The pain was gone. Elise opened her eyes when a maid entered her room with a tray in her hands. She was trying to be silent, but Elise could sense her presence, so it was futile. Were her senses more sensitive now? It must have been connected to tomorrow's events.
The maid put the tray on the closest counter and rushed outside when she realized her eyes were open. "She is awake!"
Elise heard a ruckus outside, but she ignored it and tried to get up and sit. Unlike the last time she tried, she succeeded without feeling any pain. She checked her body to understand her current condition. Despite having no pain, her body felt quite... rusty. It was like her muscles had not been working for ages and had just remembered how to work. Her bones were creaking and clicking with every move.
But she was fine. There seemed to be no serious injuries or anything that would hinder her movements. The Energy thing the Traveler planted surely did its job. Elise had tried to 'track it down' like the Traveler said and followed its movements, but it was too complicated to fully understand in one go. She only understood the main purpose of it, which was to rebuild the damaged parts of her body. It was flowing with her natural energy flow, but unlike the one time she sped up her healing at the previous Realm, it was doing way more things than she could grasp. And when she tried to understand what it was doing, she fell asleep before she could give it a thought.
She was attempting to sit at the side of her bed when three people, along with the maid who had just left to inform them, rushed into the room to see her. Elise smiled when she saw her father in that bunch. He must have been staying close to come see her if needed. The other two were women she didn't know, but seemed to come from the Six Gods Church. They must have been the healers of the Goddess of Life.
"What are you doing, child?!" The older-looking one of the healers tried to hold her in a rush. "Your body is broken. You have countless internal injuries. If you move, you could hurt yourself even more." She was talking and checking up on her body at the same time in a state of panic. She only stopped after she made sure none of her bandages were open.
"You need to lie down and rest, child. Your body needs to recover with the special ointments we applied."
"Please calm down. I am fine." Elise tried to move away from the worried nun and looked at her father for help. But he was looking even more worried.
"Elise, my daughter! Are you really alright? They said there was a possibility that you could never move again. They couldn't even tell when you would wake up again."
Was her condition that bad? She tried to look as healthy as possible before answering him. "I am really fine. The Traveler, my Master, visited last night. He healed me. I don't feel any pain or anything." She looked at both in the eyes and added again, "I am fine."
"Someone healed you?" The old nun was not convinced, apparently. "Even we, the Daughters of Life, couldn't use the Goddess's healing on you. Your body rejected all kinds of methods. Now, please lie down, child. I need to do another check-up on you."
Elise did not resist. She decided that this was the fastest way to convince them, so she lay down and let the nun do her job. The old priestess closed her eyes and started to move her hands on her body with a silent chant between her lips. After a while, Elise felt a foreign Energy flowing inside her body. It moved through the now familiar channels inside her body. Her expressions kept changing due to the confusion she was going through.
"How could this be possible?" She stopped, eyes wide open. "Your body was broken; there is no way it all healed in one night. I have never seen something like that in my whole life."
An awkward silence fell in the room, and Elise decided to break it. "Now that it's all settled, can I talk to my father?" That made the nun come to her senses.
"Oh, of course." She got up and told the other nun to leave with a quick hand gesture. "If anything comes up, please don't hesitate to call us." She was still not like herself when the other nun opened the door and revealed someone unexpected waiting outside.
Lord Avir Fortis was standing next to the door. Elise noticed that her father tensed up after seeing him there. Lord Fortis leaned through the door and asked. "May I come in, my Lady, my Lord?"
Her father answered before she could. "Can you please give us a moment, Lord Fortis?" There was a slight coldness in his voice. Lord Fortis accepted with his head and carefully closed the door. Did something happen between them?
"Are you alright, father? You seem bothered."
He tried to look like nothing happened, but he was never good at such things. "Don't bother yourself with me. You... Are you really fine?"
"Father, I am really alright." She slowly stood up to show him there was nothing to be concerned about. Her legs shook a little at first, but she quickly recovered. "Did something happen after the duel with Lord Fortis?"
Her father didn't seem to want to talk about it, but he was never able to resist her daughter's insistent stare. "He was supposed to handle that duel with utmost care. I..." He realized he raised his voice and lowered it before continuing, "... I trusted him. But look what he did to you. The healers said there was a possibility that you could never wake up or even die. I was so worried!"
Elise could see how worried he was without him saying it. He was constantly taking deep breaths. He had black spots around his eyes, meaning he didn't sleep well, if he slept at all. Nevertheless, his eyes were running wild, preventing him from focusing on anything while talking, showing how panicked he was.
She hugged her father to calm him down. He hugged her back after a moment of pause, warm as always. Elise knew that even though he was blaming Lord Avir Fortis, he was blaming himself even more.
"All that happened was the result of my own decisions, Father. If there is anyone to blame, it is me. I pushed myself more than I could handle. I am the cause of your worries. Lord Fortis only did what he had to. And you, of course, you only supported my decisions. I couldn't ask for more from you. So please, don't be too hard on yourself."
They stood there a while, hugging each other, until her father broke the silence. "Before I forgot, you and your Master are no longer under arrest. The King himself declared your innocence, although the Crown Prince didn't like it; there is nothing he can do about it."
Finally, this meaningless situation had come to an end. "I had only come back here to bid you a proper farewell before I go. I didn't expect to cause this much trouble. I am happy to see it came to an end."
His face suddenly fell. "Do you really have to go?"
Elise didn't know he was still bothered by it. This whole situation and the duel were only for her to leave peacefully. Her father had supported her through all, so she thought he had already accepted her leave, but he did not, apparently.
"Father, I..." She wanted to explain herself, but her sentence was cut off by the knocking door. The maid from earlier slowly came into the room.
"You have another visitor, my Lady, my Lord. Head Magician Gustave Voroni, requesting to see you."
Head Magician? Why would he be there? He was a weird one, as far as Elise was concerned. Whenever he was around and he would take curious looks at Elise. She had never felt any harmful intent from his looks, so she had let him be. She looked at her father; maybe he knew something, but he was also surprised by this unexpected visitor.
"Let both of them in."
The maid went back out, and Lord Fortis and Head Magician Voroni came in. Lord Fortis was visibly uncomfortable. He was trying not to make eye contact with her father, and he had a remorseful look on his face. But other than that, his strong and always vigilant posture was still there.
On the other hand, Gustave Voroni had a cheerful look on his wrinkly face. This made Elise more curious about his intentions. Why would he even be here? He stood a couple of steps back from Lord Fortis. He was probably letting him speak first because Lord Fortis had come first.
"I am glad to see you on foot again, young Lady Vandeberg." Lord Fortis performed a respectful bow. "I was worried that you would not recover after I heard the healer's examination. You keep surprising everyone around you."
Elise responded to his bow with her own. "I appreciate your compliment, Lord Fortis."
"I am not saying it for the sake of it. Our duel... I have never experienced something like that. You are an exceptional warrior, my Lady, and I believe with proper guidance, you could achieve many more."
He took a quick look at her father before continuing. "This is the other reason why I am here. I would like to take you under my influence and train you to be a great commander of this Kingdom. If you want to, of course."
Well, she was not expecting that. She didn't know how to respond or even think about it. While she tried to grasp the situation, Gustave Voroni also got involved in the situation.
"It is nice to see I am not the only one." He moved next to Lord Fortis. "That is also why I came here as soon as I heard you were awake. You are exceptional, like Avir said. You have a really high potential to learn Magic. The amount of mana you have is almost comparable to a high magician. With proper teaching, you could be the greatest magician this world has ever seen. So, I propose the same; become my student, and I will make sure the whole world will know your name. What do you say?"
What was going on?! She could only stand there and look at the two of them with an open mouth. After a short moment, she remembered to breathe and looked at her father for support. But he was not that different from her. He was also not expecting this, but Elise saw something more in his eyes.
Hope. He was hoping that she would say yes to them. That way, his beloved daughter could stay where he could still reach her.
She could say yes. She could stay here and spar with one of the best warriors on the continent. She could stay here and learn the depths of the magic of this Realm. She could be a great commander or a great scholar. She could work for her Kingdom's well-being and achieve great things under the name of the King Arteon himself, and his successors. She could marry a noble, have kids, and die peacefully and fulfilled.
If there were the old Elise in her place, she would say yes without thinking. But now... There was no way she could just stay here after learning that there were infinite Realms, infinite places she could travel, and infinite things she could learn and experience. It was an obvious choice to make.
"I am really flattered by your offers. But..." She looked at her father in between her words. He had already understood what her answer was going to be. "All the things you are praising me for, I couldn't achieve any of them without my Master. I thank you for your offers, but I already have a Master I follow."
Both looked a little disappointed, but they didn't give the reaction Elise was expecting. She realized they were not expecting her to accept in the first place.
"I respect your decision, young lady Vandeberg. Just know that you can always come back. The offer will stand. I will leave you alone so you can rest." Lord Fortis headed to the door. "My Lady, my Lord." He left after he nodded goodbye to them.
"I actually had a little hope." Said Head Magician Voroni. "But of course, I don't know who that man is, but he was someone extraordinary as far as I could see. I hope you achieve your goal in life. I am curious to see what kind of person you will turn out to be." He followed after Lord Fortis. "My offer is also standing."
Once again, she was alone with her father. The previous moment they had was gone. The sadness he was feeling could be seen on his face. This was the hardest part. The whole reason Elise came back. To say farewell to her father.
"I should also leave, you need to rest after all." He halfheartedly moved toward the door.
"Father." He stopped and turned back. "Sorry to disappoint you, but I really want to do this. I have seen things that I cannot ignore for the rest of my life. I need to go. This is my calling, I can feel it."
He took a deep breath and shook off the gloomy expression on his face. "I know, my daughter. I also don't want to make this hard for both of us. Whatever you choose to do, just know that I will support you till the end. But it is not easy for me, please understand, I cannot just stop worrying about you."
Elise moved forward and hugged him. "I know. But don't worry. You have seen what my Master is capable of. I will be fine. I can assure you."
After he left, she decided to get ready to leave. She only needed a couple of notebooks and her sword. While she was getting ready, the Traveler had visited her and told her that she wouldn't need her armor anymore, so she didn't bother wearing it.
The maids of the castle prepared her sturdy travel clothes based on her request. One of them insisted that she needed a bigger lugged and more clothes, mostly dresses, to be ready for any situation. After a short argument, the maid decided not to push anymore.
She also wanted to visit her mother to bid her farewell, but she didn't want to see her. Elise had already guessed it; she didn't even come to see her when she woke up. But Elise insisted on seeing her little brother. When she also refused that, her father had to interfere and bring her little brother to her.
When she was ready to leave, the Traveler appeared out of nowhere, as he was watching her all this time.
"You ready?"
She took a deep breath and nodded. The journey of her life was about to begin.
"Good. Let's not waste any more time than." He grabbed her shoulder, and before Elise could realize what happened, their surroundings changed in the blink of an eye. They were standing in front of the Gate inside the Malargo Forest once again.
"Give me some time to search for him." He put his hand on the smooth stone and closed his eyes. Not long after, he reached for her with his other hand without opening his eyes and smiled with satisfaction. "Found him."
Elise looked one last time at the Realm she was born in. The first time she traveled through the Gate was still in her mind. How much time had passed since? Nine months? Everything had happened so fast that she lost track of the time. Who knew when she would come back to this place?
"Come on, it is not easy to keep tracking him."
It was too late to think such things. She had already decided. One had to leave their past to move forward. She held his hand. This time, without any regrets.