Chapter 124
After what had happened, Aurora wanted to follow Lady Minerva. But every time she tried to move away from Natasha’s body, something pulled her back.
It seemed like Aurora was stuck with the unconscious princess for the time being.
Aurora decided to gather her thoughts in the meantime to make sense of all she had seen this far. And there was a lot to unpack there.
It seemed like the abyss had decided to make a move in the north. But the news had been erased from history to keep the peace intact.
It made sense in Aurora’s mind why this happened.
But why had Goddess Clara chosen the Northern Republic to carry out such a plan? Was it because Natasha was the easiest target?
Likely not. There had to be another reason behind it that Aurora was unaware of.
The only thing Aurora could think of was the trial. The trial held for a demi-divinity status was extremely rare.
Even in present times, there were less than 100 minor gods and goddesses in the cabinet and most of them had lived a long life.
So, was the purpose of this attack the divine power of the trail? It made sense why Lady Clara had gone to such lengths to smuggle the gem in.
Aurora only stopped thinking once the door opened and Lady Minerva stepped in. behind him was a man Aurora had never seen before. But she did not need to have heard of him to know why he was.
After all, there was only one person in the whole world with such unique features.
Pupil-less silver eyes paired with a bald head. There was not even a single flaw on the face and the expression was always turned into a gentle smile.
“Alan, what do you think about Clara’s involvement? You were the closest to her once upon a time.”
“Honestly, I can’t tell what she is thinking anymore. She hates humanity but she was never interested in the northern regions.”
The man’s gentle voice was enough to wash over anyone’s worries. This person was said to be the gentlest of the gods. The one who listened to the common folks and had been a pillar of the tower once.
Now he was the leader of the resistance group fighting for the common people. Many called him a coward for hiding behind his subordinates but there was no doubt about his power in anyone’s mind.
Leader of the resistance, God Alan.
“It has been centuries since Clara lost her soul. The other fragments of her soul were bound to reincarnate as a parasite with other souls but I never expected Clara to make such an open move.”
“Was that why refused all those requests to make the northern princess into a cabinet member?”
“That was a reason. But the bigger reason was that I could not sense any divinity in this child. So I never thought that there would be a reason for Clara to come after her.”
All this new information slammed into Aurora with a bang. All this was nothing she had heard before.
“So this child only had half of her soul now? What would happen to her?”
“People can live out their lives with half-souls. Just like all the other carriers of Clara’s soul, Natasha will forget this incident and live a happy life.”
Aurora felt her throat go dry when she heard that news. Natasha’s situation looked similar to Clove’s.
All this time Aurora had thought that Clove’s situation was unnatural since she had never come across anything like this before.
But what if this was more common than Aurora thought it to be? And it seemed like the tower was aware of how to handle such a situation?
Maybe if Aurora listened more to them, she would be able to know more about how to help Clove in the future.
“All this is fine, but this situation comes with its own set of problems.”
“Problems?”
“Yeah. More specifically, a half-soul cannot sustain all the body’s powers. The power vested in the northern imperial family is hereditary. The current queen will need to pass her powers to Natasha soon.”
“But this tattered soul will not be able to handle all the stress and will shatter. Besides, the corruption inside Natasha’s soul is spreading. We cannot keep her alive like this for long.”
Minerva sounded concerned. No, she sounded worried but not about Natasha. Her voice had a different tone to it.
“It seems we have no other choice. Let’s enclose her body in ice and put the northern princess in a deep sleep until it’s her time. She’s someone we cannot kill now but we can prevent her destruction.”
“I shall make the preparations for the ice ceremony. The amount of power we’ll need to maintain this spell will be huge.”
Alan’s soft voice did not sound like it was delivering grim news. Hearing him speak was like being reassured that everything would be alright.
Had Aurora not been a goddess, she was sure she would have fallen for that soft voice as well. It was a dangerous allure to catch his prey.
“I understand. It seems we have no other choice. We shall channel the energy needed for this spell from the abyss. But shall this spell collapse, so will the northern region. It might be the end for them.”
Alan gave a final node before he left the room. Aurora could simply sit down where she was standing to catch her breath.
“When your ancestors begged Clara to bind their lives to the northern continent, Clara fulfilled their wishes. To her, it was another evidence of human greed she hated. This is all just a consequence of what you sow.”
“I hope you have a decent sleep princess. This sleep will be the longest you will experience.”
Minerva cut off a couple of raven locks from the sleeping body and enclosed them in a paper charm.
“This shall be the last gift for your mother. She loved you very much.”
With that, Lady Minerva left the room.
Time passed in a second and the next time Aurora opened her eyes, it was to watch as the cave was enclosed in ice and Natasha’s adult body was laid inside the deep coldness.
“May your sacrifice be carved in ice. The nation shall mourn your loss.”
Perhaps it was because Natasha’s fate was bound to the northern continent by magic, but the comfortable climate of the northern continent turned into a cold landscape overnight.
Aurora touched the icy pillar in the middle of the room and the cold seeped into her heart as well. As did the unfamiliar magic which knocked Aurora back with incredible force.