Elysia, however, barely noticed the noise and the movement around her. She walked with her head slightly lowered, her eyes distant, lost in a storm of thoughts.
The clamor of voices, the clattering of wheels on stone, the cries of hawkers—it all faded into a blur.
Inside her heart, a single thought burned brighter than everything else.
(I have to become stronger…) she told herself firmly.
(Not just to face Kael, but also to avenge the Celestial Royal. I cannot allow myself to be weak any longer. If strength is the only thing this world respects, then I will seize it. Even if it means walking a path of blood, I will not hesitate.)
Her fists tightened at her sides. She could still see the flames of the arena in her memory, the faces of those who forced her family's fate upon her, the humiliation her father endured.
That fire had not gone out—it had only moved inside her, burning her spirit.
Edwin, walking beside her, noticed her silence but did not speak either.
