Rose was an empathetic person. She wore her heart on her sleeve sometimes, even if she tried to keep it hidden.
She was an understanding person as well. She was able to see things from all perspectives and take all things into account before making decisions or letting her emotions overrun her.
But that didn't mean she didn't get hurt.
It was extremely obvious to others how she felt about Damien's continuous long absences, especially when those absences were even longer inside the palace.
However, that was just Rose.
Out of Damien's wives, she was likely the one who missed him the most consistently.
The rest of them all had their own thoughts.
Elena…really didn't mind much.
No matter how much time passed, nobody saw her get dispirited. Nobody saw her missing him. Rather, with every day he remained gone, she got stronger and more determined.
Obviously, the two things weren't directly related, but that was how it looked to outsiders.
Some questioned Elena's feelings for her husband and their Young Lord, but those who mattered like her sisters and her in-laws, Claire, Serena, Hugo, and Persia, didn't raise a fuss.
They knew more than anyone else that those uninvolved people were having a huge misunderstanding.'
And they rightfully corrected them and silenced those voices.
Elena let them speak because they didn't bother her. No matter what they said, it wouldn't be able to affect her bond with her husband.
It was just that the bond they had didn't manifest in a traditional way, at least not to those of the palace.
Elena's ambitions and Damien's weren't that different. Rose and Ruyue also had a desire for strength, and Iris was already far ahead of the three of them, but none of them could really match Elena.
Her competitive spirit wasn't something to be underestimated. When she saw Damien improving at such a fast pace, she didn't get discouraged. She got motivated.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtElena wanted to be something on her own just as much as she wanted to be something with Damien.
For her, whether he appeared or not this was the exact position she'd be in.
In the Heavenly World, as a Divinity, preparing to become something even more.
If Damien didn't exist in her life, she'd still be here. The couldn't be said about Rose, who gained her motivation from Damien, or Iris, who gained confidence from him.
However, that didn't change the fact that she loved him.
She truly cared for him more than anyone else. She loved him just like her sisters and would never feel the same way about anyone else.
It was just that their love wasn't the kind that needed constant nurturing and physical touch.
Their love transcended those bounds. The two of them would always know how each other felt. No matter how much time passed or what the two of them were doing, they would always be there when the other was in need.
Elena wanted to do things outside her relationship with Damien. She wanted personal success just as she wanted success for them as a group.
So the fact that Damien wasn't ever present in her life anymore didn't bother her.
She put her head down and trained, focusing everything she had on her desire to become stronger.
She hadn't left the palace only because she didn't have a need to.
The time dilation was extremely convenient in allowing her to manage her time, and with all the facilities present within the palace walls, she was able to train in an environment she had control over.
This was great for rapid progress. She could experience danger and she could learn how to manipulate her laws with absolute precision.
It was because of the various simulations and rifts the palace had control over that she was able to ascend through the ranks of Divinity so rapidly.
She, Rose, and Ruyue were on equal footing in terms of power when they first arrived here, but at this point, Elena was confident she could beat either in a fight.
Though, it wouldn't be an easy fight.
'Who am I kidding. It wouldn't even be an assured victory.'
Rose and Ruyue were scary people. They might not have had the same motivations as her, but that didn't mean they weren't training hard too.
'Plus, Rose is crazy.'
Rose's training methods were…not something another person could handle.
She and Ruyue had gone extremely broad in their Divinities. Rose was trying to control reality itself, while Ruyue wanted all elements of yin in her grasp.
Unlike them, Elena had chosen to follow a more constrained path. She wanted to take a single concept to its absolute limit and transcend it.
This meant that she wasn't as versatile as the two, but it also meant that the potency of her attacks couldn't be compared with theirs.
'The problem is…'
…she hadn't been outside in a long time.
It was the exact reason she could stand proud as a level 550 Demigod who could fight above her rank, but now that such a long time had passed, it was only inhibiting her.
She needed real-world experience. She needed real danger, real death around her so that she could advance beyond this level.
As someone who'd personally experienced it, Elena knew the value of danger just as well as the next expert.
The things one could discover when control was removed from the situation, when life and death were ambiguous, were absolutely monstrous in comparison to what one could learn within the confines of their own security.
If there was anything Elena was sure of, it was that her power wasn't just a showpiece. It needed to be used properly, or there was never a point in having it at all.
Originally, she planned to slip out of the palace on her own and figure things out from there, but she didn't get that chance.
Though, the reason brought a smile to her face.
'Damn. He read me.'
She was currently looking at a plan that had been made not long ago.
It was a deployment of various powerful forces with the goal of destroying the core forces of the Straea Clan.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAnd included on that list was her very name. Not just on a little Demigod, but on an entire group of five.
She wasn't given a team, she wasn't given any special orders.
Damien's intent was clear.
"Go and have fun with them. Just keep me updated."
'Really…' she thought, her smile growing wider.
'I fell in love with the right man.'
Freedom and independence, the things she valued, were never taken from her.
Instead, he was always by her side, pushing her forward and helping her improve.
'Then, I can't disappoint him, can I?'
The gift Damien had prepared was a good appetizer, but it wasn't Elena's entire purpose for leaving the palace.
No, she had a personal quest that she'd yet to complete.
Every clue she'd found led to this place, to the Heavenly World, yet she hadn't heard a single peep about them since she'd come here.
The Valkyries.
Elena's people, including her parents…
What happened to them?
And where could they possibly be?
These were questions she needed answered.
And rather than waiting for them to reveal themselves…
…she was going to find them herself.
That was something she'd sworn to herself from the moment she embarked on her path to strength.