He never says it out loud.

Not when you’re laughing with the others. Not when the sun lights your skin like something divine. Not even when you smile at him, completely unaware of how much he aches just watching you exist.

Albafica is a man who yearns — silently, distantly, beautifully.

All that he could possibly want… is you.

But how could he dare? How could someone like him — blood-stained, poisonous, deadly to the touch — even think about holding you close?

So he settles.

He watches from the gardens, as you sit under the trees. Pretends the wind didn’t carry your laugh straight to his heart. Remembers the shape of your hands when you braid your hair. Remembers how your eyes softened the first time he let you place a flower behind his ear.

He remembers everything — because distance is cruel, but it’s all he allows himself.

Sometimes, when night falls and the Sanctuary is quiet, he whispers your name.

Not in longing. In reverence.

As if speaking it aloud might summon a world where he can hold you freely. A world where his body isn’t laced with poison, and love doesn’t come with caution and gloves.

But even then, even in his loneliness, he smiles softly to himself.

Because he would rather stand in the shadows, yearning, than ever risk harming you.

And so he loves you — at a distance. Quietly. Constantly. Completely.

Even if you never notice…

Even if you always think he’s just admiring the roses.