The silence was absolute.
No pain. No breath. No night.
Only… the void.
Wilfred slowly opened his eyes. Around him, a motionless space, without time, without sky. A place between existence and oblivion. He recognized this place. The Void.
He smiled faintly.
— So… this is where it all ends.
He tried to move. But his body no longer existed. Only his soul floated, still heavy with memories, regrets… and a name.
Aria.
He closed his eyes for a moment. And in that peaceful darkness, his inner voice echoed:
> "Aria… you saw what I was. And yet, you reached out your hand.
I wished to live… with you. To smile at you in the sun, to touch you without burning, to speak to you without whispering.
But I was born a monster… and died a man."
A breath of peace crossed him.
> "You must live, Aria. You must move forward without me.
Because now… for the first time in five centuries… I am free."
And then, a soft light opened in the void. Black roses fell from the silent sky.
The cursed king, Liam Wilfred, walked toward the light, his heart finally at peace.
---
Epilogue – The Dream Scented with Ashes
Night had fallen over the village, silent and gentle like a silk shroud.
Aria slept, curled beneath her blanket, her eyelids damp from too many tears. Since the funeral, she had smiled out of politeness… but her heart still screamed in the shadows.
And then, in the silence of her sleep, he entered.
First a breath.
Then a silvery mist.
And finally… him.
Wilfred.
The cursed king, but without his cloak, without his red eyes, without pain.
Just the man. The soul.
Free.
He slowly approached her, in this world woven of dreams, and knelt beside her bed of illusion.
She opened her eyes. She saw him.
Her lips trembled.
— Wilfred…?
He placed a finger on her cheek, without touching her.
— Shh, my light. This is only a dream… but I wanted to tell you what I never could.
She wept silently, her gaze drowning.
He whispered:
> "You were my light through five centuries of darkness.
My breath in the void.
My warmth in the flames.
Thanks to you, I understood that even shadows can love."
He bowed his head, a tear slipping from his invisible lashes.
> "I will not return, Aria. My soul is at peace now. But yours… it must live.
You are made for the light, not for tombs.
Laugh. Love. Walk. Sing. And forget me… if your heart demands it.
But know this: I will love you beyond death, in every note of your symphony."
He straightened up. The dream's light was already flickering.
Aria reached out to him, tears on her lips.
— Stay… just a little longer…
He smiled. The gentlest, most human of all his smiles.
"We danced with shadows, Aria.
Now… dance with life."
And he vanished in a burst of luminous ashes.
At dawn, Aria opened her eyes.
Her pillow was wet.
But her heart… was finally a little lighter.
On the windowsill, a black rose had blossomed, edged with frost and light.