Returning home, Celes found herself at a crossroads. Every fiber of her being agreed to the idea of working under Old Sage. It was a dream she had harbored for years, inspired by her mother, who was also a healer. She grew up watching her mother treat almost every sickness with just some herbal medicine, marveling at the magic of healing.
Yet, there was one thing that held her back—the part of her that still beat for her mate, the part that clung to the hope that Andros would change, that he would recognize her worth and support her dreams. She thought hard about Old Sage's proposition, weighing her desires against her reality.
As the day wore on, she wrestled with her decision. The thought of disappointing Andros filled her with dread, but the opportunity to follow in her mother's footsteps, to learn from the best and become a healer too, was too precious to ignore.
Finally, after a long and tumultuous internal debate, Celes made a choice.