Elaris, the capital of veloria, shimmered beneath a lazy sun, its marble towers throwing light across the narrow streets.
Somewhere beyond those rooftops, in a secluded manor far from the noise of nobles, Vaspera sat on her balcony, a cup of untouched tea cooling beside her.
Another pointless battle .
Her crimson eyes narrowed at the memory. "The so-called "strongest" magic knights — arrogant, loud, and utterly unimpressive. I crushed them all in minutes."
"They bragged about valor, yet none had the strength to make me draw serious magic."
She sighed. " huh, utter waste of time."
The afternoon breeze toyed with her long pink hair as her gaze drifted toward the distant hills — the place where smoke had once risen from a ruined village.
And with that memory came. An image she couldn't quite push away.
A white-haired boy kneeling among the wounded.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. Why him? He was trembling... Weak … yet—
Her fingers brushed her palm, remembering the faint warmth of his healing magic when he'd touched her hand.
He actually touched me.
Without fear. Without the intent to kill me. Just... to help.
She froze. Then her expression darkened.
"Ridiculous."
Vaspera stood abruptly, the chair scraping against the marble floor.
Determined to erase the thought, she strode into her backyard — her personal training ground. Scorched earth, shattered stone dummies, and a faint scent of ash filled the air.
She raised her hand. A spiral of flames gathered, twisting into a burning lance. With a flick of her wrist, it shot forward—
BOOM.
The nearest dummy exploded into cinders.
"Better."
But the instant the haze cleared, her mind betrayed her again.
'please, just let mehelp...'
She could still hear his voice — calm, gentle, stupidly selfless.
She groaned, summoning another flame. This time she hurled it harder —
CRACK.
The next dummy disintegrated, yet the faint outline in the smoke almost looked like him.
"Oh, for the love of—" she muttered, dragging her hand down her face.
Silence filled the courtyard, broken only by her heavy breathing.
She sat down beneath the old cherry tree at the edge of the yard, its petals drifting lazily in the wind.
For the first time in years, she felt something unfamiliar.
Restlessness. Confusion.
This is absurd. I have slain wizards and monsters, yet a healer from a small village distracts me?
A long pause. Then, slowly, a smirk tugged at her lips.
"Fine," she said quietly, standing once more. "If that brat is really as kind as he seems… I'll test it myself."
A crimson aura rippled around her, lighting up the courtyard as the sun sank behind the city's towers.
And in arvendale, far from the capital city...
Ren sneezed.
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