Chapter 213

Chapter 185: Embers Part 2

He lowered his head, his gaze fixed intently on the gray wool carpet beneath his feet, his emotions slightly agitated. “Your Majesty, the blame lies solely with me! I was careless; I never would have thought that old gatekeeper, Kataloma, who seemed so honest… could also be an idolater of the Door of Truth. I never doubted him from beginning to end… I’m sorry, facing an enemy like Teresa, I lost my composure… I failed to notice that she had already passed the item on… I let that gatekeeper slip away right under my nose, I—”

“Reckert.”

Victoria’s soft call interrupted Reckert’s self-reproach.

She raised her delicate hand, brushing back her hair, her gaze shifting from the window to Reckert with a cold expression.

“Enough useless words, cough, speak less, and find out who gave the order.”

Reckert paused. “Uh… Your Majesty…”

Victoria’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Perhaps feeling uncomfortable after lying in bed for too long, she shifted her position slightly, sitting up, massaging her forehead as she spoke softly, “I’ve already ordered the city to be sealed off… Who gave the order to release them, you need to find out clearly and tell me.”

Only then did Reckert understand, hurriedly responding, “Yes.”

After hearing his response, Victoria waved her hand.

“This matter, you can delegate it, cough, to others, rest first.”

“Alright.” Reckert stood up.

But he didn’t immediately leave, hesitating for a moment before finally unable to resist asking, “Your Majesty, your body… has it fully recovered?”

“Mm.”

Victoria listened, extending her left arm from under the covers, holding it up to examine it closely—smooth skin, tender fingers.

Apart from being slightly pale due to excessive blood loss, it was as perfect and beautiful as always.

She tried moving her finger joints… very flexible, no discomfort at all. It was as if the injury that almost crippled this arm had never existed.

“How wonderful…” Reckert sighed, “The holy maiden’s miraculous healing is almost like a resurrection… The grace of the gods is truly unimaginable. She arrived just in time last night, this might all be the arrangement of the gods, it really helped a lot.”

After his sigh, his expression gradually became complex.

“…Could Teresa’s faith power really be stronger than the holy maiden’s? Unimaginable… If she hadn’t held back at the time… But why didn’t she use a miracle… Is there some hidden reason, or is it true as rumored that Teresa is abandoned by the gods… That’s why…”

What followed seemed more like aimless muttering than speaking to Victoria.

Of course, Victoria wouldn’t engage in such pointless discussions.

After a moment, Reckert suddenly remembered something and spoke again, “Your Majesty, how should we prepare for the sudden visit of the holy maiden to the capital?”

“This isn’t something you need to worry about,” Victoria said indifferently. “Go call Sharman.”

“Alright.”

Reckert agreed, stepping back thoughtfully, and then suddenly said at the door, “Your Majesty, what do you think is the purpose of the holy maiden’s visit—”

Victoria frowned deeply.

“Reckert.”

As she spoke softly, she closed her eyes.

“Yes.”

“Leave.”

“…Okay.”

With a click, the door closed.

…………

At noon.

At the street corner a hundred meters from the entrance of the Kataloma Orphanage.

Margaret stood at the edge of the deep crevice fissure. She stared at the black bone fragments in her hands, her gaze distant. Her rosy lips were slightly open, her exquisite face showing disbelief, mumbling to herself.

“Boswell actually shattered… How could this happen…”

“Something’s not right… This… The medium disappeared, someone moved it… No, this is impossible… How did they do it…”

After a moment, a young nun walked over to Margaret, standing beside her.

“Her Highness the Holy Maiden.”

“Her Highness the Holy Maiden.”

Margaret composed herself, turning her head. “How is the situation?”

“The children’s emotions have stabilized somewhat. Afterward, I will take care of their daily needs temporarily. Before the orphanage is repaired, I want to move them to Saint Zayari Cathedral. Do you think it’s feasible?”

Margaret thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

“Alright, you can take them there. I’ll talk to the bishop afterward.”

She paused, adding, “Make sure they eat well.”

“I understand,” the nun responded.

Just then, a commotion broke out nearby.

“Hold on… Wait a moment!”

“No! I have an urgent matter… I need to see the Holy Maiden, let me through! Please, Sister—”

“Not that, I’m just saying wait, not that you can’t see her! Wait until Her Highness the Holy Maiden finishes her business…”

Margaret looked in the direction of the noise.

Near the fallen wall, a dirty, ragged girl around ten years old was struggling to break free from a nun’s grip, her face full of anxiety.

She shouted when she saw Margaret, “Holy Maiden, save me—!”

Save me?

Margaret was puzzled.

She handed the bone fragment to the nun next to her, instructing her to take the remains, then quickly walked toward the girl’s location.

“Her Highness the Holy Maiden…”

Seeing Margaret approach, the girl, who had been struggling,

The young girl’s nun was somewhat at a loss. Seeing this, Margaret nodded gently at her, “Let her go.”

The nun then released her grip, and the little girl stumbled forward two steps, coming in front of Margaret and looking up at her, “Holy Lady…”

Her clear and charming voice was slightly hoarse, and her lips quivered as if she was about to cry.

“What happened?”

Margaret patted her head gently and asked softly.

“I beg you… I have a friend… I want you to save her… Waaah…”

The more anxious the little girl became, the less she knew how to express herself. Her eyes reddened.

Margaret squatted down, straightened out the messy hem of her dress, and patted the thin shoulders of the little girl, “Don’t rush, take your time. What happened to your friend?”

This action made the little girl slightly calmer. She wiped away her tears with her hand, leaving a gray streak on her face.

“I… I have a friend… I… She brought me out from the cellar… Waaah… Her leg… Her leg… Waaah… Please save her…”

The little girl spoke incoherently with a trembling voice, causing Margaret’s heart to tremble slightly.

She knew that the little girl was very anxious and scared.

She tried to comfort her, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, I’ll save her… Tell me where she is quickly.”

The little girl sniffled, her red eyes looking at Margaret, and suddenly broke down.

“Waaah—”

She opened her mouth and cried loudly.

“I… I don’t know where she is, I don’t know where she is! Ah—! She’s hurt so badly, but I don’t know where she is, ah—”

Big tears rolled down the little girl’s cheeks, smearing her dirt-covered face.

She didn’t know what to do and knelt in front of Margaret, her dirty little hands reaching out as if to grab Margaret’s skirt, but ultimately didn’t dare to touch it. Instead, she clasped her hands together in front of her chest in a devout prayer posture.

“Please, please, I pray to you… Outstanding Holy Lady… I am the most devout believer, please, save her, save her…”

Margaret wanted to pull the little girl up and tell her not to worry like that. But the little girl was stubborn. When she couldn’t pull her up, she had no choice but to lean forward and gently hug the mud-stained little body.

“Don’t be afraid, everything will be fine, I’ll go find her… Tell me, what’s the name of the friend you saved?”

“Waaah… P-Pei Luo…”

Margaret froze.

She looked at the little girl’s tear-streaked face for a moment and then smiled.

That smile was as gentle as a trickle, yet it lingered for a long time.

Not an update, just the end summary of the volume~

I’m sorry it’s not an update.

But the second volume has come to an end. I have some idle words to share with everyone, like a summary at the end of the first volume.

Or maybe it could be called reflection.

Looking back at the first volume, there wasn’t much to say because the first volume was merely the prelude to the story. The real story hadn’t fully emerged yet, things were few, characters were simple, and the background was mostly foreshadowing.

Although I think there were still many shortcomings, the result was a fairly satisfactory answer.

Later, I even felt that writing novels was nothing special.

I quickly slapped myself in the face.

When I wrote the second volume, many scenes were already formed in my mind. Pei Pei’s wobbly figure in the snow, her crying face when she played the Moonlight Sonata, her despair and helplessness when falling off the cliff, Edward’s death, the Order City, the people of the Royal Academy, the children of the orphanage… etc. My outline was listed using a mind map, with nodes densely packed and lines crisscrossing, which even I found impressive.

But actually, later I realized that this approach was wrong, because too many rules led me to fall into a thinking trap while writing, causing the focus of my writing to deviate from my intended direction.

It was my first time writing such a long story, and I underestimated it a bit.

The biggest problem in the second volume was that I failed to control the “pace.”

Unlike the steady progress of the first volume, I threw too much information in the second volume, to the point where I realized that people were already forgetting.

I was too impatient; I wanted everyone to know all the things I was thinking about, the hidden truths, and the new elements. I wanted to throw them all out at once, which resulted in each chapter taking longer to write because there were too many threads to connect… I shouldn’t have done it this way, it easily gets messy.

And also due to my insufficient writing skills, I deeply apologize to everyone. Because in my original imagination, the second volume should have been more exciting than it is now.

I will reconsider the pacing issue, and tonight I will carefully organize the outline for the third volume, so there won’t be an update (all these words are just a setup for this! Hmph~).

In the second volume, I did not handle the important characters Victoria and Teresa well enough. But it’s okay, their stories are not over yet.

Teresa, as the beginning character of a “major event,” only truly moved the Church and the Door of Truth forward after her death. I wonder if everyone noticed… Many clergy members are heading towards Silgaya.

I laid too much groundwork, and I’m not confident that you noticed this, which makes me cry…

But Teresa really is dead.

And our little Pei Pei will learn more about her only after her death.

Alright, I can’t ramble any longer, I need to sort out the outline for the third volume as soon as possible, and the story will enter the next phase tomorrow.

The third volume is titled “Maiden and the Abyss of Illusion.”

I will continue to work hard.

That’s all.