Sonia had actually thought seriously about whether she should give up.
As a thousand-year-old Spellcaster and Soul Half God, Vishy was undoubtedly one of the best persuaders in the world. Even if you could brush it off at the time, Vishy's words were like a fishbone in a rice ball, impossible to swallow and impossible to spit out. Even if you tried hard not to think about it, it would still stab you.
Because Vishy was right, and they were wrong.
The most hateful people were exactly like this. Even though you knew full well she harbored evil intentions, she hid her selfish motives inside righteous concerns, leaving you unable to refute her. The more you thought about it, the worse it felt; the more you considered it, the more you doubted yourself.
For Ash, what he needed most was not Sweethearts, but teammates who could fight beside him. For the team, female Spellcasters who got along harmoniously were far better suited to face the challenges ahead than a group of love rivals scheming against one another. Even for their own lives, training in spellcraft was far more important than developing romance.
There were some things Vishy had not said aloud, but everyone could hear the mockery she had pressed beneath her tongue—
What if Ash stopped liking them one day?
What if they stopped liking Ash one day?
People changed, feelings had expiration dates, and promises were like ripe fruit: sincere in the instant they fell, but what was meant to rot would still rot. Perhaps they would not even reach the stage of tormenting one another for love before the light in their eyes when they looked at each other had already vanished, the brightness of their first passionate love gone. The dazzling merits of the past would