When she heard Hilat's words, her golden eyes trembled slightly, and a trace of bitterness and helplessness surfaced on her face.
She had not expected that after paying such an enormous price, even going so far as to damage the root of her soul in exchange for freedom, she still could not break free of the mark branded deep into her very origin.
That sense that all her effort had been almost futile weighed on her with a heavy frustration, and it even deepened her guilt toward Shen Yi.
As if sensing Winnie's low spirits, Hilat sighed softly, her thoughts carrying a rare feeling that was almost pity.
"Don't be too hard on yourself."
"There's no helping it. After all, from the perspective of the soul, your existence itself could even be considered an extension of that Tracing Imprint."
"It is one of the cornerstones that allowed your soul to take shape and be preserved until now. Wanting to erase or separate it completely is like trying to remove the most fundamental strokes from a painting while still hoping the painting itself remains perfectly intact. That is, in itself, an extremely contradictory and difficult thing."
Winnie nodded silently, accepting this cruel yet truthful explanation.
Then she asked softly, "Is there really no way to completely remove this kind of mark?"
"Or am I really only able to hide like this for the rest of my life..."
Winnie's voice was somewhat dim. Although Hilat's rule power protected and isolated the space around her, she still felt too embarrassed to look at Shen Yi outside, let alone think about the mark on her body.
She even felt a little regret. If she had not been so desperate to recover her memories and power, perhaps none of this would have happened now.
"I