We were talking about The Gilded Wolves, and @meherya stated that the nickname ‘Majnun’ that Laila gives to Séverin is actually a reference to an old folk tale named ‘Layla and Majnun’.
I searched up ‘Laila Majnun’ into Google. What you get is not The Gilded Wolves, but this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layla_and_Majnun
Layla and Majnun - Wikipedia
Here’s the story from the Wikipedia page:
“Qays ibn al-Mulawwah fell in love with Layla al-Aamiriya. He soon began composing poems about his love for her, mentioning her name often. His unselfconscious efforts to woo the girl caused some locals to call him "Majnun." When he asked for her hand in marriage, her father refused because it would be a scandal for Layla to marry someone considered mentally unbalanced. Soon after, Layla was married to another noble and rich merchant belonging to the Thaqif tribe in Ta'if. He was described as a handsome man with reddish complexion whose name was Ward Althaqafi. The Arabs called him Ward, meaning "rose" in Arabic.
When Majnun heard of her marriage, he fled the tribal camp and began wandering the surrounding desert. His family eventually gave up hope for his return and left food for him in the wilderness. He could sometimes be seen reciting poetry to himself or writing in the sand with a stick.
Layla is generally depicted as having moved to a place in Northern Arabia with her husband, where she became ill and eventually died. In some versions, Layla dies of heartbreak from not being able to see her would-be lover. Majnun was later found dead in the wilderness in 688 AD, near Layla’s grave. He had carved three verses of poetry on a rock near the grave, which are the last three verses attributed to him.”
So what does this have to do with Laila and Séverin in The Gilded Wolves?
As meherya said: “I have a feeling they won’t have a good ending”; and after reading the folk tale myself, I have to agree.
In my opinion, Laila calling Séverin ‘Majnun’ is not a cute nickname, but a warning - a warning that if he doesn’t stop what he’s doing, if he continues to act the way he is, then he will end up like Qays does in the story - mad, wandering away from the people who care about him, and finally, dead.
And in the story, Layla dies first - from illness, or in some versions, from ‘heartbreak from not being able to see her would-be lover’. So if Laila doesn’t find the book in the time she has left, if Séverin doesn’t change in the way he acts towards her, if he continues to act cold and unfeeling and trying to hide his emotions when it comes to her - Laila will die, either of illness or of heartbreak, and leave Séverin wandering alone.
