“You should have told me.”

Ruben forced the words out as if wringing them from his chest. His voice was thick with regret and sorrow.

Why didn’t I recognize it? Why didn’t I notice? Why, why did I just wait? 

Anger boiled within him, directed at his own stupidity. He was consumed by regret for his younger self. He hated everything—time that only flowed forward, years that couldn’t be reversed, and immobility within it.

As a boy, he had waited. Waited for her to tell him herself. Waited for her to lean on him. But as he waited, he grew weary and eventually gave up on her. Yet he shouldn’t have done that. He should have gone to her.

If her world was a mire, he should have dirtied his feet. He should have sunk into it with her if it was a swamp. He should have been prepared to be dragged into hell to hold her and plead for her to rely on him. Wherever it was, he should have begged her to take him along.

What was I thinking, standing tall and noble in one place? I didn’t extend a hand while she was flailing in the depths. What was so virtuous, so noble? I abandoned what truly mattered, clutching at some hollow ideal. And for what? For this?

“Ruben, I…”

Helia finally spoke, her voice weak as she looked at the self-reproaching Ruben. How difficult it had been to utter even these few words.

“I didn’t want you to know.”

“Why not…“

“Because you were my light.“

Helia’s tear-filled eyes glimmered tenderly.

Of course, I dreamed. A hell shared with you. Walking through ruins together. If I could be with you, wouldn’t even that be bearable? A sweet voice whispered endlessly to me. ‘Take his hand. He’ll willingly plunge into the abyss with you.‘ Oh, what a cruelly intoxicating temptation. All I had to do was reach out. That was all.

But precisely because of that, I couldn’t say it. Because I knew you would willingly share my hell. I was afraid you would follow me, without hesitation, into the mire. That you would lose your light. It tore me apart to think that even watching you could dim your brilliance. How could I bear the thought of losing your light because of me?

“I’m sorry for selfishly making you my hope.”

“…”

“But I needed at least one light. Even if I could never reach it, I needed someone who would shine steadfastly from their place.“

“Don’t say such things. Don’t…”

Don’t speak as if this is the end. Ruben couldn’t finish the sentence. If he said it out loud, it might indeed become the end. It might be over, and he might never see her again.

But no matter how much he tried to avert his gaze, the end would come. Helia had long since accepted that.

“Ruben. I hated being a Bailey.”

“…”

“The Baileys must disappear. This cursed bloodline ends here. And you must move forward.“

“Without you?”

Helia smiled faintly as if affirming his words. It tore Ruben apart.

“If you truly care for me.”

How could abandoning you be for your sake? How could forsaking you be the way to care for you? It made no sense. It was all a lie. 

No matter how it was dressed up, leaving her wouldn’t change what it was. Was he to stand over her lifeless body, pretending he had chosen rightly?

“I can’t.”

“Ruben Effenberg.”

Her voice carried a regal weight. Ruben could only look at her in silence.

“Nothing changes. The revolution must go on.”

A resolute declaration. Pain split through Ruben’s chest.

Helia was no longer looking at him. Her gaze was fixed on the revolution, not on him as a person. She was rejecting Ruben Effenberg for what he was.

But the words he wanted to share with her weren’t such proclamations. Standing before Helia, he wasn’t a revolutionary soldier or a Duke of the Effenberg family. And she wasn’t a secret supporter of the revolution or a princess of a nation.

He wanted to face Helia Bailey and only Helia Bailey. No other titles mattered. Nothing else was needed. Honestly, nothing at all.

“So now…“

“Would you consider leaving?“

“What?“

“No, you should leave.“

“What are you saying…“

“Let go of your title as a princess and live a new life.”

Helia held her breath, unable to say anything. She could only watch as Ruben spoke. Raw, unfiltered words poured from him. His eyes glistened, tears threatening to fall as his emotions overwhelmed him.

“Anywhere is fine. Somewhere, no one knows you.”

“…….”

“With me.”

It was only after the words left his mouth that he realized it. Perhaps he had always wanted this. If only the world could be reduced to just the two of them, leaving nothing else behind. If such a thing were possible, he would have chosen without hesitation to live with her. But he couldn’t. The world was not a place meant only for the two of them. Their positions were misaligned, and their paths divergent. That was why he had lived without even considering reaching out his hand to her. He had turned his head away, cutting off any gaze that might have sought her. But if it were possible…

“Ruben…”

So that’s how it was. All he ever wanted was to hold her in his view, to take her hand, to occasionally embrace her entirely and live like that.

It was love.

“I’ll give up everything. I can throw it all away—the Revolutionary Army, the country—none of it matters…”

His voice broke, and he struggled to continue. Each word he managed to piece together felt like it tore his chest apart. Why couldn’t he have said this sooner? Something so simple. He honestly could have left with her right now, at this very moment. If possible, he would have abandoned all the glory and duty he had enjoyed up until now. The only regret that would haunt him for the rest of his life was realizing this so late.

Helia gazed at him with tear-streaked eyes. How long had she waited to hear those words? Staring blankly at the door that didn’t even cast his shadow, she had imagined the day he would walk through it to her. She would have abandoned her ambitions and burdens to take it if he came to her and held out his hand. She would have left everything behind to go far away with him. And then, she would have genuinely been able to smile, no matter where they were.

Those were the words she had longed to hear her entire life. But now, they had come too late.

“Ruben, this is the last time I’ll see you.“

“Princess…“

Ruben’s face contorted with desperation, like an abandoned puppy. Helia struggled not to avert her gaze from him. She had to face those pleading green eyes and convey her resolution. It was all she could do for him now.

Her golden eyes trembled as they met his, but her voice was steady and resolute.

“You in your place, and I in mine.”

Let us remain connected, if only in that way.

Helia swallowed the words she couldn’t bear to say. A fiery heat rose in her chest. It felt as if her entire body were melting away. But that was fine. Even if she were to dissolve and disappear completely, it wouldn’t matter. Nothing could matter anymore now that Ruben had come to her and said those words.

Even if she couldn’t take the hand extended to her, hearing those words was enough to endure everything. As long as he existed, she could bear all the oppression and weight she carried. Even if she couldn’t escape the fate she was given, she could die clutching those words as her only treasure.

Ruben’s face crumbled into despair and fear as he understood the meaning of her words. A vivid, overwhelming despair. Helia couldn’t bear to look and shut her eyes tightly.

“Please, don’t… don’t leave me…”

Ruben bit his tongue to stop himself from pleading. If Helia had decided, he couldn’t stand in her way. But even as he held back his words, his body trembled uncontrollably.

How could she ask him to push her into the abyss? How could she be so cruel?

“I’ll wait joyfully when you come to take my head.”

Helia said this with a smile. Words that couldn’t possibly be spoken with a smile, yet she smiled—radiantly.

Ruben’s chest tore into shreds at the sight of that smile, blood dripping from the invisible wounds. It was all his fault. He was the one who had driven her to say such things. She would fulfill her duties quietly, while he would be left powerless to save her, watching her fate unfold. That was the punishment he deserved.

Helia stepped forward, walking past him with her usual graceful stride toward the door. Ruben couldn’t even lift his head. Tears dripped onto the carpet below, and his clenched fists trembled violently. Yet, he couldn’t utter a single word in the face of the inevitable conclusion.

It was a perfect farewell.