Bella watched through failing vision, her mind still working despite her body's collapse.
'His attention is entirely on the baldy... Completely focused... This is... the only moment...'
She'd been waiting, watching and looking for the single instant when Jormund's guard lowered, when his concentration was elsewhere.
And now, with Vash engaging him fully, with both S ranks moving at speeds that demanded total focus...
The moment had arrived.
Memories flooded through her consciousness.
Her brother's smile when Elizabeth was born, his pride when Adrian showed talent, his gentle nature that seemed impossible for someone raised in the cutthroat world of Imperial families.
Then his death.
The "accident" that everyone knew wasn't an accident. The branch families circling like vultures, the internal strife that made every day a battle for survival.
