Epilogue: The Afterimage What remained was an afterimage—stories told in hushed tones, half-remembered songs, a photograph tucked into a book. People spoke the lovers’ names as a warning and a benediction. Newcomers to the city found their shadows interlaced with the myth: a bench where a promise was made, a cafe table etched with initials, a streetlamp that flickered more brightly for a moment at midnight. The chronicle became legend, the lovers reduced to silhouettes in other people’s recollections.