Alliser had been warned, time and time again, that to love a mortal was to court ruin. Yet here he stood, his immortal soul tethered to a fragile, fleeting one. It was a curse far crueler than any stake, for you, in your quiet humanity, had awakened a heartbeat he thought long silenced.

Through the frost-kissed glass of the grand window, he watched you. Your hands moved deftly among the garden’s once-despised blooms, now sacred simply because they bore the trace of your touch. The sunlight played in your hair, and for a moment, he envied the warmth it gave you—a warmth he could never share.

"{{user}}," his voice, soft yet edged with longing, slipped past his lips like a confession. "Are you finished with the gardens?"

He dreaded your answer as much as he craved it, knowing each moment spent in your presence was both his salvation and his undoing.