In this life, Lila moved with a sense of conviction, unaware that this was not merely her second chance, but her fourth. Each time her soul was reborn, the memories of her past lives slipped away, leaving only a faint impression—a lingering shadow of emotion without clear form. She thought this was her second life, a fresh beginning with only the vaguest sense that something had once been broken, something she couldn't name but felt determined to heal.
Axel, however, remembered everything. Every life, every tragic ending, every desperate wish left unanswered. He bore the burden of knowing, watching as Lila looked at him with a curiosity that always sparked a flicker of hope in his heart. But that hope was fragile, his fears gnawing at him. He had seen her love him, resent him, and ultimately fall to the curse of their entwined fate each time, and yet, he could not stop himself from loving her more with each cycle.
This time, though, he wondered if there was a way to change their ending. A way to guide her, gently, without triggering the memories that had taken her from him time and again. It was a delicate balance, this fourth chance; he yearned to protect her from remembering, but the fear that history would repeat itself clawed at him.
He knew he was gambling against fate, risking it all to keep her close without rekindling the memories that would endanger her. Axel took solace in her presence, praying that she would never remember, that she would remain blissfully unaware that this life, this love, was not their first nor second, but the fourth attempt at a happiness always beyond their reach.
But even with all his strength, he could not silence the quiet dread within him, the fear that one day, her gaze would shift, recognition would dawn, and the memories would come flooding back. And if that happened, he feared he would lose her once more—bound by love and cursed by fate, a cycle as inevitable as the rise and fall of the sun.
Axel sat alone in the dimly lit study, a single candle flickering by his side. The scratch of his quill filled the silence as he wrote, spilling fragments of memories he wished he could forget but knew he must document, if only to make sense of the relentless fate that had bound them for lifetimes. He couldn't resist the need to trace it all out, to examine each life like a wound he could never heal.
"In our first life," he scrawled slowly, "she cursed me. She swore I would live every life in love with her, that I would know nothing but misery and longing. And then, she took her life in her own hands, ending it with such certainty that it was as if she knew she'd return only to continue this curse."
Axel paused, the memory still vivid—her final, defiant gaze seared into his mind, the anger that had twisted her features just before she left him alone with nothing but emptiness. The weight of that curse lingered, heavy as an iron chain around his heart, refusing to let him go.
"Then, in our second life, fate repeated itself with cruel precision." His hand trembled slightly as he continued. "We married, not for love but because duty demanded it. And just as before, we had a son, and just as before, he died in her arms. I watched her spirit unravel, saw the light in her eyes fade until nothing but blame remained. She looked at me with such hatred, and in the end, she cursed me again. No plea, no prayer could stop it."
He clenched his jaw, feeling the frustration, the helplessness as he wrote. Each memory was like pressing a bruise—painful, raw, and unyielding. Axel shut his eyes briefly, trying to steady his breathing, but even that brought him back to the ache of those years, of her fierce eyes turning against him, again and again.
"And in the third life," he resumed, "I made the decision. I kept my distance. I tried to live a life far from her path, hoping that if we never met, fate might grant her peace, let her live without the curse that follows us. But it didn't matter. She found herself trapped by the same destiny, and she died."
Axel's hand froze as he felt the pang of that life's sorrow. Lila had perished alone, unaware, and he had felt her absence more profoundly than ever, knowing he could not save her by running away. She was bound to him, and he to her, in a cycle that only seemed to deepen his despair.
The candle flickered, shadows dancing along the walls as if mocking him. The silence weighed heavy as he put down his quill and pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling the depth of exhaustion that came with carrying these memories alone.
"If I'm cursed to love you and lose you, lifetime after lifetime, then what am I to do?" he whispered bitterly, his voice cracking. He could feel his heart shattering again, unable to fathom a way forward. "How am I to love you, to marry you again, knowing that it will always end this way?"
He could almost hear her voice echoing back at him, her last words from their first life: "I will find you in every lifetime, Axel. I will live without you, and you will love me in sorrow. You will suffer, just as I have."
And he knew, even as he dreaded it, that he could not turn from her. Axel was bound to her, irrevocably, and the grief and love that tore him apart would always draw him back, no matter the cost.
Axel's voice was a murmur, low and haunted as he whispered to himself, the weight of countless lifetimes pressing on his shoulders. He could still see her face, hear the bitter words she'd spoken in that first life, words that had chained them to this endless cycle.
"You said you would live without me, Lila," he muttered softly to the empty room, his voice filled with exhaustion and sorrow. "And yet, in every lifetime, you're the one who's torn from me. Every single time... you're the one who dies."
Axel's hand clenched at his side, the memories flooding his mind—each life, each death, each fleeting moment they had shared before fate ripped her away. He could still feel the sensation of loss as if it was etched into his very soul.
"When will this end?" he whispered, his tone a mix of frustration and longing.
As he said the words, a wave of hopelessness washed over him. He knew the answer even as he asked the question. There was no escaping the curse she had woven around them. It was in the very fabric of his existence, an unbreakable bond that tied them together in love and despair, life after life.
"What must I do, Lila?" he continued, his voice barely a whisper. "How can I ever stop this if every step I take only seems to bring us back to this same tragic end?"
Axel sank down, the weight of the centuries pressing heavily on him. He couldn't escape her, couldn't outrun the love and the pain that seemed to follow them both.