Retrieve values from custom config file in a public directory

I've created a custom helper which works like config() but it retrieve the file from public directory instead

if (! function_exists('theme')) {
    function theme(string $target)
    {
        $keys = explode('.', $target);
        $themeValues = include(public_path('theme').'/'.$keys[0].'.php');
        array_shift($keys);
        
        foreach ($keys as $index => $key) {
            $themeValues = array_intersect_key(
                                $themeValues, array_flip([$key])
                            )[$key];
        }
        return $themeValues;
    }
}

Files in public/theme:

//global.php
return[
  'component' => [
    'item' => 'example'
  ]
];
//resources.php
return[
  'vendor' => [
    'config' => [
      'item => 'resource'
    ]
  ]
];

Calling method:

theme('global.component.item');  // outputs 'example'.
theme('resources.vendor.config.item'); // outputs 'resource'.
theme('resources.vendor.config') // outputs 'array:1 'item' => 'resource'

Need a feedback in case I missed anything crucial