{Seraphina's POV continued.}
I woke up with a loud, violent gasp, my chest heaving as I desperately inhaled the cool air to fill my suffocating lungs, my entire body trembling from the sheer weight of the knowledge now deeply settled in my mind. A single, heavy tear slid silently down my face, hot against my cold skin, as I lay there gasping, the lingering memory of the system's punishment still trembling through my nerves, I tensed instantly, my defenses rushing to the surface as I tried to orient myself, until I suddenly became aware of a profound, enveloping warmth beneath me and around my frame.
