Over time, the memory of traditional romantic love transformed into something resembling myth. Films and novels from earlier centuries—stories about lifelong devotion, tragic sacrifice, and eternal partnership—circulated through digital archives like relics from a lost civilization. Young audiences consumed these narratives with fascination, sometimes amusement.
Could people really have believed in promises lasting forever?
The idea seemed almost supernatural. Yet the emotional power of those stories remained undeniable for even within a society structured around temporary relationships, individuals occasionally felt the old longing for permanence. Such feelings were rarely discussed openly but they lingered and in certain individuals—those who would later play critical roles in the history of Eurostate—they ignited questions that the architects of the new system had hoped never to hear.
If love was dangerous, why did it still feel necessary?