As Seris walked out of the Glass Blade Forest, a faint, almost imperceptible smile lingered on her lips.
Sunlight filtered through the crystalline leaves above, scattering fractured rays across the forest floor, yet none of it caught her attention.
Her mind was elsewhere.
Since the moment of betrayal, a heavy burden had weighed on her heart like an unmovable stone.
Each time she thought back to how earnestly she had trusted them.
How hard she had worked.
How sincerely she had believed in shared goals, her chest tightened. The memories still stung, but they no longer crushed her beneath their weight.
More times than she could count, she had cried over her own foolishness.
With her talent, she should have risen quickly.
She had been praised since the beginning, hailed as a once in a decade genius.
Yet ignorance, blind faith, had cost her opportunities she would never recover.
"Huh…" she exhaled softly.
