Tangled By Fate

480 THE BLOOD OF THE DRAGON

“You already fed her the antidote. Why isn’t she waking up yet?”

At Ovior’s question, Urulas looked at him.

“You do realize that I just fed her the medicine, right?” he mentioned. “I understand how you are feeling but please have some patience. If she is lucky then she’ll wake up within a week.”

“That long?” Arthur furrowed his eyebrow.

He was busy wiping the corner of Veronica’s mouth as the reddish-orange liquid was dripping from her that area.

Urulas explained, “When I was young, I used to go to the library to study. We have information about Goddess Juvena and the blessed child.

“From what I read from the scrolls, the Blood of the Dragon takes a good amount of time to heal the blessed child if she is seriously injured.

“From my point of view, Veronica has… nearly lost her life. If what I know is true then it should take time.”

Arthur looked at Ovior and instructed him, “Have Catherine and Sebastian guard her.”

.....

Afterward, his body disappeared right in front of everyone.

“Where is he running off to?” Darius wondered.

“Can’t you tell?” Ovior squinted his eyes. “He’s going to bring his golden staff.”

“…”

Others became silent.

They stared at Veronica, waiting for her to open her eyes, but there was no improvement.

Some time later, Ovior stated, “I’m going to get Catherine.” Then, he disappeared as well, teleported to his office.

After Veronica fell into bed, Ovior was madly trying to find a cure.

However, his work was piling up and so, Catherine didn’t have time to worry about her best friend. She had to be stuck in Ovior’s office and do the paperwork all by herself.

When Ovior appeared in his office, he saw a tired Catherine.

‘She must be working non-stop without getting enough sleep since I didn’t help her these past few days,’ he thought.

He told her, “Catherine, you can take a break now.”

Catherine looked at him with her tired blue eyes.

“Huh? Why? I can finish in three days.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll take care of them. You can go to Veronica’s room. She needs you there.”

Catherine jumped out of her seat.

“What… what do you mean?”

Her face paled as she imagined the worst.

“It’s not what you are thinking. Some elves came and gave Veronica an antidote. I have nothing to do there.

“Since they will look after her, I want you to stay there until she recovers.

“And, don’t let them do anything harmful to Veronica. Be careful around them.”

Catherine placed a hand on her chest. Relief waved in her heart.

“So, she has been cured. Thank goodness!”

She had been worried sick when she heard about Veronica.

However, she knew she couldn’t do anything to save her. She knew nothing about medicine.

Thus, she told Ovior not to worry about work because she would handle it.

Instead, he could focus on making medicine for her friend.

She drowned herself in working to forget her worry for Veronica but it barely worked.

Whenever she took a break, she kept thinking about her sick friend.

As a result, she hardly rested and focused on finishing her tasks.

Now that she heard about the current situation, she felt a heavy weight lift her shoulders.

After she let Ovior know what part of the work she was done with and the work that was important to finish, she was ready to leave.

“I’ll go to her now…”

“Wait, before you go, take Sebastian with you. Arthur asked the two of you to guard her,” Ovior told her from behind.

Catherine stiffened. It had been a while since she had met him and their last encounter wasn’t great.

“…Sure, I’ll do that. Do you know where he is?”

“Not a clue.” Ovior rubbed his head as if he was having a headache. His headache got worse as he looked at the papers.

“Okay, thank you!” Catherine went out.

At first, she went to the training hall. She didn’t find him there. Then, she went to his room, library, and dining hall but he was nowhere to be found.

When she was about to give up looking for him, she spotted him downstairs among the guards and magicians.

After hesitating for a moment, she called out softly, “Sebastian?”

Sebastian instantly turned around. His lips parted, showing that he was surprised by her sudden visit.

Catherine nervously walked closer.

“Arthur wants us to guard Veronica,” she spoke in a low voice so that only Sebastian heard her.

“Sure, let’s go,” Sebastian easily agreed.

He talked to his comrades and then went along with Catherine.

The two of them were quiet in the magic elevator. Their silence grew longer and it created an awkward environment.

They reached Veronica and Arthur’s bedroom.

The moment they opened the door, they found three elves along with Zinnia, Darius and Felix.

Although Catherine heard about the elves, she was momentarily surprised.

Soon, she looked at her friend and her eyes teared up.

“Oh, Ver,” she walked closer and sat on the bed. She held Veronica’s hand and shivered.

“Why is her hand still cold? Isn’t she recovering?” she asked.

“You must be Catherine. Yes, we think she is recovering but we haven’t seen any improvement yet.”

When Urulas answered her, Catherine was stunned.

“You don’t know if your medicine works or not? Then, we should do something!”

As she panicked, Zinnia patted her shoulder.

“There is no cure for this poison. They said it was the witch curse. It makes a woman infertile and then kills her.”

Zinnia’s words made it worse for Catherine. She became scared and nervous.

“Oh, Ver, how can I help you? Can you never give birth to a child? Will you never wake up?

“Please open your eyes. I beg you! I can’t stand looking at you when you are like this!”

She sobbed while she begged.

Darius and the rest felt sad. Arthur barely showed his weakness to them.

The first time someone expressed their sadness for Veronica so explicitly that it broke their hearts.

“I’ll go outside and see if Arthur needs help. Call me if you need me,” saying that Darius hurriedly went out of the room.

Felix went out as well.

Zinnia tried to calm Catherine down, “She will recover. She will most certainly recover.”

She also felt bad for Catherine. After all, Veronica and Catherine grew up together.

They were more than just friends. They were practically family.

Urulas understood how much Catherine cared for Veronica. His gaze softened.

He politely told her, “Pray to Goddess Juvena. Only she can help. Plead to her with everything you have.”

As everyone did their best to convince her, Catherine finally wiped off her tears.

.....

“I’ll pray. I’ll definitely pray,”

After Zinnia saw Catherine closing her eyes and began praying silently, she looked at Sebastian and signaled him to go out of the room.

When they went out of the bedroom, Zinnia said, “You have to keep an eye on the elves while checking Veronica’s condition.

“If it gets better or worse, you must send a signal to Ovior.”

“I’ll do as you wish,” Sebastian stated.

“Also, is everything okay between you and Catherine?”

Sebastian was startled by the sudden question but he immediately composed himself.

“…Yes… I don’t see a problem.”

Zinnia helplessly shook her head. “I know it’s a bit awkward between you two but try to get along with each other for Veronica’s sake. You can do that, right?”

“Yes, I can,” Sebastian nodded.

Zinnia was relieved to hear that.

“Good. We will be gone for a couple of days. Arthur won’t be there either.

“However, if something happens, like something really bad, you must contact me. I’ll pass the information to Arthur.”

“I will.”

“Great. See you later.”

Sebastian waited until Zinnia left and then went back inside the room.

He scanned the room. He noticed a bloody smell and frowned.

‘Whose blood?’ he wondered.

“Is someone injured?” he asked the elves.

Urulas and his companions only shook their heads slightly. Afterward, they got busy with their work.

They wanted to research more about the Blood of the Dragon and Veronica’s condition.

It wasn’t the first time a blessed child was critically ill.

However, there were barely any notes about their conditions after they took the antidote from Blood of the Dragon.

That’s the reason why they didn’t want to waste this opportunity.

Sebastian watched them doing research.

On the other hand, Catherine prayed. She was holding Veronica’s hand while praying.

As she prayed, Veronica’s hand suddenly dropped.

She was startled.

“Ver?” She panicked and nervously looked at the elves. “She… her hand dropped on its own.”

Urulas checked Veronica’s pulse and his face was ashen.

“Her pulse… I can’t feel it anymore…” he stated with much difficulty.

Catherine was already in tears. “What… what do you mean??”

———

In the darkness, Veronica was praying. All of a sudden, she fell on the floor.

Her body weakened so much that she couldn’t move.

Saint Ava was right beside her. When she noticed that the person beside her wasn’t feeling well, she checked her condition.