New Novel
Chapter 11: So... you’ve come back too?

Chapter 11: So... you’ve come back too?

Two days later, Leviana received word that her parents were safe.

The notice was delivered by Gareth through a small slip of paper hidden beneath the bottom of a medicine bottle. The contents weren’t long, only confirming that the secret letter had arrived first, the convoy at Grail Pass was a decoy, and every last ambusher had been captured alive.

Aldric had also appeared exactly as she predicted.

He had been forced to use a spatial talisman to escape.

However, in the midst of the operation, another force had appeared.

An all-female army in white armor.

A black rose symbol with eight spider legs.

Their leader wore a mask and wielded a foil alongside black thread magic. She had attacked Aldric directly, forced him to expend his artifact, and then asked for Lathel’s location.

Gareth didn’t know who she was.

Leviana stared at the slip of paper for a long time.

The Black Rose symbol was impossible for her to mistake.

But that organization shouldn’t have appeared at this point in time.

’Catrina...’

Leviana couldn’t determine whether she had been reincarnated or whether the altered timeline had simply caused certain events to occur earlier. However, Catrina appearing precisely at Grail Pass could not have been mere coincidence.

In the previous life, Leviana had once told her the entire plan Aldric used to infiltrate House Avarenne.

If Catrina had also come back...

Leviana squeezed the slip of paper in her hand, then slowly relaxed her grip.

She didn’t yet know whether to feel glad or wary.

The two of them had once been allies, had fought side by side until the very last moment. When the final plan was carried out, Catrina had been one of the first to agree to offer her life as a sacrifice.

But that didn’t mean she would concede Lathel.

Leviana had never intended to concede either.

"What are you thinking about?"

Lathel signed from across from her.

Leviana looked up.

She was sitting in a soft chair near the window, enjoying the only stretch of waking hours in her day. Lathel had drawn the curtains so sunlight wouldn’t hit her eyes directly, placed a thin blanket over her legs, and set up a small table beside her holding warm water, medicinal fluid, and a few personal care items.

He was sitting across from her, carefully trimming her nails.

Leviana watched the movements of his hands and answered evenly: "I’m thinking the man in front of me is so serious it’s hard to believe. It’s just trimming nails, yet you’ve been staring longer than the herbalist does when examining my mana core."

Lathel didn’t look up.

He signed with one hand:

"If I do it wrong, you’ll get hurt."

"You’ve been caring for me for three years and you’re still worried?"

"Mistakes can still happen."

Leviana looked at his focused face, and the corners of her lips curved unconsciously.

A person who had once reached the Sage tier like her had seen countless treasures, entered ruins that ordinary people couldn’t approach in a lifetime, and had once stood on a battlefield where tens of thousands of soldiers dared not advance a single step.

But right now, the thing that made Leviana feel most at peace was a man bent over her hand, carefully trimming each nail.

Lathel held her ring finger, carefully positioning the scissors against a bit of nail that had grown slightly long at the edge.

Leviana suddenly asked: "Do you know a woman named Catrina?"

He looked up.

The scissors slipped to one side.

A corner of the nail was cut deeper than intended. The skin wasn’t torn badly, but a bead of bright red blood quickly appeared beside the fingertip.

Lathel immediately set the scissors down.

His expression changed visibly, and his hands signed rapidly:

"You’re bleeding."

"I’m sorry."

"Does it hurt?"

Leviana didn’t look at the wound.

She looked at the worry on his face and asked: "Is your hand all right?"

Lathel froze.

He looked down at his own hand by reflex, then immediately shook his head and pointed back at her fingertip.

"You’re the one who’s hurt."

"It’s just a small nick."

"It’s still bleeding."

Lathel hurriedly reached for the clean cloth and jar of medicinal salve on the table. The moment he opened the lid, Leviana caught his wrist.

"No need."

He looked at her, confused.

Leviana raised the bleeding fingertip in front of his face.

"Help me stop the bleeding."

Lathel nodded, about to press the cloth against the wound.

She pulled her hand back.

"Not like that."

He frowned.

Leviana leaned forward. Before Lathel could understand, she had already placed the tip of her finger against his lips.

Lathel’s entire body went rigid.

He tried to lean back, but Leviana had already used her other hand to grip the front of his shirt.

"Open your mouth."

Lathel looked at her as though he couldn’t believe he’d understood correctly.

Leviana raised an eyebrow slightly.

"You made me bleed. Are you not going to take responsibility?"

He immediately shook his head and raised his hands to explain.

Leviana didn’t give him the chance. She pushed the tip of her finger between his lips, letting the drop of blood touch the tip of his tongue.

Lathel flinched, quickly grabbing her wrist and trying to pull it away.

"Don’t move."

Leviana spoke in a very serious tone, as though explaining an important piece of medical knowledge.

"This is the fastest way to stop bleeding."

Lathel’s eyes made it very clear he didn’t believe her.

Leviana looked at the hands preparing to sign and continued: "You want to object? Go ahead and use the writing board. But by the time you finish writing, my bleeding will have already stopped."

He still wouldn’t release her wrist.

The corner of Leviana’s lips curved.

"You can’t speak. If I say you took my finger into your mouth on your own, who’s going to believe you?"

Lathel: "..."

Looking at the helplessness on his face, Leviana felt her mood improve considerably. She had only meant to tease him a little, but the instant the drop of blood entered Lathel’s body, a peculiar current of mana suddenly appeared.

The blood of a Sage was not like that of an ordinary person.

Even though Leviana’s power had severely declined after five years of coma, her blood still contained pure mana along with a trace of her realm’s imprint. To many herbalists, even a few drops would be a priceless ingredient that money couldn’t buy.

Especially now.

The Fortune Star Halo was restructuring Leviana’s foundation, making the mana in her blood purer and more stable than it had been even at her peak.

The drop of blood that entered Lathel’s body transformed into a current of warmth.

He immediately stopped resisting.

The weariness accumulated over many years vanished rapidly. The small aches in his shoulders and back from working too long also faded, and the warmth continued spreading through his chest before flowing into both arms.

Lathel had never been able to sense mana.

Since childhood, every examination had shown that his body possessed no talent, couldn’t absorb energy, and didn’t have a complete mana core.

But at this moment, deep within his chest, a tiny speck of light appeared.

It was so faint it was nearly imperceptible.

Even so, Lathel could feel it.

His eyes widened.

Lines of golden text simultaneously appeared before Leviana’s eyes.

[The blood of one under protection has formed a reverse link with the Bearer of Fortune.]

[Lathel’s constitution is being enhanced.]

[The first mana pathway has been opened.]

[The Bearer of Fortune is beginning to sense mana.]

Leviana immediately dropped the teasing act.

She withdrew her finger from his mouth, took hold of Lathel’s wrist, and closed her eyes to feel. A very small current of mana was flowing through his body, but it wasn’t following the normal structure of a mage’s channels.

It was as though something had just been awakened from a place that had slept far too long.

"What do you feel?"

Lathel looked at his own hands and signed:

"Warm."

"Anything else?"

"Something is moving."

Leviana leaned closer, placing her palm against the center of his chest. Beneath the thin fabric, Lathel’s heartbeat was clearly faster than normal.

"Close your eyes. Don’t try to hold onto it. Just feel where the energy is going."

Lathel did as told.

After a moment, a very faint golden glow appeared at his fingertips, but it lasted only an instant before dissolving.

Leviana saw it, and her expression shifted at once.

It wasn’t her ice element.

It didn’t resemble any common magic attribute either.

It might be the true power of the Child of Fortune.

Lathel opened his eyes, and before he could sign to ask what had happened, Leviana suddenly sensed an extremely subtle disturbance behind the curtain.

It wasn’t an eruption of mana.

Just a shift in the shadows.

At her current level, Leviana shouldn’t have been able to detect it. But the combat instincts of a former Sage still made her body react before her mind could think.

She yanked Lathel’s collar hard.

He lost his balance and fell forward.

Leviana immediately pulled him into her arms, twisting her body so that she was between Lathel and the dark corner of the room. A thin layer of ice appeared around her fingertips, and cold mana quickly locked down the area near the window.

"Come out."

No one answered.

Lathel braced himself to stand, but Leviana kept him in her embrace. One hand cradled the back of his neck; the other was aimed at the corner of the room.

The shadow near the wall slowly shifted.

A woman in a white cloak stepped out.

There had been no sound of a door opening.

No footsteps.

She seemed to have been standing there all along, only now choosing to let herself be seen.

A silver mask covered her entire face.

On the breastplate was a black rose, eight spider legs radiating outward around it.

The foil in her hand pointed toward the ground, but the moment Leviana made any threatening move, that blade could change direction in an instant.

Leviana looked at the mask.

Looked at the Black Rose symbol.

Then looked at the way the woman rested her index finger on the foil’s hilt.

She couldn’t be mistaken.

"Catrina?"

The masked woman went still.

Catrina had not yet publicly revealed Black Rose. Even House Veyr didn’t know she had secretly assembled a personal force, and this mask had only been used a handful of times during covert operations.

The Leviana of the current timeline couldn’t possibly recognize her.

The eyes behind the mask slowly shifted to the hand Leviana had wrapped around Lathel, then settled on the fingertip still stained with blood and the very faint red trace at the corner of his lips.

The atmosphere in the room immediately turned strange.

Catrina was silent for several seconds before speaking. Her voice was somber, yet underneath it lay the barest hint of a cold smile.

"You recognized me looking like this..."

She raised the tip of the foil.

"So you’ve come back too?"

Leviana didn’t deny it.

She only held Lathel tighter.

Catrina watched the movement, and her voice dropped cold at once.

"Let go of him."

"No."

"I didn’t come here to ask your opinion."

"This is my room."

Catrina took another step. "I’ve come to take Lathel away."

Leviana looked her straight in the eye. "He’s not going anywhere."

Lathel, caught between the two of them, had absolutely no idea what was happening. He signed a question:

"Do you two know each other?"

Catrina looked at his hands, then answered immediately: "Yes."

Lathel froze.

Leviana also frowned slightly. "You learned sign language?"

Catrina was quiet for a moment.

"I learned it so he wouldn’t have to carry a board at the wedding."

The room went suddenly silent.

Lathel looked at her, unable to understand why a woman he had never met was mentioning a wedding.

Leviana knew exactly what those words meant.

In the previous life, Catrina had prepared a very small wedding.

No guests.

No family.

Only her, Lathel, and a small house outside the city walls.

Catrina had worn a white wedding dress, sitting and waiting from morning until night. When the door finally opened, the person who appeared was not Lathel but a guard carrying the news that he was dead.

She had still been wearing that wedding dress when she went to find him.

By the time Catrina knelt in the snow, all she could hold in her arms was a cold body.

Leviana tightened her grip.

The regret in Catrina’s eyes was no less than her own.

But understanding that didn’t mean she would give Lathel up.

"In the last life, you arrived too late."

Leviana’s voice was very quiet.

Catrina didn’t deflect. "So did you."

The two looked at each other.

Neither continued using the past as a weapon, because they both knew the one at fault wasn’t only the other. Each of them had once misunderstood Lathel, once left him standing alone, and once believed there was still time to make things right.

By the time they wanted to turn back, he was already dead.

Lathel looked at Leviana, then at Catrina, and signed:

"What does ’last life’ mean?"

Leviana didn’t answer directly.

"Catrina is an old acquaintance."

Catrina spoke up immediately: "I once wanted to become his wife."

Lathel: "..."

Leviana looked at her coldly. "There’s no need to bring that up right now."

"I don’t like lying to him."

"Then explain why a woman he’s never met wants to hold a wedding."

Catrina fell silent.

She couldn’t say she had lived through another life, much less immediately tell Lathel about his death.

At least not yet.

Catrina sheathed the foil and said: "Aldric has escaped. The spatial talisman he used has been expended. Your parents are still safe, and the ambushers have all been captured alive by House Avarenne."

Leviana finally relaxed a little.

"You went to Grail Pass because you remembered what I once told you?"

"Yes."

"Why didn’t you kill Aldric?"

Catrina looked at her. "You know the answer."

Leviana said nothing.

In the previous life, they had tried far too many times.

Aldric couldn’t be killed by a simple ambush. If he died now, the forces protecting the Son of Fate would act immediately. Someone else might take his place to fulfill the storyline, or a more dangerous fortuitous encounter would appear to bring him back.

To destroy Aldric, they had to dismantle everything protecting him first.

His fortune.

His allies.

His fortuitous encounters.

His lifesaving trump cards.

And only then, the man himself.

Catrina looked at Lathel, still held in Leviana’s arms.

"I’ll take him to the Veyr territory. Black Rose can protect him there. Aldric won’t be able to approach freely."

Leviana answered at once: "No."

"Right now you can only stay awake four hours a day."

"I can still protect him."

"You just had to shield him with your own body because you didn’t have enough mana to erect a proper barrier."

Leviana’s expression turned cold. "At least I won’t let a curse on my face spiral out of control and hurt him."

The air in the room turned heavy at once.

Catrina placed her hand on the mask.

"Would you like to test whether my curse can touch him?"

Lathel immediately sat upright and held both hands out to sign:

"Stop."

Both women looked at him at the same time.

Lathel pointed at Leviana, then signed very slowly:

"She can’t walk on her own yet."

"I promised to stay until she’s better."

He turned to Catrina.

"I can’t go with you."

Catrina understood every word.

The hand on the mask slowly lowered.

It had been the same in the previous life.

Lathel always kept his promises, even when those promises put him in danger. If she forced him to leave, he wouldn’t feel protected; he would only think he had abandoned Leviana.

"Fine."

Catrina said calmly: "I won’t take him away today."

Leviana immediately caught the last two words.

"Today?"

"Black Rose will remain in the city. I will also come here often."

"There’s no need."

"I wasn’t asking you."

The two looked at each other again.

Lathel rubbed his forehead. Though no sigh escaped him, the expression on his face made his helplessness perfectly clear.

Catrina noticed the bloodstain at the corner of his lips once more.

"What did you just give him to drink?"

Leviana answered calmly: "My blood."

The room went silent.

Catrina slowly turned to Leviana.

"You’ve been awake for two days and you’ve already had him drink your blood?"

"Just one drop."

"You certainly know how to seize an advantage."

"At least my blood helped him sense mana for the first time."

Catrina’s eyes changed at once.

She stepped toward Lathel, but before she could touch him, Leviana caught her wrist.

"Don’t touch him without permission."

Catrina asked coldly: "Who was it that just said not being able to answer doesn’t mean consent?"

Leviana went still.

Lathel looked at both of them, then held his hand out to Catrina on his own.

She placed two fingers on his wrist. A very small current of mana immediately appeared, weak but steady, and carrying an aura Catrina had never sensed in the previous life.

Right at that moment, lines of pale golden text appeared before her eyes.

[One who has returned has come back to the Bearer of Fortune’s side.]

[An unfinished bond from the previous timeline is being restored.]

[Catrina Veyr has become the second person chosen by the Fortune Star Halo.]

Catrina went completely still.

Leviana watched her reaction and asked: "You see it too?"

Catrina slowly raised her head.

Behind the mask, those cold eyes showed clear wavering for the first time.

"Yes."

She looked at Lathel.

The man before her still couldn’t see any of the text, nor did he know what the two women were seeing.

Catrina tightened her grip on his wrist ever so slightly, then spoke in a very low voice:

"This time, we won’t let him die."

Leviana didn’t object.

"Agreed."

She pulled Lathel’s hand back to her side and added evenly:

"But he’s still not going with you."

Catrina looked at her.

"We’ll settle that later."

The two women who had once died together to drag Aldric into hell now sat facing each other in a small room.

This time, Lathel was still alive.

And the war between them seemed to have begun even before the war against the Son of Fate.