiny. If there ever comes a moment where you must choose between your emotions and the interests of this bloodline... do not make the wrong choice."
In the flashback, Alia saw that her father wasn't looking into her eyes, but at her reflection in the mirror, as if he were not sending a flesh-and-blood daughter to her wedding, but a perfectly crafted 'weapon.' Those old memories still haunted Alia had the death of all her love begun right then? Alia's tears were still streaming down her cheeks. Looking into Viktor's eyes with a strange, restless intensity, she cried out, "Why would I want to kill you? You were my everything. When my father told me those things before my wedding, I didn't realize which direction my life would take."
Alia paused for a moment, her voice growing heavier. Looking at Viktor, she added in a pained tone, "I asked my father that day, 'Didn't you say Viktor would kill me? Then why this marriage?' My father didn't answer. That silence is what led me to this cruel destiny today."
Alia seemed lost in that very flashback. The fear that her father had instilled in her that Viktor would destroy her was now warring with the complex feelings she held for him, leaving her shattered from within. She took Viktor's hand and whispered, "My father knew that I would never be able to truly kill you, because you are intertwined with every turn of my life." Alia stepped into the bathroom, trying to calm herself with the splash of cold water, but the inner turmoil refused to fade. Three days had passed. In these three days, she had been observing a strange transformation in Viktor. He had become increasingly withdrawn. He used to drink wine occasionally, but now he wouldn't even look at a glass. Instead, he seemed to be lighting one cigarette after another, exhaling smoke while staring blankly out the window.
Coming out of the bathroom, Alia stood before the mirror and glanced at Viktor while drying her damp hair. Since the intense events of three days ago, Viktor had turned into a statue of stone. His former restlessness, the fierce expression of his possessiveness toward her everything seemed to be fading into the haze of cigarette smoke.
Alia noticed the exhaustion etched onto Viktor's face. She walked slowly toward him. The room was heavy with the pungent scent of tobacco. Alia gently took the burning cigarette from Viktor's hand. He didn't resist; he simply looked at her. His eyes no longer held that familiar fire, but a deep, hollow emptiness. Alia whispered, "Are you destroying yourself, Viktor? You used to love wine. Why have you become a slave to this habit instead?"
Viktor gave no answer. He continued staring out the window, as if a mystery or darkness greater than Alia's questions was consuming him. Day by day, this transformation in Viktor frightened Alia she couldn't tell if he was staying silent before a great storm, or if he was slowly breaking apart from within. Viktor's condition has only deteriorated further over these last three days. The silence between them has built an invisible wall within the walls of their home. Occasionally, when they are forced to go out on the street, they maintain a facade of normalcy; yet, they avoid meeting each other's eyes. They don't even stand close to one another, and the people around them have started whispering, sensing the underlying tension.
As they walk down the street, a vast distance seems to separate Alia and Viktor. They walk side-by-side, but their gazes never meet. Viktor stares blankly ahead, drowning in his emptiness, while Alia repeatedly glances at him out of the corner of her eye desperately searching for the Viktor she once knew, but failing to find him.
The speculation of the people around them only seems to amplify their discomfort. In the noise of the outside world, their personal estrangement becomes even more apparent. Alia wonders: is Viktor actively avoiding her? Or has he lost himself in an abyss from which she cannot pull him out? This silence and their tendency to maintain distance from each other seem to be the start of a new, painful chapter in their dark relationship. Amidst the noisy crowd on the street, Alia could no longer contain herself. Viktor's indifference and the distance between them were slowly destroying her. She decided that she would no longer accept this barrier. At one point, she stepped directly in front of Viktor, blocking his path.
Alia stood incredibly close to Viktor, her body almost brushing against his chest. Her eyes were wet, but her gaze held a fierce stubbornness. She gently placed her hands on his chest, trying to feel the rhythm of his heartbeat. She whispered, "Viktor, why is there this wall between us? Can't you see me? I am right here in front of you—touch me, feel me."
For a fleeting moment, Alia forgot about the world around them and rested her head near Viktor's shoulder. She was trying to rekindle that lost warmth and the intense craving she once knew. She grabbed his collar, pulling him slightly toward her, her gaze filled with a desperate plea—she wanted Viktor to hold her, to claim her as his own again.
But Viktor still stood like a statue. His muscles were rigid, as if he were holding himself back with invisible chains. He looked at Alia, but there was no reaction in his eyes. Alia realized that Viktor might not be actively avoiding her; rather, he was fighting a monster within himself that was pulling him away from her. Amidst the whispering crowd, their intimate moment was consumed by a strange, profound melancholy. Alia, drying her tears with a heavy heart, tried to walk away, but a sudden shift surged through Viktor. His internal stone-cold exterior crumbled in an instant. Just as Alia took a few steps, Viktor moved with lightning speed, grabbing her hand firmly.
He pulled her toward him and wrapped his arms around her tightly from behind. Before Alia could process what was happening, Viktor buried his face in her hair and pressed a deep kiss to her shoulder. His voice was broken, yet filled with profound affection. Whispering close to her ear, Viktor said, "Where are you going? You cannot leave me." Then, he turned her around to face him, gently kissed her forehead, and said with intense emotion, "I love you, Alia."
The crowd on the street and the whispers of the people suddenly became meaningless. For the first time, the ice of the three-day silence melted, and the invisible wall between them shattered completely. Alia's hurt and resentment seemed to surrender to this genuine display of Viktor's love.