Leona's voice faded, but the silence that followed was deafening.
No one moved. No one even breathed.
Every elf standing around the bonfire stared at her in utter disbelief.
Some mouths hung open.
Some covered their lips with trembling hands.
They couldn't believe what they had just heard.
If this announcement had been made when Luca first arrived—when he was still a stranger, an outsider, a human intruder—then perhaps they would have accepted it.
They would have been cautious, even frightened of him. It would have made sense then.
But now…
After everything he had done—after curing their loved ones, giving them hope, laughter, and life again—they trusted him. They believed in him.
And now, to hear that he was being banished?
It was like watching the sun itself fall from the sky.
Whispers broke out among the crowd. Confused, frightened, angry whispers.
"Why would she do this?!"
"It doesn't make sense—he saved our families!"
