Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

Chapter 145: Five years of effort (1)

Evangeline lay on the ground, covered in dirt. The sky above was covered in thick, dark clouds, as though moments away from a heavy downpour.

There was no strength left in her body; even barely moving her limbs was too much for her.

Just then, someone slowly walked towards her, their steps calm and unhurried.

Her eyes widened in horror.

’A-ah, n-no...’

She saw the vague figure of a boy with deep jet-black hair and grey eyes. He was holding a sword in his hand while looking at her.

And that look...

In the next moment, he raised his blade and stabbed it straight into her chest.

"Aagghhh!!!"

Evangeline suddenly opened her eyes, covered in sweat and panting heavily.

"Huff... huff..."

As she looked around, she saw the interior of her room dimly lit and the scenery beyond the window still dark. Feeling the softness of the bed, her breathing slowly stabilized as she came to a realization.

’It was a dream...’

She pressed both hands against her face.

"Ugh..."

Even after realizing that it was a dream, the emotions and sensations she had experienced lingered in her mind.

Getting out of bed, she came to stand in front of the large mirror in her room, looking at herself.

Five years had passed since that assassination incident, and Evangeline had now turned fifteen.

She had grown significantly taller, so much so that people would have a hard time calling her a kid anymore. She was nearly the same height as her mother at this point.

Her baby fat had completely disappeared, giving her face a more mature look. Her pinkish-purple hair had grown significantly longer. Sadly, it was hard to manage, so she was forced to cut her precious long hair to her waist’s length.

In the dimly lit room, her violet eyes almost seemed as though they were glowing.

At this point, she had grown from being a kid to being a girl. She had nearly caught up to her growth in her previous life.

’I was supposed to have a grand banquet for my birthday where all the nobles of the empire were to be invited, but...’

There was no way something like that was going to be held after what happened five years ago. That incident apparently shook the entire noble society to its very core.

And the effect of that had yet to settle down.

Looking at her reflection, Evangeline tried to stretch her lips into a bright smile. But what she managed was a forced, awkward smile.

Letting out a sigh, she turned away from the mirror.

After five years, Evangeline had become even prettier. But...

’So what?’

Opening the door, she stepped out of her room, offering a nod to the knight from House Ravenshade standing by her door. The female knight returned her nod and began following a few steps behind her.

As she was walking down the stairs, her mother, who was standing below, spotted her.

She spoke softly, but the concern mixed in her voice was hard to ignore.

"Baby, why are you out of bed so soon? The sun has barely risen. Wait, don’t tell me you’re going out this early."

Evangeline lowered her head without responding.

Her mother pursed her lips.

"At least... have breakfast before you go..."

Evangeline shook her head weakly.

"Sorry, Mama, but I’m not hungry yet."

Saying that, she continued walking.

She glanced at ‌her mother’s expression, and it was filled with concern. Seeing that expression made her chest feel heavy, but she still turned away.

Exiting the mansion, she approached the carriage and sat inside. The next moment, two more knights entered and sat across from her quietly. Without even asking where she wished to go, the carriage began moving.

And after a while, she finally arrived at her destination.

The Ravenshade estate.

Leaving the carriage, she didn’t go towards the mansion ahead. Instead, she walked through the path between the flower partitions and arrived at the clearing filled with grass.

She sat down with her back against the tree and closed her eyes. The dark sky above was slowly turning blue as the stars disappeared one after another.

Suddenly, she heard a whisper directly in her ear.

"Well, now, girl, aren’t you here too early?"

She briefly flinched, taken by surprise.

Evangeline turned her head to look at the man standing next to her. His reddish-brown hair was tied neatly behind, and gold-rimmed glasses rested on his nose.

He was wearing a plain white shirt and black pants, a contrast to the aristocratic high-collar coat he usually wore.

’Maybe he didn’t get the time to dress up since I came so early.’

Evangeline offered Master Avalon a nod.

"Good morning, Teacher. I hope you had a good sleep."

He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I can’t say the same about you, judging by how you look. Hmm... let me guess. Another nightmare?"

Evangeline smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.

"Today is finally the day, right?"

Seeing her trying to change the subject so blatantly, he let out a sigh and then nodded.

"Indeed, today is the day your five years’ worth of effort gets tested."

Evangeline took a deep breath.

She hadn’t forgotten the advice Adrian had given her in the carriage back then. If she were to learn sealing magic, she would be able to create magitools, which would be a great advantage to her and help her in many different ways.

And as she had been searching for a way to learn sealing magic, Master Avalon ‌had offered to teach her. She had accepted without much thought.

And after doing her best to learn from him for five years, today was the day she was going to test it.

Today, she was going to create magitools.

She took out the pouch attached to her waist and opened it, slowly taking out the contents.

After she took everything out, four gold bracelets and a beautiful silver tiara were now on the ground. Staring at them, Master Avalon made a strange expression.

He turned to her.

"Jewelry? Couldn’t you have brought something else for this?"

She smiled awkwardly.

"Making good tools requires good raw materials, so... um, I kinda brought them."

Of course, that wasn’t really the reason. They just happened to be what she could get her hands on most easily.

Master Avalon let out a tired sigh, then gestured to her as if saying, ’Go ahead.’

Evangeline sharpened her focus as a spell materialized on her left palm. It was the tier-one spell Wind Manipulation.

And on her right palm, a different spell began to materialize. Its structure itself looked very different from the other spells she had learned until now.

Instead of looking like a three-dimensional hologram of a constellation with multiple stars connected together by a string of bluish light, this spell had one big bluish ball of light in the center, and multiple light threads were extending from it in all directions, connecting to different smaller bluish stars.

This was a tier-three sealing spell, the lowest-tier spell of sealing magic.

It was already hard to continue maintaining both spells as sweat began forming on her forehead.

Gritting her teeth, she activated the sealing spell and sealed the wind manipulation spell into one of the gold bracelets.

Catching her breath, she looked at the bracelet with anticipation.

’Did it work?’