Chapter 10: "Awakening"

Eleanor was still sitting on the edge of the bed, occasionally wiping the sweat from Evelina's forehead.

There was a knock at the door.

Eleanor turned to the door and said, "You may enter."

The tavern owner walked into the room.

"My dear guest, a little boy has come to the tavern and said you called for him. Shall I bring him to you?"

"A little boy?" Eleanor thought for a moment but couldn't recall anything. What boy? And when did she call for him? And for what?

"All right, bring him in," Eleanor said.

The tavern owner left the room.

Almost a minute later, the tavern owner brought the boy into the room and then left.

When Eleanor saw the boy, she immediately remembered him.

Two days ago, she had asked this boy to find a ship sailing to the Misty Island.

"I'm surprised that you came!" commented Eleanor. "Why didn't you come earlier?"

"There wasn't a ship sailing to the Misty Island then," the boy replied.

"But you could have gotten paid for your efforts," Eleanor said.

"I don't like getting rewarded when there's no result. To me, results are always equivalent to money. No result means no money," the boy replied.

Eleanor was surprised by the boy's life principles. Not many people had such principles.

"All right then, give me the results," Eleanor said.

"This morning, Captain Crane's ship docked at the port. The ship is berthed at dock number seven. I asked around and found out that the ship is heading to Misty Island. It departs the day after tomorrow after restocking supplies. It also takes passengers on board. However, the ship is small, so there are no separate cabins."

Eleanor was amazed by the boy's detailed information. She went to the wall hanger and took out a pouch of silver from her cloak. She took three silver coins from the pouch and handed them to the boy.

The boy took one coin and said, "The agreement was for one coin only; I won't take more."

"Take it, don't be shy. It's for your efforts," insisted Eleanor.

"No, an honest businessman takes only his share and no more," the boy said.

"You definitely won't take more?" asked Eleanor.

"Absolutely," the boy replied firmly.

Eleanor felt like hitting the boy. Who doesn't want more money in this world? Maybe he's still a child, that's why? When he grows up, will he change? Eleanor didn't want to let this boy go so easily.

"Wait," Eleanor said and sat down at the writing desk.

She took a quill, dipped it in ink, and began to write something on the paper.

The boy looked curiously at the sleeping Evelina.

"Here," Eleanor folded the paper and handed it to the boy.

"What is this?" the boy asked, ready to unfold the paper.

"No, don't unfold it. It's a personal letter. You need to deliver it to the headmaster of the Royal Academy. This is another task for you. Will you take it?" Eleanor asked.

"If the pay is good, I'll take the task," the boy replied.

"What payment do you think is appropriate for this task?" asked Eleanor.

"The Royal Academy is in the capital. The trip to the capital will cost five coins there and five coins back. Food and lodging will be three coins. And meeting with the headmaster may require additional expenses, let's say another three coins. And my fee should be four coins. The total amount is twenty silver coins."

Eleanor was surprised. All the prices the boy mentioned were neither low nor high. They were average prices. He didn't take any advantage. He lived up to the term "honest businessman." But she was even more surprised by his knowledge. Not every child understands prices so well.

Eleanor took out twenty silver coins and gave them to the boy.

"Don't worry, miss. I'll deliver your letter as soon as possible. Is there anything else?" the boy asked.

"No, that's all. And you can take your time," Eleanor said with a smile.

The boy left the room without further words.

Eleanor burst into laughter after the boy left. This letter was a recommendation letter from her, to get the boy admitted to the Royal Academy. The boy was smart and had integrity. However, that wasn't enough to become a great businessman. Eleanor hoped that in the future, this boy would benefit the kingdom.

Eleanor sat back on the edge of the bed and looked at Evelina with concern. The anxiety didn't leave her heart. She didn't know who would wake up, Evelina or the woman in the golden dress.

...

Evelina's Sea of Consciousness.

When the woman in the golden dress dissipated in the sea of consciousness, Evelina's almost ethereal soul returned to its original state and recovered. The sea of consciousness glowed with a faint golden light. However, the golden light gradually faded and integrated into the sea of consciousness.

Evelina felt the pain in her body gradually subside, replaced by an indescribable comfort she had never felt before.

Her soul and consciousness also returned to order and even better. Evelina felt as if her consciousness was being blown by a cool breeze, and her thinking sped up several times.

Along with the improvement of her soul, Evelina also received countless unfamiliar memories. The memories surfaced one after another. The memories were neither ordered nor connected. Evelina decided not to delve into them and to ignore them for a while.

However, among the memories, one thing touched her. It was a magical formula that could ignite the Life Fire and then use the Life Fire to melt the Life Crystal.

Evelina decided to follow the magical formula. First, she felt the Life Crystal. Inside her heart, there was a space similar to the sea of consciousness. The only difference was that this space was empty and dark. In the middle of this space hung a single, enormous golden crystal. In this space, the crystal was hundreds or even thousands of times larger than outside.

The crystal shone with golden light and was like a sun or moon in this space. The golden light from the crystal left this space and settled in her flesh, blood, and bones. The golden light strengthened her muscles and bones and also changed her bloodline.

However, she was not able to control these muscles, bones, and blood refined by the golden light. It was as if every part of her body enhanced by the golden light no longer belonged to her but to the golden crystal. Because of this, she could not wake up. If this continued, her entire body would simply turn into a golden statue.

Evelina began to use her soul power to feel her life force. Thanks to the improvement of her soul, she could detect or feel her life force in just a few moments. Her life force was scattered throughout her body. However, all the life force was connected to this empty space in her heart by thin threads.

Evelina began to draw her life force into this empty space. Soon, a spark of white light appeared in this space. The spark seemed like a small star. The white spark grew and soon turned into a flame.

Evelina drew the flame to the crystal. The flame seemed like a firefly flying to a golden bonfire. Soon, the flame touched the surface of the crystal and stopped.

"It seems the entire surface of the crystal needs to be covered with the Life Fire," the thought appeared in Evelina's consciousness.

However, she didn't think her life force was enough to cover the entire surface of the crystal with the Life Fire. Life force can be restored by eating food. However, the problem was that she couldn't wake up until she covered the entire surface of the crystal with the Life Fire.

The disappearance of the woman in the golden dress made her soul stronger, and the crystal no longer caused her pain. However, she still couldn't wake up. To wake up, she had to refine at least a part of the golden crystal.

Evelina focused and began to draw her life force one by one.

A day later.

The white flame covered sixty percent of the golden crystal.

The morning of the next day.

Eleanor looked at Evelina with concern.

All of Evelina's hair had already turned golden. However, there was a problem. Evelina seemed to have lost weight. Her baby fat had disappeared from her face, and her cheeks seemed a bit sunken. At this rate, if she didn't wake up, she might simply die of exhaustion.

Today, the ship to Misty Island was departing, but Eleanor didn't have time to worry about such trivial problems.

...

"Just a little more," thought Evelina.

The last part of the crystal was finally covered with the Life Fire. At that moment, the Life Fire suddenly turned from white to gold. At the same time, the crystal stopped emitting golden light. Evelina's life force and the Life Crystal entered a miraculous state of resonance.

...

Evelina's eyelids began to twitch.

Eleanor immediately noticed these changes. Expectation and fear filled her heart. She hoped Evelina would wake up, but if the woman in gold woke up, there was nothing she could do but submit to fate.

Evelina's eyes opened. Her pupils, like her hair, were golden. However, seeing her eyes, Eleanor sighed with relief. Although her eyes had changed color, the emotions within them were the same as before, and they lacked the arrogance and indifference that the woman in the golden dress had.

"Do you know you've been asleep for more than three days?" Eleanor asked.

"I'm hungry," Evelina said.

"Are you even listening to me?"

To her question, Evelina replied with the same answer.

"I'm hungry."

Evelina grabbed her forehead.

"Wait a minute, breakfast will be here soon," Eleanor said.

In recent days, Eleanor hadn't strayed far from Evelina, so the tavern owner brought her food to her room. Now it was time for breakfast, and the tavern owner was supposed to bring it.

Knock, knock.

Hearing the knock on the door, Eleanor, knowing it was the tavern owner, immediately said, "Come in."

The tavern owner entered the room with a tray. On the tray were a teapot, tea cups, and two bowls of soup and porridge. The tavern owner placed the food on the writing desk and left.

Eleanor approached the table and asked Evelina, "What would you like? Soup or porridge?"

"It doesn't matter," was the monotone reply.

Eleanor took the bowl of soup and a spoon and sat back on the edge of the bed.

Evelina gathered her strength and managed to sit up. The blanket slipped from her body. Evelina, not caring about the lack of clothing, simply opened her mouth.

Eleanor didn't care either. After all, they were both girls. She filled the spoon with soup, carefully blew on it to cool it, and began to feed Evelina.