Chapter 23

Giggadon empire.

Valkyrie palace.

*Knock* *knock*

Nora knocks on the door while nervously standing silently, waiting for a reply. She received a sudden summons in the evening after she had finished attending to princess Helena. Nobody told her who summoned her. She was just instructed by a knight to go to the room at the end of the third floor.

Valkyrie palace is divided into three floors. The first floor is where the maids, servants, and cooks sleep. The kitchen and storages are also on the first floor. The second floor is where the princesses bed chambers are. And the third floor is where the emperor's mistresses live.

A few minutes passed by, and there was no response. Nora wanted to knock again but stopped. If I knock on the door, for a second time, wouldn't I come off rude… yeah, I can wait a few minutes. She thought.

A few minutes passed by, but there was still no response. Nora gathered her courage and knocked on the door once again.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Come in." A beautiful voice said from behind the door.

Nora opens the door and walks into the room. The first thing she felt after entering the room was her fatigue disappearing. It felt like she had just had a warm bath. in front of her, was a mural drawn on the walls. It was a drawing of a beautiful tree with stars at the end of each of its branches that numbered in hundreds. She had never seen such a beautiful tree in her life.

As she stared at the tree, she notices something bizarre. she felt a sense of familiarity with one of the smaller stars. Unknowingly to her, her consciousness got sucked into the mural. She was floating in endless darkness. The only source of light in this dark void was the star she was looking at. but to her surprise, it was now gigantic. She thought of an idea to get closer to the star by swimming toward it and it worked.

As she got closer to the star a force grabbed onto her and pulled her into it. The next thing she saw after opening her eyes was that she was back in the room in front of the mural. "Woah… is this magic?" she blurted out unconsciously.

"No, it is not magic."

Nora was shocked by the voice she heard. "I'm sorry, my lady, for ignoring you. Please forgive me." she apologized on her knees with her head bowed.

"Ha-haha… don't stress about that. It's normal for you humans to not be able to resist the enchanting aura of Gaia. Come to the balcony."

Nora listened. She walks towards the balcony door, opened it, and walked in. As soon as she stepped in, she was shocked. "Wow!!!" she uttered in surprise.

Nora could not believe her eyes. A beautiful creature that shone under the moonlight. She was like a goddess that descended to grace the world with her presence, her purple eyes shone like a jewel and her long brown hair fluttered as the night wind passed. Nora pinched her cheek to awaken herself from this dream, but it hurt, which meant she wasn't dreaming.

Mithelye walked up to Nora, who seemed to be charmed by her beauty. "Nora… Nora, are you okay?" she asked with a look of concern.

Nora snapped back to her senses. "I'm sorry your Majesty for staring at you." She apologized while bowing again.

"Ha-hahaha… you are always apologizing, aren't you?" she asked rhetorically with a beautiful smile on her face.

"And don't call me your majesty, I'm not the queen. I am just a mistress," she said as her smile turned cold.

It shocked Nora that such a goddess was not the queen, but a mistress. She raised her head, stood up, and looked at the beautiful lady again.

Looking at her again, she looks like her highness Helena. Is she her highness's mother? They look alike and have the same eyes. Nora thought in her mind.

"Pardon me, my lady. But are you perhaps… princess Helena's mother?" She asked suddenly. But Mithelye went silent.

"I am sorry for my rude questions, my lady. I'll accept any punishment." Nora said regretfully, as she went to her knees.

Mithelye turned around. "No-no… no need for you to be punished. for a question that's true," she said while assisting Nora off her knees.

"Yes, is true I am her highness's mother. But I do not have the right to be," Mithelye said in a sad voice.

"Don't say that my lady. You've been so nice to me since I met you, even though I made a lot of blunders you still didn't punish me. In my eyes you have every right to be her highness's mother…" she said. Trying to reassure Mithelye.

"... But I haven't even seen her since she was born… she must hate me," Mithelye said, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Nora took out a handkerchief from her pocket and gave it to Mithelye to wipe her tears. "Please don't cry, my lady," she said, trying to comfort her. She held Mithelye's left hand and escorted her to the balcony table chair.

"Sniff… sniff. I would love to meet her, but I can't because of the curse," she said while crying.

… Curse? Is the lady cursed? Nora thought in her mind. "Your Highness, what do you mean by curse?" She asked curiously.

"Don't worry about it… sniff. So… tell me about my daughter, how is she doing? How big is she now? Hope she's eating well and not a picky eater. What's her favorite food? What sort of clothes does she like," Mithelye bombarded Nora with questions.

"Please Calm down, my lady... I can't answer all your questions at once. Well, as for her highness. she is always smiling. She likes running around the garden… sometimes I find it hard to keep up with her. Even though she doesn't have to, she is nice and apologizes to me. She is also very smart; reads books meant for adults.… serving the princess for a few months has been the greatest honor of my life." Nora said with a big smile on her face. Nora and Methelye continued to talk about Helena for over two hours.

"She sounds like a beautiful girl. I wish I could meet her in person." Methelye said with a sad tone after listening to the praises Nora said about Helena.

"Don't worry, your highness. I am sure you would meet her highness someday." Nora said.

"Hmmm…, it's getting late. I shouldn't hold you any longer." Methelye said as she stood up from her seat, walked into her room, and picked up a letter and a dagger from her drawer.

"Give this, to my daughter… Tell her that no matter what happens. I have always loved and will always love her." She said with a wavering smile as she handed the letter and dagger to Nora.

"Don't worry, your highness you can count on me. I'll deliver your letter to her highness." Nora said with gusto.

"Thank you, Nora, it was nice meeting you," she said as Nora was about to leave the room.

"It was nice meeting you too, my lady," she replied.

*Shut*

As soon as the door closed, Methelye walked back to the balcony and climbed onto the balustrade with her hands spread.

—-----------------------------

Nora was hopping for joy as she walks to Helena's room and had a bright smile on her face. Her highness is going to be happy to read a letter from her mother. I can't wait to see this touchy moment, "Kyaaaah." she shrieked happily.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Come in," Helena said.

Nora walked into the room, excited. which bothered Helena a bit, she has never seen Nora this excited before.

Hmm… weird, what is she excited about?... well, it doesn't matter. I have to focus on my cultivation. Helena thought in her mind as she closed her eyes and continued cultivating.

"Your highness… your highness… your highness," Nora called out to Helena, who was trying to ignore her. but Nora did not stop.

After a constant annoyance, Helena opened her eyes. "What is it, Nora?" Helena asked.

"Guess what this is," she said, as she brought out a letter and dagger from her pocket.

"It is a letter and a dagger. I can say the dagger looks cool, but I don't see what's important about the letter." Helena said in an uninterested tone.

"Your highness's mother gave this letter and dagger to me to give to you," she said with a smile.

"What! You met my mother…?" Ever since I've reincarnated into this world, my mother never bothered to show her face, so why is she sending me a letter? Helena thought in her mind as she stood up from her meditating stance. She walked towards Nora and took the letter and dagger off her hand.

Helena walked to her reading table, sat down on the chair, and tried opening the letter with the dagger, but she got cut while opening the letter. This surprised Helena. Ever since she started her cultivation and broke through the intermediate stage a month ago, her skin had become impenetrable to ordinary weapons. So, if this dagger can cut her easily, it must be special.

After opening the letter, she started to read. In the first thirty paragraphs, her mother explained what she was and how she got to Giggadon empire. This was information Helena knew before. the next paragraph of the letter started with

Author notes:(Read with this music: Another Love by Tom Odell)

"To my lovely daughter, I am sorry for not being able to hold your hands when you were born, am sorry I was not there to see you take your first steps, am sorry for not being there when you made your first run. I'm sorry for not being there when you were sad, happy, or scared of the thunder while it rained. But know this I was always thinking of you. I would see you in my dreams lying in my arms as I rocked you to sleep. But when I woke up, I realize you were gone… and it broke my heart every day. We elves always complained about how slow time would pass. But not being able to see you and hold your hands made me realize how fast time passed. I missed your first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh birthdays. You might hate me for not being there, but I will always love you. Now and forever.

MY LOVELY Daughter MARIANA,"

*Pat* *Pat* *Pat* *Pat*

Nora rushed to the door to see why there was such a loud commotion. She grabbed one of the maids' passing. "Where is everyone running to?" she asked.

"I heard someone fell from the third floor," she said. And took off.