EMILIA’S POV

The moment she said, “You’ll see,” something inside me turned to ice.

My heart pounded painfully against my ribs as she turned her back to me and began walking toward the shadowed corner of the cave. I swallowed hard, forcing the words out because silence felt unbearable—like it would crush me.

“What… what do you plan on doing?” I asked.

She didn’t answer.

She didn’t even look at me.

Her footsteps faded into the darkness, leaving nothing but the thickest silence I had ever felt—heavy, suffocating, alive. My pulse hammered in my ears. I could hear my own breathing, shaky and uneven, echoing against the stone walls.

I...