9/19/2026, 8:40 PM
Even now, she was so beautiful. So achingly, tenderly beautiful. It took all of his strength not to pull her into his arms, caress her with his lips and his tongue, but now she seemed so far from him. A statue; perfect and flawless, and ever out of reach.
They were both stupid.
Izumi's words surprised him. It wasn't necessarily their content, but their tone that caught him off-guard; she sounded pained, even upset with him, and immediately his expression shifted into something beyond shame.
I thought - I wasn't sure -he stuttered, unsure of what to say.
I...
I what?
Regretted it? That was partially untrue. He could not lie to his Empress. While the part of him that felt remorse over sullying her innocence was still quite raw, he could not deny that in the same set of circumstances, regardless of the passage of time, he would likely fall to his own selfish desires again.
Osamu knew that his famous strength had at last failed him, and would ever do so as long as he remained in her presence.
While his physical strength was as cold steel, his heart was pitiably weak.
... I regret this distance between us.
Osamu averted his gaze.
It was not my intention. But I have wronged you,he said thickly.
I am no longer a Samurai, but a desperate, foolish man who takes without consideration. I await your punishment.
![[Image: ZvwmV36.png]](https://i.imgur.com/ZvwmV36.png)
