Azaveria: Tainted Light

She was home that night when she smelled it—a scent she hadn't forgotten for a single second of her life. A familiar fragrance filled the air... the scent of Ravaz.

She closed her eyes, her fists clenching tight. Without even looking at him, she spoke with cold resolve: "Leave, Ravaz. Don't you dare show your face to me."

The same voice she had once loved, the one that still echoed deep within her, replied: "I'm sorry."

She cut him off, her voice breaking, her eyes still squeezed shut. "Aren't you ashamed to say you're sorry? Tell me... where exactly am I supposed to put that apology? On my heart, which you shattered? Or on my life, which no longer feels like living because of you?"

Her breath hitched. "Or perhaps for the way you walked away while I was begging you, broken? You knew how much I valued my pride. I don't break for anyone. But you saw me destroyed. I told you: It's okay. I want to die. I just don't want to be apart from you. And yet, you still left while I was pleading."

In a fit of despair, she struck her stomach hard, her eyes still closed. "My son, Adam... this filthy womb couldn't even protect him."

Slowly, she opened her tear-filled eyes, glancing at him sideways with a chilling gaze. "Leave. Don't come back. If you ever see me dying, begging you to save me—don't. I want nothing from you. No more memories. The pain I carry is enough. I don't want any more."

Stephanie's voice grew more fragile than ever. "Everyone I've ever held onto, I've lost. My father, my mother... you... then my grandmother... and finally... my son."

She let out a bitter, grief-stricken smile. "You know," she continued, "I realized too late that the greatest injustice a person can do to themselves is building their happiness on people who made them believe their presence was eternal... only for them to vanish in an instant, forever. That's why I've decided never to build my happiness on temporary things again."

Ravaz watched her, his eyes brimming with heartbreak and silent plea. He just listened... listening to the agony she had buried for years.

In a trembling voice, he whispered, "Stephanie... forgive me."

She cut him off sharply, her voice shaking. "Forgive you? Do you know what I want most right now? Consider this a final request... if I could go back in time, I would want you to ignore me entirely. My life has become a living hell because of you. Please, just go."

Ravaz tried to step closer, reaching out to pull her into an embrace. She shoved him back violently and screamed, "You are my curse! Tell me... how do I break your curse?!"

Then her tone shifted—a haunting mix of blame and longing. "Why couldn't I forget you? Why is my heart still tied to you like this? I want to forget you... I want it more than anything."

Stephanie collapsed to the floor, sobbing—a deep, soul-shattering cry she had held back for years. Ravaz sat beside her in silence, resting a hand gently on her shoulder.

After a long moment, she lifted her tear-stained face and whispered brokenly, "More than seven years... how could you do this to me?"

Ravaz didn't answer.

She continued, her voice barely audible, "You know, Ravaz... when I held Adam in my arms, I felt a warmth I had only ever known with you. It was then I realized how much I loved you... and how much I hated myself for letting you reach a depth inside me that should have belonged only to my children."

Ravaz replied, his voice thick with despair, "To be with me is to invite your end, Stephanie. I don't know when or how... but every path leads to the same result."

She smiled bitterly through her tears. "Do you think I'm alive? Look at me... I have no soul. What I'm living now is just another face of death. Maybe worse."

"I am terrified of losing you," Ravaz said softly. "Death is the one thing I cannot undo."

She looked at him with disbelief, her voice turning cold. "Go. You lost me a long time ago."

In that moment, Ravaz finally broke. The walls he had built for years crumbled. "Maybe I was the one who chose to leave... but it was the hardest decision I ever made. I am not who I was. All I want is to be near you, and all I fear is your end. I am caught between two fires."

He reached for the pendant around her neck—the one he had given her so long ago. "I told you once that what lies inside this is a piece of my light... from my very core. But what I didn't tell you is that this piece was meant for a wife."

"When you kissed it... when you kept it... you officially became my wife from that very moment."

Stephanie gasped. "What? Your wife?!"

"Yes. In our world, a marriage is incomplete without the Light of Continuity. And I gave it to you then." He looked directly into her eyes, his voice steady and certain. "For the first time in my life, I am going to risk it all without calculating the consequences. Will you accept me as your husband?"

Stephanie froze. "You return after all these years... and you ask me for marriage? What kind of logic is this, Ravaz?"

He smiled gently but offered no answer.

She rushed into the garden, her body still unable to process what was happening. She asked herself: Should I surrender? Should I allow myself a happiness that seems impossible?

A voice rose from within her: Surrender... you deserve something to bring you back to life after everything you've suffered.

She stood before the mulberry tree—the tree that had witnessed their very first meeting. Ravaz followed her. In a swift motion, he pulled her into an embrace from behind and whispered: "From the first moment I saw you here... I wished for you to be my wife. It wasn't a question; it was my first true wish. And now, I want your answer."

She looked into his eyes, seeing the rare sparks dancing within them. For the first time in years, she smiled deeply. "Yes... I accept."

The moment she spoke the words, the Light of Continuity erupted from her pendant, merging into her being. On Ravaz's back, a glowing symbol appeared: a mulberry tree made of light.

Ravaz was the first shadow of the Shadows of Light in Azaveria to be granted the right to choose his own wife. Finally, he had received his third Mark—and it was a Mark of his own choosing. All others were chosen within the Womb of Azaveria... but not him.

Stephanie whispered in awe, "Ravaz... what's happening?"

"Officially," he smiled, his tone turning playful, "we are now husband and wife. It seems my Eternal Light has decided to register you as... The Mulberry Girl."

The air was thick with a joy long overdue—a joy heavy with the weight of the despair that preceded it. They knew their existence together was impossible, yet they had found one another anyway. Not to defy fate, but to complete each other.

Because the only thing truly impossible was continuing without the other.

Would life finally be fair to Stephanie, or was she about to pay the price for her choices?