Chapter 9: "A desperate decision" 

Morning.

Eleanor opened her eyes. She carefully sat up and perched on the edge of the bed.

"My head is splitting."

Eleanor grabbed her bright forehead with her right hand. She felt a faint but constant stabbing pain in her forehead, right between her eyebrows.

"What happened?"

She tried to remember what had happened to her.

"Ah," a soft groan escaped her lips.

Trying to recall what happened only intensified the pain between her eyebrows. However, the attempt wasn't futile.

Eleanor remembered the woman in the golden dress who claimed to be her past life. She recalled how powerless she was against that woman.

"What happened in the end?"

Eleanor remembered how the woman in the golden dress pulled and grabbed her by the throat, and then the woman in the golden dress began to absorb her soul and consciousness.

"My consciousness and thinking are intact. So my soul should be fine too. But what happened next? Why wasn't my soul consumed?"

Eleanor concentrated and tried to remember.

"Nothing?"

The headache didn't worsen, but the memories didn't surface either.

"Something must have happened."

This thought lingered in Eleanor's mind. Only a few outcomes were possible.

Either the woman in the golden dress spared her. This probability was very unlikely.

Or she stopped for some reason. Probability: high.

Or she was forcibly stopped by something. Probability: moderate.

"The Life Crystal."

Eleanor remembered that everything began after her touch on the golden legacy crystal.

"Where is the crystal?"

Eleanor began searching for the crystal. First, she searched the bed, and then the entire room.

No.

The Life Crystal simply vanished.

Suddenly, Eleanor suspiciously looked at sleeping Evelina.

"Why isn't she waking up?"

Eleanor couldn't believe that the noise she made while searching for the Life Crystal didn't wake Evelina up.

A thought crossed Eleanor's mind that Evelina might be behind the disappearance of the Life Crystal.

Evelina could also be the reason why the woman in the golden dress didn't consume her soul.

A scenario appeared in Eleanor's mind.

The moment she grabbed the Life Crystal, she lost consciousness and didn't wake up for a long time. And Evelina, trying to wake her up, pulled the Life Crystal from her grasp.

When the crystal left her hand, the woman in the golden dress also disappeared from her consciousness. Eleanor realized from the very first moment that the soul of the woman in the golden dress was somehow sealed in the golden crystal or had a deep connection with the crystal.

"Wake up, my little sister. Don't worry, I won't be angry with you. You did everything right. The main thing is to answer where you hid the golden crystal. This thing is very dangerous."

No answer.

Evelina continued to sleep without any reaction, not even frowning.

"If you don't get up in three seconds, I'll be very angry."

Five seconds later.

Zero reaction. Evelina slept as usual.

"You did something with the crystal, okay, I won't be angry with you. Get up."

As always, there was zero reaction from Evelina.

"That's it, you've got me. I'm turning into an angry sister mode."

Eleanor approached the sleeping Evelyn, grabbed her and began to shake her.

But a moment later, Eleanor noticed drops of sweat on Evelyn's forehead.

Eleanor started feeling that something was wrong. She touched Eleanor's face.

"Oh damn."

Just touching her face, Eleanor felt an incredible heat.

Eleanor instantly realized that the reason Evelina wasn't waking up was not because she didn't want to wake up, but because she physically couldn't wake up.

Eleanor quickly began to search for the reason why a completely healthy Evelyn could get so sick overnight.

The only reason Eleanor could think of was the golden legacy crystal.

This crystal stored the soul of a woman in a golden dress who was pre-supposed to be a fragment of the soul of one of the Four Great Magi, the Golden Magus.

The next moment, a terrifying thought crossed Eleanor's mind.

The woman in the golden dress could be absorbing Evelina's soul at that very moment, just as she initially tried to absorb Eleanor's soul.

This meant that the Life Crystal must be somewhere in Evelina's body.

Eleanor began searching Evelina's body, but in the end, not finding the crystal, she started undressing Evelyn and searching under her clothes.

No.

She did not find the crystal.

Eleanor covered Evelyn's body with a blanket.

She touched Evelyn's face again—the fever had not subsided and even seemed to have intensified.

Eleanor ran out of the room and hurried down to the first floor of the tavern.

The tavern owner, who was passing by the stairs, saw Eleanor coming down and started to greet her.

However, before the owner could say a word, Eleanor interrupted her.

"Quickly bring me a basin of cold water and a clean piece of cloth to my room."

Seeing the worried look on Eleanor's face, the owner realized the urgency and immediately ran to get the water.

Eleanor went to the washbasin and turned on the tap. She pulled a handkerchief from her cloak pocket and soaked it in the water.

With the wet handkerchief, Eleanor ran back to her room. Entering the room, Eleanor placed the wet handkerchief on Evelina's forehead.

The next moment, the tavern owner entered the room with the basin of cold water. Seeing Evelina's condition, the owner instantly understood why Eleanor had asked for the basin and cloth.

The owner placed the basin and cloth next to the bed and asked Eleanor:

"Dear guest, should I call a healer?"

"No need," Eleanor replied.

Eleanor knew that an ordinary healer could not cure Evelina because she was not sick. Her high temperature was merely a side effect.

Eleanor had already concluded that Evelina was somehow merging with the Life Crystal. This was the only possible explanation.

…

Evelina's Sea of Consciousness.

At that moment, two figures stood opposite each other, one tall and one short.

Of course, these were Evelina and the woman in the golden dress.

Evelina's face was pale. She felt the pain of her physical body. This pain was comparable to the bite of a thousand ants or the prick of a thousand needles. The only thing that made the situation worse was that she was trapped in her own sea of consciousness and could not wake up. She could only endure the pain through gritted teeth.

"Give up, little girl," said the woman in the golden dress.

"No, my big sister is waiting for me. I won't surrender to you," Evelina said through clenched teeth.

The woman in the golden dress had already explained the entire situation to her. Right now, she was undergoing the process of merging with the Life Crystal. The merging process with the crystal was incredibly painful. If she could withstand the pain and merge with the crystal, everything would be fine, and she would embark on the path of magic. However, if she failed, she would die.

All this time, the woman in the golden dress had been asking her to give up and fall asleep. In return, the pain would disappear, and she wouldn't have to endure these tortures any longer. When she woke up, the merging process with the crystal would be complete. However, Evelina did not trust this woman at all. Although she looked like her big sister, in every other aspect, she was the complete opposite of her big sister.

"I know what you're feeling right now. Merging with the Life Crystal is always a painful process. Especially when it comes to crystals of the metallic element. Moreover, the Life Crystal you're merging with contains the complete law of the Golden Path."

"Big sister gave me this crystal. This means that elder sister believes I can merge with the Life Crystal. I will not let her down."

Since Evelina came to the palace, Eleanor had always treated her well; she did not believe that Eleanor could harm her. Merging with the Life Crystal was painful, but the pain was worth it if she could become a magus. By becoming a magus, she could not only serve Eleanor as a maid but also protect her.

"What a fool. In the end, this is not a Life Crystal or a blood of god, but a source of the Primordial Spirit. Even gods cannot fully merge with it," thought the woman in the golden dress.

In the past, only thanks to additional preparations made by All-Seer was she able to refine one-hundredth of the crystal, and that one percent was already enough for her to gain the highest magical bloodline. Later, she was unable to melt the crystal, and in the end, disguised the crystal as her Life Crystal, merging her real Life Crystal with the golden crystal.

...

One day later.

Eleanor sat at the edge of the bed, looking at the sleeping Evelina Evelyna's cheeks were red from the high fever, and her forehead was still covered in sweat. Eleanor took a damp towel and wiped the sweat from Evelyn's forehead.

Significant changes had occurred in just one day: nearly half of Evelina's hair had turned golden. Black and golden strands alternated.

...

Evelina's Sea of Consciousness.

Evelina was kneeling with her eyes closed. Her soul had become somewhat illusory. The excruciating pain from merging with the Life Crystal had nearly driven her insane. Both physically and mentally, she was on the brink of collapse.

Not far away, the woman in the golden dress raised her hand. Dark lightning played around her hand.

"Damn, at this rate, this girl will die in just a few hours."

The woman in the golden dress wanted to absorb Evelina's soul and take control of her body. But she couldn't. All her powers were sealed by Eleanor's dark force when she was thrown into Evelina's consciousness. Any action against Evelina would cause Eleanor's dark power to attack her.

If Evelyn failed to merge with the Life Crystal and died, the woman in the golden dress would die as well. This information was contained within the dark force's seal. Upon Evelyna's death, the dark force would destroy the woman's soul.

The only remaining option was to disperse her soul's power within Evelyn's sea of consciousness and help her take control of the Life Crystal.

If Evelina had surrendered and fallen asleep, she could have taken control of her sea of consciousness without causing her harm, thus not activating the seal of dark power. Afterward, she could have sealed her soul in an illusory dream forever or until she was able to break the seal of dark power. However, instead of peaceful sleep, Evelina insisted on enduring this endless pain.

The woman in the golden dress suddenly made a desperate decision.

"In that case, I'll leave everything to fate."

Her soul suddenly transformed into golden rays and completely dispersed within Evelina's sea of consciousness. The woman in the golden dress knew she was already doomed—over time, Evelina would only grow stronger.

Would Evelyn eventually release her or not? She didn't know, but she didn't want to take the risk, so she decided to give Evelina all her soul power and memories. She was betting that upon gaining all her memories, Evelina would lose her original heart and cease to be herself, becoming the woman in the golden dress instead.

It was an extremely dangerous but the only option for the woman in the golden dress to be reborn. Everything depended on whether her emotions could overcome Evelina's.