Anastasia gently patted Tamasya’s back as the girl continued sobbing without pause, her shoulders trembling under the weight of emotions.
While Anastasia was a contrast, she cried but did not make any sound; her cries were suppressed and silent, and only the moisture in her eyes could tell if she was sobbing.
"It’s alright, Tamasya. At least we got to meet in the end, and that alone is enough for me after everything that has happened to us," Anastasia said in a soft voice that carried warmth and resignation. She had already accepted the fate that awaited her.
"But now you must leave, because this place is not meant for you, and I know someone who can help you escape before it is too late."
Tamasya slowly straightened herself, she wiped her tears with trembling hands, and then she shook her head firmly rejecting the idea that had just been placed before her.
"I am not here to escape, and I am not here to run away from this place like a coward," Tamasya said with a voice that had steadied itself now.
"I am here to destroy the very reason behind all our suffering, and I am here to kill Winston with my own hands so that none of this ever happens again."
Anastasia’s expression immediately changed as concern replaced the fragile warmth that had briefly returned to her face.
"Tamasya, you must not let your anger guide your decisions in a moment like this, because such choices often lead to consequences that cannot be undone," Anastasia said carefully, choosing her words with the intent to protect rather than oppose,
"You still need to fully unlock your cultivation and regain your complete strength, and until then, you are not ready to face someone like Winston, so at the very least, you should wait until that time comes."
She paused briefly, her gaze softening once again.
"Do not let my death become the reason you throw your life away, because I would never be able to rest in peace knowing that my end became the cause of your destruction, and I know that you will take revenge one day when the time is right, and I am willing to die holding on to that belief if it means you will survive."
Tamasya remained silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on Anastasia as if she was weighing every word carefully, and then she spoke again with a calmness that carried a quiet certainty.
"I do not think I will be able to make you understand this fully, Anne, because what I have seen and experienced cannot be explained so easily, but you do not need to worry about my cultivation anymore, because I have already unlocked all the seals."
Anastasia’s eyes widened in disbelief, and for a brief moment, the shock overcame every other emotion within her.
"What are you saying, Tamasya, because just a year ago, your letter clearly mentioned that your cultivation base had been sealed by nine godly seals, and such seals are not something that can be broken so easily, so what exactly happened during this time?"
A faint smile appeared on Tamasya’s face, though it was still shadowed by the remnants of her earlier tears, and she took a slow and steady breath as if gathering her thoughts before answering.
"Yes, that was true at that time, and I truly believed that I would never be able to break those seals in my lifetime," she said, her voice growing softer, "but everything changed because of him, because the man I met did not just help me unlock my cultivation but also gave me a reason to stand up again when I had already given up on everything."
She lowered her gaze slightly as she continued.
"He is the reason I am no longer trapped in my suffering, and he is the reason I found the courage to return here and face everything that once broke me, and without him I would be in a mess, because he has become my lifeline in ways I never thought possible."
Anastasia’s expression changed once again, and this time it was filled with genuine happiness and relief as she saw a glimpse of hope in Tamasya’s words, and a wide and heartfelt smile spread across her face.
"That is truly wonderful to hear, because after everything you have been through, you deserved to find someone who could stand by your side," Anastasia said warmly as she gently cupped Tamasya’s face, her touch filled with affection and familiarity.
"And I must admit that I always believed my Tammy would end up scaring away anyone who tried to get close to her before they even had the chance to confess their feelings, so I am quite curious about the kind of man who managed to change that."
Tamasya let out a soft and embarrassed giggle, and for a brief moment, the heavy atmosphere between them lightened as a hint of their past selves surfaced again.
"He is different from everyone else I have ever met, and that is probably why everything turned out the way it did," Tamasya replied with a gentle smile.
Anastasia nudged her lightly, her eyes filled with playful curiosity.
"You cannot simply say that and leave it at that, because I refuse to believe that you accepted him so easily just because he helped you unlock your seals, so you will have to tell me everything once we have the time."
Tamasya nodded, though her expression soon turned serious again.
"I will tell you everything, but before that, you need to be freed from these chains, because nothing else matters if you remain bound like this."
As she spoke, she raised her hand and gathered mana within her palm, and the moment her energy touched the mithril restraints around Anastasia’s wrists, the supposedly indestructible chains began to tremble as if resisting a force far beyond their limits before suddenly disintegrating completely.
The chains fell apart without offering even the slightest resistance.
Anastasia stared at her hands in disbelief as the weight that had bound her for years disappeared completely, and she slowly moved her fingers, trying to confirm that the freedom she felt was real.
As she took a deep breath, her mana surged back into motion with overwhelming force.
The energy returned like a raging tide that had been held back for too long, crashing through every restriction that had suppressed it, and her cultivation began to rise steadily as her power expanded and stabilized at the level of Lesser Godhood.
Her body regained its vitality almost instantly as the dullness of her skin faded and was replaced by a natural glow, and strength returned to her limbs as she clenched her fists lightly, adjusting to the overwhelming power that now flowed through her once again.
Unlike Tamasya, whose cultivation had been sealed for thousands of years, Anastasia had only been suppressed for fifteen years, and because of that, her recovery was swift.
"Wow, you reached the lesser godhood realm!!" Tamasya exclaimed.
Anne nodded, "Rudra had helped a lot."
As the heavy chains disappeared, several small ornaments fell to the ground beneath them, most of which were simple and inexpensive items that held little value to anyone else.
Tamasya glanced at them with mild curiosity, wondering why Anastasia had chosen to keep such things with her even in a place like this, and then her gaze suddenly stopped when she noticed something different among them.
Among the scattered trinkets lay a small baby bracelet.
It was simple in design and lacked intricate craftsmanship, yet the material used to create it was clearly of high quality, making it stand out despite its plain appearance.
Tamasya picked it up gently, and the moment she touched it, a strange heaviness filled her chest as memories of past conversations resurfaced in her mind.
Andrea had once told her that Anastasia had been pregnant at the time the empire was thrown into chaos, but no one had ever learned what truly happened to the child, and over time, they had all assumed one of two possibilities: either that the child had been lost during battle or that it had been killed shortly after being born.
Tamasya ran her fingers over the bracelet slowly, but even as the question formed in her mind, she hesitated to speak it aloud. Perhaps it had been a miscarriage caused by trauma.
The thought came after looking at the bloodied robes of Anne, which made her chest tighten.
Anastasia noticed the bracelet in her hands, and her lips pressed together as hesitation flickered across her face.
For a moment, she remained silent, uncertain whether she should speak or remain quiet, because even she did not fully understand the hesitation that held her back from saying William’s name directly.
Still, she chose to speak.
"That bracelet belongs to my son, and it was crafted by Rudra on the day he was born, and the first thing I did was place it around his wrist, even though the one who had wished to see his son wearing it was not there at that moment."
Her voice remained steady, but there was a faint uncertainty hidden beneath it. Tamasya looked at her with pain in her eyes.
"It is never easy to lose a child, Anne, because that kind of loss leaves a wound that never truly heals," she said softly, and after a brief pause, she continued,
"And after we take our revenge, we will make sure that Rudra and your child receive proper funeral rites according to the traditions of the Solaris ...."
Before she could finish her sentence, Anastasia’s eyes widened in alarm, and she immediately reached forward and covered Tamasya’s mouth.
"What are you saying, Tamasya??? My son is not dead!!!" she finally said it, her voice trembled, she didn’t want to even let someone say that her child was dead when he was present so close to her. She did not want any jinx or bad luck anymore.
Tamasya froze completely.
Her mind went blank as the words sank in.
If Anne’s son was not dead, then where had he been all these years??, and why had no one ever known about it??, and most importantly, how had she, Yue, and Andrea, who were his own aunts, remained completely unaware of something so important.
Confusion, shock, and disbelief flooded her thoughts. She struggled to understand what she had just heard.