Last Chance [Extra #2]

Part 11

The young priest hesitated before knocking on the door to the Cardinal's prayer room. He knew the man was in a bad mood and hated being interrupted, but he also ordered to notify him if there were any changes regarding Lady Heroux's situation. Taking a deep breath, he gently knocked on the door. Only after he heard a quiet 'come in' did he walk in, knowing better than to anger the Cardinal.

"Your Holiness," he bowed in greeting. "I have information about Lady Heroux."

Cardinal Kaplan perked up at this. The matter of the lady was beyond infuriating, as he hated leaving things unfinished, especially when they were his personal business. "Did you find her?" he asked grumpily, having lost too much sleep because of the young woman. Whenever he closed his eyes, he imagined the horrors he would have to survive through if she woman opened her mouth about what happened to her. Of course, he didn't think anyone would believe her, as the Temple was known to be a benevolent organization, but that didn't stop the Cardinal from feeling anxious.

"Count Heroux sold his mansion and traveled with his family to the north."

"North where?" the Cardinal pried. There were many provinces in the north, so saying something so vague didn't help.

"The Grand Duchy of Vautour."

"Damn it," the Cardinal cursed quietly. It was the one place where he had no power. The Temple could never reach the Northern Grand Duchy, as its lord was an atheist and made it clear he wanted no religion or magic on his land. The Temple tried to negotiate with the previous Grand Duke many times, going as far as trying to secretly convert the people there, but they didn't succeed. Most of the people that lived in the North or decided to settle down there were either atheists or tried to evade the Temple's influence.

The Temple's position in the Empire was slowly but steadily declining and if things continued to go that way, they would soon lose the power they had over people.

And Lady Heroux could very easily be the spark that ignites that change.

"Your Holiness?" the young priest flinched in fear when he saw the Cardinal's dark expression. The man was not happy.

"Issue an order to find Lady Elena Heroux. She is a blasphemer and needs to be persecuted in the name of the Holy Temple."

"Yes, Your Holiness," the priest bowed then almost ran out of the prayer room, eager to please his superior. The Cardinal may have been a fastidious man, but he was very clear about giving rewards and punishments. And his punishments were way too severe to even risk getting on his bad side.

The young priest was baffled by the Cardinal's order. To accuse someone of blasphemy was a serious matter. The young lady would be persecuted wherever she went. If she as much as left the Northern Grand Duchy, the Temple would be able to arrest her and imprison her until the trial.

The Cardinal was indeed a genius. Instead of chasing after the woman, he trapped her in one place and let the whole Empire know she was the Temple's enemy.

Celosia was completely unaware of the storm that was heading her way. She was blissfully oblivious to the turmoil that spread throughout the Empire as the Temple exercised their power to make sure everyone knew she was a wanted person.

After Edgar promised to take her to the sapphire mine the Heroux family owned, the two of them went to the Count to announce their plans. Edgar was aware of the financial situation of the family, but Celosia was not. She didn't expect to hear,

"I'm sorry, darling, but no," the Count immediately refused the siblings' request despite seeing how determined they were. He knew how much it would cost to send them both to Ramil Kingdom, and as much as he hated it, he just didn't have the funds for such trip.

He had no idea that before Edgar and Celosia went to see him, they visited the treasury, where Celosia demonstrated her power to Edgar by replicating the chests with gold. Instead of two, there were now twenty, all filled to the brim with gold coins. Edgar was beyond shocked to see her ability. It made no sense to him that even if Celosia didn't see the contents of the chests, she still could copy the coins inside them. There was no way to tell which ones real, and which ones were not. Celosia calmly explained to him that they were all real, and that was why she wanted to go the sapphire mine. She could multiply the resources there infinitely, so the family would never have to worry about the mine's condition in the future. With her power, the Heroux family would be set for generations.

"Father, I know what you're worried about, but the money is not the issue. We have more than enough for the journey," Edgar smiled, finding it hard to keep his excitement at bay. He couldn't wait to show his father the treasury and laugh at his stunned face as he tried to understand where the money came from.

"Edgar," the count sighed dejectedly, glancing worriedly at Elena. "We're no longer in the county. We don't have a port, from where we could sail to the Ramil Kingdom. Going there from here would take twice as long, not to mention Elena's condition," he turned to his daughter with a concerned frown.

Celosia and Edgar exchanged knowing looks then smiled at the Count. "Elena will be fine, I will be with her at all times. Father, I know you're concerned, but what you're worried about won't happen," Edgar reassured his father, perfectly understanding his concerns. He was afraid that if he let Elena leave the house again, something could happen to her and she could go missing once again. He also felt the same at first, and that was why he decided to join Celosia on her trip to the mine. Even if she was a different person, he still saw her as his sister.

And he would not let her get hurt again.

"Edgar..."

"Father."

The Count could only sigh in resignation. "Elena, why do you even want to go there? You've never been interested in the mine..." he was grasping at straws, trying to dissuade his children from going on such a dangerous journey.

"I want to give you a gift, but for that, I need to see the mine," Celosia smiled warmly then added, "Just see it."

"Baby, I don't need gifts, I just need you."

"But I want to," Celosia grinned. She knew from Elena's memories that her father was weak against her if she really wanted something, so it was only a matter of time before he relented.

She wasn't wrong. With a small smile, the count allowed his children to go on the trip. He was already thinking of ways to earn more money so he could cover all the expenses, unaware that it was never an issue to begin with.

Meanwhile, the siblings exchanged smug grins then rushed to their rooms to pack, shocking the count to the core. He didn't expect them to leave right away. He also didn't know that they would not rent a ship to get to the Ramil Kingdom but ride a speedboat Celosia would summon. They would also ride a bicycle instead of a carriage to Puerto city, where the harbor was. It was located near the narrow part of the sea, the Azul Strait. Going through there would bring them to Ramil Kingdom in mere hours using Celosia's speedboat.

The siblings could finish their whole trip within a week thanks to Celosia's unconventional means of transportation, and that was being generous.

However, despite how eager they both were, they still couldn't leave right away. Celosia was too weak to ride for long periods of time, and Edgar knew nothing about the machine, so he wouldn't be able to change her when she got too tired.

Hence, they decided to leave a month later. Within that month, Celosia would work hard to improve her stamina, and Edgar would pretend to earn the money for the trip, trying to ease the burden his father bore. After a month, they would tell the Count that everything was already arranged, and they were about to leave.

They had no idea Celosia was now publicly considered a criminal and there was a full-scale manhunt organized by the Temple to get her.