ELISA’S POV
The next morning, I woke up early.
Actually… that was a lie.
I didn’t sleep at all. I couldn’t.
How could I?
Azrien had left in silence the night before, walking away into the dark hall without even a word of goodnight. I had laid awake, staring at the ceiling above my bed, feeling the hours crawl by snails while my thoughts spun faster and faster.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him again—blue light flickering under his skin, his eyes glowing, his chest rising with ragged breaths. And me, frozen, torn between running toward him and running away.
By the time light crept into the room, my body was weak, my eyelids heavy, but I forced myself up. If I stayed in bed, Madam Doris would barge in again, dragging me out like she did yesterday. That humiliation was still raw,
