Chapter 223: To Riven

"Where is Razeal?"

Nancy’s voice cut through the stillness of the chamber calm, but firm enough to command her mother’s attention. Her tone didn’t tremble; it carried the precision of someone who had spent too long thinking, too long trapped inside her own mind. "The court didn’t decide that he’s a rapist, right? He didn’t try... it wasn’t him."

Those were her first words after days of forced silence sharp, direct, and coldly clear.

Even though her body had been still for four long days, she hadn’t been asleep. Paralysis had locked her body, but her consciousness had remained painfully awake aware of every moment that passed.

She had been alive inside that frozen body, trapped within herself.

It had been a cruel existence one where she couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. Just watch the world pass around her while her mind raged endlessly.

It was all so complicated... First came the anger a fiery, trembling rage toward Ranguard. Then, like a shadow creeping in, came fear the dreadful thought of what if Ranguard had actually succeeded? And then, everything became tangled and confusing again. What if Razeal had truly taken the blame for something he hadn’t done? She couldn’t understand what he was planning why he would take such a terrible accusation upon himself, claiming that he had tried to rape her. But how could she just let him do that? It would be wrong, terribly wrong, to let him suffer for something he didn’t do especially when he was the one who had saved her... saved her from that dark, horrifying fate that almost consumed her.

Arabella now stood beside her bed, her crimson armor reflecting the soft light spilling from the ornate windows. Her red hair, slightly disheveled, caught the faint glow of the rising sun.

"That bastard?" she finally said her tone steady, firm, but not cruel. "Don’t worry about him. He’s fine"

Arabella’s words were blunt, her voice carrying the kind of quiet authority that silenced the air itself. "You tell me instead how are you feeling? Any pain? Any discomfort? How is everything?"

She took a step closer, her sharp eyes scanning Nancy’s face. "You aren’t... afraid, are you? After what happened?"

Her tone was flat, yet it carried an undertone that only a daughter could recognize. Concern. Unspoken but real.

"I checked you myself," Arabella added. "Physically, you’re fine. But if there’s anything else even something small.. tell me. We can talk about it. It’s alright."

Nancy looked at her mother quietly, the faintest shadow of a smile crossing her lips.

"Don’t worry, Mother," she said softly. "I’m fine."

There was no tremor in her voice no hesitation. Just certainty. Her expression was still, her eyes calm and clear. Seeing her mother’s composed demeanor had reassured her more than anything else could have. If Arabella said Razeal was fine, then she believed it.

Her greatest worry dissolved in that instant.

Arabella studied her daughter for a moment longer, then slowly reached out her hand. Her fingers brushed through Nancy’s pale blue hair a rare, fleeting gesture of tenderness from a woman who almost never showed it.

"Calm down, girl," Arabella said quietly, her tone softening just slightly. "I’m with you. You’re a strong girl."

Nancy didn’t respond. She didn’t need to. Her eyes drifted shut for a moment as she sat there in silence, accepting the touch, accepting the comfort.

Inside, she wasn’t calm she was filled with emotions she had yet to process. Rage, humiliation, fear all of it still existed somewhere inside her. But none of it showed on her face.

She kept it contained, locked behind that quiet, composed expression.

Arabella didn’t speak either. She just stood there, fingers tangled in her daughter’s hair, her gaze steady and unreadable. She could feel Nancy’s restraint the way her daughter was forcing herself to remain still, to remain strong.

That same strength both pained her and made her proud.

"I’m with you, girl," Arabella finally said again, her voice low but sincere. "Whatever it is, don’t worry. And don’t be afraid. That was my mistake giving people like that the right to be near you."

Her tone hardened, just slightly. "For that, I apologize."

Nancy opened her eyes again and looked up at her mother. The faintest flicker of surprise crossed her expression. Her mother the Duchess Arabella Dragonwevr, the unyielding pillar of the Empire.. apologizing?

Still

She shook her head slowly. "No, Mother. It wasn’t your responsibility. It was mine."

Her gaze didn’t falter. "I was weak. I showed my weakness. I let my guard down and trusted the wrong person. That’s my mistake and my responsibility. There’s no reason for you to apologize for that."

Arabella met her eyes, unblinking.

"Your weakness," she said quietly, "is also my fault. As your mother, it means I didn’t teach you well enough. I didn’t prepare you for what this world really is."

Her words weren’t harsh they were heavy with truth. She lowered her hand, resting it at her side, and continued in that same even tone. "That makes it my responsibility, whether you think so or not."

Nancy’s lips pressed together in a faint line.

"You don’t need to take that burden," she said evenly. "Let me carry it. It’s mine now."

The two women’s gazes met unwavering, steady, equal in strength.

Arabella’s stare softened ever so slightly, as if searching her daughter’s face for any crack in that calm exterior any sign of fear, or weakness, or pain. There was none.

Nancy wasn’t pretending to be strong. She was strong strong in her silence, in her composure, in the way she faced what had happened without breaking.

After a long moment, Nancy moved.

She pushed the blanket aside with deliberate grace and swung her legs toward the edge of the bed. Her movements were smooth, unhurried the poise of someone who knew exactly what she was doing.

"No, don’t move you should take some rest for now."

Arabella’s voice was firm, a command layered beneath maternal concern as she frowned, stepping forward to stop her daughter.

Nancy had already moved to sit on the edge of the bed, the sheets slipping off her as she pushed herself up. Her movements were deliberate, controlled like someone who had already made up her mind before even opening her eyes.

"No, Mother," Nancy said quietly, her tone calm but unwavering. "I’ve taken enough rest. There’s something very important I need to do."

She stepped down gracefully, her bare feet meeting the polished marble floor with a faint sound. As Arabella instinctively reached out, Nancy gently caught her mother’s wrist and moved it aside not harshly, but with quiet insistence.

"Important?" Arabella’s frown deepened, confusion flickering across her composed face. "Important what?"

If it had been any other day, she would have forced her daughter back into bed without a second thought not out of cruelty, but sheer authority. That was how she operated: order and discipline. But this time... Arabella hesitated afterall for her daughter this might be a very sensitive time.

Her daughter’s calm, steady eyes told her this wasn’t some impulsive rebellion. It was something else something heavier. And despite herself, Arabella decided, for once, to listen first.

"I need to go somewhere," Nancy said again, her voice steady as she turned toward the door. Her long, pale hair fell softly over her shoulders, catching the morning light like frost.

Arabella’s hand shot forward, catching Nancy’s wrist before she could take another step. "Tell me first," she demanded, her voice sharp but lined with worry. "Don’t act like this, girl. You’re making me worried."

The words came out unguarded the kind of words Arabella almost never said. She wasn’t used to speaking like a mother, not this way, not so openly. But they slipped out now, as if breaking through the cracks of her usual armor.

Nancy paused. For a moment, she didn’t move, didn’t struggle. Then she turned her head just slightly, her ice-blue eyes meeting her mother’s.

"Mother," she said softly, her tone gentler than before. "Please."

The word please struck deeper than any defiance could have. Nancy rarely used it never begged, never pleaded. But this wasn’t a plea. It was a quiet statement of need, of resolve.

Arabella blinked once, her hand still gripping her wrist, feeling the faint pulse beneath her fingers. Those eyes that quiet strength.. it was rare to see them like that. Not cold, not angry, but filled with a kind of clarity that made resistance seem meaningless.

After a brief silence, Arabella exhaled and said, "I’ll go with you."

It wasn’t an order this time, but an offering a compromise.

"If it’s that important to you," she continued, "then fine. But I’m coming with you."

Nancy shook her head immediately, calm and firm. "No. I’ll go alone."

Her voice didn’t rise, didn’t waver. "I don’t need protection. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of myself."

She glanced toward the window, the faint light outlining her profile serene but resolute. "I’ve decided to change, Mother. And this... I need this moment for myself."

Arabella’s brows drew together. "No. I won’t allow that." Her grip tightened, the faint heat of her mana flickering around her hand. "You’ve just gone through that, and now you want to walk out alone? What if you do something reckless?"

Nancy’s eyes flicked down to their joined hands, then back up to her mother’s gaze. "I’m not weak-willed, Mother," she said evenly. "I’m going alone because I need to."

Her tone carried weight not defiance, but maturity. "If you or anyone else comes with me, I’ll never be able to face what I need to. I won’t understand what’s mine to bear. This is something I have to feel, alone."

For a moment, the air in the room seemed to still and then shift.

Nancy’s eyes glimmered faintly, a crystalline light flickering within them. Her aura rose without command, instinctive and cold a sudden surge of ice mana radiating outward from her core. The temperature in the room dropped sharply as frost began to creep across the floor, racing up the walls, freezing the ornate carvings into white glass.

In seconds, the entire chamber was swallowed in a breath of winter the very air crystallizing.

Only one spot remained untouched.

Arabella.

Not a speck of frost dared to approach her feet. The power that surrounded her was too absolute, too high, too sovereign. She stood there, unfazed, her crimson hair unmoved, her gaze sharp and unshaken.

"Will you be safe?" Arabella asked finally, her tone calm but layered. It wasn’t just a question. It was an acknowledgment of Nancy’s power, of her choice.

Nancy nodded once. "I will."

For a long moment, the two simply stared at each other the frost shimmering between them like the fragile barrier of everything they didn’t say.

Then Arabella slowly released her daughter’s wrist.

"Very well," she said quietly. "If it must be this way... I’ll trust you. But if anything happens.. anything.. don’t hesitate. Use what I gave you. This time, be prepared."

Nancy’s gaze softened. "Thanks.. Mother."

Her voice carried a gentleness that Arabella hadn’t heard from her in years. She exhaled, a soft sigh of acknowledgment, before stepping back.

Nancy took a deep breath, and the cold mana swirling in the air receded like a tide, fading back into her core. The room warmed slowly again.

Without another word, Nancy turned and began walking toward the door her steps quiet, purposeful.

Arabella watched her go, the faintest flicker of something.. glinting behind her stoic expression.

At the doorway, Nancy paused for a heartbeat. "I’ll be back soon," she said softly not a promise, but a calm certainty.

Arabella didn’t answer. She simply nodded once, silently.

Nancy stepped out into the corridor, the sound of her light footsteps echoing faintly through the marble halls. Then, with a final glance toward the open world beyond the windows, she crossed through the castle’s threshold and out into the open air.

The wind met her immediately cool, crisp, alive.

Behind her, a radiant shimmer of ice-blue energy flared. From her back, two vast crystalline wings unfolded, magnificent and translucent, each feather-like shard glinting like carved sapphire under the sunlight.

With a single graceful motion, she spread them wide. Frost scattered in the air like falling petals. Then, with one powerful flap, she launched herself upward breaking through the air, disappearing into the vast expanse of the morning sky.

The castle below shrank, its towers fading beneath her as clouds brushed past her face. The air grew thin and bright, cold biting against her skin a feeling she welcomed. It was grounding.

As she flew, her thoughts replayed, quiet but relentless.

Her eyes, cold and unyielding, softened as they remembered his gaze that boy’s gaze. The way Razeal had looked into her eyes, with emotionless steadiness yet filled with something she couldn’t name. Strength? Understanding?

She could still hear his voice, word for word, echoing through her head.

"Go to Riven. A boy with white hair and white eyes. He’s your brother’s classmate. He cannot lie to anyone. Ask him. He will tell you everything."

Nancy repeated the words under her breath, as if trying to memorize each syllable, each tone.

She didn’t know whether what Razeal said was true or not but something about it, about the weight in his voice, the absolute certainty in his tone, had struck deep within her.

That moment, the faint sense of dread that had run down her spine it wasn’t fear of him. It was fear of truth.

Because even without evidence, she knew. She had felt it when he said those final words

"Your fate is already written. Four years. That’s all you have."

The thought made her chest tighten, her wings falter slightly before steadying again.

She didn’t know why those words felt so heavy, or why that strange sadness had settled deep within her being ever since. But she needed answers.

No not wanted. Needed.

And she would get them.

So she flew faster through the brightening sky, over the stretching empire below following only the pull of that quiet promise she had made to herself.

To find Riven.

To find the truth.

And perhaps, to understand why those emotionless eyes of Razeal had seemed to carry such unresonable understanding when they looked at her.

----

Thanks for reading ❣️

Ohhh also guy’s..Need Advice i was thinking to buy my first laptop... which one to buy? Macbook? or windows?

----