The tormented one

"Sobs…"

She remembered it vividly.

It was on his twelfth birthday.

That day had changed everything. It was the day his dormant blessing had stirred to life. Until then, his blessing had been inactive since its awakening—a source of disappointment even to the emperor, who had begun to lose interest in Lorelle.

But that day, everything shifted. That day, the emperor caught a glimpse of what the young boy could become if he learned to harness the power of his blessing.

It was also the day she lost her closest friend, the one she had called a sister.

"Sobs…"

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand as she stumbled through the dimly lit pathway. The memories of that fateful day surged back with painful clarity.

Two years had passed since the pre-academy, two long years without seeing him. When she heard she would finally get to meet him at the banquet, she did everything in her power to attend.