“Will you be with me on our anniversary?” I asked cautiously.
He nodded.
“Of course, Elara. You always come first.”
I looked up, smiling, meeting his deeply affectionate gaze.
His performance was flawless. In five years, he had never slipped up.
It was all for Seraphina.
That night, I tossed and turned.
As I shifted in bed, I accidentally knocked over the rune bracelet he always kept on the nightstand.
I picked it up, and a strange fluctuation of energy caught my attention.
I held it in my palm, infusing it with a trace of my own power to investigate.
Inside every cold runestone, the same name was meticulously carved in tiny runes.
Seraphina.
In that moment, the last shred of hope I had for Kaelen turned to ash.
The next morning, I told Kaelen, “Let’s go to the White Blossom Pack together.”
The lines of his face tensed for a moment, but he quickly composed himself.
“Alright. But we’ll leave as soon as we drop off the gift.”
Right. He was worried I’d ruin Seraphina’s big day.
I didn’t care about her. I just wanted one last look at my family. After tomorrow, I would be gone forever.
The atmosphere in the White Blossom Pack’s great hall was festive. Seraphina, dressed in lavish robes, was basking in a sea of praise—somehow, she had been nominated for Head Apothecary.
The pack elders beamed at her as if she were the moon itself.
“Seraphina developed the antidote for the Silver-Soaked Poison. There’s no doubt—she’ll be the next Head Apothecary.”
“It’s incredible! It usually takes the council’s labs years to crack problems like this.”
“They even awarded her an honorary certificate. What a genius!”
I froze at the entrance to the hall, my feet feeling as if they were rooted to the spot.
Not long ago, I had been working desperately with my mentor, Master Elias, to develop the antidote for the Silver-Soaked Poison.
This couldn’t be a coincidence.
My eyes locked on the certificate displayed in the center of the hall.
The formula, the notes—every word was like a knife twisting in my gut.
That was my work. The result of my two years of hard work and countless sleepless nights.
Somehow, her name was branded on it instead.
