Around nightfall, Elara and Lucian went to sleep as usual. As if nothing had changed. As if she hadn’t just learned that the man beside her had once shattered into fragments of himself simply to survive the unbearable weight of his own mind. As if the world was still simple, still predictable, and still kind. They lay side by side beneath the soft, gray bedsheets, the faint scent of clean linen lingering in the air, the dim bedside lamp casting a warm, golden halo in the room, and making everything feel deceptively safe. Lucian reached over eventually and switched the lamp off. Darkness settled slowly, like a heavy curtain being drawn across a stage. The room fell into silence under the darkness. Lucian shifted closer instinctively, the mattress dipping slightly beneath his weight as his arm slid around her waist, firm and familiar, pulling her back against his chest. His body heat enveloped her immediately. His breathing was steady, warm against the back of her neck, its sl
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