My eyes stung.
I rubbed them, a rough, pointless gesture.
I turned to leave.
But Thane stopped me at the door.
“Lina needs to stay in the healer’s tent for treatment,” he said.
“She won’t be able to complete her project in the lab.”
“You’re researching the ritual formula for the Silver Dust antidote, right?”
“Your research is almost identical to Lina’s.”
“Why don’t you let her use your notes as a reference?”
Acid churned in my stomach.
I knew what he was really asking.
Lina’s powers had always been weak.
So I always completed her complex research for her.
She even forced me to cheat for her during the elders’ assessments.
She couldn’t stand the idea of my achievements surpassing hers.
Yet by passing my work off as her own, she’d become the prodigy of the Ashford Clan.
In reality, she hadn’t even started her project.
She was just waiting to take mine.
Noticing my hesitation, Mom’s voice dropped low.
“You know how smart Lina is.”
“It’s just her physical condition holding her back…”
“You’re her sister.”
“Help her.”
I had heard those words over and over for the past five years.
I should have been used to them.
But every time they echoed in my ears, my chest ached with a familiar pain.
I forced a smile.
I nodded.
“Alright.”
“I’ll go get my notes now.”
This would be the last time.
I wondered how Lina would maintain her reputation as a genius when I was no longer around for her to copy.
“I knew you’d agree!” Thane exclaimed.
“So I already brought your research notes from the cabin.”
He quickly pulled my notes from his bag and handed them to Lina.
Lina stuck her tongue out at me, her face a mask of smug triumph.
Thane gently stroked her hair.
He bent down.
He whispered something in her ear.
She blushed, shooting him a playful glare.
I said nothing.
I watched their nauseatingly intimate exchange.
If the Moonshadow curse hadn't already silenced her, my inner wolf would be howling in fury.
I turned and left the healer’s tent.
Their laughter followed me out.
But this time, no one stopped me.
Perhaps they didn’t even notice I had left.
I returned to my cabin.
I gazed at the dancing flames in the fireplace.
A sudden resolve hardened within me.
I would erase myself from this place.
I didn’t want to leave anything behind.
Everything—old research, keepsakes, the gifts I’d once painstakingly chosen for my family and Thane—I fed it all to the flames.
I was exhausted.
My breathing grew labored.
The Moonshadow curse had ravaged my body.
Every movement sent a searing pain through my bones, silencing my inner wolf.
I was truly dying.
It was several hours before I regained some strength.
I had just lain down to rest when the door burst open.
Lina was in tears, my parents and Thane following close behind her.
“Celeste, you promised to give Lina your formula.”
“How could you conspire with the elders to accuse your own sister of plagiarism?” Thane demanded.
His eyes were full of disappointment.
“Celeste, I know you were upset that I borrowed your notes,” Lina sobbed, “but how could you go to the elders? How could you let them humiliate me in front of everyone?”
“I’m being flooded with questions!”
“You’re so cruel!”
“Celeste, how could you do this to your sister?” Mom chimed in, her arms wrapping protectively around Lina.
She then turned to her, gently patting her back.
“Don’t cry, sweetie,” she murmured.
“You’ll hurt yourself.”
“I’ll make your sister apologize to you!”
