***
The room went utterly still as Alicia's words lingered, heavy, suffocating, almost unreal.
Then suddenly…
"And you're telling me that now?!"
Emily's voice sliced through the silence like a blade.
Her hands slammed against the table, the faint pulse of mana rippling through the air from her outburst.
Her usual calm, professional composure shattered in an instant, replaced by raw frustration and disbelief.
Her gaze locked on Alicia, sharp, demanding.
"All this time… all this time, you knew this, and you said nothing? Do you realize what kind of danger we've been in? What kind of things I, we, could have prevented if you had just…!"
But before she could finish, Alicia's voice rose to meet hers, not defiant, but trembling with restrained emotion.
"What do you think I was supposed to do, Ms. Emily?!"
The words came out louder than she intended, her tone cracking from the pressure of everything she'd been holding in.
