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I find her gaze as the world begins to tilt and dim, and I hold it with everything I have left.

I chose you, I try to say without speaking.Not my father. Not the empire. You.

Let that be my last vow.

Blood. There’s so much blood.

It spreads beneath me in a warm, sticky pool, soaking through my shirt. Each breath is agony, like drowning in reverse, and I can feel my strength draining away with every heartbeat.

I don’t know if I stopped him.

I don’t know if she’s safe.

I can’t see her. Can’t hear her.

Run, Aria. My mind screams it even if my lips can’t move.Run. Get out. Save yourself. Save our baby.

If he’s still standing, if he reloads, if she hesitates?—

God, please. Let her live.

I gave everything to buy her one more second. Let it be enough.

And if I die here, bleeding out on the floor of my house?—

Let it mean something.

Let it mean she gets away.

Let it mean our child has a chance.

Darkness closes in, thick and final. I try to hold on, just for one more glimpse of her.

But all that’s left is her name, echoing in the silence of my mind.

Aria…

Let my final breath be a promise. That I loved her. That I chose her. That I would do it again—even if it ends here, bleeding into silence.

41

ARIA

Everything tilts. Sound vanishes. The moment swallows me whole.

And all I see is Marco crumpling to the floor.

Blood blooms across his white shirt, spreading with each labored breath. His eyes find mine as he falls, and I see something there I’ve never seen before.

Peace.

Like he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.

“No.” The word tears from my throat, raw and broken. “No, no, no.”

I’m moving before I realize it, my legs giving out as I drop to my knees beside him. The marble is cold and hard, but all I can feel is the warmth of his blood seeping through my clothes.

“Marco.” My hands flutter over his chest, not knowing where to press, where to stop the bleeding. It’s everywhere—warm and slick, seeping into the marble like it’s trying to swallow him whole. “Oh God, Marco, what did you do?”