Chapter 81: Ch 81 : Sea
In the dimly lit room, dozens of wine bottles were scattered haphazardly on the floor.
Long red hair was tangled and draped over a face with a once-determined expression.
Erza sat curled up in the corner of the room, her arms wrapped around her knees, burying her face deeply within them.
Since the day she and the others had bid farewell to Noel, Erza had locked herself away in this room, maintaining this posture.
Guilt engulfed her heart like an endless tide, and pain ravaged her soul like an unstoppable storm.
"It's all my fault... everything is my fault... If it weren't for me, Noel wouldn't have been ambushed by Jellal... it's my naivety... that led to Noel's death..."
The young girl's body trembled slightly.
Every time she closed her eyes, the image of that crumbling tower, constantly erupting with magic, would appear.
There, the boy who had smiled so beautifully and gently even before his death, tremblingly whispered the words "I'm sorry, forget me," and disappeared into the brilliant light.
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The morning sunlight, accompanied by the humid sea breeze, filtered through the window of a small seaside cottage and gently brushed against a girl lying on the bed.