They would spend twenty years as paramours. If it weren't for that vision, Bruno might have been the first one to get married. If he didn't have his gift at all, Bruno would have married Aya for sure. But would it seal the future whether he could see it or not? Aya, Bruno, and his sisters agonized over the possibilities for a very long time. Given the typically negative nature of Bruno's visions, he didn't want to risk it. He didn't even know the circumstances surrounding the wreck that was supposed to kill Aya, so he had no way to avoid it along the way if he were to defy the future and married Aya anyway. Aya, Julieta, and Pepa understood.
Julieta and Pepa liked to joke that Bruno and Aya were as good as married either way. Bruno would occasionally spend the night at Aya's. They believed that their mother had an inkling, but they would never mention it aloud in front of her. Alma Madrigal, who was obsessed with perfection, would not be happy with her only son fornicating with anyone in lieu of marrying them. But she at least knew that Bruno was "involved" with her. Pepa speculated that their mamá already intuited that Aya and Bruno were in a physical relationship but that she tolerated it because Bruno was a man. How could she not know? Anybody who had seen Bruno and Aya together would know that they were a couple, even the children. Isabela and Dolores even started to befriend Aya on their own.
Mirabel was three going on four years old when Bruno started to spend a little less time with her unless prompted by Julieta or Agustín. This was after the "Papá Bruno" incident. Bruno never told Julieta, afraid of what she might think. Besides, he would rather not talk about it a second time. He couldn't quite understand why the idea hurt so much. However, the pain told him that he desired children, after all, and that being with Mirabel ignited that longing. This aggravated his frustration that he couldn't have Aya for a wife either.
Emotionally worn out, Bruno began to shield himself from it altogether. He threw himself into work—both as a seer and a rat catcher. He would be found mostly at the dining table or in his room enduring migraines or melancholy—sometimes both. Isabela and Dolores would periodically knock Bruno's door to check up on him. Desolate, the most Bruno could do was knock in response. Many sleepless nights, he would be staring at the diptych depicting Beata Hildegard de Bingen with her confidants Volmar and Richardis. "Madre, how did you put up with this?" According to Padre Flores' stories, Hermana Richardis had been forced to move to a new convent, away from Madre Hildegard; the separation had broken both women's hearts. As if from across time, Bruno could almost hear the older woman's grief: "Richardis ist meine Tochter!"
Bruno loved Mirabel so much. He would do anything for her. And so, he did. After the humiliation of being denied of a gift, another one of Bruno's visions was dead set to destroy his youngest niece's peace. He couldn't show it to anyone; his mamá tried to fight him when he maintained to hide the vision. Bruno wanted to leave his family, leave the Encanto. Stealing Mirabel occurred to him, but he couldn't break Julieta's heart. Bringing Aya along also crossed his mind, but Bruno would feel like a jerk for making that decision for her. Moreover, leaving his entire family became more and more unthinkable by the minute. Casita helped him; it opened a secret passage into the hollow walls. Through the crack on the family tree in the dining room, Bruno watched his family twist their memory of him to the point of Camilo and Mirabel forgetting him entirely. His soul withered and his body with it. On the tenth year, Mirabel would bring Bruno home.
