Helia lay confined to her bed, her face pale and her lips dry. Each breath seemed an ordeal, a labored sigh lost in the stale air of the room. The chamber was heavy with the mingled scents of countless flowers, their presence marked by several bouquets scattered around.
Her illness had taken root insidiously, gnawing at her body day after day. No physician had managed to identify its cause, her symptoms being both numerous and contradictory. Now she had reached the final stage, trapped between fever and exhaustion.
A timid ray of light slipped through the slit of a curtain, breaking the darkness and falling upon a face: that of Elysia, her closest friend, standing at her bedside. Her green eyes gleamed in the narrow shaft of light, and with her blond hair framing her face and her pale gown flowing around her, she had the appearance of a guardian angel watching over a dying soul. She held out a steaming cup of tea.
In a trembling voice, Helia whispered her thanks. She tried to smile, but pain froze her features. With great effort, she lifted herself and took the cup, raising it to her lips.
Yet the instant the liquid touched her mouth, it turned into an unbearable burn.
The warmth, which should have soothed her, became a devouring fire in her throat. The cup slipped from her hand, shattering upon the floor, and the rest of the tea spilled over her, though it was nothing compared to the searing torment consuming her from within.
She coughed violently, her lungs straining for air, her body stiffening. Paralysis spread, her limbs grew heavy, her thoughts blurred.
Elysia, silent until then, slowly stepped closer. Her face altered imperceptibly, the gentle and compassionate expression twisting into a cruel sneer. A cold shiver ran across Helia's skin and her heart faltered for an instant.
"This poison took longer than I had imagined…" Elysia said, her voice disturbingly calm. "But it seems my efforts have finally borne fruit."
The words struck Helia like a blow, her mind shattering beneath the shock. She sought to murmur a question, to plead for an explanation, but her throat, too constricted, allowed only a broken breath, a faint moan scarcely audible.
"W…Why?"
Her best friend leaned closer still, her gaze merciless.
"Because your very existence is a hindrance," she replied coldly. "It took time, yes—but I savored every instant of your slow agony."
A crystalline, chilling laugh rang out in the room, piercing Helia's heart. She fought to keep her eyes open, but the darkness was already spreading. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek, born of the anguish of betrayal.
Elysia drew nearer, her gaze softening almost, a gleam of icy tenderness in her eyes. With the tip of her fingers, she brushed away Helia's tear, as though in a final farewell.
"You never knew when to stop. Someone had to help you," she murmured in a voice deceptively gentle, like a deadly caress.
Then, with a sudden change of mask, she straightened and let out a cry of alarm, feigning hysteria with chilling ease.
"Oh My God! Call a physician, quickly!"
How could she…