A Timely Awakening - III
After prolonged contemplation and self-doubt, Ravenna... finally arrived at her conclusion.
"I... I should have recognized this long ago. Even without the element of fate, I should have acknowledged Ansel's struggle."
In truth, her realization wasn't belated at all. From early on, Ravenna had suspected that her and Seraphina's aspirations were constraining Ansel. This suspicion deepened over time, prompting countless discussions with Seraphina, yet they remained without an answer.
"My inability to confirm... perhaps it wasn't due to the absence of an answer, but rather... my reluctance to accept it."
She resisted this reality, unwilling to accept... that she had become Ansel's burden and cage. Thus, she could only repeatedly doubt, believing that if she had accepted this unencumbered, she might have... discerned Ansel's predicament earlier.
Perhaps even before Marlina.