The Conquerors Path

Chapter 905 903-Warmth.

Third Person POV:

They say time heals and changes you, that it gives you a chance to understand yourself and come to terms with the fact that your past doesnʼt define you. These were the words of reconciliation and gentleness given to Eleanara after her friends died. In truth, she searched for a way out, to see if there was a path where she wouldnʼt have to bear the guilt of what she had done.

For a long time, she shifted through different phases of life. It wasnʼt as if she didnʼt try to get out of the loop—Eleanara had trapped herself in a constant path of pain and suffering, not knowing where it all ended. All she wanted to do now was run away from the thoughts she was locking herself in.

Eleanara had created the dark room, locked herself in it, and had thrown away the key. More than just feeling the pain of what had happened, she wanted to punish herself. She wanted to keep feeling the pain so that she wouldnʼt forget the fact that she had led the whole situation to its tragic end.

Eleanara blamed herself, and thus, she saw no other way than to punish herself with guilt rather than finding a way out of the problem. Running away was easier for her than facing everything she had left behind.

Such pain and guilt slowly started to trap Eleanara, twisting and turning her into something else. Along the path, the beautiful light that once made Eleanara who she was changed completely. She no longer lived to make the world beautiful. The guilt had changed her whole character in ways she didnʼt want to fully comprehend.

Eleanara grew more bitter, more materialistic, and more nervous. She didnʼt know exactly when these changes occurred, but they did. Slowly but surely, Eleanara started to lose what made her beautiful, and she began to lose at everything she tried.

Perhaps it was more of a fight with herself—would changing her whole self into something dirty be enough to make up for what she had done? The question was left unanswered as she dived deeper into breaking herself.

Eleanara found ways to hurt herself even more. She started to do things that were beneath her, broke out of her focus, gave up on the tremendous talents she had, and even married below her—just to run away from her life and stay far away from the truth she had locked away somewhere deep within her mind.

Eleanara had resigned herself to stay in that position for the rest of her life, bubbling in her own anger, guilt, misery, jealousy, and all such dark emotions. She let it fester inside her. The only reason Eleanara didnʼt go off the deep end was because of Silva, who stood by her side all the time.

Thus, time passed by, with everything sinking into a trance of sorts, putting Eleanaraʼs life into a kind of pause—living a life that seemed fit for her, one in which she could perhaps die in even more pain: forgotten, unloved, unappreciated, and perhaps even unwanted. It was a frozen fate she was thrown into.

Perhaps this was the perfect fitting life for someone who had sinned like her. She didnʼt want to change, and Eleanara saw no way to change. So things went on. Things fell. Things never had a chance to spark to life.

Eleanara thought things would go on like this—until a young man who had begun making waves around the world showed up at her doorstep.

To her, he was just another blip in her life. She was, of course, curious about him, like the rest of the world—a powerful meteor of talent that had come into this world unseen by anyone, with gifts and talents that might perhaps reshape how the world would move forward.

What intrigued her more was the fact that Nathalia, the ever-fearful girl when it came to men, seemed to have fallen in love with him. She wanted to know what kind of charm this so-called hero had that could make such a girl, who once feared even the slightest male contact, go through such a normal phase of life. And the young man she met didnʼt disappoint her at all.

A will that could not be broken, a sharp mind that saw through things, and a certain naivety in his ways that made her see herself in him—for all his qualities, he truly looked like the kind of good man the world needed. The only sad part was that the world was heading out to destroy him.

Eleanara knew what was in store for the young man. People either cherished such talents or broke them. And even though she was hidden away in this place, Eleanara still had good connections and an idea about several movements happening within the War Council. She knew that perhaps this young man might one day be taken and turned into a puppet for the so-called ʼgreat causeʼ of the War Council.

While she was impressed, that was all she was—she didnʼt expect there would be any sort of connection that would further attach the two of them. That is, until the past, she was trying to avoid finally caught up to her. The past she wanted gone and forgotten finally came to her, face to face.

But it had not come with vengeance or anger. It had not come to make her drown in guilt. Her past had caught up to her—to forgive her.

Her past wanted to give her the chance to move forward. And along with it came the several secrets she thought she had buried away. The truth—that she was betrayed by perhaps the most trusted one in her life—cut deeper than any blade, spell, or curse ever could. It broke Eleanaraʼs heart in ways she couldnʼt even begin to fathom.

The young man had let her stew in her thoughts, allowing her to find the answer for herself. And he made the right choice. If she hadnʼt connected the dots herself, she would have never believed the truth that had been naked in front of her the whole time. It wasnʼt that she didnʼt do everything to find the truth—it was that there was nothing left for her to do to get it.

And now, perhaps the darkest of secrets had fallen into her lap. Her heart ached so deeply that it felt like there was no pain deeper than this. Eleanara remembered the congratulations she gave to Silva when she found out about the great studies her family had made. She had felt genuinely happy that something like that had happened.

And now… now she found out that it was made from the corpses of her best friends—dwarves for whom she would have given her life.

The pain only worsened when she came to understand the hidden truth—that the one person she always expected to be by her side was perhaps involved in all of this. The anger and humiliation of it all broke through the layers that had kept her locked away all this time. And in that singular moment, when Eleanara had complete control of the room, she wanted Silva dead.

But even at that moment, Eleanara didnʼt let anger cloud her mind—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that, at that moment, she couldnʼt bring herself to deliver the final blow. And it was good that she didnʼt. The mere chance that Silva perhaps wasnʼt involved made the weight in Eleanaraʼs heart a little bit lighter, though it didnʼt take away the pain at all.

Thus, all she could do was run away again. Eleanara threw Silva out of the room, retreating into her hidden sadness, where all that was left was for her to drown in her own pain—alone, broken, and sad once more.

But this time, something changed—something Eleanara didnʼt foresee at all.

For the first time in a long time, she was hugged with a certain sense of warmth she hadnʼt felt in an even longer time.

Eleanaraʼs first instinct was to push Austin away, but she just couldnʼt do it. She couldnʼt place her mind on why, but in that moment, she felt that Austin, as a whole, was so fragile, so warm, so caring, and so innocent that it managed to calm the pain in her heart, even just for a moment. Even with all the mental protections she had placed against her mind, she couldnʼt match the raw intensity of the emotional care and warmth Austin was giving off.

It was warm. It was loving. It was innocent.

Above all else, it was pure.

A sizzling feeling of peace filled Eleanara. She felt the warmest touch of her mother, the bubbly happiness of family in her heart, and the tender love she once cherished stirring to life once more.

A flood of emotions crashed into her all at once, shattering the door she had locked herself behind and flinging it wide open.