Dawn came quietly.
Too quietly.
Severin had learned, in two lifetimes, that silence was never neutral.
It either meant peace—
or the moment before something broke.
He was already awake when the sky began to pale.
The borderlands smelled different in the early hours.
Less rot.
More cold.
Behind him, the ruined shelter creaked as Selyne moved.
He did not turn.
He didn't need to.
She was careful.
Too careful.
Every step she took was deliberate, like someone trying not to wake a sleeping beast.
Severin closed his eyes.
So this is how it happens, he thought.
Not with screaming.
Not with accusations.
Just… leaving.
The door scraped softly.
Then stopped.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
"Selyne," he said.
Her breath caught.
"Don't," she replied, voice low and tight.
"Please don't make this harder."
He turned then.
She stood with a small cloth bundle slung over her shoulder.
Everything she owned in this world.
"Where will you go?" he asked.
"Anywhere that isn't here."
"You won't survive out there."
Her jaw clenched.
"You don't get to decide that."
"I'm not deciding," Severin said.
"I'm stating a probability."
She laughed sharply.
"You talk like a merchant measuring grain."
He flinched.
That hit closer than she knew.
"Move," she said.
He stepped aside.
Didn't block the door.
Didn't grab her arm.
Didn't beg.
That was the hardest choice he'd made since waking up in this world.
Selyne hesitated.
Just a fraction of a second.
Not because she wanted to stay.
Because she didn't understand why he let her go.
She walked past him into the gray morning.
The settlement stirred.
Hungry eyes followed her.
Severin stayed where he was.
The system pulsed.
[ Warning: Protected Asset Leaving Territory. ]
[ Survival Probability Recalculated. ]
[ 11.7% ]
His chest tightened.
He started walking.
Not after her.
Toward the center of the settlement.
Toward Harlan.
The acting governor sat outside a half-collapsed storehouse, gnawing on a strip of dried meat.
He looked up as Severin approached.
"Morning, Your Highness," Harlan said.
"Lose something?"
"Yes," Severin replied.
"Time."
Harlan snorted.
"Funny. What do you want?"
Severin met his gaze.
"I want authority."
Harlan laughed outright.
"You don't have soldiers.
You don't have food.
You don't even have walls."
"I have responsibility," Severin said.
"And I'm willing to take the blame when things go wrong."
The laughter faded.
"That's a fast way to die."
"Yes," Severin agreed.
"But a slower way to build."
Harlan studied him.
"You planning something stupid?"
Severin nodded.
"Very."
Harlan leaned back.
"I like stupid," he said.
"As long as it's entertaining."
Severin spoke clearly.
"I will repair the eastern well.
Reinforce the grain store.
And establish ration rules by sundown."
Harlan blinked.
"…with what resources?"
Severin smiled thinly.
"Borrowed ones."
"You mean stolen."
"I mean redistributed."
Harlan's gaze sharpened.
"If this backfires, the people will riot."
"They already are," Severin replied.
"Just quietly."
Silence.
Then Harlan spat to the side.
"You have one day," he said.
"One. You fail, you're done."
Severin inclined his head.
That was all he needed.
The system activated.
[ New Task Issued: Emergency Stabilization. ]
[ Time Limit: 12 Hours. ]
[ Failure Consequence: Territory Collapse Accelerated. ]
No reward listed.
Severin almost laughed.
By noon, the settlement was chaos.
Men shouted.
Buckets clanged.
Arguments broke out over water.
Severin worked until his hands bled.
Not supervising.
Doing.
Hauling stone.
Dragging timber.
Climbing down into the well himself.
People watched.
Suspicious.
Curious.
Some angry.
A prince with chains still biting into his wrists.
A woman screamed.
"Why should we listen to you?!"
Severin looked up.
"Because if you don't," he said,
"we all starve together."
That shut them up.
By mid-afternoon, the well flowed cleaner.
Not pure—
but drinkable.
The system chimed softly.
[ Minor Infrastructure Improvement Registered. ]
[ EXP: Restricted. ]
[ Reason: Emotional Risk Level Unresolved. ]
Severin wiped sweat from his eyes.
"So she really is your limit," he murmured.
The sun dipped.
Still no sign of Selyne.
Panic gnawed at him despite his control.
At the edge of the settlement, beyond the broken fences—
a scream.
Severin's head snapped up.
He ran.
Too late.
Selyne lay on the ground, pale, blood seeping from a gash on her arm.
Two men backed away, startled by Severin's arrival.
"She resisted," one muttered.
Severin didn't answer.
He moved.
Fast.
Precise.
Merciless.
One man fell.
The other fled.
Severin dropped to his knees beside her.
She was shaking.
"Why?" she whispered.
"I didn't do anything."
He tore a strip from his own shirt, pressing it to her wound.
"I know."
Her fingers gripped his sleeve weakly.
"You said you'd let me go."
"I did," he replied.
"And the world tried to kill you for it."
Her breath hitched.
The system spoke.
[ Critical Emotional Threshold Reached. ]
[ Trust Level (Selyne Rowan): Neutral → Fractured Neutral. ]
She looked at him.
Not with hatred.
With fear.
And something worse.
Confusion.
"I don't understand you," she said.
"That makes two of us."
Night fell.
Selyne did not leave again.
She sat beside the repaired well, wrapped in a blanket someone had given her.
Severin stood a short distance away.
Close enough to protect.
Far enough not to intrude.
Harlan approached quietly.
"You bought yourself another day," he said.
Severin nodded.
"But dawn will come again," Harlan added.
"And next time, she might not stay."
Severin watched Selyne's silhouette against the firelight.
"I know."
The system pulsed one last time.
[ Territory Status: Temporarily Stabilized. ]
[ Note: Attachment Increasing Risk Profile. ]
Severin closed his eyes.
Let it increase, he thought.
If loving her was a risk—
Then he would build a kingdom strong enough to survive it.