A Path Chosen by Herself
"Teacher… I understand."
Her voice was soft, but there was steel beneath it.
Truth sat heavy on Rias. Palace life taught her early: a smile could hide a blade, care could be currency. In those halls, loyalty shifted like sand - sealed with toast one night, undone by rumor the next. That realm of calculated unions and quiet betrayals now seemed far more twisted than the silent climb toward immortality.
Cruel, perhaps.
Dangerous, certainly.
But honest.
Her eyes rose to meet his, red like dried blood. Stillness held her stare.
"I would rather endure a thousand hardships in cultivation than live as a bargaining chip," she added quietly, not contradicting her earlier words, but reinforcing them. "I want to stand on my own… not be handed to someone I have never even met."
