[LUSTBURG]
While Sol was resting after an excruciating training in hell, the matters of Lusturb were going on as always.
A few moments or hours after the opening of the portal for the contract ceremony, the different candidates that had recently awakened came back from the Astral World.
For the vast majority of them, they had appeared on the fringes of the different territories, while some of them had been lucky enough to either appear at Crossroads or in the inner territory of some divine beasts.
At the end of the day, among all of those who managed to enter, only a select few managed to form a contract, with some of them even dying there. In the end, that was the harsh reality of the awakening ceremony.
The Astral Realm was not a paradise. It was a very harsh world where anything could happen.
Of course for the dignitaries of Lustburg, all of this was nothing new. They had seen the same thing happen every time, every year. What concerned them the most was, of course, the fate of their crown prince.
Some hoped that he would come back safe and well since he was the only heir of the throne. With the war looming over their heads, they needed a King to lead them.
Most others, selfish ones, wished for Sol to never come back. At the end of the day, even if Lustburg lost the war and lost many territories, Lustburg itself could never be destroyed and they would at most fall under the control of Wratharis.
Meanwhile, in order to have a new Blessed, Lilith and/or Lilin would have to take a husband and bear an heir. This was the best chance for them to rise up and take power.
As for what would happen to the soldiers or the peasants? Why would they care about them?
It was in this uneasy atmosphere that the days passed.
—--
“I miss Sol.”
Milia scratched her wrist as she complained while working on a large amount of paperwork about the Crown’s Shadow.
After the whole fiasco of the last night, the Crown’s Shadow went through a complete change as Milia and the other Fingers endeavored in making sure no such thing would happen again.
“Milia…”
Standing beside her, Ketia looked at Milia with worry on her face. It hadn’t even been a week since Sol left. But Milia was already showing symptoms of withdrawal a drug addict would go through.
One time, she had even seen Milia scratch herself until blisters appeared on her arm and blood seeped out of it. If not for her healing factor, she was sure that Milia's arms would be filled with scars.
“I am sorry… I must be worrying you.”
Milia was indeed not going too well mentally. She thought she knew how much she relied on Sol for her well-being, but it was only after going through a few days without seeing him that she understood how truly mentally weak she was.
Since the moment she began to take care of Sol, he had never left her sight for more than one day and even then, she knew that she could reach him at any moment.
But now, she was told that she wouldn’t be able to see him for nearly a month, and no matter what she did, nothing could change that fact.
At first, she thought that it was alright. After all, it was just a month, right?
It was only on the next day that she went to Sol’s room in order to wake him up and saw his empty bed that she understood that it wouldn’t be that easy.
Since then, her situation had only worsened. The only saving grace was that she still had a part of her collection and had new added additions. This was the only way to keep her sane.
Another thing that helped her keep her sanity in check was the fact that she had to train Nuwa.
Her pride would not allow her to appear weak in front of her own student. No matter how weird and clueless the said student was.
Thinking about Nuwa, a small smile formed on her lips as she managed to calm down a little. Despite how much of a scatterbrain Nuwa could be, she was a good girl with an open heart.
Of course, Milia wasn’t completely selfless in teaching Nuwa how to control and use her devouring power. Nuwa was destined to become one of Sol’s partners.
Milia knew that her own power was limited. She was a powerful Duke but that was all she could ever be if nothing changed. The chances of her becoming a King were so small it was abyssal.
This would mean that as Sol grew stronger, she would become more and more useless., If not outright a weak point.
This was why she needed to train Nuwa. Nuwas wasn’t like her. Her talent was at a completely different level. The stronger Nuwa was, the more protection Sol would have.
“Come back soon, Sol.”
No matter what, no matter where he was, the well-being of Sol was all that mattered to her.
—--
[Stop lazing around, you aren’t the supreme daughter of Acedia.]
“*Ugh* Leave me alone.”
Camelia groaned as she rolled around in her bed and ignored the voice of Castitas. During the last few days, she had become quite lethargic with the desire to do nothing.
It was as if all her motivation had vanished. Every day she would sleep in until the sun was high in the sky and she wouldn’t even leave her room to eat.
If anyone saw her current appearance now, they would have a hard time believing it was the Saintess. Her current appearance was quite slovenly. Her hair was unkempt and the floor of her room was littered with underwear and clothes.
If Sol was there to see this, he would have said that Camelia was transforming into a NEET.
[You don’t want to know about Sol?]
Camelia’s eyes snapped open immediately.
“My dear and beloved goddess. Please grace me with your knowledge.”
[*Hmph* I feel not an ounce of sincerity in your words.]
Castitas grumbled but she was already used to the Supreme Daughters having no respect for them. Camelia was at least on the better side. Unlike other Supreme Daughters like the one under Patientia, she didn’t throw curses at every other sentence.
Camelia did not blush even though she was busted, “What do you want in exchange? I know you wouldn’t give me information for free.”
This world worked on the principle of near-equivalent exchange. Nothing for nothing. She knew that fact more than anyone else.
[A holy daughter.]
“...”
Camellia fell silent.
For a Supreme Daughter, the presence of a Holy Daughter wasn’t really what you could call great news.
The maximum number of Blessed was fixed and any new addition meant that an older one died.
The birth of a Blessed Prince or Princess would mean that the King or Queen had a higher chance of dying as the Fate around them would slowly stop protecting them and push them towards death.
The same went for the birth of a Holy Daughter.
[You are the Supreme Daughter of the past generation. There should have been a new Supreme Daughter standing alongside Sol after he becomes King.]
This was indeed the case. Camelia's predecessor had ruled alongside Neptune and she had ruled alongside Mars.
If everything had been alright, Sol should have grown up with a Holy Daughter. But the candidate at that time fell asleep because of a weird disease.
[Perhaps it’s because the Fate around Sol is too strong, it gave another wind into your declining Fate. But there is a limit to it. By strengthening your Fate, he is weakening his.]
Of course, just because a new Holy Daughter was born didn’t mean Camelia would immediately die or any time in the close future. Furthermore, the upper number of Blessed was thankfully not filled currently.
[You know…]
“Alright, alright, I get it. I get. I guess you just want a new and gullible girl. Don’t worry, I will be sure to thoroughly educate her.”
Camelia cackled as she mocked Castitas.
“Either way, I have promised Gerald to wake up his granddaughter. So it will happen sooner or later.”
It was time to wake up the sleeping princess.
"Now tell me what is happening in the Astral Realm."
—---
While munching a cake filled with meat, Nuwa observed as Setsuna and Lilin fought against each other in order to hone their skills.
Different from the adult women, the younger ones were less affected by Sol's departure. It wasn’t that they loved him any less than them. They were just less dependent on him than they were.
Lilin already went through this experience went she left Lustburg for her adventure and Setsuna was channeling all her frustration into her training.
[This Lilin really looks like that infuriating little girl. Nightmare Queen, was it? What an interesting time it was.]
Nuwa ignored the voice in her head and continued to occupy herself with her food. This voice had been bothering her since the moment she began to use her Devouring power.
It was faint at first, but the more she trained, the stronger the voice became. But at the end of the day, it was just a voice and it didn’t bother her.
Feeling how unconcerned Nuwa was with the situation, the voice inside her was quite speechless.
[*Sigh* To think my backup plan would go haywire in such a way.]
She had prepared everything and was sure to survive even if her body was destroyed.
But how could she have imagined that a weak dwarf would destroy her master plan in such a way?
Even now she couldn't believe that she was now nothing more than wisps of a Soul. So weak and helpless.
Thankfully, her presence was undetectable by all but Asmodeus. She just hoped that the bastard wouldn't tattle on the goddesses.
As for Nuwa, the only thing that interested her currently was what she should eat next.
As long as the voice in her head didn't bother her, then nothing else mattered.
—-
In the depth of the Tower of Babel in Lustburg, Persephone was gently massaging the muscle of a naked Lilith.
Of course, it wasn't just a simple massage. Every time her hand passed over a part of Lilith's body, Persephone would send a part of her life energy into it.
The massage had been going for a few hours already and Persephone was sweating quite a bit but she didn't stop.
She had promised Sol to keep Lilith alive and well for a month and she didn't plan to fail.
Outside of it, Lilith was a dear friend of hers and while Persephone wouldn't be sad at her death, as it was the natural cycle, she wouldn't stand and do anything either.
Once the massage was finally completed, she stood up and moved her stiff muscles.
"Truly, working on your body is quite the challenge."
Even though she looked like a fragile woman, the body of Lilith was nothing to scoff at.
Her physical strength was abyssal but the amount of Mana she possessed was large enough to put most King level to shame.
Said magic interfered quite a bit in the healing process. It didn't help that Lilith's body was also craving for life energy at a monstrous level.
Standing up, Lilith stretched a little, clearly not caring about displaying her naked body to her friend, and showed a complicated expression as she circulated mana in her body.
"I…"
She didn't know what to say.
Even though she had no wish to stay alive, she had so many people around her who loved and cared for her.
Even now, Sol was fighting and growing in the Astral realm in order to find a way to completely heal her.
The swirl of emotion going on in her heart was something she couldn't quite put her finger on.
In the end, she sighed and stayed silent. After taking a coat to cover herself, she walked out of the room in the direction of her bathroom.
The process didn't stop at just a massage. Since Persephone had prepared a large number of special herbs that could help her lifespan.
Even though she did not receive any words of thanks, Persephone was more than happy.
At her level, the things she cared about the least were mere words with no weight behind them.
The fact that Lilith did everything she was asked to in order to heal and showed such emotions was more sincere than thousands of words could be.
Still, at the end of the day, even with the holy energy of Camelia and Medea's time power, all they could do was slow down the inevitable.
"Everything will depend on you."
Persephone's heart was filled with excitement.
She wondered how this story would end.
Would it be a happy end where the prince saves the cursed queen from her death after surmounting all challenges?
Or would it be a tragedy where the prince arrived too late?
Either way, she knew that she would appreciate every last bit of this beautiful story.
AN: Those who read ch 200 will be able to guess who the voice in the head of Nuwa is. Then again, it isn’t that hard.
