{IRIS}
The girls before me . . . they had disappeared, hadn't they? These weren't their things, were they? I didn't want to think about it.
But did I even have the right to complain? I had no money, no belongings, and no options.
Unless I planned on showing up to the academy in rags—or worse, naked—I had no choice.
I swallowed hard. "T-thank you."
"You don't have to say thanks if you don't mean it," Sebastian deadpanned.
I stiffened. Of course he could see through me. Sebastian was like that—always watching, always knowing.
". . . I'm sorry," I murmured. "I don't have any right to complain. I'm weak. The weak don't get a say." It was Lord Val who said that and it got stuck in my brain.
"Then don't be weak."
Before I could process his words, he was suddenly right in front of me. My breath hitched.
"Be strong," he said, his voice lower now, more throaty. "And become stronger."
