The Conquerors Path

The 'less' rich had to sit in a collective area while the 'super-rich' had their private area, only the ones with the most distinguished identities got to sit in that area, each and everyone that sat in that area looked powerful and important, the aura of nobility oozed out of them. Meanwhile, Nora and Austin sat in the super-rich area as they gazed into the place where the MC was going to arrive,

"Austin do you plan on buying anything?"

Nora who sat in a very porch looking chair spoke, right now her face was radiant and glowing, a hint of blush covered her face while a smile of satisfaction hung on her lips, to Nora this day had been one of her best, she indeed chose to hide her feelings but that doesn't mean that she can't enjoy the day can't she?.

Today Nora had discovered a lot about herself that she herself didn't know, most of Nora's time was either spent dealing with the faction, learning about the duchy, or increasing her strength, other than that her other only interest was the military but today she learned a whole new fun that she didn't know existed.

She loved waking the streets, she loved eating the sweets that today tasted sweeter than in the past, she loved shopping, as the excitement of it filled her body. All of this is possible due to the person beside her. Her eyes sneakily trailed over she gazed at Austin's profile, just spending time with him made her day go faster. The world seemed bright and anything she does felt fun.

She actually didn't want the day to end at all but sadly for her time wasn't her ally, in this case, all she could do was to keep this memory deep within her heart and never forget about it, replaying it whenever she would feel cold and lonely, in truth most of her determination was already crumbling, she didn't know what she would do if she lost control of herself,

'Am I taking the right path?'

Nora questioned herself, she chose to walk this path not only for herself but also for Austin as she didn't want him to suffer because of her but now her willpower was deeply shaken, right now Nora didn't know much about how Austin sees her ut she knew that she holds an extremely dear place in his heart, during this time whenever she smiled she could see that Austin would be attracted to it, falling into a daze or having a complex look.

She could tell that he was attracted to her a bit and that filled her with limitless happiness. She could tell that she had a chance but she still didn't know if she should take it, her desires and rationality were fighting against each other, one side wanted the warmth of love while the other side spoke to her about the disastrous effect of such choice,

'What do I do?'

Dazed a bit she kept looking at Austin who turned towards her saying no as he gave her the very familiar loving smile that always gets her heart going, she held back her desire to just jump and kiss him as she requested to go to the bathroom, Austin just smiled and nodded as Nora walked towards the nearest restroom.

As she kept walking she met an old woman with a mask on her face, her white hair was tied to a bun neatly, while her eyes showed the vicissitudes of life, some wrinkles could be seen at the edge of her eyes. She walked straight and upright, while the aura of power and nobility filled her, one look was enough to understand that this was a woman that held power in her hands for a long time, she kept walking through the hallway tapping her cane to the ground, just as she reached Nora she spoke,

"Excuse me, young lady"

"Yes?"

Nora asked back politely, to which the old woman gave a kind smile as she spoke,

"Would you be kind enough to tell me the direction to the nearest washroom"

"Sure you can follow me I am headed towards it"

Nora replied, to which the old woman nodded her head as she started to follow Nora walking beside her, as they kept walking some time later the old woman beside Nora looked at her for a moment before which she spoke,

"Having love problems?"

"Uh?"

That was the only reply that came out of Nora as she looked back at the woman with a surprised face, seeing it the woman's smile widened as she waved her hand nonchalantly,

"Don't be all that surprised just the look on your face is enough for me to understand the problem, I have been through it all after all"

"Sigh...yes I have some love problems"

Nora agreed, she needed someone to talk to about this, the woman in front of her looked experienced moreover she doesn't know about her identity and won't probably ever meet again, hence this was the perfect person for her to speak to, looking a bit lost Nora spoke,

"I-I do-don't know what I should do, I love him but in telling him so I might destroy something beautiful, moreover our love even might never see the day of the light, I-I told myself again and again that I would bury this feeling bu-but no matter what I do I can't forget him"

By the time it reached the last words, Nora's voice was trembling, her voice was weak and she looked as if she would collapse at this instant, all her doubt, fear, and sadness had blasted outside, poring to the old woman that she met for the first time, the old woman watched all this as she took her kerchief and washed off some of the tears in Nora's eyes,

"It has been hard for you child"

She comforted her as she patted Nora's back, it took some time before which Nora regained a bit of her cool, she smile weakly as she responded that she was okay, the old woman nodded her head before which she spoke,

"The answer to your question is simple"

"Wh-What is it?"

Nora asked with a light of hope in her eyes, the elderly woman took Nora's hand and she placed it near Nora's heart,

"Do as I say, close your eyes"

Hearing her Nora did the same, her eyes filled with darkness but the voice of the elderly woman was gentle as it continued,

"Now imagine the man your in love with"

Nora did the same, as the smiling image of Austin appeared in front of her, making her relaxed, just looking at him made her calm down,

"Now tell me how do you feel?"

"I feel happy"

"Good, now think of you and the man on a picnic as your children run across the ground"

Nora did the same as a vivid image appeared in her mind, Austin sitting on the lush green grass, with a basket of food around, she was there as she sat on his lap, smiling happily as she chatted with him. There in front of them were two children a boy and a girl as they ran across the grass, calling them mom and dad as they ran to them

Unknown to Nora the sweetest smile she ever had appeared on her face.