𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 ↺ erhal

He missed his wife. Period. He hated feeling weak but what he hated the most was to act as if his wife's disappearance didn't matter to him. It did. A lot. He couldn't tell if he loved her the first moment he saw her out in the woods, or if it was the second or the third or the fourth. But he remembered the first moment he looked at her walking towards him and realised that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when he was with her.

Ertugrul Bey missed Halime Sultan. In every sense possible.

❛Ertugrul Bey. ❜

A soft feminine voice. His ears perked up but soon he let out a sigh. This was not Halime. Never could be.

❛Come in, Aslihan Hatun. ❜

Aslihan Hatun was not a bad woman, Ertugrul would admit. But she was not Halime. Her only flaw was that she was not Halime and that was the biggest flaw. He could survive with her. But he didn't want to survive. He wanted to live. Live with Halime.

It was pathetic, to be honest. Pathetic that how much he still hoped it's him and her in the end.

❛Bey, the food is prepared,❜ She smiled at him warmly but how could he smile back when in his eyes, he could reminisce Halime's cheerful yet magical smile?

❛Get my food in here, Aslihan Hatun,❜ He sighed. ❛I wish to eat alone right now. ❜

He knew he was being unjust with his wife. He knew that he was not acting according to the Sunnah. But only Allah knew how much his heart ached at the thought of interacting with Aslihan in the same way he did with Halime.

He tried his best. Tried his best to find her. It was unusual. One moment she was sleeping peacefully inside the tent and the next moment, she was gone with all of her belongings, leaving a young Gunduz and a broken heart behind.

You promised, Halime Sultan. You gave me your word. You filled me with hope and security.

You promised you wouldn't. But you did. You left me and my son. And you gave up on us.

𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐆𝐑𝐔𝐋 𝐁𝐄𝐘 & 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐄