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"We need to talk."
Draht's voice seemed to pierce through the already tense dinner date they were having.
Frieren looked up at him while in the middle of putting more steak in her mouth. She silently completed this action, unbothered by what Draht has to say. After all, they were engaged and in the middle of a pleasant date, it can't be that serious.
"Continue."
She said, after she straightened her posture.
Draht looked at her with an expression she couldn't fully describe, a look of disappointment, with a little anger and some melancholy mixed in. His gaze bore into her, as she realised he was analysing her every move. His own fish fillet was forgotten on the table along with his cutlery, as he leaned forward on the table with his hands supporting his chin.
He spoke no words, as he silently slipped off his engagement ring and placed it on the middle of the table.
Frieren just blinked. She knew perfectly fine what this meant for her and Draht's relationship, after all she wasn't totally dense.
Simply put:
She didn't care.
She couldn't even bring herself to care. She vanquished the demon king, so why would she be bothered by being dumped by an (admittedly cute) demon? She felt nothing. Even when Draht stood up and wished her a good day out of politeness, even when she had slipped off her own ring from her finger that she got used to fidgeting around with, and even when she had to take both of their meals back home with her.
The decades crept up on her, the little reminders of her failed marriage and engagement kept pestering her and Frieren finally decided that it was time to go and check up on her ex fiancé.
She went to Draht's house, knocked on the door and the door slowly creaked open.
Before being slammed in her face.
She knocked again. And again... and again.
The door finally opened up with Draht's frustrated face. He had a few wrinkles from when she last saw him, a few gray hairs sprinkled around his head and a slight stubble.
"What do you want." He spat harshly, his words laced with venom.
"I want to talk." She replied calmly, unbothered about how bitter Draht seemed to be towards her. He's simply a demon. No need to be bothered about them, even if it stung just a little.
"There is nothing to talk about with you, the time we spent together in my youth is wasted and gone." Draht was finally able to let out a bit of his frustrations. Not like she'd ever listen.
Frieren was a little taken aback. The pure hatred in his voice was...jarring to say the least. Her mouth was slightly open, almost like she wanted to say something but couldn't quite get it out.
Draht simply blinked at her, scrutinising her appearance up and down. Of course, she hadn't aged one bit.
"Why?" She finally managed to muster. "Why did you leave?"
Draht chuckled at that, not the soft chuckle that made her heart beat that much faster, but a mocking one. Much harsher than she was used to, it almost stabbed through her heart.
"How long has it been? Eighty? Ninety years maybe? You still haven't realised?"
He leaned on the doorframe, crossed his arms and looked at her. Judged her.
Frieren was motionless. That aura that used to be comforting now made her feel nauseous. She let a few silent tears slip out. Not understanding why she was crying over a mere demon.
His look towards her was filled with distaste.
"Oh yes, cry when you realise your missed opportunities. Just like you always do to get people to feel bad for you while ignoring their feelings in return." The dumbfounded expression on her face said everything he needed to know. She didn't even understand. She never understood.
Her throat went dry at that. Draht could always read her like a book, it was slightly unnerving. He could pick out all her flaws and show them to the world as she tried her best to pretend she cared about others. All Frieren could do was simply look down and signal for an elaboration.
"Our entire relationship you've disregarded my feelings, you just expect people to be as emotionally stunted as you are. How could you expect someone to just let you into their lives when you make it clear that the time with them won't matter to you? That you'll never care and see the memories with them as meaningless?"
Draht's voice was still calm, but the way he looked at her made it clear that he held no love nor care for her. Not anymore at least. His eyes stared right through Frieren's soul and saw all of her sins. All the blood on her hands and all the pain she created. He couldn't bring himself to care about her tears. How could he have fallen for such a pretty face?
He continued.
"You can't bring yourself to care."
Frieren was speechless, she just looked up at him.
"You're right. I don't care."
And she left.
Draht shrugged and slammed the door behind her, continuing on about his day. While Frieren went back to her own home, holding back tears as she just experienced the (admittedly handsome) demon see right through her mask and rip her up.
The familiar dirt path that was carved into her brain, the one that would occasionally appear in her dreams where she'd go there and make up with Draht and they'd live happily ever after. The wishful daydreams done on adventures, wondering what a life would be like settling down with him in a large cottage with some farmland and maybe a child.
Maybe it would've been better to fix their relationship on that date. To get the chance to see that sweet caring Draht that she fell for one last time before he left. But truth be told, she only realises when she hurt people when multiple years pass by, decades even, sometimes centuries. The pain in her chest fills her with the feeling and she reflects, and regrets. That's all she knows how to do. Regret. She can never face her problems without it being too late. Far too late.
Finding herself in front of the wooden door to her small room, Frieren entered her "permanent" residence. She leaves so much that it seems pointless to call it her home when she has barely stayed in it.
Laying on the straw bed, all she could do was reflect. What could she have done differently? Why does she keep messing up like this? What is wrong with her? More tears fell down her cheeks as more buried feelings surfaced, human friends who now only live on in memories, once bustling civilisations that have crumbled right before her eyes and the only person she's ever loved. Gone. All because of her.
She found herself falling asleep in the early hours of the morning with a significantly redder face and puffier eyes.