{ "The vows are not just words; they are the foundation stones of a lifelong promise to love, honor, and cherish."}
His arms wrapped around me in an instant. Steady, warm, and comforting. He did not ask what had happened, and he did not need to. He simply held me, and in that silence, the last pieces of guilt, grief, and guardedness loosened their grip on my soul.
After a long moment, I tilted my head up to look at him. "He came to me." Dante blinked, quietly waiting. "Dunco." My voice cracked gently on his name. "He came. He thanked me. Blessed… us."
Dante's brow furrowed, but not with doubt, just awe. His hands tightened around my waist, grounding me. "He did?"
I nodded. "He said he never left. That he saw everything. And he said thank you… to you."
Dante exhaled slowly, the sound full of reverence and the weight of a man who had stood in another's shadow with grace and patience. "Then I will carry that blessing with everything I am."
