-Phoenix-
She didn’t need to say it aloud. I could sense her disbelief lingering. I didn’t blame her. I had changed, but the change began the moment she marked me. It threw me off completely, but not in a negative way. For the first time, I felt a genuine purpose—one I desired, not one imposed upon me. I wasn’t a virtuous person, and I had committed dreadful deeds, but safeguarding someone as remarkable as Hope, ensuring her well-being, might be the first genuinely good deed I ever undertook.
“Y-You’re not doing this out of guilt, are you?” she asked, her voice barely audible, as if she were afraid to ask.
“No,” I replied succinctly. I harbored no guilt whatsoever. I simply wanted her safe. Yet, I could see she sought a rational explanation for my abrupt transformation.
Silence hung b
