477. Cause for Celebration

Faith El, the Fallen Queen of Elutra, and former disgraced princess stood before the walls of Ertos. It had been a day since the city had been taken back from the hands of the Demons. The sub-ritual had been subverted— its magic halted from spreading across the Mortal Realm.

It was a victory. All-around, it was considered to be a cause for a grand celebration. But Faith wasn’t in a celebratory mood.

She didn’t quite feel like there was even a reason to feel joyous. For her, this occasion only drew a woeful melancholy from deep within her heart. After all, she had failed.

Faith swept her gaze over the rest of the city. She saw the ruined streets and the fallen houses. When they’d first arrived, there had been desiccated bodies piled up in every street corner— sacrifices made to carry out this ritual.

The walls of Ertos— once so tall and full of majesty— now lay crumbled at her feet. It could repel armies from even the greatest nations in the world. Faith’s father had once told her that the Capital City of Elutra was impregnable from any invasions. Now, it was reduced to dust and rubble.

The Fallen Queen of Elutra sighed.

“A fallen nation for a fallen queen. Truly, I have been given a Title befitting my status…”

She closed her eyes, remembering what the city of Ertos had once been. In its full glory. The place where she had been born and raised. Faith looked back towards the decrepit palace, worn down from all the fighting it had been through.

A single teardrop slid down her pale cheeks as she recalled all that had been lost. Her father, King Credence. Her brothers and sisters— Destiny, Con… all of her siblings. Only four of them were left. She looked down at the palm of her hand.

Her right hand. At one point, it had been gone too. Chomped off by a savage Archdemon. But with the help of Salvos, it had been grown back. It wasn’t exactly like her original hand. It was a result of using a Potion of Regeneration— however, only in minute amounts, which produced a slightly disproportionate size, as well as a weaker right hand than her left hand.

Sometimes, she wished she refused this offer. The scar from losing her right hand acted as a reminder to what she had done and failed to accomplish. But at the time, she was acting out of necessity. Faith couldn’t serve as the leader of Elutra’s Resistance with only one hand.

But now, with her city liberated, she raised a dagger and contemplated righting this wrong. She held the blade against her wrist, a healing potion at the ready to stop any bleeding. Faith inhaled deeply and lifted the dagger.

“I—”

She whispered to herself. And a hand landed on her shoulder. Faith blinked, whirling around. She stared at a man standing behind her.

A black-haired figure who eyed the dagger in her hand warily. He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Faith.”

“Daniel?”

She blinked at the [Hero]. He gestured towards the dagger in her hand and asked.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m… doing what’s right.”

The Fallen Queen of Elutra shook her head. She shrugged Daniel’s hand off her and turned to face the red night sky.

“Leave me. This is something I have to do alone.”

But Daniel didn’t let her. He grabbed her by the hand and yanked the dagger away.

“Stop it.”

He spoke firmly as he tossed the dagger aside. Faith tried to push him away.

“Don’t stop me, Daniel.”

She gritted her teeth at him.

“I deserve this. After all I have done— after what I have done to you. Don’t you think this is what I deserve?”

The young man from Earth hesitated. Faith could still see some of the scorn in his eyes, even after so long. The way she had treated him— the way she had used him. She still regretted it to this day.

But Daniel shook his head.

“No.”

“What?”

Faith blinked. She tried to struggle— to break free from his grip.

“But I tricked you! I abandoned my people when they needed me the most. I am a failure of a princess. A failure of a Queen. I need to be punished for my sins.”

Daniel sighed as she failed to escape. He looked at her, meeting her gaze.

“Faith.”

The Queen paused. She saw the way he looked at her. The mix of sympathy and sorrow. He closed his eyes.

“You know, when I first woke up in this world, I thought I was in paradise. I thought I was in heaven. I thought this was my dream come true— after all, back in my world, I was… a failure.”

“A failure?”

Faith stared at him, utterly puzzled. Daniel chuckled bitterly.

“Well, I wouldn’t say failure is the right word. But I felt like a failure. I never thought I would amount to anything. And when the only girl who loved me died, I felt like I had nothing left. I considered ending it all, multiple times. That I didn’t even deserve to live.”

He looked up— towards the teething stars. The scintillating dots in the night sky were slightly obscured by a red mist that remained overhead. The [Hero] took a deep breath.

“Then I woke up here. And there was a beautiful princess who loved me. There were thousands of people who chanted my name, relying on me. For once in my life, I felt like I was wanted. That I wasn’t a complete failure. That I could actually do something that had meaning.”

Daniel’s lips curled up. He smiled, but Faith only felt guilt. Her heart ached in her chest as he continued.

“As it later turned out, it was all built on a mountain of lies. And I ran away. Once again, I just wanted to escape from my problems. I just wanted to escape from it all.”

Faith hung her head low, the guilt eating her up from the inside. But Daniel helped her raise her head.

“However, despite what happened, I believe you still helped me.”

“What?”

She stared at him, blinking. He gave her a determined look.

“I believe that I wouldn’t have climbed out of that dark place where I was trapped if not for coming into this world. If I hadn’t met you— if you hadn’t shown me what it was like to feel like I am worth something.”

“But that’s…”

Amanda trailed off. But Daniel cut her off.

“And you weren’t the only one who failed the people of Ertos. They relied on me to save them. They trusted me because I was a [Hero]. But I failed them too.”

He bowed his head deeply as Faith just stared at him.

“So let me bear some of the responsibility too.”

The Fallen Queen of Elutra could only look on as the [Hero] of Earth stood before her, tightly gripping her hand. She opened her mouth— she wanted to protest. But nothing came out from her mouth. All she found were tears falling from her eyes.

“T-that’s…”

She broke down into tears, unable to finish her sentence. Faith cried as Daniel comforted her. The former princess could only cry as she whispered.

“Thank you. Thank you—”

Unbeknownst to both the [Hero] and the Queen, a figure hid in the shadows, watching this scene. She clenched her jaw as she slinked away, quite clearly irritated. Amanda cursed under her breath as she turned a street corner—

And paused when she saw a pink-haired woman standing at the end of the junction. Saffron Merryster crossed her arms as Amanda growled.

“What are you doing here?”

“I should be asking you the same question.”

The young noble rolled her eyes. Amanda frowned.

“That’s none of your business.”

The former assassin started forward. Saffron just sighed.

“You know, the longer you refuse to admit it, the worse it will become, right?”

That made Amanda pause. She glanced back at Saffron, shaking her head.

“I don’t have to admit anything.”

“Sure you don’t.”

Saffron snorted, but Amanda just harrumphed and walked away.

The next day, Faith woke up to Willow bursting into her tent. The Fallen Queen of Elutra blinked, staring in confusion as the white-haired woman sputtered.

“It’s… Elutra isn’t—”

“Calm down, Willow. What are you saying? What are you talking about? What happened to Elutra?”

Willow paused, breathing slowly. She cleared her throat and gestured at a slip of paper in hand.

“Elutra hasn’t fallen just yet, my Queen.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Faith furrowed her brows. Willow drew back, reading the report in hand.

“Our scouts returned from twenty miles north of Ertos. They discovered a refugee camp there. About ten thousand people from the city had evacuated before the ritual took place.”

“What?”

The Fallen Queen of Elutra stared in shock at the white-haired woman. Willow nodded eagerly.

“Not only that— we heard back from Laux Lionfist and his forces. Not only did they retake another sub-ritual site, they also found two Elutran cities along the way that were largely left unaffected. And I have a feeling the same could be said for a lot of the cities out there.

“I…”

Faith was left at a loss for words. She read the report, looking over every line again and again. She felt like she was dreaming. It wasn’t… a cause for celebration. Most of Elutra had still been ravaged by not just the war with the Inoria Empire, but what came after too with the Demons.

However, it was a silver lining. Faith could still make up for her mistakes. There was still so much she had to do. Nodding to herself, the Fallen Queen of Elutra got to her feet.

“I understand. Bring me to the survivors of Ertos. Now.”

“Yes, my Queen. I’ll fetch a horse.”

Willow bowed deeply and quickly excused herself.