A heavy, absolute silence descended upon the room, crushing whatever microscopic hope had lingered in the air.
Olivia lowered her gaze in numb, aching silence. The weight of her own guilt felt like physical iron pressing down on her shoulders, forcing her eyes to the cold floor. Beside her, Leon frozen in place. He did not move, he did not rage; he simply became a statue of stone
Laila looked at her brother, then at Olivia. She found no words to comfort either of them. There was no pity left in her, only a profound, hollow exhaustion. She had pushed her magical energy to its absolute limits to drag Isabella back from the brink of death, yet in the face of this endless sleep, even her vast power felt utterly useless.
"You can keep her alive until she wakes up, correct?" Leon spoke. His voice was shockingly flat, stripped of all emotion, but it carried a hard, unyielding stability that brooked no argument.
