Last Chance [Extra #2]

Part 7

Much to Elena's dismay, her body was still too weak to travel the whole way north, so the family was forced to stay in the county for a couple more weeks. Celosia hated how weak her new body was, so she asked Edgar to help her get back on her feet. Elena's brother was more than happy to help, although he felt it weird to give his beloved sister orders.

He couldn't say no to her, though, so every day, he took her to the garden, where they did some light exercises. Edgar was truly surprised to see his sister's tenacity as she worked out. She pushed herself to absolute limits, even if it caused her pain, and ignored all of Edgar's attempts to stop her.

Celosia wanted to be self-sufficient as soon as possible, and being able to move freely was the first step towards her goal.

The Count and his wife watched their children in a mix of astonishment and concern. On one hand, they were happy that their children were back to spending time together, on the other, they were worried that Elena would hurt herself. She had only woken up from her coma, was it really a good idea to exert herself so much?

The Countess could hardly touch her without being scared of causing her daughter harm, and yet there she was, play-fighting with her brother like nothing ever happened.

Edgar, as concerned about Elena as their mother, made sure to be as careful with his sister as possible. He pretended to use his full strength against her, but in fact he was extremely gentle with her. The fact that Elena couldn't overpower him even though he used so little strength only made him more concerned for his sister's health. She couldn't even walk a hundred meters without getting breathless, but she still pushed herself to the limit to achieve full mobility soon.

Edgar admired that side of her, but also made it his mission to stop her from hurting herself. Every time she tried to do something that would be to strenuous for her, he whisked her up in his arms and carried her around until she agreed to not worry him again.

Celosia found his overbearing attitude tiresome. Had Elena's body not been maladapted to magic, she would've healed it within minutes and brought it back to the state of usefulness. However, since her own power collided with the omnipresent magic surrounding her, it was impossible to go through with that plan, as it would only cause more harm to her new vessel.

Luckily, the family would soon leave to the North, where magic didn't exist, so Celosia would be able to use her power freely. It wasn't exactly magic, as it was her innate ability, so she hoped she wouldn't be persecuted for using it.

And if she was, she would simply kill whoever caused her trouble. After living for so long, she was no longer the naïve and innocent girl she used to be in her first life.

"Alright, I think that will be enough for today," Edgar smiled at his sister as she struggled to lift the small weight unsuccessfully. "Let's take a break."

"You always say that and we end up spending the rest of the day doing nothing," Elena smirked, then sighed in defeat when she dropped the small dumbbell, too weak to hold it. "Fine, I guess I really can't do it anymore," she relaxed in her wheelchair and silently cursed her weakness. She hated feeling so helpless and being dependent on other people.

"Oh, don't sulk, Leena. You'll get better in no time, you'll see. I can already see progress compared to two weeks ago," Edgar tried to comfort his sister when he saw her so glum. It made his heart ache to see his baby sister struggle to do what she wanted. He knew it was difficult for her to accept the fact that she needed to rely on someone, so he tried to make it as unnoticeable as he could.

Weeks passed, and Elena's state got a little better. She was now strong enough to travel with her family, although the trip would take twice as long because of her. No one blamed her, though. They preferred to spend twenty days in a carriage rather than another week in the county, where their daughter was constantly in pain due to the magical items lying around everywhere. Poor Elena couldn't even go to town to see the farmers' festival because it was too dangerous to her, so her family wanted to make it up to her by taking the longer route to their destination.

It took a while to deal with all the formalities connected to selling the manor and giving up the title of the county's lord, but once everything was successfully handled, the Heroux family went on their way with all their belongings and the remaining staff that stayed loyal to them despite the difficulties they faced.

After exactly three weeks of travel, the family reached their new mansion on the outskirts of the capital of the Grand Duchy. The city of Zuflucht was one of the biggest in the Empire, although it was the only one where there was neither magic, nor a temple. Despite the Holy Temple's relationship with the Imperial family, its influence didn't reach the Northern Grand Duchy, as Grand Duke Vautour was an atheist. He believed only in himself and it made no sense to him that there was a mighty being in the sky that should be revered unless people wanted to receive 'divine' punishment. He also didn't believe in the so-called holy power the priests used, seeing it as simple magic.

Magic had different attributes, so it made more sense that some people could have the healing ability rather than it coming from an imaginary being living in heaven.

Grand Duke Vautour used to believe in God when he was younger, however, after spending years on the battlefield during the war, he realized that the being people believed in didn't exist. Had God been real, they wouldn't allow such atrocities to happen to the world they created. And the fact that such things did happen meant that either the God was not as benevolent as people believed them to be, or they simply didn't exist in the first place.

No matter what the truth was, nothing connected to the concept of God was allowed in the Grand Duchy. It was considered insulting to the Grand Duke, who sacrificed himself for his people.

Perhaps that was why Celosia felt so at ease upon arriving in the city. She could tell there was no magic surrounding her, and those pesky priests were nowhere to be found. She knew that if a priest found out she was there, the Cardinal would also hear about it. Then, he would realize that his plan to kill her failed and would definitely try to finish his job.

Celosia knew too much to be kept alive.

That was why the Cardinal decided to check all the obituaries in the eastern region to see if Elena's name was listed there as well. It had been weeks since he killed her, but he still hadn't heard any news about her funeral. Even though her family was now poor, Elena was still the daughter of a count. Surely her funeral wouldn't be a simple and quiet event. All the local nobility should have been invited to pay their respects, and yet the Cardinal heard absolutely nothing about it.

It made him anxious. He couldn't stop thinking that he made a mistake somehow and the wretched lady was still alive. If she opened her mouth about what she saw, Kaplan would lose his chance to become the Pope. She needed to be eliminated before it was too late.

The Cardinal had no idea that Elena was no longer in the East, having ran away from the Temple's influence all the way to the atheistic North.

It was only after he ventured to the Count Heroux's residence that he found out the groundbreaking truth. Elena was alive. And she was in the northern Grand Duchy, where he couldn't openly hunt her down, even though she was considered a heretic.

The Cardinal felt his blood boil with fury. How dare that young girl go against the will of God? The man considered his decisions to be equal with divine judgement, so it enraged him even more to see someone defy him like that.

He would make sure to finish his job and get rid of Elena. He couldn't let her live. He had great aspirations, and if the truth about him came out, he would lose the chance to achieve his goal.

The only problem was that even Cardinal Kaplan, despite his high position in the Temple's hierarchy, wasn't powerful enough to suddenly go to the Grand Duchy and capture the young lady like he wanted to.

The North was strictly under the jurisdiction of the Grand Duke Vautour and getting on his bad side could be disastrous to the Temple. Despite the vicious rumors about the man, he was still of royal blood and could pose a threat to the current state of affairs in the Empire.