The Duke's hand closed around Denova's firm, steady, just tight enough that she couldn't pull away, yet gentle enough to remind her she was safe. The warmth of his grip sent an unfamiliar flutter through her chest.
"Your Grace," she asked softly as they walked, trying to keep pace with him, "where are we going?"
He didn't answer.
His thoughts were far too loud, tangled around the image of the Prince standing too close, smiling too easily making a move. Seeing Denova through another's eyes, desiring her presence, had stirred something dark and restless inside him. It unsettled him. Angered him. He hated how natural it felt to want her away from the Prince… away from anyone else.
So he kept walking, fingers laced with hers, as if letting go would mean losing her altogether.
They stopped only when they reached the tower hidden behind the empire's public library, tall and quiet, half-forgotten by most. The noise of the festival faded there, replaced by stillness.
Denova looked around, puzzled. "Where… is this?"
He finally turned to her.
For a moment, he simply looked really looked. At the woman before him. At the soul he had come to know. She was beautiful in every way that mattered, regardless of the body she wore, and the realization struck him with painful clarity. He had tried to deny it, tried to reason with it, but it was impossible now.
Still, he forced himself to remain composed.
The curse had already begun to show signs. That alone meant something dangerous, something undeniable, Denova felt something for him. Whether it was care, gratitude, admiration… it didn't matter. Any of it was enough to put his life at risk.
And yet...even knowing that the feelings Pillyse carried toward him could one day kill him, he couldn't stop the quiet warmth spreading through his chest.
He was terrified and impossibly, selfishly happy. He then look at the tower then look at her again, his expression softening in a way few ever saw, and finally spoke.
"This tower," he said quietly, "is one of my favorite places in the entire empire."
He gestured toward the entrance, old stone wrapped in ivy and shadow. "You should see it properly. Come inside."
Denova hesitated only for a second before nodding. Something in his voice calm, almost intimate made her follow him without question. They stepped inside together, the noise of the city and festival fading behind thick stone walls. The air inside was cool and still, carrying the faint scent of aged books and dust, as if the tower had been waiting patiently for someone to remember it.
Elarion reached for her hand again, this time gently, his fingers brushing hers before fully entwining. The gesture was softer now, no urgency only care. He guided her deeper inside, clearly familiar with every step, every turn. It was obvious this place meant something to him.
They stopped before a small, discreet chamber tucked within the tower. With a simple motion, he activated the mechanism inside. The floor shifted, smooth and silent, lifting them upward as if the tower itself were carrying them.
When they emerged at the top, Denova forgot how to breathe.
The empire stretched endlessly before her rooftops glowing softly under lantern light, rivers catching reflections of the stars, streets alive yet distant. Above them, the sky was vast and brilliant, stars scattered like spilled silver. The cold night air brushed her skin, sharp and clean, making the moment feel achingly real.
"It's beautiful," Elarion said.
But he wasn't looking at the view.
Denova turned, catching his gaze already fixed on her. "How did you find this place?" she asked quietly.
He smiled faintly. "I've always liked quiet places," he replied. "I found this tower by accident when I used to visit the library. I climbed it out of curiosity… and when I reached the top, I knew I couldn't leave it behind."
He told her how he'd purchased the tower in silence, how he considered renovating the exterior but decided against it. Making it noticeable would draw attention, and this place wasn't meant for crowds. It was meant to remain untouched, private.
His escape.
"And now," he added, his voice lower, warmer, "being here with you makes it even more special."
Denova felt something settle gently in her chest as she looked back at the glowing empire below. The tower, the stars, the quiet and Elarion standing beside her felt like a secret the world wasn't meant to know.
And for the first time that night, the silence between them wasn't heavy.
It was perfect.
Pillyse living now within Denova's body stood quietly beside him, her gaze fixed on Duke Elarion as if she were trying to read the spaces between his breaths.
She couldn't understand him.
Not fully.
Why did he always seem to push her away, yet never let her leave his sight? Why did his hands hesitate, his words stop short, his eyes linger as though letting go would break him? There was something he was protecting her from, something heavy, dangerous, unsaid. And she felt it every time he looked at her with that mixture of longing and restraint.
What did you risk for me? she wondered.
If only he would be honest. If only he would tell her the price he had paid to bring her soul back into this world.
She understood, in her own quiet way, that the Duke loved her…..loved Pillyse, the woman she once was. He never tried to hide that truth, even when he tried to hide everything else. And he knew she remembered nothing of the life they had shared, nothing of the moments that had shaped his devotion. All he had wanted, she sensed, was to free her from suffering. To give her peace, even if it meant she no longer remembered loving him.
She understood that.
But sometimes especially in moments like this she wished she could remember. Denova has been showing in her dreams, showing her unbearable pain, the pain that would make you wish you were dead instead. She's been use to it honestly, the pain is not new to her. But if she ever remember the past and she'll understand Elarion devoted love for her past self, she don't know what to react. She's scared but still she wants to be aware.
She wanted to know what kind of love had made him this devoted. What memories lived in his heart so vividly that he carried them like both a blessing and a wound. It was frustrating, painfully so, to know something precious existed between them and yet be completely blind to it.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Elarion finally spoke.
"You used to love the stars," he said softly.
She turned to him.
"Being this high," he continued, gesturing faintly to the endless view below them, "seeing everything laid out beneath the sky… we used to come to places like this. You said it made you feel free."
A small chuckle escaped him, warm but touched with sadness. "You always said the stars felt closer when you could see the whole world."
Pillyse studied him carefully, her voice quiet but honest.
"You really loved her, didn't you?"
Her.
Pillyse of the past.
His answer came without hesitation.
"I still do," he said simply. "I can't live without her by my side. Every day without her felt like living through hell, endless, colorless, unbearable. But the memories that we shared that was still buried in my mind makes me wants to continue thriving."
Her chest tightened.
"Then…" she asked slowly, carefully, "what did you do to bring her back into your world?" She looked straight at him. "There must be consequences. Ones you don't want to tell me."
For a moment, Elarion didn't speak.
The night wind brushed past them, stars flickering above as if holding their breath. He looked at her then, truly looked, and for the first time, he seemed… stuck. Caught between truth and fear.
Then he smiled.
"It's not that bad," he said lightly, though his eyes told another story. "I did it for myself. I was selfish. I'll admit that freely."
His voice softened. "I couldn't live without seeing the one I love again. So I did everything I could. I broke rules. I challenged fate. I chose my own desire over everything else."
He reached out, stopping just short of touching her hand.
"Whatever consequences there are," he finished quietly, "they aren't yours to bear. They're mine. Always mine."
Pillyse felt her frustration soften into something deeper, something aching and tender. She still didn't know their past. She still didn't remember loving him.
But standing there beneath the stars, with his truth laid bare, she realized something just as powerful. Even without memories, his love had found her again.
Denova let out a slow, quiet breath, the kind that came from a place far deeper than simple frustration.
She already knew the truth, no matter what she asked, Duke Elarion would never tell her everything.
Not the full story.
Not the part that truly mattered.
He had made that clear in the way he spoke, in the way he smiled just enough to soften the truth while keeping it just out of reach.
He said it was his burden to carry.
But how was she supposed to live peacefully knowing that something so important had been hidden from her?
The knowledge alone unsettled her. Knowing that he loved her…..deeply, unwaveringly had already been weighing on her heart long before tonight. It lingered in her thoughts, crept into quiet moments, made her question every glance and every gentle gesture. And now, learning that his devotion had gone so far as to involve forbidden bargains, dealings whispered only in fear….demons, she felt something inside her twist sharply.
She couldn't ignore it.
Anger rose, quiet but firm. Not the kind that burned wildly, but the kind that hurt. Because it wasn't just about secrets, it was about being excluded. About being protected to the point of erasure. About being treated as though she were too fragile to face the truth of her own existence.
It made her feel like she was standing in someone else's shadow.
She didn't want to be the woman he loved only because of who she used to be. She didn't want to unknowingly benefit from feelings meant for another version of herself feelings earned by memories she couldn't remember and choices she never made.
That thought unsettled her more than anything else.
Denova wanted honesty. She wanted to choose her own path, even if it was painful, even if it meant facing the consequences alongside him. She didn't want to sit quietly while he carried everything alone, sacrificing himself in silence.
Because if she stayed ignorant, if she allowed him to keep shielding her then she feared she wasn't truly living her life at all.
She was only borrowing it.
They descended the tower in comfortable silence, their steps unhurried, as if neither of them wished to break the fragile calm that had settled between them. The echo of the city grew louder with every turn of the stair, lantern light returning slowly, warmly, until the sounds of the market wrapped around them once more.
They were just about to reach the place where the carriage waited when the first firework burst across the sky.
Light bloomed overhead, brilliant, sudden, breathtaking.
Both of them stopped at once, instinctively looking up. Colors spilled across the night, reflected in Denova's eyes, painting her face in soft golds and silvers. It felt like the perfect ending to a moment neither of them had planned, yet neither wanted to forget.
"Denova," Duke Elarion said quietly.
She turned toward him, and he held out a small box, dark and simple, resting carefully in his palm. "This is for you," he added, his voice gentle but deliberate.
Curious, she opened it.
Inside lay a delicate necklace, the chain fine and luminous, holding a crescent moon pendant that caught the firelight with every movement. It was elegant, understated, and somehow unmistakably her.
Elarion smiled faintly. "It was the main prize from the shooting games," he explained. "I won it along with the bear."
Another firework lit the sky, and he continued, softer now, "I thought it would suit you. And I wanted to give it to you like this so you'd remember this night whenever you wear it."
Denova looked from the necklace to him, her fingers closing around the cool metal as fireworks continued to bloom above them. In that moment under the stars, surrounded by light she realized the gift wasn't just the necklace.
It was the memory.