He did not even notice as his nails dug deep into his palms, drawing blood.
Elian trembled all over, the light in his eyes fading little by little, until nothing but dead, hollow gray remained.
In the end, the two men were "escorted" out of the manor by the shadow guards.
Snow had begun to fall again, cold flakes stinging their faces.
They stood on the stone steps outside the gate, staring blankly into the distance.
Regret flooded over them like a tidal wave, and they ached to rush back inside.
But they knew, deep down, that the girl they had cast aside would never turn back to them again.
At that moment, strange lines of writing floated in the air — the same "comments" that had once appeared beside Jade.
They understood that the story had broken, and they would soon vanish.
But b
