“Raiden, are you still upset about me leaving to study abroad? I never said goodbye, leaving you to bear the pain alone. It was my fault. I came back to make it right. Please, let me do more for you.”
Raiden was slightly startled. His gaze dipped and his lashes, dark as crow feathers, trembled ever so slightly.
It seemed like his mind wandered back to that year, the year his mother passed, his father abandoned them and the weight of tuition had been too heavy to bear, leaving him a shell of himself, drifting without purpose.
“Forget it. You had your reasons.” His voice softened as he gently wiped Norella’s tears away. “Given everything, I can understand.”
Astrella, however, felt an overwhelming sense of emptiness. She glanced at the clock on the wall, slipped on her coat and moved to leave.
“Where are you going now?”
Raiden frowned, his gaze sharp with confusion. This wasn’t like her.
In the past, she always told him where she was going. If he ever said he didn’t like it or didn’t want her to leave, she’d quietly listen and stay without question. But now, it felt like she had turned into someone else entirely.