I’m 22 now, and I used to be a female member of Universe when I was in my teens.

When life was really hard (when I first registered), I asked for advice here, and everyone’s answers really resonated with me more than any pretty words could. This is personal, but I’d like to ask for advice about my troubles again. My problem is that I’ve fallen for someone I originally had a physical relationship with. Here’s a quick overview: ・There’s an age gap of more than 10 years. ・We met online because we share an unusual fetish. ・We agreed not to pry into each other’s private lives. Unlike the papa candidates who say they want a calm relationship but constantly expect me to act feminine, I liked that he saw my true inner self. We had hobbies in common apart from our unusual fetish, and I also liked how he spoiled me. I was able to tell him secrets I had kept hidden from everyone until then. I knew I wasn’t supposed to pry into his private life, and at first this was just a game for me too, but I ended up genuinely falling for him. I knew it might bother him, but I even confessed my feelings. He said that he felt sorry because of our age difference. I assume that was just a polite response, and that in reality he isn’t interested in me—not just because of the age gap. He did say he’d be happy if he could become someone I could return to in times of need, someone I could rely on emotionally. But recently, he told me, “There are plenty of people like you, so why don’t you meet other people too?” That really hurt me. I’m pretty low on his list of priorities, right? If he can’t return my feelings, I should end things with him, shouldn’t I? Sorry for rambling. Personally, I’ve pretty much made up my mind: “He probably doesn’t have strong feelings for me anyway. I’ll just think of him as a manipulative person who uses vague words like ‘someone you can rely on’ to keep me around. I’ll make our next meeting the last one and delete his contact information.” Do you think that’s okay? I have no one I can talk to about this, so I’d really appreciate some encouragement to go through with it. Thank you.