Left with no other choice, Neo spent his ti watching Morrigan.
Much to his surprise, she passed him a plate a few minutes later.
"…?"
"…I don't like how you keep staring at . Here, you can have it. Don't say I didn't share anything."
Neo's lips twitched when he saw the half-eaten dish.
He shook his head and took it.
Just as he was about to start eating, his device rang.
"A call?"
He noticed it was from Alia and picked it up.
"N-Neo?"
Alia's voice cracked as she sniffled.
"Mom, sh-she… co here quickly, Neo… please…."
Neo's face hardened.
He stood up swiftly.
"I'm on my way."
….
Elizabeth's mind was muddy.
The last thing she could recall was defeating the Void Tainted.
She had tortured a lot of information out of him.
After leaving the Dream dinsion, she attacked other branches of Void Temple she had found out about.
She was injured, with half a foot in the grave after the battle with Void Tainted, but there was no ti to rest.
The mbers of Temple of Void would escape.
Elizabeth had to deal with them before they knew the Void Tainted was defeated.
She couldn't recall anything after that.
Her head throbbed painfully.
"D-don't hit , please…"
The voice snapped her out of the daze.
She looked around and noticed a little girl.
The little girl had silver-white hair and blood-red eyes.
"It hurts… stop…."
The girl curled as the blue-haired man kicked her repeatedly.
"Fuck! I lost the fucking bet!"
"S-stop…"
"Shut up! Fuck, did I give permission to you to talk!? Now even you are ignoring !?"
The man left after he had taken out his anger on her.
The little girl continued to cry.
"It hurts…."
Tears slipped from her swollen eyes and mixed with the blood flowing out from her bruised lips.
Black and purple marks throbbed on her limbs and torso after the man's– her husband - beating.
She lay broken on the floor, bleeding.
Painful mories surged in Elizabeth's mind.
The scene before her eyes changed.
The little girl had grown up.
She ca of age, and her womanly features began to show, revealing her alluring appearance.
However, her gaze remained vacant.
The girl stared at the screen.
She watched the drama depicting the love life of a princess and her prince with murky eyes.
"A princess… I-I'm a princess too. Will I be treated like that when I grow up?"
The blissful smile on her face disappeared when the door was smashed open and her husband entered, drunk.
Elizabeth, who had been watching everything from the side, clutched her chest.
"This is a dream… It's just a nightmare…"
She took deep breaths to calm herself.
The painful mories of her childhood were but a thing of the past. She repeated those words to herself.
Elizabeth was breathing heavily.
Her eyes quivered.
The scene changed.
She saw a woman looking down from the castle's windiw.
The woman had a similar face as that of the little girl.
However, her cold expression was vastly different.
Unlike the girl who had spent her life waiting for help, living on others' terms, the woman had taken control of her life in her own hands and cut down those who went against her.
"It's ti," the woman muttered. "Should I ascend?"
Elizabeth recalled that mont.
It was long before the symptoms of the curse appeared.
Back then, she had reached the peak of her strength.
She was just a step away from becoming a God.
The woman was lost in deep thoughts when suddenly a knock on the door echoed.
"Mom, it's ti for dinner. Paul and Sister Clara are waiting for you. Let's go," Alia's voice flowed from the other side of the door.
The woman's cold expression cracked.
She revealed a small, but warm smile.
"I'm on my way."
The woman opened the door and attended the dinner with her family.
She had decided against attaining Godhood.
To beco a God, she would have to ascend and leave the world – leave her family – behind.
'I finally got what I wanted after those hellish years. There is nothing more that I want.'
Her family was enough for her.
'I don't need power or Godhood.'
Elizabeth, who had been watching the scene, started to tear up.
She hurriedly wiped her tears when she noticed them.
….
"Dammit…."
Neo sat next to Elizabeth.
She was on the hospital bed, wrapped in bandages and injuries.
The room was lit dimly, sterile, with monitors quietly beeping.
Tubes and wires surrounded her frail, bandaged body as she rested, bruised and motionless on the hospital bed.
'It's my fault.'
Neo clasped her hand and bit his lips.
'I should've been more careful.'
'I underestimated the strength of Temple of Void since they were just a budding organization at this period of ti.'
His heart clenched when he noticed tears slip down Elizabeth's eyes.
'She is having a nightmare.'
He wiped her tears.
The door of the hospital room swung open.
Alia entered.
Her eyes were reddened and swollen, and her hair was unkempt.
For so reason, she glared at Neo with intensity.
She grabbed his arm before he could say anything and pulled him out of the room.
After they had moved away from the room, Alia grabbed Neo's collar and pushed him against the wall.
"Why was Mom fighting against those people?"
"How are you feeling, Alia? I didn't see you after I ca, and I've been worried—"
"Don't change the topic!"
Alia held his collar so tightly that it started to rip.
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"I've checked her phone just now. You were the last person she talked to after going missing, and…."
"…"
Watching Elizabeth in the ICU reminded her of the ti when Elizabeth was about to die to Clara's—her sister—curse.
"Neo, tell . Please. Why is Mom hurt? The doctors are saying that s-she might not live.
"Please say that it isn't your fault."
Alia cried, almost begged.
To say that he hadn't betrayed them.
That he wasn't the reason why Elizabeth could die.
"Neo. Say sothing. Please… say sothing!"
She pushed him against the wall with force.
Neo avoided her gaze.
"I sent her there."
"…!?"
Alia stiffened.
Tears slipped down her cheeks as her fears were confird.
She let go of his collar.
"Why?"
The single word was all she could muster.
"I wanted her to take care of an organization."
"The Temple of Void…?"
Neo nodded.
Hope returned to Alia's eyes.
'Y-yeah, Neo wouldn't push Mom into harm's way.'
'He must've asked her to scout the place, and she encountered the Temple of Void by coincidence.'
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