Before Aliana could mull over the symbol, another familiar voice cut through the crowd.
"Ali!"
All attention shifted toward Cedric, who was walking over while holding Gwen's hand and beaming at her.
The crowd naturally parted to let them through.
Aliana smiled back, but her smile faltered the moment she noticed a faint scratch on Cedric's face that definitely hadn't been there when he'd welcomed them earlier that afternoon.
It looked as though… someone had clawed at him.
Her eyes instinctively drifted towards Gwen.
Gwen wore the same sugar-coated smile as usual, but what truly caught Aliana off guard was her expression. Gwen's eyes were not focused on her. Instead, she had a strange, dazed look in her eyes as she stared past Aliana.
Following her line of sight, Aliana realised that Gwen was once again staring directly at Gavriel.
What made it worse was that Gavriel was looking right back at her with his usual icy, unreadable gaze.
Something unpleasant twisted inside Aliana.
