Reincarnated as the Villainess's Unlucky Bodyguard

Chapter 51 I made mistakes

Daena watched Liria go with a faint frown. Despite Liria's assurances, Daena couldn't help but worry about the other woman's safety. This school was the last place she'd wanted to send Liria, but it was necessary. Liria needed to learn control, and she needed it fast. She had a dangerous element in her nature, one that could bring her untold power or spell her downfall. Either way, Liria needed training, and she needed it soon. Daena could only hope Seraphis would keep her word.

"Daena, you seem troubled," Seraphis said from her right.

Daena didn't even flinch, her posture never faltering. "Just concerned for the well-being of my protégée."

Seraphis smiled knowingly. "Liria seems like a resilient girl. I'm sure she'll do quite well."

"Indeed," Daena agreed quietly.

"Do you miss it?"

Daena turned to meet Seraphis' questioning gaze. "Miss what?"

Seraphis gestured toward the empty chairs. "This. You were always quite adept at your lessons."

"Thank you," Daena said stiffly, feeling a twinge of irritation.

"Is there anything you need?"

"No," Daena replied shortly. She didn't owe this woman any explanations.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Seraphis sighed, her slender tail flicking in a gesture of exasperation. "Daena, do we have to keep fighting? Haven't we moved past this?"

"You want to put the past behind us?" Daena scoffed, her tail lashing behind her in a clear warning. "You think you can just apologize and make everything fine and dandy?"

"I'm sorry," Seraphis repeated firmly. "I made mistakes. But I'm trying to make amends now."

Daena glared at her, her eyes burning. "I don't need your amends," she spat. "I need you to leave me alone."

Seraphis reached out, her delicate fingers brushing Daena's cheek. "Is that really what you want, my love?"

"Don't," Daena growled, batting Seraphis' hand away. "Don't call me that."

Seraphis smirked, unperturbed by her rejection. "If that's what you want."

The accusation stung, but it was the disappointment in Daena's eyes that pierced Seraphis deeper than any blade ever could.

"I had no choice," Seraphis pleaded, her voice trembling. "The council demanded my cooperation. They said—"

"I don't care what they said," Daena interrupted, rising from her throne. Her towering presence seemed to swallow the room, her obsidian skin shimmering with flecks of violet light. Her horns glinted like twin crescents of death. "You were supposed to be my shield, my confidante. Not their pawn."

The council. The words tasted bitter in Seraphis's mouth even now. They had approached her in secret, exploiting her vulnerabilities and offering veiled threats against her family. To refuse them would have meant war a civil war that would tear the demon realm apart.

"I thought I was protecting you," Seraphis whispered, her voice barely audible.

"By giving them access to our strongholds? By handing over the names of my allies?" Daena's wings flared behind her, a storm of indignation and fury. "You didn't protect me, Seraphis. You betrayed me!"

"I was trying to save you!" Seraphis snapped, her desperation bubbling to the surface. "You were too proud to see the danger coming. They would have struck you down without a second thought, Daena. I couldn't let that happen."

Daena's laugh was cold and humorless, a sound that sent chills through the assembled guards and courtiers. "Save me? By delivering me to them on a silver platter?"

"It wasn't like that!" Seraphis cried, taking a step forward, only to freeze when Daena's eyes glowed a dangerous, otherworldly violet.

"You broke my trust," Daena said, her voice quiet but laced with venom. "And you shattered my heart."

Those words struck Seraphis harder than any blow ever could. Her wings drooped, her horns tilting downward in shame.

"Please," Seraphis begged. "Let me make it right."

Daena's lips curled into a grim smile. "You can't. What's done is done."

Before Seraphis could respond, Daena turned her back on her, the gesture final and absolute.

"You're dismissed," Daena said coldly, her voice devoid of emotion. "Leave my sight before I change my mind about sparing you."

Seraphis blinked back to the present, her chest tight with the weight of memory. She had tried to make amends countless times since that day, but Daena never let her forget or forgive herself.

Coward. Traitor. Fool.

She deserved all of it.