Chương 26: A Direct Order

"That look in her eyes… I've seen one too many veterans with it. You need to give her something to do. Anything. Anything that'll give her a reason to live. It still might not work, but the only ones I've ever seen recover are the ones that found a new purpose." An hour had already passed since Vittorio whispered those words to Alicia's ears. Alicia, who didn't have any ideas what to do just yet to help Helen, simply suggested that she go help out her sister Lyra at work today as a stopgap measure.

Now, Alicia wasn't so clueless as to not realize that Helen was hurting, because since Alicia rescued her, she always locked herself in her room. Whenever she came out, Helen always had that dim, fading light in her eyes. Of course, considering her situation before being rescued—and Alicia nearly gagged at simply thinking about it—it was natural that Helen would be mentally distressed, even if many months already passed.

Unfortunately, simply because there were too many things to take care of, Alicia didn't intervene. She largely just hoped that Helen would pull herself out of misery on her own. After all, she was a general of the Vael Royal Army and a prestigious one at that. She was the most powerful person in Orevogorsk, excluding Alicia. But that hope was clearly a false one. As Vittorio said, Helen wasn't getting any better. In fact, she was getting worse. Something had to be done. But, right now…

"Current wrought iron output is outpaced by demand. If I cannot acquire a further 1, 000 ironworkers, I will have to increase the shifts of the existing—" Alicia dropped the report paper sent by Maxim. She couldn't continue reading it. There were still piles and piles of paper on her desk that she had to attend to, and later, she was supposed to go to Lorienval again to continue moving in new machine parts for the glass factory she opened.

Yesterday, some of the workers messed up and broke the machine used to press glass, so not only would Maxim have to retrain and drill them, Alicia had to go find replacement parts from Lorienval. But, after seeing Helen's condition up close, such problems became secondary. She could barely even think about them for the past hour anyway, simply because her mind kept wandering to Helen. The last thing Alicia wanted was for someone to just end themselves because she was far too negligent. And so, Alicia stood up.

She hadn't used this spell much just yet, but this was as good a time as any to try it. Casting [Invisibility] on herself, Alicia left Wintervale to go track Lyra and Helen. Her plan was to shadow the two of them so she could see for herself if there was a solution to be found by simply attaching Lyra to Helen. After all, they were very close sisters, extremely so, considering their age. Alicia knew that Helen cared a lot for Lyra and loved her, so she should appreciate company time with her little sister.

Another thing that made this idea of hers ingenious was that Alicia knew how bright and cheerful Lyra was, that making people smile was in her nature. This should help, Alicia thought. It had to help. As she flew to get close to them, she hoped in her heart that she was right. But, by the time that Alicia caught up with Lyra and Helen, things weren't going well. While Lyra was conducting her usual job of inspecting establishments and talking to people, Helen seemed reserved and distant.

Somewhat, Alicia expected that the two would work together, thus improving their bond, but instead, Lyra did everything, and Helen simply watched from the sideline. The worst part was when Helen was introduced by Lyra to Boris. Their little exchange seemed to have affected both sisters negatively, so even Lyra seemed hurt by Helen's cold reaction to Boris. By the time it was over, Alicia watched as Helen was completely isolated, staring blankly at the streets as she stood a few yards away from Boris and Lyra.

Just seeing it made Alicia curl her fist as she realized that her initial plan probably made things even worse. Giving her the chance to see the new world Alicia was building for them and the chance to work with her sister only made Helen retreat further into her shell. The only noteworthy break for this was when Helen saved a young boy that fell from a tree. Even when she was down and miserable, it was clear that Helen was a natural protector. I can't let someone like her continue down this path.

She vowed after seeing that scene. While following them as the day wound down, Alicia wracked her brain to come up with a solution. Unfortunately, even with all the information she gathered about Helen and her only connection, Lyra, Alicia came up empty. She'd probably have to go and pull out Vittorio from his militia duties to get insights about this. After all, he was the war veteran here, not Alicia.

He should be able to understand Helen better and what she needed, since it was he who figured out that Helen was suicidal in the first place. But… That draco's hopeless too. I bet he's just going to propose that I add Helen to his militia. After all, he was already rapidly expanding and militarizing the territorial militia. Adding Helen, a powerful woman and a former general of the royal army, was definitely something that Vittorio might think as a potential way to strengthen the militia.

His words returned to Alicia's mind.

"You need to give her something to do." Alicia frowned. Vittorio was truly a sly schemer, even when he appeared concerned for someone. But Alicia wouldn't have it. Lyra had already once requested of Alicia to never send her big sister to war again, because Helen was apparently never fond of fighting in the first place. Alicia intended to honor that request. Not just because Alicia listened to her loyal secretary's words, but because she also believed that Helen already fought enough for Vael.

The last place that Helen and Lyra visited was an old gargoyle man who recently moved in. So far, the only thing that Alicia knew about him was that his name was Mikhail and that he was a former member of the Regency Council. He was even scheduled for a visit at Alicia's office, as apparently, according to Lyra, Mikhail had many proposals for Orevogorsk and that was the reason why he wanted to meet Alicia. It seemed that Lyra was unable to wait for it, though, as she visited him for an interview in advance.

So, this Councilor Mikhail knows Helen too? Alicia followed them all closely as they entered Mikhail's house. It was extremely shameful for Alicia to sneak inside a private residence just to listen to their personal business, but this was an extreme crisis, and thus, extreme measures were needed. That shame, however, quickly evaporated and turned into hope as Alicia listened and watched. At first, Mikhail and Helen barely talked to each other, as Mikhail prepared tea and biscuits for the two women.

At some point, as Lyra and Mikhail talked further about his proposals, Mikhail began including Helen in the conversation. Of course, Helen was largely only speaking with one-word responses at the start, but it seemed that Mikhail was good at managing people, even the miserable ones.

He talked at length about how Orevogorsk was going to be the future of Vael, as he understood the importance of human industry and the difficulty of even copying an ounce of their newer technologies, something that was somehow only made possible by the 'peculiar' lord of Orevogorsk. He also spoke a lot about children and how important it was to shape the next generation of this town well.

All while doing this, he asked questions from Helen and let her speak out, bit by bit, until Helen was partially participating in the conversation. At last, Mikhail talked at length about his proposal of creating a school at Orevogorsk and about the fact that he needed capable people to run it. Suddenly, in the middle of it, Helen spoke a little bit more about her opinions on this project. Instead of being asked, she began to initiate, giving insights on her own. That…

that was something Alicia naturally noted as important. Somehow, throughout this day, during observation, it was only Mikhail and his proposed school project that managed to elicit this kind of response from Helen. Unfortunately, it was short-lived, and Helen eventually returned to her shell. Afterward, Lyra and Helen naturally left, and Alicia noticed that Mikhail's jolly face disappeared the moment the two sisters were gone.

Lighting up a pipe filled with tobacco, the grand magi sat on a chair on his lawn, staring at the sky with a solemn look on his face. Even he must have realized what was happening to Helen. Night fell in Orevogorsk. Since Alicia wasn't finished yet with her plans for Helen, she stopped observing the woman the moment she went to her bedroom. Instead, Alicia summoned Vittorio briefly to talk to him about Helen.

Alicia pressed the war veteran about any ideas on how to help Helen, as he was the one who first recognized her suicidal symptoms. Unfortunately for her, as she suspected, Vittorio's solution was far too simplistic.

"Assign her to my militia," Vittorio said curtly inside Alicia's office.

"She's an extremely powerful military woman, a hero of Vael. The militia is the natural option."

"..."

"This way, she'll be able to serve Vael again. We will make good use of her strength. We will give her a good reason to live—to fight for Vael. It is honorable, just, and something she's good at."

"Vittorio, you're dismissed," Alicia said, ending Vittorio's speech. The draco's eyes tensed up for a second, but he relented.

"As you wish, Your Grace." Vittorio briskly bowed before stiffly turning around and leaving. He was polite and, as ever, like a robot who only knew how to follow orders. He didn't even make an objection or protest about Alicia's staunch rejection of his proposal. All he did was give his proposal, explain its merits, and wait for Alicia's decision. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work! He was a military officer through and through. Alicia heaved a sigh.

She truly should not have expected much more from Vittorio. As far as she knew, Vittorio somewhat suffered too from emotional distress due to his experiences at war. His response to that, however, was to double down at being more guarded about his emotions and further devoting himself to the nation as a stone-cold soldier. He must be assuming that the same could be done for Helen. But they're nowhere close. Unlike Helen, Vittorio is a veteran who was never captured and is still stubbornly fighting to this day.

His will to fight, his will to live on and struggle for Vael—it was all still fiercely lit up, never extinguished. Whatever horrors he experienced or saw was still something that this part of him could overcome. Helen wasn't the same. There was no fight left in those dead eyes of hers. Her captors already took that away. Vittorio would never light that up again by forcing her to fight. She would never fit in his militia. In that case, I need to meet tomorrow with Mikhail. Alicia looked up at her ceiling.

Then, I'll make Helen work with him. They seem to get along well anyway, and Mikhail seems to understand Helen better than anyone else. Maybe I can have her work with him. She cursed the fact that mental therapy wasn't her expertise. She could never heal a wounded heart at all. The best that she could do was to give people the opportunity to help themselves. Nothing more. Her musings stopped when she caught sight of something in her peripheral vision.

Alicia quickly stood up, ran to her balcony, and saw Helen disappearing into the night. She seemed like she was headed for the woods. She immediately understood what was happening. So, she flew up high, shadowing Helen from behind. The succubus was fast and stealthy, and she was rapidly getting away from Orevogorsk. It was clear that she wanted to do the deed as far away as she could and hide it.

Just watching from above, it hurt Alicia's heart to see someone be in such despair that she wouldn't even want anyone to look or mourn for her. Unfortunately for Helen, however, Alicia was already vigilantly watching. When Helen reached a secluded area in the forest, Alicia suddenly landed in front of her. The succubus froze upon laying eyes on Alicia, her eyes wide in shock.

"Y-Your Grace?"

"Whatever you're planning, I'm not going to let you do it," Alicia said, her red eyes locking on Helen's.

"I'm sorry. You will not die under my watch." Helen was silent for a while as her face contorted into red-hot anger.

"Who do you think you are…?" Helen asked.

"Who are you to decide what I'll do with my life?" Alicia refused to answer that.

"You can't stop me!" Helen shouted.

"No, you shouldn't stop me! Everyone, even me, will be better off if I'm gone!" Still, Alicia didn't reply. That only further angered Helen. As if the weather responded to Helen's cries, Alicia felt a sudden drop in temperature around the forest. The ground turned icy, and the leaves rapidly shriveled up as a thin layer of ice appeared on the trees. Around Helen, hundreds of icicles, sharp and ready to kill, appeared. All of them were aimed toward her.

Unfortunately for her, when she sent the icicles hurling straight to herself, Alicia fired off an equal amount of [Fire Rods] at each icicle, melting and negating her attack.

"What…" Helen stared at Alicia incredulously.

"What are you—?"

"I already told you, I can't let you kill yourself," Alicia bitterly said.

"I'm sorry." Without warning, Helen began using up all of her mana to fire attack spell after attack spell at herself. Unfortunately for her, a greater mage was in front of her. Every ice attack, even her clumsiest attempts at using other elemental magic, failed, as Alicia used their opposite spells to counter them. When Helen's magic was tapped out, and the forest around them was nothing but an icy, devastated wasteland, Helen ran at one of the frozen trees to bash her head as hard as she could on it.

But when she tried to do so, a bubble-like barrier was activated, and she bounced off harmlessly. Shivering, cold, miserable, and in tears, Helen cried out at the skies. Instead of cursing Alicia, she just begged for someone to end it all. Throughout it, she even once begged the goddess of mankind, Letia, to just take her away because she killed so many of her children anyway. But none of that happened. Instead, Helen fell on her knees in front of Alicia, crying powerlessly.

"Why are you doing this…?" Helen weakly sobbed.

"Don't you understand? I'm useless, I have no future, and I'm just a drag to everyone else. So, please…" Helen pathetically placed her forehead on the ground in front of Alicia.

"Just kill me…" She planted her head over and over again on the ground, begging for a mercy kill. Stripped of everything she had, this was the true form of the Hero of Vael —a woman begging pathetically on the ground. Alicia's hand crumpled into a fist, trembling as she watched this display. It was wrong. Everything about this was wrong.

"Helen…" Alicia kneeled to her level. Then, without an ounce of hesitation, she hugged her tightly. Helen, of course, protested this, but Alicia just hugged her further, patting her back slightly.

"Please don't push me away. You need this."

"Your Grace…" Helen teared up further.

"And don't call me that way. Call me Alicia. Just Alicia. This isn't the time for pointless formalities." For many minutes, the two women stayed still on a half-frozen wasteland that the Warsong General created. Helen sobbed, while Alicia kept hugging her, not saying anything. She waited until Helen's tears ran out, and her eyes began to dry. When that was done, Alicia pulled away from the hug, but her hands remained firmly on Helen's shoulders.

"... Can we talk for a bit?" Alicia asked.

"Ever since I saved you, we hadn't had the time to talk one-to-one. It's long overdue."

"Why?" Helen asked, her voice weak and full of sorrow.

"Why are you doing this? There's no practical reason for this. You have a town to run. You're wasting your time on someone hopeless." Alicia sighed. As she had expected, there was no way for her to convince Helen that there was a worthy reason for her to continue living. So, Alicia steeled herself. If this was the only option… Then so be it.

"Okay." Alicia's gaze sharpened.

"I'll do this in a language you'll understand then. When I saved you from Veligrod, I took an extremely great risk for myself. You and Lyra, the both of you, have a great debt to me."

"W-what?" Helen's eyes widened in shock, and perhaps a little bit of outrage.

"We didn't even ask for your intervention in the first—!"

"It already happened, and there's no going back to the past. I saved you and Lyra, risking myself and my position in Veligrod. It's what forced me to abandon my life there and run here." That evidently managed to finally get through Helen's stubborn skull as she gritted her teeth.

"You both have separate debts to pay, and I want yours fully paid. Until then, I have one direct order for you. You're not allowed to die."

"... You? You're going to be the one who'll decide when I'll have the permission to die?"

"Yes. I'm the lord of this town, and you're my subject. Worse, you're indebted to me." Helen bit her lip, drawing blood.

"... How will I repay this debt?" Helen angrily asked.

"Simple. Help Mikhail in his project of building and running a school." Alicia's gaze hardened.

"When that's finished, I promise you, I'll give you the permission to die." Saying these words, Alicia realized how much of a liar she was. Debt? Who cared about that? She chose to save them. Permission to die? Alicia wouldn't be able to accept that fate for Helen. Her words had no weight. But she had to buy time. Alicia watched as Helen's eyes trembled. She was glaring at Alicia, and while doing that, tears streaked down her cheeks.

Alicia, who was still holding Helen's shoulders at this point, felt her literally quivering. Was it anger? Was it resentment? Probably both. But Alicia had to do this. Helen would never listen to someone telling her she deserved to live at this point. It would just be meaningless platitudes to her. So, the only option then was to make her listen to someone who would literally refuse to let her die until her usefulness ran out. I'm so sorry, Helen.

Helen's lips continued to quiver, but she finally managed to let out a few bitter words.

"I have no choice in this matter, do I? You've already made up your mind, and what I say won't affect your decision one bit." Helen teared up further, even as her face contorted in anger.

"Fine, do as you will."

"Do we have an agreement?" Alicia pressed.

"Yes. I said it already, didn't I?"

"Just making sure. Now, stand up." Helen obeyed helplessly, like some kind of doll who just found a new puppet master. Alicia sighed. It felt like this whole exchange only drove Helen further into despair, but this was the only way she could buy time to find better options to save Helen. Alicia gently held Helen's hands. Softly chanting under her breath, Alicia placed barrier after barrier spell that would protect Helen from any kind of self-harm.

She placed monitoring spells on Helen as well, something that would allow Alicia to figure out where Helen was at all times, alongside her health status and whatnot. This was a severe breach in privacy, and it was a very extreme measure, but, considering how powerful Helen was, Alicia couldn't afford being sloppy.

"There, it's done," Alicia said.

"With our agreement sealed, you will never be able to harm yourself again. There's going to be no backing out of this pact until I'm satisfied."

"I see…" Helen lifelessly said as she looked down on the ground. Alicia pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Helen's tears away. It wouldn't do much to reduce the anger in her heart right now, but Alicia didn't want to bring Helen to Wintervale like this. Luckily, Helen made no move to resist. Once that was done, she brought Helen back to the palace. Taking care that no one would notice, Alicia also escorted her back to her room. At least for now, Alicia secured a pact that would save Helen's life.

It didn't help her sleep well tonight, though. The next day, Helen did not emerge from her room. As such, Alicia made sure early in the morning to send a maid to bring her breakfast. Helen apparently accepted it gracefully, and the maid reported that nothing was out of the usual. Of course, she probably just masked what happened last night, staying silent, even when her mind was broken. Alicia was still very worried about Helen.

She debated whether she should tell Lyra what happened last night, but she thought she should hold back for now. That would certainly cause more drama and tension between the sisters right when Helen was still in a bad state, so it was best to let things cool down for a while. For now, I have to focus on preparing concrete measures to help her out. Today, the former regency council member Mikhail was scheduled to visit Wintervale for his appointment.

Alicia already knew why he wanted to visit her because she visited his house earlier, but still, she wanted to hear it directly from him. Wearing a fake smile to mask the inner turmoil Alicia was dealing with, she received Mikhail warmly at the throne hall. Flanked by Vittorio, the councilor bowed a bit once he was done walking.

"Your Grace, my name is Mikhail Andreyev," Mikhail introduced himself.

"As a former member of the Vael Regency Council and a grand magi, I have great experience in administration, research, and other matters of statecraft. I wish to offer my services to you."

"... Is that all?" Alicia asked.

"I've heard you have a project here in mind."

"Yes. I believe that the sooner we build a school, the better things will be for everyone. Education is the foundation of a strong nation. But I also have a matter of equal, and perhaps more immediate, importance to discuss. Something that should concern a lord of great strength and wisdom, someone who might become the new hope for Vael."

"... And what is it?" Mikhail's tone became grave.

"While perhaps not immediately urgent for you here in Orevogorsk, I spent the past year studying the black dungeon in the royal capital. Your Grace, the corruption there is spreading at an alarming rate."