The car was speeding down the road toward the church when a sudden mist enveloped them.Rasen didn't need promises or flowers; seeing Clear by his side was enough. Her warm hand, her laughter… everything hinted at a future finally within reach.But in the darkest corners of his mind, Aisha's name still burned like an unhealed wound.
"Was I the first girl in your life?" Clear asked, half-joking, though her eyes were searching for something deeper.Rasen responded with a mischievous grin."And do you remember when you said you'd never get married?"She laughed, adjusting the makeshift veil. But the moment shattered.In the rearview mirror, a pair of golden eyes between the trees."Rasen, look out!"
The impact was brutal. The car spun. Smoke. Shattering glass. A moon medallion falling.Then—darkness.
"Howls…"
The car lay in ruins. Tires still spinning. Sirens tearing through the dawn.Morning came with blood and silence.
Rasen woke up in the hospital.The scent of disinfectant burned his throat. The weight on his chest wasn't physical. It was absence.
"Clear… where is she?"
—The patient is awake…—Sedate him!—Stabilize the wound!
He needed no more. He saw it in the doctor's face.
"Miss Clear... we're sorry. We did everything we could."She died from a lung collapse. Her body couldn't take it.But it wasn't the crash.There were claw marks on her neck, and in her clenched hand, a piece of black cloth embroidered with lotus flowers.
After stabilizing, Rasen said nothing.He couldn't.Every memory of Clear felt like a blade twisting in his chest.He wandered the hallways like a ghost—until he saw her.
Aisha.
She wore a dark jacket and hunter boots.In a second, he was running toward her."Is it possible…?" he whispered.
She turned.The silence between them said more than words ever could.Rasen took her hands. They were cold, but alive.
"I'm so sorry," Aisha said, though her voice didn't sound like her own.Then he saw it—Clear's bracelet on her wrist.
"Why do you have that?"
Aisha looked down.
"It wasn't an accident... the wolves... Did you know?" Rasen said, trembling. "You knew!"
I shouldn't have given you the medallion... knowing he was looking for it.
She lowered her eyes.Rasen had seen her from afar, sitting alone in an empty waiting room.Her gaze was fixed on the floor, hands clasped on her knees.She looked so fragile, so human… and yet, everything inside him screamed to go to her.Not with tenderness—but with rage.
He took one step, then another, and stopped.What if it wasn't her fault…? What if it was?
In his mind, memories of Clear clashed with the image of Aisha.Two women. Two destinies.He swallowed hard, holding back a scream.
"I can't hate her… and that's the worst part," he murmured to himself.
Then he walked toward her, trembling inside.
Flashback:Under Noah's control, Aisha places the medallion in Rasen's car."It will attract the beasts of Sanathiel," Noah whispers. "Either he dies… or he awakens."
PresentRasen pushed her against the wall.His tears burned with rage.
"You're his puppet! Like always!"
Aisha didn't fight back. In her eyes, shadows battled that weren't her own.
"They did this to me," she whispered, showing the scars on her wrists. "But Clear… she chose to love you, knowing the risk."
"And you condemned her!" he shouted, pointing at her. "They tore her throat out for something you gave me!"
"It was a mistake… I shouldn't have come."
"Mistake? We were going to get married! Do you even know what love is?" he roared. "Don't you dare touch me!"
She didn't defend herself. She just looked at him, eyes shattered.
"I'll hate myself for this… for loving you," he said, breaking. "You're cruel… and selfish."
"Get out of my life, Aisha!"
She turned away without a word.From the emergency stairs, Noah emerged.His smile was a cold sneer.
"Everything's easier when it's under control, isn't it, huntress?"
Rasen, heart burning with guilt and rage, ran down the stairs after her.
"Aisha! Don't leave yet!" he shouted, his voice cracking.
But he stopped.A tall man with mismatched eyes—one black, one red—blocked the way.Noah.
"You think she betrayed you?" Noah said with mockery. "No. You condemned her when you chose her over the Community."
Rasen tried to punch him, but Noah blocked it effortlessly.He pulled a photo from his pocket:Clear, pregnant—A secret Rasen never knew.
Rasen stumbled back, soul crumbling.He looked for Aisha.But she was gone.So was Noah.Only the echo of their steps remained in the empty hospital.
Outside, the wind dragged dry leaves across the pavement.Aisha leaned against the hospital wall, her breath trembling in the dimness.She placed a hand on her chest, right where her heart pounded violently.
"Rasen…" she whispered, as if saying his name might rip him from her soul.
She held back a sob and, without looking back, walked into the darkness, letting it swallow her whole.Because sometimes, love also means disappearing.
Then Noah appeared in front of her."You've already asked for forgiveness. I think that's enough," he said with poisoned calm.With just a glance at Aisha, he murmured:"Sleep now."And she collapsed, unconscious.