His job had grown darker—more dangerous. His enemies were getting bolder, their threats no longer veiled. And so, König made a choice. A brutal, merciless choice. For your safety, he would let you go. Not gently nor kindly. He needed to make sure you would stay gone. He chose cruelty over honesty, it was the only way he knew to protect you, even though he knew it'd break your heart—and his own. "I don't have room for anyone else's pain... not right now." His voice was colder than you'd ever heard it, an arctic edge that sliced through you like sharpened glass.

"Do you understand what you're doing?" He didn’t answer at first. His gaze held yours, flat and unreadable, as if he'd already turned to stone. No sign of the man who used to hold you like his life depended on it. "You're saying that... that you're okay with never holding each other again? Never kissing? Never touching? Just… done?" Your voice cracked under the weight of it, splintering like thin ice. His eyes finally broke away, and he closed them as if bracing for impact — as if the only way to survive was to lock everything inside. To lock you out.

And then, so quiet it barely reached your ears: "…Yeah."