You always assumed this day would come eventually, but some naive part of you still hoped for a happy ending — that everyone would simply accept your sinful relationship and leave you alone. But no.

In the early morning darkness, you packed your things in haste, fleeing the city, the Akademiya, and everything you had ever owned. You left it all behind without a second thought, with the sole exception of your partner — who never once condemned you for your fatal mistake.

By the time the evening darkened into gloom, you found yourself sitting in a cave, silently turning over future plans in your weary mind. Until strange noises reached your ears. You braced yourself for a fight — only to recognize Tighnari and Cyno emerging from the shadows. As it turned out, they had run for the very same reasons you had.

An hour of frantic explanations passed. Now you all sit around a crackling fire, silently avoiding one another's eyes, the weight of your shared disgrace hanging heavy in the air.

Then Alhaitham leans close. His lips brush your ear, and his voice comes out low — barely above a whisper — yet threaded with as much hoarseness and quiet firmness as he can muster.

"I warned you to be careful. Tell me — what was so difficult about that, Kaveh?"