---
There were words that lingered in silence.
Promises etched in actions.
And vows that were never spoken — but felt in every heartbeat.
Hana and Sher had returned to the same room…
…but the war inside them wasn't over.
They weren't sleeping.
Not tonight.
Because tonight, the past — their past — came knocking.
---
### **A Letter Never Read**
The fireplace crackled softly as Sher stood behind Hana, watching her fingers trace the edges of an old parchment. It was yellowed, fragile, tucked deep inside a locked drawer she hadn't opened in years.
It wasn't from now.
It was from *then*.
Their wedding day.
From their **first life**.
> "Where did you get that?" Sher's voice was husky, slow.
Hana glanced at him. "Klein found a digital backup in Mira's old server. Buried under classified layers."
She didn't say how her hands trembled when she saw the sender.
> *From: Sher Wolter.*
> *To: Hana Chorl.*
> *Subject: If I Never Say It Out Loud…*
Her voice barely held together as she whispered, "You wrote me vows. I never saw them."
Sher exhaled sharply, walking to her slowly. "I did. But… you disappeared before the ceremony. Before I could give them to you."
Before she was killed.
---
### **What the Vows Said**
She unfolded the page.
And read aloud.
> "Hana Chorl,
>
> You're chaos in silk, a storm in quiet halls, the ache I never knew I missed.
>
> If I never say it out loud — know this:
> I don't want a perfect marriage. I want *ours.*
> Where you fight me, tease me, walk ahead of me — and yet still reach back for my hand.
>
> You'll drive me mad.
> I'll make you cry.
> But I swear I'll break the world apart before I break you.
>
> And if someday… I forget how to love you properly,
> I beg you to remind me.
> With fire in your voice and that unbearable tenderness in your eyes.
>
> Yours, in this life and every one that follows —
> Sher"
The silence that followed was heavy — not just with grief… but with revelation.
Tears slid down Hana's cheek. But she wasn't sobbing. Her hands were steady now.
> "You meant it."
> "I still do," Sher said.
> "Even after I left?"
> "Even after you *died.*"
---
### **His Confession**
Sher crouched down in front of her chair, resting his palms gently on her knees.
> "You asked me why I act cold. Why I push people away. It's because if I don't… I won't be able to protect you. This world—our bloodline—is a battlefield wrapped in silk."
He paused.
> "But lately I realized… I've been protecting a throne, not *you.*"
Hana's breath hitched.
> "And I don't want a kingdom if it means losing you again."
---
### **What She Couldn't Say**
She stared at him, heart pounding, unsure what to do with this man — this fierce, silent man — who once let her die… but now trembled at the thought of losing her again.
> "Why didn't you say this before?" she whispered.
> "Because I thought being strong meant being silent."
Her hands cupped his face gently.
> "It doesn't."
---
### **A Vow in the Dark**
No priest. No audience. No crown.
But in the quiet, they made a new vow.
> "I'll stop hiding," Sher whispered.
> "And I'll stop running," Hana replied.
> "No more lies between us."
> "No more glances instead of words."
Their foreheads touched.
And then finally — **finally** — their lips met. Not in passion. Not in desperation.
But in **truth**.
Like the first real kiss in a story that had started long ago.
---
### **Later That Night**
They lay in bed — not tangled, not lost in fire. Just side by side, fingers lightly intertwined.
Mira dimmed the lights.
And for once, Sher didn't need to hold Hana tight to keep her close. She stayed.
Because she chose to.
Not because she had to.
---
### **A Message Arrives**
Just as sleep finally came… Mira buzzed softly.
> "Urgent message, Lord Sher."
Sher tensed.
> "From the Capital. Princess Liora has moved. And Cenric…"
A pause.
> "He's opened your sealed record."
Sher sat up immediately.
> "That's not possible."
> "It is now."
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