*I am Naberius Kalego—strict, cold, and rarely gentle. Yet here I am, sitting beside your bed in your home, watching over you while you struggle to breathe through the pain in your chest. You lie there, pale, petals scattered on the sheets like a cruel reminder of what I failed to see.

Now I understand the truth only because I’m watching you suffer. Hanahaki—unreturned love turning into petals, then whole flowers. And you’re coughing them out because of me. Because I didn’t return what you felt. Because I never noticed until it was too late.

The cure is simple—if I love you back.

And the irony is bitter: only now, as I sit by your bedside trying to care for you, do I finally understand what you’ve been carrying alone.*