The Daughter of Cursed Steel Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Left Behind by Time

Read chapter 19 of The Daughter of Cursed Steel by Ashfell on NovelPedia.

Chapter 19: Left Behind by Time Five years had passed. Rachel stood at the edge of the training room, her body covered in black veins from the mana backlash after finishing the recharge of the massive mana crystal. Sweat soaked her from head to toe, dripping from her chin onto the stone floor beneath her. But within those five years, there was a noticeable difference. Her once tiny and fragile body had grown fit and muscular from the endless training Elyndra had forced her through. Her arms were lean but toned with hardened muscle. Faint scars and bruises covered her skin, remnants of years spent enduring gravity sigils, cursed pain triggers, magical backlash, and countless beatings from the enchanted training dummies. Rachel let out a long, exhausted sigh. "All right... training's done for today. Let's get out of here." She slowly walked toward the familiar hidden door and pushed it open. The moment she stepped through, the binding curse activated. Reality twisted around her vision for an instant before she reappeared back inside her bedroom. Rachel barely managed to take two steps before collapsing onto the side of her bed. She reached for the oversized, baggy clothes she had grown used to wearing over the years. The loose clothing hid the changes in her body from everyone around her. The maids and even her mother had long since stopped questioning it. They simply assumed Rachel preferred comfortable clothing since she spent nearly all of her time isolated inside the castle anyway. None of them realized what had truly changed beneath those oversized clothes. Rachel pulled herself onto the bed and let out another exhausted breath. Five years. Five years of nonstop training. Five years of pain. Five years of forcing herself to endure things that once would have completely broken her. The moment her head touched the pillow, exhaustion consumed her. As Rachel slowly drifted off to sleep, her battered body finally gave in after another brutal day of training. Deep down, she wished for the day Elyndra would finally return from the mission Rina and Sophie had sent her on a year ago. The fairy's sudden departure had left Rachel completely alone. Even if the training had been cruel, Elyndra had still been the only person inside the castle who truly understood what Rachel was enduring. Now the hidden training room felt colder than ever. Rachel just wanted Elyndra to come back. Because as long as the binding curse remained active, this castle still felt less like a home... And more like a prison. Meanwhile, in a room with documents stacked everywhere, paper and old reports were scattered across the floor while piles of books were stacked messily around the room. Rina and Sophie sat at a desk together as they went over reports from the ongoing campaign. An irritated look suddenly appeared on Rina's face. Sophie immediately noticed it, and a faint smile slowly crept onto her lips. "She tried to escape again?" Rina let out a tired sigh before dropping the documents she was holding onto the desk. "Yes. She is the most stubborn person I have ever met. There hasn't been a single day where I haven't felt the binding spell activate. When we're gone, it usually triggers twice a day sometimes." Her exhausted expression deepened. "No matter how many times she fails, she just keeps trying again." Sophie softly giggled as she leaned back in her chair to relax for a moment. "She must really be determined." Rina rubbed her forehead in frustration. "Determined is putting it lightly. At this point, I think pure spite is what's keeping her going." Despite the irritation in her voice, there was also a faint trace of guilt hidden beneath it. Rina leaned back in her chair before speaking again. "So, how is the mission we sent Elyndra on going? We haven't heard back from her for about a year now." Sophie took off her glasses and set them down on the table before standing up and stretching out her stiff arms and wings as she gathered her thoughts. "Well, whe