When Emery's mind finally returned to reality, he found himself once again locked up in the prison. Not only that, his pack apparently got caught as well, because they stood all in the cells next to him.
It had been days since he was imprisoned in this place, but there was still no word from the Ouroboros. He received nothing about Silva's condition and the fact she was gradually dying without a solution was slowly killing him from the inside.
Finally, on the sixth day, a figure snuck into the prison and arrived in front of his cell.
It was none other than Annara Vermont.
"This place brings back memories." She said this as she looked around. "At least this time I am on the other side of the room."
Not at all in the mood to joke with the girl, Emery immediately asked for news about Silva.
Alas, to his despair, even Annara, who was arguably an expert in lying, couldn't hide the sorrow in her voice as she said, "She doesn't have much time left... A few days, a week at most."
It was worse than what Emery expected. He thought she still had a year or two left. Hence, he couldn't hide the shock and devastation he felt. In his desperation, he tried to cling to all kinds of hope.
"The queen will not let her die just like that, right? She must have prepared something!"
Annara told him the Ouroboros Queen had actually just returned from a trip to personally seek help from several renowned healers. But once again, despair struck Emery when he heard that they had all given up recently. Now there truly were no other options.
"No, it can't be... There's got to be another way."
As his mind went into overdrive, trying to think of anything he could think of, Emery suddenly thought of a spell.
"Rebirth!"
However, his exclamation was quickly countered by the red-haired girl.
"How?! You can't even cast Tier 4 spells and now you think you can cast a divine one?"
Although what she said was true, Emery was not willing to give up without trying.
"Annara, let me give it a try. Inform the queen for me! Let me do it!"
The bat girl took a deep sigh, before she nodded slightly and left. After an agonizing one hour wait, she finally came back and got Emery out of his cell. Taking him to the main hall, where the silver-haired Serpent Queen appeared to be massaging her head while her eyes stared at him.
Silence enveloped the entire room as Emery and the Ouroboros Queen stared at each other. The latter was dissatisfied with him and she certainly didn't hide it at all, but still, with Silva's life at stake, Emery had to give his idea a try and he was sure the other side wanted the same as well.
"Show me." She said it simply a moment later.
Now that he had permission, Emery directly requested a high-grade light artifact be sacrificed for the spell. The Ouroboros Queen gave him a Tier 5 artifact—a light elemental staff—which he quickly disassembled and took its light core.
The queen was, of course, unwilling to let Emery test his idea on Silva immediately. However, Emery would not be able to cast the spell without a body.
With annoyance, the queen called out one of her guards and then without hesitation, using spirit force, she snapped his neck before throwing the now-dead guard right in front of Emery. Staring at the latter with a glare, she spoke sharply.
"Quick, show me!"
It was a cold-blooded act, but with what was at stake, Emery did not plan to complain. If he wanted to take responsibility for what happened, he now only needed to bring back the dead guard.
Without further ado, Emery took out one of the [Spirit Explosion Pills] and ate it to enhance his spirit and soul for the upcoming venture. Immediately, he began to put all of his concentration into the spell, a chant that was filled with a wish to be granted—the miracle of rebirth.
He tried and tried. An hour passed, yet still no result. He couldn't even create a hint of the spell.
It was a complete failure.
Looking at the guard's cold body lying on the floor, the Ouroboros Queen said, "Because of you, another life was lost."
On the other hand, Emery was frustrated with his inability. If only his spirit soul had not been injured, if only he had gone to the elven planet sooner. Maybe, just maybe, he could make the spell work and save Silva's life.
Ignoring Emery, the Ouroboros Queen ordered her other guards to take the corpse away. Of course, she also ordered Emery back to his cell. Hearing that, Emery immediately pleaded with the queen.
"Please, let me see her."
The expression on the queen's face was one of great annoyance as she said, "What for? "You only make it harder for everyone."
Emery panicked when he saw that the Ouroboros Queen was about to leave. Without thinking, he dropped to his knees, which caused a loud sound that reverberated through the hall and begged the other party.
"Please… I beg you..."
As shameful as it might seem, Emery's drastic actions paid off as the Ouroboros Queen stopped in her tracks. Seeing such actions, she took a deep breath before saying, "I will let you see her as long as you answer my question truthfully."
"Anything!"
***
It was an unexpected question. Fortunately, Emery's answer satisfied the Ouroboros Queen and was released and allowed to meet Silva one final time.
He made his way towards a familiar pavilion, one that lay outside the Ouroboros Palace. Upon arriving, he saw Silva once again sitting next to a pond. His heart ached terribly, seeing her figure paler than ever.
This time, there were other people with her. Her brother Vizla and his little daughter Shinta.
When they finally noticed his presence, Silva looked taken aback. On the other hand, her brother's smile immediately disappeared, replaced by a deep frown. It was clear the man was still angry as he picked up his daughter and started walking away.
"I'll see you later, auntie." Shinta said to Silva, before turning to Emery and saying similar words. "I'll see you later, uncle."
With that, there were now only the two of them in the pavilion. Silva looked at Emery and said, "You have returned already? It's only been a few days! Did you succeed?"
Emery fell silent at those words. It was obvious no one told her that he was locked up in the Ouroboros prison. However, it didn't matter now. What was important was the person in front of him now.
Seeing Emery's expression, a frown appeared on Silva's face as she had an inkling of what happened. With a sigh, she said, "I see… My mother told you already, didn't she?"
Emery nodded slightly as he went and sat down next to her. But before he could say anything, Silva spoke again.
"I'm sorry that I lied to you. I just didn't want you to put off what's important to you because of my conditions."
"No, you're wrong." With certainty, Emery spoke as he stared into her eyes. "You are what is important to me."
His answer seemed to surprise the girl. She let out a small smile as she said, "You don't need to be cheesy like this."
The two of them sat side by side, watching the fish swim in the pond in silence. There was a certain sense of serenity, but at the same time, an unspoken pain started to resurface in the chest.
Silva said, still facing the pond, with a smile. "You should know that... I am happy to have met you and I don't regret what I did."
Just as Emery was about to reply, she suddenly added, "Well, there is one thing I regret."
Emery's body involuntarily tensed up after hearing that. He asked, "What is it?"
Turning towards Emery, Silva looked into his eyes and said, "To know about your people on Earth... to prove that we are not so different."
Emery was stunned by her words. It was a conversation they had in the past about the condition that would make Emery agree to join Ouroboros. The thought that she was still thinking about this once again made his heart ache immensely.
The wind blew across the garden and Emery noticed the pale girl shivering. He quickly put his arm around her. In response, she laid her head on his shoulder. Her voice then sounded again.
"Emery, you know, I have always been a selfish princess since I was young."
Emery didn't say anything, he could feel she still had more to say.
"Can I be selfish one more time?"
Hearing that, Emery nodded slightly, saying, "Yes, anything."
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