489 Closing in on the Goals

Two weeks after the fall of the Mazzanti family...

While Millfall was living its new reality, several people in Saltstar City were already aware of what had happened at the former home of the Mazzanti family.

Newton had learned of Cesar's "death," but the day before, he had received a communiqu from Don Mazzanti himself, telling the professor to doubt anyone who talked about his death. Vicente didn't explain what had happened, but his message was enough to calm the professor down.

So Newton didn't worry too much about the possible loss of a great provincial genius. He continued his work at the Royal Academy of Saltstar City, keeping his curiosity about what might be behind this recent news to himself.

He wasn't one to talk much unless he was being questioned or someone wanted his opinion on a matter. So not only did he not worry, he took life as it came.

But it was different for Nova, who had received a letter from Cora the day before!

...

In the big army headquarters in Saltstar City, Nova was sitting in her office, worried sick about Vicente's situation.

She still loved him as much as she had asked him to take some time to think about their situation. She still didn't know how to deal with him after her earlier discovery, but she had genuine feelings for him and didn't want to hurt him.

When she found out from Cora's letter that Cesar had died, Nova was devastated and thought that the worst had happened and that she would no longer be able to see the man she loved.

That was why she had been locked in her office since the night before, too affected to do anything but think about how much she regretted it.

She was sitting on the floor in front of her desk, her hair disheveled and glass jars scattered here and there.

She had fallen asleep in this position after a terrible night, having spent the last few hours in this uncomfortable position.

Dark circles under her eyes were huge this morning, while her lips were pale, and her nose was very red. There were no more signs of tears in her eyes, but one could see the traces of dried tears on her cheeks.

She felt an itch on her nose and unconsciously moved one of her hands.

As she did so, her eyes slowly opened. She briefly saw the surroundings of her office and felt quite strange.

But the memories of the night before and Cora's letter soon came to her mind, causing her to sigh deeply.

She had cried so much the night before that she didn't feel her eyes watering when she remembered everything.

She tried to get up, thinking about what she should do. "I don't need to make things worse for him. If he's really fallen, then I'll leave it at that. I won't make his record worse or reveal who he really was." She muttered.

If she wanted to, she could say everything she knew, reveal who Vicente was, and make the situation much easier for the army to at least try to take action against the Fuller family and take the family's funds as compensation for everything that had happened.

But she would never act like that after everything that had happened because it wouldn't change anything about Vicente's crimes, and it would also hurt Nina.

At the thought of Nina, Nova's heart ached as she remembered all the tragedy this girl had already gone through.

'I need to find a way to talk to Eve and Nina. They must be heartbroken.' She thought about talking to them first, as she felt it was her duty to take care of Nina now that Vicente had fallen.

After the terrible news of the day before, she used this to gather her strength to carry on and soon began to get ready for a new day's work.

Nova would send a reply to Cora later, saying that she was sorry but that she didn't know anything more about Cesar than what she had already said.

She would send another message to the Fuller family of Millfall, inviting Nina and Eve to live with her in Saltstart City. As Vicente's girlfriend, she was willing to take care of them as if they were her own family.

Not having much free time to grieve, Nova would eventually get on with her army duties in Saltstar City.

...

Meanwhile, Vicente's group had come a long way from Millfall after nearly 10 days of traveling, and they were already about halfway to their destination.

Nothing particularly problematic had happened in those days, as Bart and Sarah took care of the group's safety, while Vicente was already strong enough to scare off magical beings and criminals typical of this province.

Fights like the one between the Sovereigns that led to Kate Hogan's death did happen, but they weren't frequent. Since nothing of that magnitude had come their way, they had traveled smoothly until then, with Nina gaining more confidence and becoming more eager to return to Saltstar City.

Vicente still had some pain in his heart for the city where he had lost so much. But Nina was younger and had an easier time overcoming loss.

Returning to Saltstar City brought back bad memories, but she thought more about learning from Newton and eventually joining a Royal Academy.

That excited her!

Anyway, the group would make occasional stops on their way to the province's largest city, traveling by wagon during the day and stopping in the woods or towns at night.

In the towns, they would take the opportunity to make small purchases to not attract attention, but which would be enough by the end of the journey for Vicente to amass a large amount of resources.

Although he had left many coins and valuable items behind to increase his chances of fooling his enemies, he still had more than 10,000 gold coins with him.

With this amount, he could buy many things during his trip to Saltstar City while giving Nina a great travel experience.

They would travel for another 10 days until they finally arrived near the province's largest city, back in this place after years since Andrew's death and Lauren's kidnapping.

...

Seeing the beautiful city not far from his group, Vicente clenched his fists in determination, thinking of the many promises he had made over the years.

'I'm getting closer to you, Lauren. Sooner or later, I'll catch up with you and give you your freedom back!' He remembered the last time he had seen his older sister, determined to follow her after settling his affairs with Kate's assassins.

With his current level and wealth, he just wanted to settle down locally and sort out Nina's situation before going on his vendetta!