There’s a trope in fiction where a character purposely broke the heart of his loved ones in order to protect them. Think of Sanji from One Piece abandoning the Straw Hat crew during the Whole Cake Island Saga, or how Eren purposely ignore and even says hurtful things to Armin and Mikasa in the final season of Attack on Titan, because he doesn’t want to involve them in the bad things that he’s about to do.