**Gaia's POV**

I left Lucien staring after me with disbelief etched across his face.

His reaction didn't matter to me. Nothing about him mattered anymore. He was simply an irrelevant person now—a stranger whose existence had no bearing on my life.

I made my way back to the council room, where the others had gathered to discuss tonight's operation. The atmosphere was tense when I arrived, voices raised in what was clearly an escalating argument.

"Absolutely not," ...