Not long. I had to...

[ He stops, sucks in a breath. He had to. He had to leave his brother, abandon his search. Give up on his plans to scour every inch of the broken kingdom until he at least found the body, until he at least knew for certain that his brother was dead. He'd had to. ]

I was lucky. I wasn't entirely alone. I found my brother's fiancee, and we left this island together.

[ He'd had to abandon his plans and force Leona to leave, because he could see exactly what would happen to her if he didn't. ]

But... she was hurt just as much as I was. [ More than he was, it had felt like. It had felt like Leona was going to rip at the seams at any moment, and Cain hadn't known how to keep her from cracking right apart, how to keep her from following after Abel. ] Even now she hasn't recovered from my brother's death, so I couldn't stay in the past and keep searching for him. She needed me.

[ He says the words, but to him, they ring hollow. He couldn't stay in the past? But has he actually left any of this desolate ruin behind? ]