— Clara...

Daniel hadn't forgotten. He said her name.

His voice was low and soft and full of every kind of feeling.

Listening, Clara felt her heart go hot.

She'd tried to forget him, but a sudden longing had made her pick up the phone.

She'd deleted the number and changed phones, but the number stayed in her head.

It was so strong that she'd dialed before she knew what she was doing.

And she'd done it from the house of the man who'd be her husband in a few days.

An elegant old castle, with a well-kept garden outside the window.

The estate and castle passed down through the man's family for generations.

The day wasn't far off when Clara would be mistress here.

"H-how have you been?"

The greeting barely made it out through her tightening throat.

— How have I been? What about you, Clara?

He asked as tenderly as always.

Nothing about his voice or the way he answered had changed.

The world had changed, and Clara had even had the freedom of studying abroad, but the guilt lingered.

Giving everything up for the sake of an old family's history made her feel like the strange one.

But she loved her parents, so she'd had no choice.

But she'd never ended it properly.

A love can begin any way it likes, but it has to end properly.

Clara hadn't gone through that.

Even if the feelings were hers alone, it wasn't fair to him.

"Me too... nothing much."

So many things she couldn't talk about had happened.

But she couldn't say them.

They weren't the kind of people who told each other every little thing anymore.

The bond between them had hit an invisible wall, and she could see its end.

— I'm glad.

She could feel that he meant it.

He was much younger, but she'd never felt the age gap, not from the start.

She'd always leaned on the serious eyes hidden behind his easy laugh.

"Daniel..."

Clara held down the sadness surging up and said his name.

A name she would never say…