Tessa sat at the head of the long table with her hands folded neatly before her. The guild leader's chair had never felt particularly comfortable; it was less a seat of power and more a stage for endless compromises.

Yet today, something was different. Her spine pressed firmly into the backrest. There were no trembling hands, no nervous eyes darting toward her officers for support.

Across from her lounged Vaelira. The young prodigy's golden hair shone beautifully under the guildhall's lamplight, pristine and perfectly arranged as if every strand had been told where to stay, lest it risk her displeasure. She reclined with all the careless grace of a queen who thought herself untouchable, with one leg crossed over the other.

All the while, her crystal nails were tapping impatiently on the armrest of her chair, clearly unhappy with being called over for a discussion with the leader. She felt it was a waste of time.

The Arcane Puppeteer. The guild's golden goose. An A-tier prospect, with the kind of raw potential that made investors foam at the mouth. Everyone in Nova Circuit knew her worth. Everyone had tolerated her tantrums, her demands, her cutting remarks.

Until now, when Tessa parted her lips.

"I'm done with your bullshit."

The words weren't shouted. They didn't need to be. They rang across the hall like a gavel.

Vaelira blinked.

After all, it was true that everyone in Nova Circuit knew her worth - herself included. And she made it painfully clear how easily she walked over everyone, Tessa included. The mere thought she could up and leave whenever she was upset by them was enough of a threat to let her rule over the guild as its queen bee.

But, for once, the blonde did not have a smirk ready, nor a retort dripping with venom. Her chin lifted sharply, as if to remind herself who she was, but her mask faltered the moment her eyes locked with Tessa's.

Those eyes.

The guild leader's gaze no longer wavered, no longer softened. It carried the weight of command. Even sitting down, Tessa radiated a pressure Vaelira had never felt from her before; a steady, suffocating authority.

Her nails stopped tapping. Her posture stiffened, betraying the first tremor of disbelief.

Vaelira's silence didn't last long. Her lips curled, and it didn't take more than a second for venom to start dripping from her voice as her composure, as fragile as it already was, broke completely.

Her voice came out as a low hiss, full of condescension. "Tessa… you better not forget your place. You can play at being the bold and caring guild leader all you want, but we both know the truth. If you keep behaving toward me like this, I might just reconsider my allegiance to Nova Circuit."

For a moment, the words hung in the air like a guillotine. It was the threat she had always leaned on, the dagger she pressed to the guild's throat. What made this place her ideal playground.

But, to the blonde woman's shock, Tessa didn't show a single sign of submission this time around.

Instead, she smiled. Calm, deliberate, almost gentle.

And then, already knowing the conversation would go this way, she reached into the desk drawer. Papers rustled as she drew one out and laid it flat on the table between them.

Vaelira's eyes narrowed until she realized what it was.

A separation contract.

Her release from Nova Circuit.

Tessa's signature was already scrawled at the bottom, bold and certain. Only one blank line remained: hers.

"What is this?" Vaelira's voice pitched up in disbelief. "Have you gone insane?!"

Tessa's tone was perfectly steady, perfectly rational.

"No. Quite the opposite."

"Then why?!" Vaelira shot to her feet with palms slamming against the tabletop. Her golden hair spilled around her furious face as she glared down at the guild leader with rage and confusion blazing in her eyes.

But instead of shriveling up and letting Vaelira have her way, Tessa rose too. Their gazes locked, and for the first time, it was Vaelira who seemed smaller.

"Because, as I said," Tessa's voice rang, "I'm done with your bullshit."

Vaelira faltered. Her lips parted, but no words came. That was until, at last, a shaky whisper broke free.

"I… I don't understand. Have you found another A-tier awakened? Someone to replace me? But who would sign with this dumpster of a guild?"

"…" Tessa wryly smiled at those words, seeing how little her guild's greatest prospect valued the organization. But she didn't allow herself to become sad. If anything, she only became even more sure of her decision.

"No." Tessa shrugged in response. "But we've found something better."

Vaelira blinked. "Better?"

"An alliance, not just with Runewoven. But with Valhalla's Sinners as well."

The blonde stiffened, hearing those words. Her mask was shattering piece by piece.

Tessa walked around her desk and stepped closer and closer until her presence was pressing down on the woman.

"If I allow you to keep acting like the spoiled tyrant you've been, then you alone will jeopardize the future of this guild. And I won't have it."

Her words cut into Vaelira's ego with the sharpness of a dagger.

"Having an A-tier awakened in my guild fills me with pride and joy," she explained.

"But having the ability to call Kaiden Grey and his Sinners my allies? Now that fills me with an excitement for the future I can't put into words. If I have to cut off a bad weed to ensure the golden goose of the century doesn't turn its back on me, then so be it. I'm more than willing to make the sacrifice."

The words hit like a hammer. Vaelira's little kingdom - the invisible throne she had sat on - splintered in that instant.

Tessa tapped the paper with one manicured nail, the sound of which was echoing in the tense silence.

"Now, my dearest subordinate, you have two options. Either you start behaving like a proper guild member of Nova Circuit, or you sign this paper and leave. The choice is yours. But let me make one thing perfectly clear."

Her eyes blazed with determination.

"The next time you behave as you've been until now, you will be punished as if you were just another member of the guild. When Kaiden Grey and his harem are present, you will behave yourself. You will treat him as an ally we refuse to anger. In fact, you will even apologize to him for the unsightly behavior you've displayed toward him up until now. And you will do the same for all leaders of Nova Circuit. They deserve nothing but your respect. I will not let you continue this game of yours any longer."

Vaelira stood frozen with her breath caught in her throat as she felt that her throne of privilege was collapsing around her. For the first time in her career, she realized the truth.

She wasn't untouchable.

And she wasn't the queen of Nova Circuit anymore.

Just like that, her throne had been snuffed out from right under her.

Vaelira's nails dug into the polished wood of the table. Her chest rose and fell sharply. Every breath was a tremor of barely checked rage.

And then, slowly, she straightened. Her chin lifted upward, and her mask slipped back into place. Without a word, she pushed her chair back and turned.

Her heels clicked against the stone floor as she strode toward the door, each step sharp with defiance.

"You know what? I'll look for a place that treats me properly. I'm done with you."

Tessa did not call after her. She did not try to stop her. She merely folded her hands behind her back and watched the blonde's haughty retreat with a gaze of iron.

The guild leader noted something. Despite her words, she did not sign the paper. She hadn't given her signature, hadn't relinquished her claim.

The contract remained on the table.

"I won't give up my throne just like this!" she hissed under her breath, too low for anyone but herself to hear. One name burned on her tongue like a curse, a name she thought to belong to nothing but a virgin loser, a pushover of a man. A man she could walk over any day she wanted back in high school.

Kaiden Grey.

Her nails bit into her palm as she clenched her fist. Hatred seethed in her gut, simmering beneath her perfect facade.

She would not be erased.

She would not be forgotten.

And she would not forgive.

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