Chapter 231 – The Fate of the Evenhart Family

  Nathan Evenhart:

  "Why? Why did you let Chloe and Kiurn on their own? This is madness—even without a damn assassin after us!" I shouted, uo tain my frustration and anger.

  "They weren’t alone," Sifu replied firmly. "A carriage of maids apahem to the Royal Capital. Even while traveling with other udents, we never left them unprotected. In the capital, a team of duchy soldiers statio the local office took over their guard. The maids returo meet your mother with anroup because we couldn’t risk anything happening on the road, so they went as reinforts. This group of soldiers boarded the same ship as Kinue and Chloe. Before departure, the passenger list had already been thhly checked. But the assassin was clever. He disguised himself as a crew member and spent the erip monit the ship. He knew who the soldiers were from the list and elimihem one by one. Fifteen men... all killed by poison."

  A lump formed in my throat as I listehe gravity of the situation sinking in.

  "He probably spent days analyzing the remaining passengers, ensuring there were no other undercents. In the end, he didn’t risk a kidnapping or serving them poisoned food. Instead, he broke into their room and tried to kill them directly."

  We ehe carriage, and as it moved, I sat in silence. A deep pain ed me, crushing my chest. Every word from Sifu felt like a blolifying my guilt and helplessness. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all my fault.

  When we arrived at the castle, I rushed straight to the medical wing, the weight of the st few hours pressing down on me like an anchor. Sifu’s words echoed in my mind as he reted what had happened. Chloe and Kinue had been attacked by the third assassin, a mage determio elimihem. Chloe fought him at the port, but the situation turned chaotic when he began threatening the i people around them. In the end, my cousin was gravely injured, and Kinue mao kill him, but the cost had been far too great.

  Chloe had been in a a for days, receiving stant treatment. If not for the healing potion Kinue had mao give her at the st moment, Chloe wouldn’t have survived. The injuries were horrific, but the worst was her lung, pierced multiple times. Even after taking the potion, Chloe used the st of her mana to induce a deep sleep and freeze her body from within, preventing herself from drowning in her own blood.

  "Nathan!" My mother’s voice pulled me from my dark thoughts. She appeared the moment I ehe infirmary, rushing to embrace me. The warmth of her touch was like a spark, trying to ignite something within me. I tried to hold myself together, but my emotions were on the verge of colpse.

  "Mother..." I whispered, my voice trembling as I held her tightly. I desperately wanted her to say everything was fihat Chloe was stable, but I khat wasn’t the case.

  My gaze was drawn to a group of maids gathered in silence around a bed. That was where Chloe was. My heart began to race, and the legs that had carried me this far felt too heavy to take aep.

  "How is she?" I mao ask, my voice breaking as my eyes remained fixed on where Chloe y.

  My mother lowered her head, and her words came like a bde, cutting through any lingering hope. "She’s receiving the best treatment possible, but... now it’s up to her."

  It felt as if the ground had disappeared beh my feet. A suffog pressure gripped my chest, and drawing breath became an impossible task. My vision blurred as I absorbed her words. Helplessness and guilt ed me, each breath a moal effainst the despair growing within me.

  "Chloe…" I murmured, tears finally esg, my voice barely audible as I approached, dreading what I would find.

  Charon’s words echoed in my mind: "A hell in which your suffering will be fearing to lose it"

  I rushed past the maids, my heart pounding, my mind ed by a sihought: seeing Chloe. When I finally id eyes on her, my world crumbled. Chloe y on a stohat resembled a shallow pool, her body submerged in healing water up to her neck. Around her, water healers worked tirelessly, their focus unwavering as they g to the fragile thread of her life.

  Her body of suffering. Bandages covered extensive areas of her most damaged wounds, while severe burns marred her left arm and one of her legs. Deep cuts and scorch marks were scattered across her skin, visible eveh the water. One of her fingers was reduced to bare bone—a horrific testament to the hell she had endured. She was motionless, locked in a deep a, her pale, serene face a stark trast to the devastation of her body.

  "We're doing everything we ," Martha said, her voice weary, sweat dripping from her face as she tio el her healing magic.

  I turo her, desperation ing me. "Please… tell me the truth. Will Chloe survive?" My voice trembled, threatening to break.

  Martha took a deep breath before answering, her expression heavy with burden. "We’re administering healing potions daily and treating her with water magic. But the potion alone isn’t enough. Summoning the golem took more than she could give. Beyond the severe injuries, her mana has been pletely draihe a is her body’s way of preserving what little energy she has left."

  I sank to the floor, my legs shaking, overwhelmed by the crushi of helplessness and loss.

  Beside Chloe, I noticed Kinue lying on aone bed, curled up and silent. Parts of her body were burned, and one of her ears had been partially severed. The suffog weight of reality pressed down on me.

  "Kinue…" I murmured, my gaze fixed on her as guilt cwed at me.

  A maid approached, her voice calm but ced with exhaustion. "Kinue is stable. However, transf at her age without proper bodily trol has taken a severe toll. She’ll o sleep until her body fully recovers. The healing potion has already repaired much of the damage. Her burns are about 60% healed, and her ear is regeing, but slowly."

  My gaze returo Chloe, and the weight of the moment became unbearable. Each breath was a struggle, each sed a reminder of the price they had paid for something I should have prevented.

  Nikous Wolves was behind this. The assassin was Eliza’s brother. All of this… was because of me.

  I slumped into a chair, the weight of guilt crushing me.

  I’m losing the people I love again…

  I stood abruptly, uo tain the despair ihe air in the infirmary felt suffog, too heavy for me to endure another sed. My body moved before my mind could catch up, and I ran out, emotions spilling over in a storm of guilt, pain, and desperate hope.

  My legs carried me instinctively toward my room. I khere was o hope, one person who could help me. As I turhe er, my heart ched at the sight of her colpsed on the floor, her eyes shimmering with tears.

  "Cyl!" I shouted, rushing to her side.

  She lifted her tear-streaked face toward me, her eyes brimming with anguish that mirrored the torment burning inside me. Her expression—a mix of pain and exhaustion—was like a refle of my own suffering.

  "Nathan…" she murmured, her voice hoarse and broken, as a tear slipped down her cheek.

  I dropped to my knees beside her, the impact reverberating through my body. Gasping for breath, I locked eyes with her, my voice trembling as my words poured out in a desperate plea.

  "Please, Cyl, I know we’ve talked about this before, but I need your help. Please… save Chloe."

  Cyl looked away for a moment, taking a deep breath as her tears tio fall. It seemed as if she were waging an internal battle, ohat reflected the turming within me. She lowered her head, her tears flowing more freely now, and when she spoke, her voice trembled with the weight of her words.

  "I ’t, Nathan… I only heal you. I’m not strong enough yet to heal someone whose soul isn’t lio mine. I only heal myself… and my beloved."

  Her words hit me like a crushing blow. The faint ember of hope flickering within me was snuffed out. I slumped to the ground, the weight of despair making it impossible to move. Hiding my face between my knees, I let my tears fall freely.

  "I ’t lose her… I ’t gh this again," I whispered, my voice weak and fractured.

  Cyl tried to move closer, her expression den with pain and guilt. But the anguish inside me was overwhelming. I stood abruptly, as if something inside me had snapped. Without thinking, I began to force the activation of the Celestial Eyes, my st desperate attempt to save Chloe. I o awaken the Aspect of Life.

  "Don’t do this!" Cyl cried, her voice filled with panic. "If you force it, it’s dangerous!"

  "I have to try!" I yelled back, my voice breaking with grief as my eyes burhe pressure in my head intensifying.

  In a fsh, Cyl lu me, knog me to the ground with the weight of her body. Her cws pressed into my shoulders, pinning me firmly. "Don’t do this, my beloved. Please!" she pleaded, her voice crag. "If you force it before the time is right, you’ll die. It has to happen naturally, or your body won’t survive!"

  I trembled with frustration and despair, tears streaming down my face without end. "I ’t lose her…" I whispered, my voice heavy with pain. "If she dies… I won’t want to live either."

  Cyl grabbed my face with both paws, her eyes bzing with emotion and resolve. "And I ’t lose you!" she shouted, her voice eg down the corridor. "If you die, I’ll fulfill my promise. I’ll unleash my full power aroy everyone, even if it kills me in the process. This world will die with you, Nathan!"

  Her words stopped me in my tracks. The pain in Cyl’s heart alpable, but my own was still suffog.

  Cyl took a deep breath, struggling to hold back the tears shimmering in her eyes. Her voice softened but retained a firm edge. "You o pull yourself together," she anded, almost like an order. "I’ve already assessed her dition. If the maids keep taking care of her, her body will stabilize over time. The healing potion is w on the critical areas while the water magic stabilizes the other severe injuries. They’re in a stant battle, like a tug-of-war. As the potion heals one major area, it moves on to the . It’s like putting out a massive fire. But it’s possible."

  Cyl’s words echoed in my mind, bringing a sliver of rationality to the chaos ing my heart.

  Suddenly, hurried footsteps approached, and soon my mother appeared, her face etched with worry.

  “I went to get you something to eat, and suddenly you were gone,” my mother said, kneeling beside me, her voice trembliween relief and worry.

  “Where’s my aunt?” I asked, trying to suppress the whirlwind of emotions, though the ay slipped into my voice.

  My mother let out a deep sigh. “Your aunt is in terrible shape. She stayed by Chloe’s side for days aually colpsed from exhaustion. We had to take her to her room to rest.”

  Anger bubbled in my chest, intensifying with each passing sed. I stood up, feeling the heat of indignation c through my body.

  “What are we going to do about this? Our family was attacked!”

  My mother hesitated, her eyes carrying the same frustration that burned withihe nobles of the duchy have been informed, and, as a result, so has Nikous Wolves. We only disclosed that there was an assassination attempt on Chloe. The news has been fio the politiobility. The kingdom has asked us to wait for an iigation,” she expined, bitterness g every word.

  I ughed, a dry, incredulous sound. “They asked us to wait?” I repeated, as though the words were some kind of sick joke.

  My mother nodded, her eyes glistening with uears. “Yes… we told them what we discovered, but all we have is the name provided by an assassin who’s already dead. It’s not enough for them… unfortunately.”

  “Fuck the kingdom,” I decred, my patience slipping away like sand through my fingers. “We’re handling this ourselves.”

  My mrabbed my hands, her gaze sharp and burning with restrained fury, mirr my own. “That’s exactly what I want! Those tacked my children. But I ’t. I’m not the duchess of this duchy to order such as.”

  Before I could respond, a firm voice emerged from the shadows of the corridor, ced with authority and unshakable resolve.

  “But I am!” said my aunt Margie, her presence dark and anding. “Nathan is right. Fuck the kingdom.”

  “Margie,” my mother called, surprised. I could see pinly how devastated my aunt was. Her face bore the marks of exhaustion, her eyes swollen from endless g. She looked on the verge of colpse, her trembling hands betraying that she likely haden or rested in days.

  “We’ve lost our husbands, Katie. And now they’ve tried to kill Nathan and my Chloe. I’m done being the good duchess. The time for the Evenharts bowing to the rules of diplomacy is over.”

  “Are you taking an army?” my mother asked, her tone heavy with both and anticipation.

  “No... I’m bringing something worse. It’s been over 15 years sihis was st done. I’ve summohe Legacy of Evenhart. We’re all going together. I'm going to kno those sons of bitches' door personally.”

  Author's Note:

  Hello, dear readers!

  Thank you so much for following the story this far. We are about to ehe final arc of Book 3, titled "Battle of the Evenhart Duchy."

  This part of the book was incredibly challenging to write. It was a true test of my skills t the upis to life. Many surprises await you, and they’ve been pnned sihe very first chapter of the story. After all, it was because of Nikous Wolves that Nathan had to leave his simple life in that vilge behind.

  I hope you enjoy the upis, both the good and the bad. Unfortunately, I ’t say much to avoid spoilers.

  I truly want to thank you for the support you’ve shown by following the story, adding it to your favorites, and leaving your ratings. You have no idea how much even a simple ent make some difficult days worth it. I think Nathan and I share some simir struggles, haha.

  Enjoy this journey in the arc. It is filled with mysteries I’ve scattered throughout the story and tains fragments that will be VERY important iure. Some key pieces of the puzzle will be revealed now.

  See you in the chapter ?