This happened before exile was announced, before memory was taken from her completely.
Heaven began to move.
Not loudly.
Not all at once.
But Ye felt it — the tightening of rules, the narrowing of tolerance. Restrictions layered upon restrictions, invisible but suffocating, like the slow closing of a fist.
Ling Yue felt it too.
Only she didn't know what it was.
---
Her memory slips worsened.
It started small.
She forgot the names of halls she walked through daily. She misplaced hours, then entire conversations. Sometimes she would pause mid-sentence, brows knitting together as if searching for something just out of reach.
"I was saying…" she'd murmur, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. It happens more often now."
Ye watched every instance.
Counted them.
Feared them.
---
The Heaven officials stopped pretending not to notice.
"She interferes too often."
"She feels fate instead of observing it."
"And now she forgets even the warnings."
"The Demon King's proximity is a factor," one voice said quietly.
Another answered, colder: "Then remove the factor."
The words echoed long after the hall emptied.
---
Ye found Ling Yue beneath a pale sky, standing at the edge of a fate terrace where threads shimmered faintly like spider silk.
She turned when she sensed him, smile bright — too bright.
"You're here!" she said. "Good. I was worried I imagined you again."
He stiffened.
"Again?" he asked carefully.
She waved a hand. "It's nothing. I just… sometimes I remember you before I see you. Or maybe after. It's confusing."
She laughed, trying to make light of it.
Ye could not breathe.
---
They stood together — not close, not distant — exactly as they always had.
"You shouldn't come here anymore," he said.
Her smile faltered. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No," he replied immediately. "You did everything right."
She studied his face, then nodded slowly. "Then why does it feel like you're saying goodbye?"
"I'm not."
That was a lie.
---
That night, Ye stood alone before the sealed decree.
Exile was not written yet.
But it was waiting.
He understood Heaven's intent clearly now:
If he stayed,
Her memories would fracture further
Her punishment would deepen
Her fate would be rewritten beyond repair
If he left,
He would fall alone
She might stabilize
She might forget him — completely
The choice was not difficult.
Only unbearable.
---
They met one last time at the crossing between realms — a place neither Heaven nor shadow claimed fully.
Ling Yue arrived first, humming softly, plucking at the sleeves of her robe.
"Oh," she said when she saw him. "I thought you wouldn't come today."
"I won't be coming after this," he said.
She laughed — then stopped when she saw his expression.
"…You're serious."
"Yes."
Her smile faded, confusion clouding her eyes.
"Why?" she asked. "Did something happen?"
He wanted to tell her everything.
He told her nothing.
"Take care," he said instead.
She stared at him, something aching behind her eyes.
"I always do," she said slowly. "Don't I?"
He nodded.
"You always do."
---
She stepped back, instinctively making space — the same restraint she had learned from him.
"Well," she said brightly, forcing cheer into her voice, "don't disappear completely. It's rude."
His lips curved faintly.
"I'll try."
That was the closest he came to a promise.
---
When Ye turned away, he did not look back.
If he had, he would have seen her standing frozen, hand pressed to her chest, staring at the empty space he left behind with an ache she could not name.
Heaven announced his exile at dawn.
Ling Yue did not remember hearing it.
Only that something important was suddenly… gone.
And Ye, falling through realms alone, carried the weight of every memory she could no longer keep.