Last Chance [Extra #2]

Part 3

The Countess was the first to react when she heard her daughter's voice. "Elena? Oh my, Elena, you're alive!" she cried in joy, though she was too afraid to touch her. She feared she would hurt her even more.

Edgar, although as scared as his mother, didn't hesitate and carefully pulled the blade out of Elena's chest, letting her take a much needed breath. With a loud gasp, Elan filled her lungs with air, only to cough harshly due to how dry her mouth and throat were.

"Here, have some water, baby," the Countess rushed to place the glass near her daughter's lips, while the Count carefully supported Elena's back so she can sit up a little. Elena greedily drank the water, almost crying in relief as the liquid soothed her parched throat. It was just what she needed.

What unnerved her was how weak she was. "How long..." she trailed off, too weak to speak more.

"You've been asleep for ten months, darling," the Count sat beside his daughter and gently held her in his arms, unfazed by the blood staining his shirt. The bleeding slowed down once the dagger was out, but it didn't mean Elena was safe yet, so the Count asked his son to bring a healer then pressed his handkerchief against Elena's wound.

"Ten months..." Elena breathed out in shock, leaning tiredly against her father. She may not have been the real Elena, but she still possessed the girl's memories. She recognized the people around her as Elena's family, so she felt comfortable with them.

With her head laid against her father's shoulder, Elena tried to assess the situation she was in. She glanced around the room she was in, but her vision was too blurry to notice anything significant. She could only rely on her memories to figure out what happened.

But first, she needed to comfort the wailing woman clutching onto her hand. "Mother," she whispered, getting the woman's attention.

The Countess almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of Elena's hoarse voice, still unable to believe that her child was alive. "Elena, my baby," she tenderly stroked her daughter's blood-stained cheek, bursting into tears at the warmth she felt from her skin. "I'm so sorry we couldn't protect you. You almost died... That man stabbed your heart-"

"He missed," Elena smiled weakly, laying her cheek on the Count's shoulder to look properly at her mother. "He got my lung, though, so it's hard to breathe."

"Edgar will bring a healer for you, just please wait a moment," the Count murmured softly, stroking Elena's head to assure himself that she was indeed alive and well. He had to feel her warmth, hear her soft breaths and heartbeat to believe that his nightmare was over. Ten months. It took her ten months to open those gorgeous golden eyes of hers. If it happened sooner, she would have been taken to the Temple and prosecuted by the Cardinal, but now... the man was convinced she was dead, so perhaps he would leave her alone.

"You're not angry..." Elena whispered after a moment, so overcome by fatigue she could barely keep her eyes open. The constantly bleeding wound in her chest didn't help her either.

"Angry? Why would we be angry?" the Countess smiled warmly at her daughter, her hand still stroking her cheek lovingly.

"You lost everything because of me," Elena revealed weakly.

"Elena, my darling, what are you saying?" the Count gently helped her lie down again, noticing she was too weak to stay awake.

"I heard everything..." the young lady breathed out, trying her hardest to keep her eyes open. "Why didn't you give up one me if I brought you so much trouble?"

"We will never give up on you, Elena. You're our daughter," the Count stated sternly, squeezing Elena's hand. He was determined to protect his family, no matter the price. Even though he lost most of his wealth and reputation, seeing Elena open her eyes made all those hardships he suffered worth it. He would sacrifice everything just to see his child happy.

'But I'm not your daughter,' Elena thought, feeling guilty for pretending to be someone she's not. It wasn't the first time something like this happened to her, but it was the first time she had a family. Elena's parents really loved her dearly and doted on her to the point of absurdity. Deceiving them felt horrible, though it also felt wrong to tell them the truth.

The body may have been Elena's, but the soul belonged to someone else. Celosia was her name. It meant 'a burning flame'. Her mother died during childbirth, unable to withstand her child's power, and her father couldn't grow to love his daughter because of that. He blamed her for killing his beloved and placed a curse on her. She wouldn't be able to die unless she was killed by someone who loved her.

At first, Celosia thought it would be easy to overcome her curse, since she was sure she was loved by at least a few people around her. However, that was not the case. When she was killed for the first time by her fiancé, who assured her of his everlasting love, she realized he'd never been sincere with her. Had he loved her, she would not have woken up in a different body. Her second life ended as soon as it began, as the girl whose body she entered had been murdered just moments earlier. When the bandits realized she was still alive, they finished their job, this time successfully.

Every time Celosia died, her soul would enter a body of a young woman who died at the same time as her. Each time it happened, she lost a piece of her soul, becoming colder and colder until she eventually lost all hope for eternal repose. She had lived many lives, in many different places and times, but her fate remained the same. No one ever loved her enough to end her suffering. Even though it turned her into an emotionless shell of a person, it also made her yearn for genuine love. Her father's curse was truly atrocious. Celosia never expected to find it so hard to be loved.

That was why she considered life as Elena Heroux her last chance. If she couldn't die successfully this time, she would give up completely. Seeing how much the whole family doted on Elena, she saw a glimmer of hope. Maybe if she told them the truth, they would help her reach her final destination – death.

Of course, they would have to believe her first.

"Father, I've brought the priest," Edgar entered Elena's room, followed by none other than Sol, who rushed to the Count's mansion as soon as he heard about the Cardinal taking the Imperial knights there. He knew that the man wanted to kill lady Elena, and he wanted to try to stop him. As soon as he arrived at the mansion, he met the young Count, Elena's brother, who seemed to be visibly relieved to see him. He quickly explained the situation to the priest then they both rushed upstairs to Elena.

Sol stood still in the doorway of Elena's room, pale and wide-eyed as he stared at the bloodied body of the young lady. He felt utterly relieved to see her chest rising with each breath and her eyelids fluttering faintly as the sunlight hit her face through the window, however it was overpowered by the feeling of despair as he realized that the Cardinal did go through with his plan to kill her. The only reason the lady was still alive was because of sheer luck. Had the Cardinal not missed her heart and pierced it instead, Sol would be seeing a completely different sight right now. That realization cut him deeply. He didn't understand why he was so attached to the lady, as she was but a stranger to him, so the more his feelings for her grew, the more confused he became. It made his work as a priest much more difficult, too. He wanted to stay by Elena's side all the time so he would be the first person she saw once she woke up; he wanted to share his divine power with her so she would awaken faster; he wanted to stay as close to her as possible so she would open up to him and share with him her secrets.

Perhaps it was not too late. He still had the chance to do all that. All he needed was to heal the wound on Elena's body and stay with her as long as possible.

Having made that decision, Sol walked over to Elena's bed and carefully raised his hands over her wound. The bright light that emitted from his palms was warm and comforting, which was the main characteristic of divinity. It was also one of the ways to distinguish holy power from light magic. Holy power healed not only the body, but also the soul, although in Elena's case, the latter was impossible.

Her soul was not from this world, therefore it could not be healed with power bestowed by a god that didn't create her.