Free Web NovelChapter 280: After 10 Years
"Leon...?"
Even if Leon looked aged, she could never mistake his appearance.
Long black hair, with a beard on his cheeks. There was no doubt that this young man was her brother.
A sudden gust of wind swept past Veronica, sending her bangs fluttering.
And before she knew it, the hologram became much clearer. In fact it did not even look like a hologram anymore.
All three of them appeared as if they were actually present inside the office at this moment.
"...."
"...."
Then her eyes landed on two women seated beside Leon on the ground. One was an elf who Veronica clearly recognized. The other had long platinum hair, with golden eyes beautifully shimmering on her small angelic face.
Veronica walked past her workspace and came closer to them.
She now stood right in front of them, glancing down at the golden eyed girl and how she was holding Leon close to her chest.
"Are you... Lady Veronica Valentine?" Said the golden eyed girl.
Then before Veronica replied, she herself added.
"Oh right... you addressed Leon by his name... you must be his sister."
Veronica ignored her, and squatted down to Leon’s height.
She extended her hand to touch his cheek, but her hand passed right through him.
"...Leon." She whispered. "You foolish boy. You absolute foolish boy. Look at what you have done to yourself."
For a moment, her hand remained hovering over his face. Trembling slightly.
Then she pulled it back. And when she stood up, the Tower Head’s cold mask was firmly back in place.
"This is a holographic conference. You cannot touch or feel it." Anise spoke up.
She proceeded to stand up, followed after Veronica.
But before she could introduce herself, Veronica said.
"Anise Bluemoon. The Queen of Evana, and the Creator of the Akashic Records. You all do not look good."
Both Irene and Anise were surprised. They exchanged glances, before Anise asked.
"You have heard of me?"
"Of course. Although all the matters related to Evana were declared a myth, we Tower Heads have known about your history. I would say, it is quite an honour to have met you."
That statement was not an exaggeration in the slightest.
"That... is my pleasure. I am Anise Bluemoon, and yes..." Anise politely said. "As you are seeing." She gestured towards Leon. "We are in a rather tough condition."
To Anise’s gesture, Veronica simply asked.
"It has been ten years since I last saw my brother. He simply left without letting me know."
Before Anise let her know how Leon ended up in this state, Veronica asked.
"I have felt someone tampering with Time ten years back." She looked at Anise and Irene, "Was that my brother’s doing?"
In this world only Silvermoon held the authority over time, and as her chosen one, Veronica shared the same role. It was clear she of all people would know.
Irene glanced at Veronica and then Anise. She pondered on what would be her reply, if they followed what Rumi told them, then they had to reveal Leon’s Unique Skill to his sister. Without that, they would never move Leon’s strategy.
Anise took a deep breath, before revealing everything to Veronica.
What had happened? What did they do? How they defeated Dreamweaver and how Leon used his unique skill to freeze Dreamweaver temporarily in time. How Leon fell into a Coma, how Rumi had used her own lifeforce to reduce Leon’s skill’s sideeffect. And most of all, how Leon wanted Veronica’s help in his upcoming plan.
"So it was true." Veronica said. "Dreamweaver truly is gone for ten years."
Irene noticed that Veronica never doubted or questioned them about how a mere boy had this kind of ability which can even leave a literal calamity in that state.
Veronica muttered something under her breath. Then informed the two. "If this is the case, and Dreamweaver really is frozen in time, then we need to hurry. Haaa.. no wonder Silvermoon and others are unable to descend to save you all, even after the loop has lifted off."
Anise and Irene both blinked.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Anise asked.
Veronica simply waved her hand. "It’s something to do with the matter of outer reality. Without Dreamweaver the other fours are having a tough time stabilising the entrance."
Even though Veronica explained this, neither of them fully understood what she meant.
But Anise recalled that Dreamweaver had once talked about something similar.
"Wait, by gate you mean—"
But before Anise could finish, Veronica spoke again.
"Tell me what Leon wants to do? What is his strategy?"
As Veronica said, Irene noticed that her expression had gone tense. Even though Veronica tried her best to hide it, Irene saw right through her.
The way Veronica’s fingers curled slightly at her hem. The way her jaw tightened for just a fraction of a second.
Veronica Valentine, the strongest of this era... was scared.
’Was it because Dreamweaver was frozen...? She said that the four were having a tough time stabilizing the gate... By four, does she mean the other four calamities?’
If that was the case, then Irene deduced the reason of why even after the loop had been lifted off, neither Silvermoon, nor Everbright had come to help them or sent any help.
They must be struggling with something without Dreamweaver in the highest Reality.
’What could it be?’
She looked at Veronica, and then slightly glanced at Anise beside her.
Anise too looked tense.
Whatever it was, maybe Anise had some idea about it.
Anise spoke up the next second. Irene averted her gaze from her. frёewebηovel.cѳm
"We want you to form a contract with the Moon Tower, as well as the Frost Tower."
Veronica raised her eyes at the request.
"Why?"
- - -
"Haaaah...."
Anise stretched both her hands in the air.
She closed the connection with the Blood Tower after getting interrogated by Leon’s sister for what felt like hours.
The holographic projection was gone. And the inside of the tree house returned back to its usual dark and gloomy state.
"She was one heck of a woman." It was Irene who bluntly said this.
Anise turned to her.
"Hehe, she just loves her brother so much."
Irene shivered as she recalled those golden eyes of hers. The way Veronica had tormented her with all those questions.
"Who asks these questions so directly?" Irene muttered. Then she glanced at Leon. "Hey Leon... I swear, your sister might be a demon hidden under a human fles—ouch!"
Anise lightly did a karate chop on Irene’s head.
"Doctor... why me though~" Irene cried as she rubbed the spot. "Do you think she hates me?"
"Now now." Anise laughed. "I think you left a really good impression on her."
Seeing how Irene pouted after she said this made Anise just pinch those fluffy cheeks of hers.
"Owowow! Doctor, that hurts!"
"Hehe. Sorry sorry."
Anise let go of her cheeks and chuckled.
Irene rubbed her face and grumbled something under her breath.
But Anise was still smiling at her.
"You know." Anise said. "Lady Veronica asked quite a lot of questions about you specifically."
"I heard it too." Irene sighed, "who even asks that... I was seating right beside you."
Anise just repeated those questions.
"How long you have been taking care of Leon. Why you chose to protect him. How close you sit beside him." Anise counted on her fingers. "Oh! And she kept staring at the way you held his hand."
Irene’s face slowly started to turn red.
"T-that does not mean anything. I was just... I hold his wrist to feel his pulse. That is all. It is for medical reason."
"Did I say it meant something?" Anise tilted her head innocently.
"You implied it!"
"Did I?"
"Doctor!"
Anise laughed again. The first genuine laugh she had let out in weeks.
Irene went quiet.
She lowered her gaze to Leon’s sleeping face.
"...Was it that obvious?"
Anise smiled softly.
"To someone watching closely? Yes."
Irene buried her face in her hands.
"This is so embarrassing. His own sister found out before he even woke up."
"Found out what?" Anise asked teasingly.
"You know what!"
"I want to hear you say it."
"I am not saying anything!"
Irene shot up and turned away, her ears were burning red.
Anise covered her mouth and giggled.
It had been so long since either of them had laughed like this.
With Will gone. With Cyan gone. With Rumi gone. The inside of the tree house had been so heavy with grief for the past week.
But for just this small moment, watching Irene flustered and pouting, Anise felt something close to warmth.
It reminds her of Lillian. Her own daughter had the same behaviour.
"We will save you... just you wait."
She looked at Leon.
"Your sister is sharp." Anise said quietly to his sleeping form.
She glanced at Irene. frёewebnoѵēl.com
"You better wake up soon, Leon." Anise muttered. "This poor girl has waited ten years. The least you can do is wake up and face her properly."
They have finished their first phase of strategy. And the rest is just to wait for him to wake up.
[2 More weeks have passed]
Due to the rebels searching for them, both Irene and Anise had to change location.
Now they were hiding outside the main city, inside a cave somewhere around the east forest zone.
It was early morning. The chirping of the birds could be heard even within the cave.
Irene carefully lit up the fire to boil water for Leon.
She poured the last bit of water they had into a tin container and set it on top of the fire.
"Huuf~ Done." Irene wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Anise was still sleeping on the other side. And it was Irene’s duty to wipe Leon with warm water.
After the water was boiled, Irene took it out from the fire and poured it into a wooden bowl.
She used a dry cloth and placed it inside the warm water.
She turned to Leon.
He was laying on the floor on top of a bed made out of rocks, leaves and old clothes.
"...."
Leon’s eyes were closed, and his hair had grown a bit longer.
"Alright. Don’t mind if I do."
Irene undid the button of Leon’s shirt and dabbed his skin with warm water.
She flipped him over and cleaned his back as well. Once his back was done, she flipped him again to face the front.
"Now all that’s left..."
Irene’s eyes fell on Leon’s pants.
"..."
It needed to be done. And it was not like this was her first time doing this.
Still, it always made her very awkward.
Gulp.
She had seen some stuff which she could not unsee now.
"Leon..." she muttered, trying her best to calm her hot face. "Please just do not wake up while I am doing this."
Pull...
She slowly pulled his pants down.
Irene was the one who did it every day. And she feared what Leon would think when he found this out. Or worse, what could have happened if he woke up while she was in the middle of pulling his pants.
’No no. Stop overthinking Irene!’
No matter how embarrassing this may sound, this would not happen. At least not that. The probability would be so much less. Almost near zero.
"Hmm?"
But today, as she pulled the pants like usual, she felt something hard brush against the back of her hand.
She blinked.
She looked down.
Her face flushed bright red. Her heart pounded so hard she could hear it echo in her own ears.
"...!!!"
She had done this every single day for years. It had become routine.
But this... This was not in the routine.
Her hands shook. She did not know whether to pull the pants back up or run out of the cave entirely.
"Why... why today of all days..." She whispered to herself, clearly mortified.
She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath.
’Calm down Irene. This is normal. This is a good sign. Leon is a healthy boy. He is asleep. He is in a coma. He cannot see you. He cannot know. Just finish quickly and pretend this never happened. Just like every other day.’
She opened her eyes.
And met two golden ones staring directly back at her.
"...."
"...."
Silence.
