Chapter 17: Chapter 16 – The Truth About Noella

It was the evening of the same day and several hours after the visit to the temple underground in the city. After the visit, Illye and Noella had to have a conversation in the general's castle, as the general responsible for the city was not present, the situation was left to the two captains present and some other people who were not Lords to resolve.

It had been decided that a new escort would take them to Dellaria and one of the captains would be present, so it was officially decided with Cardinal Jord's support that the princess's retinue would leave after sunrise.

For safety reasons, the two returned to the Blue Temple where they would rest for the rest of the night. Jord was the strongest person present in the city right now, being in the same place as him had become an obvious decision in consensus between the two captains and the Cardinal himself.

One of the captains would be present on the return trip, that was the best that could be done. Jord had been considered by Illye to go with them, but he said he couldn't leave the city. It was closed so that there would be three Lords present on the trip and two of the general's followers as well as some other guards.

Noella was sitting on the edge of the bed, the room she was in was very modest with only the necessary. It had been prepared with only two beds, two chairs and two closets.

While in silence she moved her left arm trying to move it in different ways. There was a constant numbness permeating all of her member in addition to the pain of moving it, she couldn't even see how the skin was due to being all bandaged up almost to the shoulder.

He had been told that the temple priests spent hours taking turns using the Indigo Aura on her and even that was not enough, several healing herbs had been mixed together to form a paste that had been placed all over her arm before being bandaged.

Another reason it had taken her more than two days to wake up was the complete exhaustion of her body. She was already in a serious condition before and the aura treatment made her already worn out body even worse.

They had decided to leave his body at its most debilitated for a day or two in exchange for healing what they could of his arm more quickly.

[It's annoying not being able to move properly.]

She was dissatisfied with her limitation and hoped that she could get back to normal as soon as possible. Giving up thinking about something immutable at the moment, she went back to remembering the events of the last few days, or last day in her vision.

There were several things that weren't clear, first the Ritual. Noella didn't understand how it had been done, according to Illye's explanation she should be dead after trying to protect her, but her body had entered that gooey green wall that glowed, the ritual was done inside and even then there was no explanation where your mind went.

[Is that his 'World' of Authority?]

After thinking a lot about it she had come to this explanation, Lords had something like an inner world within them where they made contact with the Authorities, their source of power. It wasn't something that was often talked about, but she knew many Lords, there were things she knew the basics of.

Despite this, the mystery did not end there, Kamaell's identity as the Emperor's son was alarming. Noella had studied the continent's history through the books demanded by her father, she remembered that the Empire had fallen apart when the Blood Emperor suddenly disappeared and the only person who could succeed him was not accepted by one of the Thrones.

There wasn't much recorded about the Imperial Family in any books she knew, perhaps it had never been released. Aside from the Emperor who was Lord of Blood, a survivor of the Battleground, almost nothing was known about the Empress or the Imperial Prince.

[Wait, it was two princes, wasn't it?]

The Empress that no one knew anything about and who also disappeared along with the Emperor. The two Princes whose names had not even been engraved.

[This story, you can't understand it like that. It's too confusing]

What she managed to understand was that in the room next to her, right now, was a person that almost nobody knew anything about. There were killers after Noella and Illye and the problems probably didn't end there.

[How did my father know that we would find him there? And worse, I'm only alive now because...]

— Noell? — Said a voice beside her.

Illye had slipped in without her noticing, perhaps so immersed in these doubts and still tired that she had forgotten to keep guard. Thankfully it was just Illye this time, you never knew when danger would return.

— Are you okay, Noell? — She asked worriedly.

Noella, after seeing the insecurity in her cousin's question, decided to pay attention to what was in front of her and leave everything beyond that for later. Especially because she thought she wasn't the only one with doubts.

— Sit here. We have something to talk about. — Noella said while trying to sound calm and gentle to create conflict.

Hearing this, Illye calmed down, but ended up feeling even more guilty for not being blamed for anything. Quietly she walked over to the bed and sat down next to Noella. From the moment Illye walked in, her eyes were fixed on Noella's left arm.

— I tried to ask the Cardinal what he knew about the Rotten Flesh vampire, but he said this: "Nothing more than I say about him would be reliable. that happened before he stopped at Aven'Nath." — Reported Illye trying to start the conversation by demonstrating irritation with the Cardinal.

It was the first time in years that he found it difficult to strike up a conversation with Noella.

At the same time, Noella noticed what Illye was doing and laughed a little. Maybe she was too worried about that matter.

— Illye, let's leave the 'Rotten Meat' aside for now, okay? Let's start with the two of us. — Noella said, taking a deep breath as she prepared to tell.

— It's all right. — She replied restlessly as she began to play with her whip attached to a belt over the dress she wore.

Noella paused for a moment thinking about what to say and how to say it.

— A few months ago King Illias received a secret visit, even though I don't know who visited him. However, he was told by this person that soon Aggron and Malzer would go to war and that if it depended on the current state of the two kingdoms, in the end Aggron would lose, the entire royal family would die and Dellaria would be burned to the ground. In short, we would lose our homes and our lives. — Noella declared seriously.

Illye couldn't answer something, she simply received this information and was traumatized at the thought of losing it all.

— Wait... Does that mean I... you...

— This person explained to the King that there were three ways around this, but the King didn't tell me what two of them would be about. Only that neither of the first two would solve the problem, so that left with the third. — Noella continued.

Noticing her state, Noella gripped her hand tightly.

— And what is this? — Questioned Illye as he retraced the steps of the last few days in his mind. That brought her to a conclusion, but she wanted confirmation.

— The King didn't tell me exactly what it was either. — She was embittered by that fact. — But you said it would be necessary to make a big change, and you ordered me to go with you to Azzaria. At that he handed me a letter that I should only open it at the right time.

— Right moment? Like this? Has my father gone mad? When would be the right time? — Illye complained, questioning everything that was completely irrational to her.

Illye was just as lost as Noella was the day she received the order, the difference was that Noella didn't question anything.

— Then…. He said I would know when that time came. When we were attacked in the carriage I thought I might not have another moment, so while you were scared of what was happening I quickly opened it and found only one thing. 'Fall inside' was what was written. — Remembering the moment she completed.

It had been difficult for her because they were on the way to Azzaria near the Aven'Nath Abyss and receiving this order in the middle of all that was really unreasonable.

— He really lost his mind. My father needs to be healed! Such a situation is not possible... — Illye complained even more irritated.

— When I opened the letter I really got into doubt. But after seeing… You know… Those two died beside us. I seriously believed that the two of us wouldn't make it to the end of the day anyway. — Sadly stated Noella.

About 'those two' she was talking about two other Illye guards who died in the carriage attack. The two were followers of King Illias and had died without a chance to defend themselves or be defended by Illye.

The first had died when the carriage exploded, the second after using his magic to seal out their sound for a while and make it harder for them to be tracked.

Even remembering their names was depressing for both of them. The other guards who died were rotating, being chosen by availability at the moment, so there was not so much closeness with them, but those two were part of their lives and even so, each life lost was still missing.

— Well… About what I was hiding until today is about yourself. — Deciding not to think about the two of them right now, Illye steered the conversation back to the two of them.

Illye pointed her finger at Noella's body and continued.

— When our mothers died a few weeks after that, you protected me from an assassination attempt. Remember? It wasn't the Shadow Assassins, but it was a troubled person. A follower of the Lord of Daggers or something. — She continued the story. — That day you failed to try to protect me, I wasn't even Lord yet so facing a follower would be complicated. At that you fell to the ground and soon after suddenly got up and protected me using your own body that glowed with a barrier around itself.

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Noella recalled what felt like an illusion before doing the Ritual, it was just a scene left in her mind but she remembered standing in front of Illye. That occurrence was brushed aside due to what happened right after and thinking about it now she finally realized that it hadn't been all in her head.

— So I…

— Even though your body was there, it wasn't you who controlled it. My mother was in control of her body at that moment covering her body with her own image, you seemed to be possessed. It happened again over there in the abyss, yet I was told never to tell you anything. — Remembering that, Illye was close to tears.

In this first event, Noella ended up spending a week unconscious and being treated by the Blue Temple of Dellaria. Illias had already said that using this power unpreparedly placed a heavy burden on Noella's body.

— My mother had the same power as you. My dad said she only used it twice and that was probably one of the reasons they wanted her dead. I was also told that if you woke up fully they would find out that it was the same Authority as my mother, so it was to be kept secret because until you knew it hardly anyone would notice the Authority with her being inert. —  She finished at last.

Noella closed her eyes and remembered some words that had been said to her earlier.

— So he was right, I am a Lord. And also, if the King of Malzer discovers that I have this Authority, they will hunt me down even more... — She rambled on, tired just thinking about it. — And what authority do I have?

Illye quickly denied it, she too was at a loss on that subject.

— He didn't tell me which one though I asked repeatedly, Mom never commented on it either. But now that you know about it, it shouldn't take long to understand what it is, just be careful when using it because it's dangerous. — Ilye pointed out.

Noella's eyes had closed, she released all her mana from her body and concentrated on herself.

Looking back over the past few years there really was a problem, she had stagnated as an Aura Master.

Using a Seven Colors Aura was one thing, mastering it was an entirely different point. Noella trained with the Blue Aura under the tutelage of some of the captains and generals from an early age so that if counted from now, within ten years at the most, she would also at least become a captain, even if she didn't become a lord.

Right after she was considered a Blue Aura Master by some people, she never managed to evolve again. It wasn't that by reaching that point one had gotten stronger using just Aura but in the literal sense it had completely stagnated. His Blue Aura didn't get stronger, his mana storage capacity didn't get any stronger and that ended up being that.

Another curious point is that she had never become a follower of any of the Phase 5 even though she was the princess's royal guard. Despite having asked before, Noella had not been accepted by any of them.

— Noella? — Asked Illye when seeing her too quiet.

— Give me just a little time, I think I've understood something I've always found odd. I seem to have found an answer to a question I never dared to ask. — She replied before returning to focus.

["The Authorities are within us and at the same time not.

They are very small and also very large.

The Authorities are miniature parts of the world.

Do not treat the Aura or the Authorities as something simple.

If Az's mana passes through you then you are a small world."]

Those words were teachings from one of the Generals, she had learned some time ago in a conversation.

["I look inside myself and see a cloud flashing, I can hear thunder all the time and the rain is falling non-stop. At one moment I'm on the ground watching everything happen above me, at another I'm at sea watching the fury of the sky unite with the waves, I've even been on top of a volcano watching the sky and the earth face each other and in the end I saw myself being all of those."]

This person once commented on what he saw, it was a way to teach relevant young people in the realm should any of them become Lord or followers one day. His explanations were the ones Noella came to understand the most and she even imagined herself in those words.

Now that she definitely knew that she was a Lord, the Indigo Aura that circulated in her body began to fade as it circulated giving way to a more colorless hue and inside her body after all the ordinary Aura faded away she noticed something lodged in the middle of your chest.

All this was done by remembering those words.

[Thank you master, now I finally understand why you never made me a follower of yours.]

It was uncomfortable and caused a strange feeling of heaviness in your body. Noella realized that it was like a small rounded stone and it was there inert inside her previously hidden by the Blue Aura.

[They used the fact that I didn't know I was a Lord to keep me using ordinary Blue Aura to hide it! That's the only possible explanation!]

She came quickly to that conclusion by noticing what wasn't there before. The problem was that after doing that there was no turning back, the common Aura and the Lord's Aura couldn't co-exist. The moment she relinquished the first one, now she wasn't even a rookie Aura Master anymore. All that was left was to awaken this lodged 'stone' or wait to die without having the same capabilities as before.

— Noell? — Called Illye strangely, she noticed the change in Aura.

— I just lost the Blue Aura, I think now I just have to wake it up somehow. I'll have to find a way to understand how this works. — Noella quickly explained.

[I also have no choice but that.]

Illye worried, being a Blue Aura Master was one of the only things she knew Noella was proud of. Missing that was the same as negating all the effort over the years to reach this point.

— An Authority is strange. How do you intend to do this? I don't know if I can help, I still don't understand to this day what led me to become Lord of the Barriers. — Ilye pointed out.

Authorities were complicated things and often different from each other. If there was a resemblance maybe it could help, but Illye knew there wasn't.

— Then I'll find someone who knows. The Cardinal will not help me with this, nor will our parents or the generals and captains. I can only look for someone who doesn't mind if I get hurt, someone who…

As she finished speaking, she looked at the wall beside her, aiming for something beyond her.

— Someone who doesn't care too much about other people's lives. — She completed as he stood up.

Illye clearly noticed who she was talking about and urgently grabbed Noella's arm.

— Don't trust him! Something about him makes me wary, every time he looks at me my Authority shakes and I'm left feeling low. — She declared with fear.

If there was one thing Illye was sure of, it was when her Authority should be heard. This has saved her from trouble before and has caused her to judge people between allies and enemies a lot.

After being stopped, Noella looked at that worried face and grabbed her shoulders after releasing her arm.

— Do not worry about it. I'm not going to blindly trust someone I've only met a day, even if I owe it to him for saving our lives. Despite that, right now I don't think we have many alternatives, we have to try everything in our power. She said as he continued.

— But still… That Rotten Meat.

— Hey, hey. He might be bad, who knows, but we have worse things to worry about right now. — She pointed out seriously.

Illye saw that she wasn't going to be able to talk her out of it and despite that caveat she still knew Noella was right. However, she had a feeling that things would change a lot from now on.

— If he tries anything, hit the wall with all your might. I think I should be able to hear it from here. — Said Illye also seriously.

Finally, Noella went to the door and opened it, there were two guards at the corner of the hallway leading to this room. They were rooms for outside visitors so there were five doors in this hallway alone.

She didn't speak to any of the guards, just thinking about them made Noella remember things she didn't want right now. After closing the door behind her, she left for the next room.

XxX

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