Lyra nearly laughed out loud at the audacity. Those trophies represented countless sleepless nights at the Neutral Territory Academy, endless training exercises, hard-won victories in scholarly combat—the only bright spots in her otherwise bleak adolescence. Her lips curled with undisguised contempt. "If you want to play the genius, go earn it yourself. What's the matter—not smart enough to win your own, so you need to borrow someone else's achievements?"
She turned away and resumed packing her belongings into a travel satchel, not sparing Selene another glance.
The rebuke cracked Selene's fragile facade. Something venomous flickered in her eyes, there and gone in an instant. She recomposed herself, stepped closer, and thrust the wooden container toward Lyra, her voice trembling with tears: "I'm only asking to borrow them—I'll give them back. How can you say such things to me? I know you're still angry, but I really need this opportunity..."