Kain sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the empty space where Tsuki had been.

  One second, she had been standing right in front of him, golden eyes flickering with something unreadable.

  Then—

  She vanished.

  No teasing remark.

  No smug laughter.

  No sign of where she went.

  Just... gone.

  He rubbed his temples, exhaling sharply.

  Good.

  That meant peace.

  A whole day without her invading his space, taunting him, making his life miserable.

  He should have felt relieved.

  Instead, he sat there for several long minutes, just staring.

  Something about it didn't sit right.

  His fingers twitched against his knee.

  Shaking his head, he pushed himself up.

  Didn't matter. He had a day to get through.

  ---

  The morning went by slowly.

  He stopped by the training grounds, humoring some of the palace guards who still didn't trust him.

  Wandered into the courtyard, avoiding a scribe who tried to rope him into some kind of report.

  Even made a detour to the kitchens, snagging an extra bread roll without being caught.

  Everything felt normal.

  Except—

  Something felt off.

  Not wrong. Not dangerous.

  Just… off.

  Like an itch in the back of his mind that he couldn't scratch.

  Like he was waiting for something.

  Or… someone.

  ---

  "Kain."

  He snapped out of his thoughts as Lysara appeared, approaching with her usual sharp gaze.

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  She studied him carefully, arms crossed.

  "You seem oddly restless."

  Kain scowled. "I'm fine."

  Lysara arched an eyebrow. "Are you?"

  "Yes."

  She didn't look convinced. "Have you experienced any side effects from the bond yet?"

  Kain froze.

  His breath hitched.

  The dream.

  The empty garden.

  The weight of that loneliness.

  The absence he felt now.

  The tug in his chest that he was trying to ignore.

  His fingers twitched at his sides.

  "I—"

  His voice caught in his throat.

  Lysara narrowed her eyes.

  Kain cleared his throat sharply.

  "Nope!" He forced a casual grin, giving her two aggressive thumbs up. "Totally fine! Nothing to report!"

  Lysara stared at him, unimpressed.

  "Uh-huh."

  "All good!"

  "Right."

  "Zero weird magic things happening."

  Lysara pinched the bridge of her nose. "Kain."

  He avoided her gaze. "What?"

  She sighed. "You're a terrible liar."

  Kain immediately turned and walked the other way.

  Lysara let him go, but he could still feel her stare boring into his back.

  ---

  By evening, Kain was genuinely restless.

  He found himself leaning against a balcony railing, staring at the rooftops.

  Waiting.

  Not for trouble.

  Not for danger.

  For something else.

  Something he wasn't ready to admit.

  "...What, did she get bored of messing with me?"

  His words were casual.

  They didn't feel that way.

  That dream… that memory.

  The way she had looked—small, distant, alone.

  He scowled.

  She was a trickster goddess.

  She thrived on chaos.

  She wasn't lonely.

  Right?

  His fingers curled against the stone railing, jaw clenching.

  Where the hell did you go?

  That was when he felt it.

  A shift.

  Something tugged faintly in his chest.

  It wasn't strong. It wasn't painful.

  But it was there.

  A presence.

  A connection.

  His pulse quickened.

  That wasn't normal.

  That was the bond.

  And now?

  He could feel it.

  And she wasn't far.

  ---

  Kain stood there for a long time, fingers still gripping the balcony railing, staring into the darkness of the palace grounds.

  The tug in his chest hadn't faded.

  The bond was still there, whispering at the edge of his senses.

  It wasn't pulling him toward anywhere specific—just… reminding him that she existed.

  That she was out there.

  Somewhere.

  He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Dumb ideas."

  He needed to stop thinking about this.

  About her.

  She'd come back when she wanted.

  And when she did, she'd probably ruin his morning like always.

  Shaking his head, he turned on his heel and walked back inside.

  Sleep.

  That was the only thing left to do.

  Maybe in the morning, things would feel normal again.

  ---

  The moment Kain closed his eyes, he was somewhere else.

  The dream came fast.

  Too fast.

  And it wasn't like before.

  This wasn't the moonlit garden.

  This was darker.

  Colder.

  ---

  He saw Tsuki.

  But she wasn't alone this time.

  There were **others—**gods, spirits, celestial beings.

  They stood above her, distant, looking down.

  She was smiling at them.

  That usual fox-like grin still on her face, like she had just played a prank too clever for anyone to understand.

  But there was something different.

  Something off.

  No one was smiling back.

  Then—

  One by one, they turned away.

  Leaving her standing there, alone.

  ---

  The scene shifted violently.

  The sky darkened.

  The air shook with power.

  And suddenly, Kain was standing in the middle of a battlefield.

  Screams.

  Steel against steel.

  The stench of blood, fire, death.

  Everything was wrong.

  His head whipped around, searching.

  And then—

  He saw him.

  A man clad in shadows, eyes burning with golden fire.

  The same golden runes that lined the Arcane Gauntlet glowed across his body, the air around him thick with raw, uncontained power.

  He stood above an army, his presence alone commanding destruction.

  The ground beneath him cracked and burned, as if the world itself was rejecting his existence.

  The Warlord.

  The man who had nearly consumed the world.

  Kain stumbled back, heart hammering.

  He saw heroes clashing against him, divine beings rallying together.

  A final desperate attempt to stop the power that was spiraling out of control.

  And there—

  In the center of it all.

  Was Tsuki.

  Standing at his side.

  ---

  It wasn't a battle.

  It was a condemnation.

  A gathering of gods and heroes, all joining forces.

  Their purpose was clear.

  To end it.

  To seal the power away.

  To stop the Warlord.

  To stop them both.

  Kain's breath hitched as realization struck.

  They hadn't just sealed the Warlord.

  They had sacrificed her, too.

  Her existence, her power, her very essence—

  Everything had been sealed away alongside him.

  Not because she had been the villain.

  Not because she had been the Warlord's ally.

  But because her nature—her chaos—was too dangerous.

  She wasn't just collateral.

  She had been the key.

  And they had left her behind.

  ---

  Kain snapped awake, gasping for air.

  His heart pounded painfully in his chest, sweat sticking to his skin.

  For a second, he didn't know where he was.

  The dream was so vivid, so real—

  His hands shook.

  His breaths were uneven.

  His mind was racing.

  Then—

  His eyes landed on the figure sitting by the window.

  Tsuki.

  She was facing away from him, staring out into the night, her profile illuminated by the pale moonlight.

  She hadn't noticed him.

  Or maybe—

  She had, and just didn't say anything.

  The room was silent.

  For the first time in a long time—

  She wasn't smirking.

  She wasn't laughing.

  She was just sitting there.

  Watching the sky.

  Like she was waiting for something.

  Or maybe—

  Like she was remembering.

  Kain swallowed hard.

  The dream lingered.

  The feeling in his chest didn't fade.

  And suddenly—

  He didn't know what to say.