He stepped a little closer, not too near, just enough to let her know he was there.

"You were hurt before, so it’s normal for that fear to stay," Cyrus said softly. His eyes were gentle as he reached out and touched her cheek, caressing it like she was something precious.

"But I don’t like it," Roxanna whispered. She leaned into his hand, letting him hold her face. "I want this fear to go away. I want to trust people fully... without being scared that something bad will happen between us someday."

"You can still trust people," Cyrus said. "Your feelings and what might happen in the future are not connected. When you choose to trust someone, whether that person stays loyal or betrays you is not your responsibility."

"I understand that, but still... it’s hard to apply in real life," Roxanna said. "Besides, I don’t want to hurt others by treating them as if they might betray me someday. Do you know how to stop that kind of feeling? That kind of fear?"

Cyrus let out a soft sigh, gently caressing her cheek with his thumb. "I wish I knew the answer, but unfortunately, I don’t," he said. "I believe that once a feeling is etched in our hearts, it’s hard to erase. But there’s no harm in trying to cover that fear with more positive feelings, like... reminding yourself that Aelin is someone who saved your husband."

"Remind yourself that Aelin can give you the experience of having a female friend in this strange world," Cyrus continued. "It won’t be easy, of course. Changing what’s in your heart can’t happen in one night. But as long as you leave a little space in your heart to trust something new, I think you’ll be fine."

Roxanna fell silent for a while, suddenly feeling like she was about to cry.

"It’s alright." Cyrus gently took her hand and pulled her into his embrace. "You don’t have to be afraid. It’s normal to have bad feelings sometimes. After all, you have a heart, and as long as it’s still beating, you will always feel something."

She had a heart, and it was alive—so why should she try to stop it from feeling?

Roxanna rested her head against Cyrus’s chest, saying nothing, just listening to his heartbeat, which somehow made her feel calmer.

After a while, she finally spoke. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"My ex-husband used to get mad at me whenever I became a bit emotional," she murmured. "Before the apocalypse, even though he never hit me, he would always yell at me whenever I felt jealous. He would say that... this feeling is the reason why people hate me."

Cyrus gritted his teeth in silence. He couldn’t even understand what jealousy had to do with being hated. To him, her ex-husband clearly had no sense at all.

"Maybe that’s why I always feel bad when I get emotional," Roxanna continued. "It’s not just about Aelin or my old friend, but it’s also because of what he told me."

Cyrus tightened his embrace and gently stroked her back. "Your ex-husband was a jerk, so everything he said to you was completely wrong."

He slowly pulled back just enough to look at her face. "How about you listen to me instead?" he said softly. "My wife, Roxanna... you can cry, get angry, laugh, or even feel jealous as much as you want."

His eyes softened. "And I will never think that it’s a bad thing." He smiled warmly, almost like the sun. "You’re allowed to feel."

Roxanna was utterly speechless.

Her throat felt tight, and her chest ached as if something had been pressing on it for days. She had been holding all those feelings in for a whole week and now, after hearing Cyrus say that what she felt was normal, it was like a heavy weight had finally lifted off her shoulders.

"Thank you," she whispered, though her voice almost didn’t come out.

"But honestly..." Cyrus gently brushed his thumb under her eyes, wiping away the tears that were about to fall. "...I think if you wait a little longer, you’ll be glad that Azul has been spending every morning with Aelin."

Roxanna didn’t understand what he meant at first. But later that day, as the sun slowly began to set, Azul suddenly walked up to her and handed her something.

"What... is this?" Roxanna asked. She felt like she recognized the object in his hand, but at the same time, she wasn’t sure.

It looked like a brown envelope, something that might be made from tree bark. She had seen things like it before, but how did Azul manage to make this?

"It’s a letter," Azul said softly, lowering his gaze. Then, in a quieter voice, he added, "A love letter... for you."

Roxanna needed a moment of silence to process what was happening. [A letter? A love letter?! How could Azul give me something like that? He can’t even read...]

But when she thought about it more carefully, she realized that Aelin could read, since Michaela had taught the Golden Tribe the alphabet.

[Did he... did he spend all that time with Aelin so he could make a love letter for me?] Roxanna’s eyes widened in realization. All the doubt, jealousy, and anger she had been holding onto immediately disappeared, replaced by a happiness that made her stomach feel like it was filled with thousands of butterflies.

"Azul, this... this..." Roxanna pressed her lips together because she didn’t know what to say. Suddenly, her heart was also filled with guilt for accusing him of doing something bad with Aelin.

"I’m so sorry!" She covered her mouth with both hands, and without meaning to, tears began to fall from her eyes, making Azul panic.

"Why? Why are you crying?" Azul straightened up and quickly rushed toward her. He tried to stop her from crying by hugging her, but it only made her cry even more.

"Don’t cry, please don’t cry," he said, his voice a little shaky. "I should be the one apologizing. I’m the one who made you misunderstand..."