For a moment, Kaiden just stood there, letting her words hang in the air.
High school memories clawed up from the pit where he had buried them. Years of misery. Years of silence. Many looked back on those days with fondness, calling them the best years of their lives. For him, they had been a cage, one Vaelira built with a single cruel smile and lies that everyone chose to believe.
And even now, years later, after the mana apocalypse reshaped the world, after Kaiden himself became something greater than he ever thought possible, she still managed to be a thorn in his side. A constant nuisance on every mission they had shared, petty and poisonous in equal measure.
So hearing her apology… it should have felt good. It should have carried the taste of vindication.
But it didn't.
There was no warmth in her words. No sincerity. This wasn't contrition; it was survival. A political play wrapped in honeyed tones. A performance to keep her seat at the table.
