NOVEL NEXT Chapter 244: Where is Valra?
"What are you going to do now?" a brown-haired man asked, sitting before… Valra, who was sitting up on the white bed after a long time. She didn't speak or do anything, just sat there silently as her father talked to himself alone.
Her gaze remained fixed on her hands twisted in her lap.
Valra's father shook his head.
"Just staying silent won't help you. Now look, I am not like other fathers who force and control their daughters as they wish. And I… I didn't do it, right?" His voice held the faintest tremor, as if he was both pleading and defending himself.
As he leaned in, his words softened, "I gave you the freedom you asked for… I gave you the time you wanted… When you summoned your champion—do you remember how proud I was? I was the one floating over the clouds that night, Valra, so happy that my daughter didn't waste her potential and kept working."
His face itched with pride. Valra glanced at him, but didn't say anything, just shut her mouth as if she was used to this and… he continued as if he was used to her silence.
He looked at her... his daughter, blood of his blood,
"Having your champion, you officially have entered Stage-3. Do you understand what it means? You've got the potential, my dear. Not even anyone else in the Eden had this chance, yet here you are…" He paused, breath catching, "I am so proud of you," the man said with a bright, brittle smile.
But then, suddenly, his face turned gloomy and indifferent,
"Yet… yet, here you are disappointing me again," as his face hardened, his knuckles whitening against the armrest.
"Just why? Just why do you keep failing, Valra? Even though you've got the most luck of anyone in our family, and yet, you fail and struggle to hold your things… do you know how many mages out there would sacrifice everything they have just to live your life?
You were chosen, Valra. Chosen!"
Valra's father gritted his teeth, voice tightening with pain and disbelief. "You not only failed to grasp the relic, you also lost your Champion… that's so disappointing, dear… so disappointing," as he shook his head with immense disappointment and disbelief.
Still, Valra didn't say anything.
He drew in a sharp breath, "Come on, say something! Don't you have words, lady?" His voice suddenly started to grow louder, cracking in the air as his face turned furious.
"I know why you lost it… because of that boy, right?"
Valra flinched as she reacted, looking at her father. For a moment, her pale lips parted, but nothing came out.
He grinned, nodding his head with a cruel certainty. "I know what you've been doing behind my back and what's going on between you two… I know everything, lady," as he clenched the armrest, struggling to hold his anger.
"Just remember, you're already engaged—"
"Father—"
"I SAID YOU'RE ALREADY ENGAGED!" he shouted furiously. Valra shuddered while sitting on the medical bed as she closed her mouth.
His voice dropped, low and thunderous, like the sky before a storm.
"I don't care who you love, but… at the end of the day, you should marry whom I say.
Our bloodline is sacred, Valra.
Your feelings are not enough to rewrite fate." He stood up, buttoning his coat, then looked at her, who was clenching her quilt with a furious expression.
"That thing… is not what you think.
I am warning you, keep away from it as far as possible, and don't disappoint me any further than you already have," he said in a serious tone.
"The chief doctor says you are fine and just need a little IV today, so… I am taking you with me tomorrow."
Valra blinked in shock as she looked at her father.
His face was stern and cold. "What? You think I would put my daughter in danger again? Of course, no way!
This is the lesson for you and… me!
No one defies the order of our house—not you, not anyone."
"And don't act surprised. You already knew this was going to happen—whether you like it or not… Tomorrow, we leave this land once and for all," he said, his voice echoing in the silent room before turning and walking away, locking the door behind him with a heavy metallic click.
Tears brimmed in Valra's eyes, shimmering on her lashes before falling. She clutched the quilt, then fell back onto the bed, muffling her sobs beneath the thick fabric, clenching her fists in helpless frustration.
There was nothing but the sterile scent of the room and her own trembling breath. She didn't have her phone or anything to reach the outside world... every door was locked from the outside.
"I… I… sniff… sniff… I'm sorry, Leo," she muttered through the cloth, her voice choked with pain and guilt.
She didn't hear the door creak open again as someone entered, footsteps gliding quietly over the tile.
"What are you? A crybaby?" came a voice with cool and teasing.
She flinched at the sound, hastily wiping her tears, then pulled the quilt down and peered out with red-rimmed eyes.
In front of her stood a green-haired woman, wearing a nurse's uniform.... but nothing about it was ordinary. The outfit clung to her body in all the wrong ways: the skirt was scandalously short, barely covering her thighs; her white stockings rose high, their seams hugging flawless legs, and the tight top strained over curves that would make any patient forget their pain.
Even her nurse's cap was tilted at a wicked angle, and the faint scent of exotic perfume clung to her.
Valra's eyes widened in shock. "Gorgo?" She was stunned—not just at the sight of her, but at the fact she was here at all. This was no normal nurse; she looked like she'd just stepped off the set of a forbidden movie.
"Hmm? Looks like you still have your memories," Gorgo said with a sly, seductive lilt, as she flicked a strand of emerald hair behind her ear.
She bent low over Valra, her fingers expertly checking the IV, the latex glove snapping against her wrist.
Valra frowned, "Oi… What are you doing here?"
Gorgo arched a brow, her lips curving in a wicked smirk.
"It took me a week to find you… Do you know how suffocating the security in this place is? Tsk, tsk, this is why I hate human jobs," she muttered, voice dripping with disdain, rolling her eyes like a bored queen annoyed by her servants.
"I'm talking to you, Gorgo."
Gorgo blinked, her gaze flickering over Valra, "Oh? Right… I forgot about your weak presence. Forgive me~" she cooed, her tone half-mocking, half-sweet, as if she were talking to a pet she didn't particularly like.
A vein bulged on Valra's forehead.
Gorgo, unconcerned, sat comfortably on the bedside, folding one long leg over the other with arrogance. She snatched up the fruit left for Valra, peeled it with her elegant fingers, and bit in without hesitation.
"Hmm… delicious. Your father must be truly worried about you," she said through a mouthful, eyes never leaving Valra, a haughty smile dancing on her lips.
Valra's face twisted, "I'm asking you—what are you really doing here? And… who are you?"
"Who am I?" Gorgo echoed, her smirk widening, "Well, didn't you know already?" She leaned closer, her perfume enveloping Valra, fingers brushing her cheek in a slow, deliberate caress.
"Damn… you're still adorable, even after sulking here for weeks," she whispered, then, with a sensual, haughty gesture, traced her thumb across Valra's lips.
A shudder ran through Valra, prickling goosebumps up her arms. She jerked away, "What the fuck was that?" she shot back, her instincts screaming that something about this woman was dangerously wrong.
Gorgo threw her head back, laughing, "You silly thing… Don't flatter yourself. I'm not interested in women," she drawled, winking!
Valra eyed her... that's hard to believe. She shook her head, "Just… why are you here in the first place?"
Gorgo's face shifted, her expression momentarily distant. "About that… My beloved… Leo, he's marching to war even now," she said, voice softening as she gestured toward the window, where the sky outside was bruised with midnight and a huge moon was slowly rising like an omen.
Valra blinked, heart skipping. "War? You mean—?"
"Yup, yup… Leo and his crew are out there trying to stop this madness. So, what about you?" Gorgo's hand slid boldly down to rest on Valra's thigh.
Valra's fists clenched, "I need to leave now. He can't fight them all on his own."
"Oh? I thought you were about to give up on him and go for your new hubby~" Gorgo grinned, lips curling into a wicked smirk.
Valra snorted, pushing herself from the bed with a forceful motion and rising to her feet,
"I don't know how you know all this, but you'd better shut your mouth before I tear you apart!" she spat furiously.
"Haha… you didn't even have the nerve to speak up against your father, and yet here you are, threatening an innocent little me for speaking the truth~" Gorgo replied, filling the room with a mocking melody.
Valra gritted her teeth, "I should have known the moment you entered the school in the middle of nowhere… You must be the last Master, right? The one with the cloak?"
Gorgo shrugged, "Good for you for figuring it out," she said, as if Valra's realisation barely amused her.
Without warning, Valra lunged and seized Gorgo's collar, dragging her close, her own eyes blazing with unnatural light.
"Tell me… why the hell are you doing this? What's your end goal? What are you trying to achieve by getting close to Leo?"
Gorgo only smiled, "Isn't it obvious?" she purred as she leaned forward, her breath warm against Valra's cheek. She let her tongue flick across her lips in a deliberately provocative, almost hungry gesture.
"I want him~"
"YOU!!!"
"No, no, no… now's not the time to fight," Gorgo sang out, slipping from Valra's grip with feline grace.
"Aren't you supposed to help him? Or maybe you want to run off to your new hubby~ Go on then, I'll take care of your pitiful Leo—who was betrayed by the woman who lied her way into his bed!" Her laughter was cruel.
Valra's face drained of colour. Her hands slipped from Gorgo's collar, her breath catching hard in her chest. "W-What are you talking about?" she stammered.
Gorgo's smirk sharpened, "Hide all you want… but the truth will come out eventually. And when it does, you're just going to break his heart… Oh, my pitiful Leo~ He doesn't even realise he's being manipulated by all these bitches~ So pitiful, so, so~" She hummed the last words, her voice a cold lullaby.
Valra's face twisted with fury and disgust, her whole body trembling as she fought to control herself.
"Anyway… here's the location, and your clothes…" Gorgo suddenly tossed a folded slip of parchment and a carefully bundled stack of Valra's clothes onto the bed.
Then, with a fluid, deliberate motion, she straightened, and her entire demeanour changed. All the previous haughtiness and seduction faded, replaced by an aura of deadly seriousness as she stared Valra down.
"If… if anything happens to Leo, mark my words—you and your family will face the consequences. You're the one who came into his life with lies and manipulation, so you'd better see this through to the end!"
Before Valra could react, Gorgo darted toward her. Valra tried to move, tried to block her, but—
PUFF!
Gorgo vanished in a swirling cloud of silvery smoke, her body dissolving before Valra's eyes. The only trace left behind was the lingering scent of her perfume and the faintest sound of mocking laughter, echoing off the hospital walls.
Valra stood frozen, heart pounding, her mind racing to make sense of what had just happened. For a moment, she wondered if Gorgo's visit had been nothing but a fever dream—until,
BEEP~BEEP
The fire alarm blared through the hospital, sharp and jarring. Valra blinked, then let out a sigh, a bittersweet smile curling at the edge of her lips. "What's with her?" she muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.
She looked to the bed... the bundle of clothes and the note with the location... Her amusement faded, replaced by fierce resolve as she grabbed them in shaking hands.