Chapter 607: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: The Final VII

"Your Highness, Diane is resting in bed. That’s why she wasn’t able to come here."

Willow replied calmly while lowering her head slightly.

The Queen’s eyes remained on the Holographic Screen.

On it...

Vera had just countered Maxwell’s attack.

The collision had produced another loud explosion, and the screen shook slightly as the image was filled with golden light, white Cognis, and pieces of dust rising from the damaged platform.

"Ehn... I want to see my cute sleeping beauty."

The Queen spoke with an unserious, almost whining tone.

Willow’s expression became slightly awkward.

A few of the people seated around the Queen also exchanged glances.

No one seemed quite sure how to respond to the Queen calling Diane her cute sleeping beauty in the middle of the Combat Festival.

The Queen, however, did not seem bothered.

Her attention returned to the screen as the image cleared enough for Vera and Maxwell to become visible again.

"Hmmm... Duchess Regina, haven’t you gotten the opportunity to know about little Vera’s ability to see the future?"

The Queen asked casually.

She watched the exact moment Vera moved against Maxwell’s attack.

The young Gun Alchemist shifted her body, redirected her firearms, and escaped the attack before the golden light swallowed her previous position.

Another explosion erupted.

The crowd reacted immediately.

Gasps and excited voices spread through the arena.

The Queen’s eyes remained fixed on the screen for another moment before she turned toward the First Duchess of Ashenlocke.

"Honestly, Your Highness, I don’t know anything about it."

Regina replied calmly.

Her posture remained composed, there was no attempt to hide the fact that she truly did not know anything about Vera’s future sight, since Vera or anyone had never told her about it.

"I also know nothing about it, Your Highness."

Duchess Hailey added.

Regina gave a small smile.

"Vera has always been the type to hide things that deeply dealt with her. It just shows how strong-willed of a lady she is."

She spoke simply, but her eyes remained on the screen.

The battlefield flashed again.

Golden light passed through a cloud of steam.

Veda quietly looked at the Duchess.

There was a faintly complicated expression in his eyes.

He knew what Regina was saying was true.

Vera had never been someone who easily exposed the things she kept inside.

Even when she was worried, she rarely allowed anyone to see it.

Even when something troubled her, she usually dealt with it herself.

There were things Vera had never told her family.

There were things she had never told people close to her.

And there were things that even Veda, despite being her brother, had never been allowed to understand.

The Queen shifted her attention toward him.

"Hmm, I guess it’s the same for you, Young Lord of Ash."

Veda straightened slightly.

"Sadly, Your Highness, it is the same for me."

He replied while lowering his head respectfully.

The Queen nodded.

"Well, from what we are seeing now, Your Highness, it solidifies the rumor."

The Head of the Nebula Royal Alchemist Branch spoke calmly.

Her eyes remained on the Holographic Screen.

She had been following Vera’s movements carefully.

"The only questions is how she’s able to do it, what led to her being able to see the future, and how far she can see."

Her gaze sharpened as she looked at Vera on the screen.

That question had existed for years.

It had been one of the main questions surrounding Vera ever since the King made the statement that she might possess the ability to see the future.

At first, the rumor had spread quickly.

People had whispered about it in noble circles.

Some believed it.

Others thought it was simply another story created around a talented child from the Ashenlocke House.

But as time passed and no clear proof appeared, the rumor gradually became quieter.

It never completely disappeared.

People simply stopped talking about it as loudly.

After all, Vera herself had never shown any interest in helping them prove it.

Whenever someone asked her whether she could see the future, she always gave the same answer.

’I only see the Present.’

Nothing more.

No denial.

No acceptance.

Just those words.

The usual Vera reply.

It was enough to leave people wondering, but never enough to give them anything they could use as proof.

And the truth was that Vera’s ability to see the future was not exactly how people thought it was.

Since Vera was born, there had been many things she discovered about herself that seemed unnatural.

One of them was the strange distance between the emotions she understood and the emotions she could actually reproduce.

She could understand what people were feeling.

She could recognize fear.

She could recognize anger.

She could recognize sadness.

She could understand happiness.

Yet there was always something missing when it came to her own expression of those emotions.

But that was not the only strange thing about her.

Vera eventually realized that she could read people’s exact thoughts simply by looking at their facial expressions.

Even when someone wore a poker face, she could still see through the mask.

A slight movement around the eyes.

The tension around the mouth.

The position of the eyebrows.

The way someone held their shoulders.

Those little things were enough for her to understand what was happening inside their mind.

She could look at someone and get a read on what their thoughts held.

But that was only the start of the ability growing within her.

***

Years back, in the Ashenlocke Estate...

"Blergh!"

The sound of someone vomiting echoed through a dark bathroom.

There were no lights switched on.

Only the weak light from outside the room slipped through the partially opened door, leaving most of the bathroom covered in darkness.

"Blergh!"

Vera gripped the toilet seat tightly.

Her small fingers were wrapped around the edge so hard that her knuckles had turned pale.

More vomit poured from her mouth.

Her breathing was uneven.

Her eyes were surrounded by dark bags, and her face looked even paler than usual.

She looked like she had not slept properly for days.

The door to her room opened.

At first, there were only gentle footsteps.

Then they became faster.

"Vera."

Aurora called her daughter’s name as she rushed into the bathroom.

Her voice carried immediate panic.

Vera slowly turned her head.

Her dull black eyes found her mother.

Aurora stopped for a moment when she saw her daughter.

Then her expression changed completely.

"Vera..."

The maids who had followed her quickly entered the room.

One of them immediately turned on the lights.

The bathroom was suddenly illuminated.

Aurora could now see Vera clearly.

Her daughter was still gripping the toilet seat.

Her body was hunched over.

Her breathing was weak.

Her face looked exhausted.

It was not the normal tiredness of a child who had stayed awake too long.

Vera looked mentally drained.

There was barely any life in her expression.

"Call the Duke and the Count of Laverdale now! Cough! Cough!"

Aurora shouted at the maids.

The force of her voice caused her body to react badly.

She suddenly covered her mouth.

Blood came up with her cough.

Aurora froze for a moment.

Her right hand held the white folded handkerchief she had been carrying.

She pressed it against her mouth.

When she lowered it slightly, a clear stain of blood had spread across the white fabric.

The maid nearest to her immediately looked worried.

But Aurora did not pay attention to herself.

Her eyes remained on Vera.

"Blergh!"

Vera vomited again.

Aurora immediately knelt beside her.

"Calm down, my baby. Your Mother is here."

Her hand moved over Vera’s back.

She rubbed it slowly, trying to help her daughter breathe.

Her expression was filled with worry.

The second maid had already rushed out of the room to pass along the order Aurora had given.

Becky and Vera’s other maids soon arrived after receiving the call from Aroura’s First Maid.

The small bathroom quickly became crowded.

Several people stood nearby, unsure of what they could do.

One brought water.

Another prepared towels.

Another remained close to the door in case the Duke arrived.

Aurora continued rubbing Vera’s back.

She did not stop.

Finally, after some time, Vera stopped vomiting.

Her body seemed to lose what little strength remained in it.

The maids carefully helped move her from the bathroom to the bed.

Vera was placed down.

Her eyes remained open.

She stared quietly at the adults around her.

She did not cry.

She did not complain.

She simply watched.

Not long afterward, Duke Valentine arrived.

Count Thomas Laverdale, who happened to be around the Ashenlocke Estate, arrived with him.

Valentine entered the room and immediately looked toward Aurora.

"How is her condition?"

His voice remained calm, but his eyes showed faint concern.

Aurora looked devastated.

Her hands were trembling slightly.

"What... what if she has my sickness?"

The words escaped her almost as a whisper.

She looked toward Vera.

The fear in her eyes deepened.

"What if she becomes like me?"

Aroura’s voice shook.

She already knew what her own condition was doing to her body.

She was slowly dying.

The possibility that Vera could suffer from the same sickness terrified her more than anything else.

"Calm down. Let Thomas check her."

Valentine knelt beside Aurora.

He placed a hand on her shoulder.

The gesture was steady, as if he were trying to keep her from collapsing under her own fear.

Count Thomas Laverdale immediately moved toward Vera.

He pulled on his medical gloves and stretched his hand toward her.

With his other hand, he controlled the medical equipment he needed from his space bag.

Several pieces of equipment floated out, dropping carefully on the bed.

Vera watched him quietly.

Thomas began examining her.

He checked her condition carefully.

He observed her breathing.

He examined her blood flow.

Then he focused on her brain.

Minutes passed.

The room remained quiet except for the occasional movement of the medical equipment.

Aurora stood nearby.

She kept looking at Vera.

Every few seconds, her eyes moved toward Thomas as if she wanted him to give her an answer immediately.

Eventually, Thomas finished his examination.

He adjusted his gloves.

"Vera is stabilized now."

He spoke calmly.

He then sat down on a chair that one of the maids had brought into the room.

Aroura’s expression tightened.

"That’s what you said the last time, but here we are."

Her voice nearly became angry.

"And Vera hasn’t even awakened control of her Cognis, yet her Cognis is already running wild like this?!"

Thomas lowered his head slightly.

"That is my fault, and I apologize for that, Duchess Aroura."

His voice remained calm.

"But that was the only explanation I had for the sudden traces of gathered Cognis in her brain. At that time."

He paused.

"It was a strange sight."

Thomas looked toward Vera.

"But now I understand what is happening."

Aurora frowned at him, not buying any of his words.

"Calm down, Aroura."

Valentine spoke quietly.

"What we need to know now is why this is happening to her."

Aurora closed her eyes for a moment.

She took a slow breath.

"I’m sorry."

She replied as she forced herself to calm down.

Thomas nodded.

"So, what I noticed while checking her is the surge of Cognis rapidly flowing back to certain parts of her brain."

He rested one hand against his knee as he continued explaining what he had discovered.

"The Cognis is gathering in a very specific area."

Aurora looked at him.

"So, it’s the same Cognis reversal going on again?"

Her voice still carried more worry than calmness.

Thomas shook his head.

"Not anymore."

He turned toward Vera.

The young girl was still quietly looking at the adults in her room.

Her expression remained plain.

She did not seem to fully understand what they were discussing.

Or perhaps she understood more than they thought.

"At first, I believed it was Cognis reversal."

Thomas paused.

"But now I feel like the Cognis was naturally doing something more to the parts of her brain that deal with imagination and memory."

His eyes became more serious.

"The hippocampus, visual cortex, and prefrontal cortex in Vera’s brain seem to be going through a phenomenon caused by the gathering Cognis inside them."

Thomas Laverdale looked quietly toward Duke Valentine.

His expression had become serious.

The room fell silent.

Aurora looked toward Vera.

Vera continued to sit quietly on the bed, her pale face showing little emotion as she looked at the adults surrounding her.

None of them yet understood what this would eventually become.

But something inside Vera’s mind had already begun to change.