Helena looked up with surprise, and as she recognized the individuals who had arrived, she hurried to bow.
However, one of the women caught her by her shoulders and stopped her, before taking her into an embrace and saying, "You left before I could rea.s.sure you. So this was why you were so worried?"
Hearing this, Dalia knew right away that this was the person who had told her mother about this news in the first place.
Both the women were extremely beautiful, and not for the first time, she couldn"t help but wonder and hope whether she would grow to become someone that could at least compare to these two princesses of the Kingdom.
However, this was not the time to dwell on those thoughts, so clearing her mind, she said, "Madam Eloise… I know the war is in a month, but like all those people, I want to help. What do I do? I thought that I could take the training and get ready in time… But that"s no longer possible. I… don"t want to take shelter while my friends are dying. I can"t do it. I can"t!"
She screamed the last part and burst into tears again, and seeing this, the woman that had accompanied the right-hand woman of the King walked forward with a concerned expression on her face and knelt to catch her by her shoulders.
Eloise had been about to speak, but seeing the one she had come with taking the lead, she stayed silent.
Wiping away the tears on Dalia"s face, the one who held her looked straight into her eyes and spoke.
"You want to be useful. I get it. But is that an excuse to be selfish? Your mother is obviously so worried about you… So why make her cry? A bond between a mother and a daughter is a precious thing. I thought I had one… But it turned out that I was being deceived for all my life."
The last sentence was said in a tone filled with so much pain that Dalia blinked with surprise, as she had never known that this woman, who was apparently also very close to the king, had such a painful past.
She could see the pain in her eyes, but after it lingered for a few seconds, the woman forcefully pushed it aside and spoke again.
"How about this? Let us reach an arrangement where both you and your mother can be happy. You will be safe, but you will be of use to the war effort. You see, the day that our dear G.o.dking was crowned, he created something… Miraculous, and gave the ten of us access to everything that it could do. One of the things that it is capable of… Is this."
Saying so, Xuan raised her hand and touched Dalia"s forehead.
A moment later, Helena saw her daughter"s eyes roll back, and with panic, she got up and looked at Eloise.
Eloise simply patted her back and hinted at her to wait. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Dalia"s eyes turned back to normal, before suddenly filling up with delight.
"Yes! I"ll do it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Jumping in joy, Dalia hugged Xuan, who laughed and gave her a kiss on her forehead before saying, "It was the least I could do to one of the first women who had a crush on the G.o.dking."
This brought a deep, red blush to Dalia"s cheeks, but it only lingered for a moment before the joy due to whatever had just happened flooded back.
Curtsying to both her and Eloise, she looked at her mother and said, "I need to go tell my friends about this! I"ll be safe, mom, so don"t worry about me! I"ll see you at home tonight!"
Seeing her skip out of the room, Helena was amazed.
Before she could ask, Xuan gave her the answer to her question.
"One of the functions of the G.o.dnet is a test which can be administered to anyone. It is capable of finding out the strengths of an individual. Surprisingly… Your daughter has exceptional talent in maintaining complex formations. She does not have the Mageroot necessary to gain a lot of power, but she has a high quotient of intelligence, which will allow her to be of quite some use to the mages, if she can put her talents to use. Thankfully, that is exactly what is going to happen. I told her that, and that all of her friends and even everyone on the continent would take the same test and find out the best way in which they could help, so she was overjoyed. Do you want to take it, too?"
Helena needed a few moments to process the information, but after she did, the same delightful smile appeared on her face.
Wasted talent was always one of the biggest reasons for an enterprise to fail, or not perform as well as it should. The fact that the G.o.dking was now able to ensure that this would not happen was very good news, so with excitement, she nodded, as she, too, wanted to find out whether she could do anything.
She had been afraid for her life and her daughter"s, but that wasn"t to say that she hadn"t wanted to help in the war, too. After all, she had also grown up with a fierce sense of loyalty to the G.o.dking, and now that it was time to protect the continent that had crowned him as their ruler, she wanted to take part, too.
Only, she had decided not to, as she had known that their power was puny, and that they would better serve if they helped out with things that were not related to the war.
Now that there was a chance, she decided that she wouldn"t waste it, but as she waited for Eloise or Xuan to walk forward and administer the test, neither moved, making her wonder if something was wrong.
Sure enough, a moment later, serious expressions came on both of their faces.
"3 intruders approach Angaria…from the Endless Sea. Helena, I"ll talk to you later."
As soon as Eloise said this, they both disappeared, leaving behind a dazed Angarian who began to question all the stories she had heard about the Endless Sea so far.