Cassis stood frozen in front of Arianna. His body could finally move again, but his mind… not so much. The doubt and fear on her face gutted him. He tried to breathe, tried to think, but he felt like he was standing in an avalanche he'd triggered himself.

He took one step toward her. She immediately shuffled one step back.

He stopped. His jaw clenched, his chest heavy. He could barely keep himself upright. His whole body felt weak.

Finally, his voice came back, thin and rough. "Ari… let me explain."

She looked at him with those wide, wounded eyes, then gave the smallest nod.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I did make that wish."

Arianna flinched at the confirmation, like the words had actually struck her. Tears gathered in her eyes. Cassis felt something inside him tear, but he forced himself to continue.

"I was desperate and alone back then. I… I hated you for abandoning me." He looked away. He couldn't watch the hurt on her face while saying it. "I wasn't the same man you knew. Or the one I am now. I told you about the rage living inside me. Back then, it was all I had. It kept me going. It fuelled everything."

His hands curled into fists. He hated admitting it. "I'm so sorry. You're in this world because of me. Because of my rage and my selfishness."

She didn't scream. Didn't lash out. So he risked lifting his gaze.

A single tear slipped down her cheek.

His heart clenched so hard he almost stopped breathing. This hurt worse than any wound. Worse than dying. Being the cause of her pain…

He really was a bastard.

And still, he hoped. He still hoped she'd forgive him. Because he was selfish, and he didn't want to lose the love of his life. But if she told him to leave…

He'd go. She was strong now. Almost E-rank. She had friends who would protect her. Even his own family would side with her over him if they knew why she'd broken up with him. And he wouldn't blame them.

Then Arianna moved, lifting her hand to her cheek, staring at the tear angrily. She scrubbed both palms over her face, rough and irritated.

Cassis blinked. What was she doing?

Before he could ask, she glared at him. "I'm going to ask you some questions. And I expect the absolute truth. Do you understand?"

Her aggressiveness startled him, but gods, it was better than her sadness. He nodded.

"Do you want me to wear the Ring of Veritas?" he asked quietly.

She paused, then nodded sharply. She pulled it from her inventory and tossed it to him. In the same motion, she activated the privacy sphere around them.

Cassis slipped the ring on. The last time he had worn it… He remembered.

Helen. Her warning.

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.

"Secrets like that? They have a way of tearing people apart."

He swallowed. "It's not the right time."

"It's never the right time."

Helen's golden eyes locked onto his, unyielding. "One day, that girl out there, she's going to find out. And when she does, if she learns that you hid this from her?"

Cassis clenched his fists.

"It'll hurt her more than the truth ever could."

Now he would finally learn whether she'd been right.

"First question." Arianna's voice cracked on the word first, but she steadied herself quickly. "What was your exact wish? Tell me word for word."

He didn't react immediately, caught off guard by the demand. She glared at him again.

"Now." Her voice wasn't sharp, not really, but it lacked the warmth that defined her. And that hurt far more.

He nodded. If that's what she wanted.

"Alright. Here are the exact words I spoke." He still knew them perfectly. They haunted his worst nightmares.

"When I stood in front of the wishing lamp, I said: I want my patron, Arianna, to experience the same suffering as me."

He swallowed against the bile rising in his throat. Even repeating it made him sick.

He looked at her, but her face was unreadable. Gone was her open expression, the eyes that always betrayed her emotions. He hadn't known she could compose herself like that. Hadn't known she could hide herself from him so completely.

"I see," she said tonelessly.

He had no idea what she was thinking. But… he understood she needed to work through this in her own way.

"Second question. Did you know time would turn back, or did you expect me to drop into the other timeline?"

Cassis felt lost. This Arianna, he didn't know her at all.

"I… I don't know. I didn't really think the wishing lamp was the real deal. And…" It was shameful to admit, but she wanted the truth. "…and my memories of those four years without you are hazy. I'm not sure what I was thinking."

Arianna sighed. He couldn't tell if that was good or bad.

"Third question. You said things from those years are hazy. But did you remember your wish when we met on the first day of the apocalypse, or later?"

"I remembered immediately," Cassis replied. "It was the first time in years I was able to think clearly. The rage had retreated inside me."

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. He met her gaze. "But it's still there."

Arianna nodded.

"Fourth question." She paused, as if bracing herself for impact. His heart cracked at the sight. "Why didn't you tell me about your wish? We've been a team for so long. We've gone through so much together. So why didn't you tell me?"

Cassis heard the despair in her voice this time. It hit him like a blade.

He tried to speak. Nothing came out. Why hadn't he told her?

Finally, he rasped, "At first I wasn't sure how you'd react. It would've been normal for you to hate me, to want nothing to do with me. But…" He looked at her. "You needed me for survival. You would've been all alone in a different world and an apocalypse if you'd left me because of that."

Arianna looked at him, unimpressed. "And?"

What else did she want him to say?

She stared at him knowingly. "The whole truth."

He didn't want to say it. But he wore the Ring of Veritas. And she deserved honesty.

"…I was selfish." The words tasted like ash.

"I had you back with me. I had my family back. I wanted to pretend the wish had never happened, that it was just a nightmare. And how would you ever find out?" His jaw clenched. Anger at Zaman flickered under his skin. He hadn't known a genie existed inside the lamp. So why had the bastard chosen that moment to tell her? The way he looked at Cassis… he hated him.

"I figured." Arianna's voice pulled him from his spiralling thoughts.

"Fifth question: Were you ever going to tell me?" She looked at him like this was the most important question of all.

He didn't understand why. But he vowed then that if she forgave him, he'd never hide again. No lies. No secrets. Not from her.

"I had a plan," he said quietly. "I promised myself I'd tell you after you reached E-rank. I thought by then you'd be settled in this world, with friends, strong enough not to need me."

Arianna actually looked relieved for a heartbeat, then her blank mask returned.

"Last question: Why did you plan on telling me at all? As you said yourself, if you didn't tell me, who would? Zaman was unforeseeable."

Cassis stared at her like she'd grown two heads. "Because you deserve better."

He exhaled shakily. "I didn't plan to fall in love with you. At first, you were just my patron. But you became… everything. I couldn't imagine life without you as my partner anymore. And that was when I knew I had to tell you."

He closed his eyes briefly, then forced himself to say the rest.

"I am a selfish bastard. And you… aren't. You're everything good and bright wrapped up in a beautiful shell." Shame twisted inside him. "I grew disgusted with myself. How could I have wished for you to suffer? And how could your suffering bring me happiness? But it did."

His voice shook.

"You had to suffer through the apocalypse in my world, and I became happy because you were here."

He felt vile. He had thought he could atone by making her happy, by protecting her, by being her strength. But he had failed.

Memories slammed into him—

Arianna, injured and fainting after her solo fight with the hyenas to earn CP for his father's potion. Arianna gutted by the hobgoblin, dying on the ground. Arianna collapsing from mana depletion. Arianna, exhausted, healing until she had nothing left to give.

Her suffering. Again and again and again.

The weight crushed him. He sank to his knees before her.

He should let her go. She'd be happier without him. He was only holding her back.

But he already knew he was a selfish bastard.

And he wasn't above begging.

He looked up at her. Still closed off, still thinking, still giving him a chance.

"Please don't leave me."

She was silent for some time, but Cassis didn't dare look away. He had to let her see how desperate he was, how determined. The silence was unbearable, but he wouldn't rush her. He wouldn't manipulate her ever again.

How — or if — they continued… that would be her decision. He'd made a mess of everything. And now he'd even stolen her smile.

She looked at him seriously, then took a tiny step closer. His breath caught.

Another tiny step, then a pause.

He wasn't moving, wasn't even breathing. Could she actually forgive him? He almost didn't dare hope. Almost.

Then she walked toward him and sank to her knees.

Their eyes met, now at the same level. And this time, she let him see again. The emotions swirling inside her. A chaotic mix of pain, sadness, disappointment, anger. He didn't know what she was feeling. Maybe she didn't either.

Then she set her mouth into a line. Her determined look.

"I… I hate that you did this."

The words slashed at him like a whip and he flinched.

"I hate that you see me being in this world as suffering. I love this world. I feel alive — even with the danger and fighting. Maybe even because of it."

He hadn't expected that.

"I hate that you see me as so weak that you think you need to protect me. That you don't see me as your equal. Even though I've grown strong."

She was strong. He knew he could trust her with his back. He saw her as his partner. But before he could say it, she continued.

"I hate that you felt that way back then. I hate that you thought you couldn't tell me." Some anger returned to her eyes.

"I hate that you tried to manipulate me. I hate that you lied to me. I hate the most that you couldn't trust me to deal with this, and so you hid it from me."

She was glaring at him now, but everything was better than the neutral expression she'd worn before.

Then her glare softened. She even smiled a little, though it felt sad.

"But I don't hate you."

Those words let him hope again. Could she really…?

She took in his expression and something shifted. She grew even softer, whispering the next sentence.

"I love you."

He was dumbstruck. She still loved him? Even after finding out what kind of bastard he'd been?

She smirked briefly, then looked down.

"Still… I can't trust you right now."

Her words made the hope in his chest die a swift, clean death. Of course, she couldn't. If their roles were reversed, he wouldn't be able to trust her either.

"I underst—"

"No, you don't!" she snapped.

His head whipped up to meet her eyes. He hadn't even noticed he'd been looking down.

More calmly, she said, "I'm not breaking up with you. I'm angry and confused. I'm sad, and also disappointed. And I'm scared. Because what else have you been lying about? What else did you not tell me in order to protect me?"

He breathed, "Nothing."

She searched his eyes, then looked down at his hand, probably to confirm he was still wearing the Ring of Veritas. Tears sprang into her eyes again. She rubbed them away with her wrists.

"That's a relief." She sniffled. Then repeated, "I'm not breaking up with you. But I need some time. This… this hurt me."

Cassis nodded. He hadn't expected anything else.

Arianna watched him, and became visibly annoyed, rolling her eyes upward. Looking back at him, she said, "Not that. I actually understand the situation you were in back then. The rage was all you had. And in a sense, I did abandon you, so that's something I can live with. What hurt me most was that you didn't tell me. Am I not your partner, your equal? Aren't we a team? Just why didn't you trust me to handle the truth? You had so many opportunities to tell me. Instead, you only told me you had a secret and wouldn't open up about it."

Every word hit him like a bullet. So Helen had been right. His silence hurt her more than the wish he'd made in anger.

Arianna continued, "Nobody's perfect. We all have our flaws, our ugly sides." She whispered the last part, looking haunted. "How can I be your partner if you can't trust me with those?"

She finally paused, inviting him to say something. But he had no idea what to say.

Just staring at her, he kept fanning the dying flame in his heart. A break was different from a breakup. She needed time. He would give it to her. She needed space. He'd respect that. Whatever else she needed from him, whatever it took to make them okay again, he'd do it.

She shook her head. "I told you. Everyone has flaws. I have them too. So don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" Like his world? His one and only love? His everything?

And suddenly, he knew what to say.

He reached out slowly with his hand, giving her all the time she needed to pull away if she didn't want his touch. She watched him, curious.

He picked up her necklace from her collarbone. The sapphire pendant flashed, and beside it hung the little heart he'd carved for her. She looked down, her lips curving slightly when she saw it.

"You might have thought it was just a phrase when I told you that I gave you my heart. It wasn't. My heart is yours, be it in the other timeline or now. Back then, I was too stupid to realise it. I only knew after you were gone."

He let go of the necklace and gently tilted her chin up, making her look at him again. Without holding anything back, he told her:

"My heart belongs to you. It's your decision if you want to keep it. But it won't change anything for me."

She smiled, but it was so full of happiness and pain that Cassis didn't know what to make of it.

Then she closed her eyes and stood, ending the moment. She held out her hand.

He took it and stood as well. When she let go, he forced himself not to hold onto her.

"I need some time," she said, slipping back into that businesslike tone. "To deal with this. To get a grip on my emotions. Let's get out of this dungeon first. Then evolve to E-rank, go home, found the guild, continue with our plans."

She turned away.

"I don't know what we will look like from now on," she said over her shoulder. "But we're still a team. This is just a temporary hiccup. A painful one, but I believe it'll get better."

With that, she put the privacy sphere back into her inventory and walked toward the voices of their team members.

Cassis stayed back, still reeling from their confrontation. He knew nothing was certain, but the hope burning in his chest was a raging fire now.

She might actually be able to forgive him.

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