"There are two voices in my head, Jakob. Two voices. One is noble and wise, one is selfish and frightened. One is a leader, the other, a deserter. Killer and lover… Brave and terrified.
"I don't know what to do, Jakob. I pretend to know. I play the part. But I'm… I'm a frightened girl fighting a war between two halves of my soul. I don't want to win. I don't want to kill my family. But how can I let these people down? These people who have followed me and slaughtered for me and turned to me for their hope…
"I cannot win this war. No matter the outcome, I will have lost. I know that now.
"My heart is split in half, divided, and yet one thing remains constantly true. One thing fastens my heart together with ribbons and rope… And that is you, Jakob. It's always been you. Before this war began, before my heart was sheered in two, it was you holding my joy in the palm of your hand.
"In my dreams we are together… in a cottage somewhere far away. Somewhere with mountains in the distance and green hills and gray skies… A paradise where there is no death or impossible choices…
"But I can't have it. I won't have it. I can't go there, and I can't have you because I won't submit you to life chained to me. A life chained to half a heart and two voices vying to get out."
"My Lady-" Jakob starts, but Corrin shuts her eyes at the sound of his voice, and he stops. Before he can find something to stay, she stops him again with a low, dark tone. "Leave, Jakob," was all she said, but somehow that quiet command is more threatening than any shout could ever have been.
She turns her back to him, head lowered, waiting for the sound of his footsteps and the click of the door behind him. But neither comes, and silence stretches from one minute to the next. Silence, heavy, palpable, endless, and shattering whatever remains of her heart. Corrin's head dips lower, her shoulders shaking with pain, with anger, until she just can't bear it any longer. Choking on her own words, she screams, What are you waiting for? I told you to go!
Still, Jakob doesn't speak, but he closes the space between them and enfolds her in his arms. She fights and shoves, bites and claws, but Jakob is strong, stronger than she ever thought possible. She can't win, and she's tired. Tired of fighting, tired of failures disguised as victories. So she surrenders, sooner than either of them thought possible. She surrenders everything, letting it all go and sobbing in the circle of his arms.
And all he ever says is, "Forgive me my love, but for once, I refuse to obey."