Sylvara's Rebirth: A New Dawn for Abel novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49 ‘Protect’

She suddenly thought of dried lemon slices-easy to carry and store.

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Sylvara sliced a few lemons, roasted them until they were dry, and packed them into two small boxes.

She even wrote a little note on how to use the dried lemons, slipped the paper under the lid, and then put in two jars of honey alongside the dried lemons.

Once everything was ready, Sylvara started debating whether to ask her bargain-bin husband’s adjutant where their current coordinates were so she could open a portal and send the food directly over.

She had just turned on her optical computer when Starnet instantly flooded her screen: besides the wall-to-wall rave about lemon chicken, there was another hot headline-Mr. Vaelor had returned from the Fifth Sector planet to Centria planet and gone straight to the Elder Council.

Sylvara’s eyes lit up.

Agares had gone to the Elder Council.

Perfect. Saved her the trouble of asking.

She picked up the lunchbox, plus the lemon chicken wings she’d prepared for those three “audience members,” and headed to the Academy’s public express teleportation bay.

“Your Highness, a Level-7 Plant Healer is a treasure of the Troya Empire, the hope of the Empire. She must be protected at all costs.” The Elder Council’s chief elder, Anry Debasca, spoke with a solemn face, “We absolutely cannot allow her to live freely on her own, be spied on by foreign powers, or be exposed to harm and manipulation.”

In the Assembly, councilor Ozark Wright followed up, putting pressure on the man seated at the head of the long table. “Elder Anry is right. Since His Majesty has authorized Your Highness to represent him, please sign this agreement. Once you sign, the three of us can submit a joint application to the mainframe to retrieve information on the Level-7 Plant Healer, so we can protect her and ensure no harm ever comes to her.”

Agares sat at the long table in a dark-green combat uniform, fingers loosely interlaced over his knee. His thin lips parted slightly. “You two are knowingly attempting to break imperial law— and you want me to join you in breaking it?”

Anry was 110 years old with Level-4 mental energy. She looked like a woman in her forties or fifties, with no sign of frailty-and her personality was anything but soft. She demanded, “Your Highness, what we’re doing is protecting the Level-7 Plant Healer. How does that count as breaking the law?”

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17:52 Mon, Dec 15 N

Chapter 49 Protect

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Finished

Ozark hurried to chime in, “If we don’t protect her-if we let her wander freely and expose herself to danger-that’s what truly violates imperial law. Your Highness, His Majesty empowered you to convene this tri-party meeting precisely so you could approve this tri-party resolution to locate the Level-7 Plant Healer.

“He did not send you here just to accuse us of inciting you to commit a crime. Everything we’re doing is for the Troya Empire.”

Agares’s fingers tapped lightly on the back of his hand. His sharply cut features stayed expressionless, his dark eyes sweeping past Anry to land on Ozark instead. “You want me to pass a resolution to search for the identity of the Level-7 Plant Healer. You call it ‘protecting’ her.

“In reality, what you want is to cage her. Strip her of her freedom. Under the Troyan Empire law, unlawfully imprisoning another person is a crime.”

“Unlawfully imprisoning another person? Your Highness, what is that supposed to mean?” Anry shot to her feet, her presence growing more aggressive and sharp, completely forgetting that the man at the head of the table was the Empire’s commander and a prince of the blood. “Not just in the Troya Empire-but in the Federation, among the Swarmborn, the merfolk, and all the other races—none of them have a Level-7 Plant Healer.

“The Troya Empire has finally produced such a gem, someone who might cure genetic breakdown. Are we supposed to just sit here and wait until other nations hear about her and come kidnap her?”

Agares’s tapping finger stopped. His gaze cut back to Anry, and when he spoke, his voice was ice. “Elder Anry, you’re 110 years old and the chief elder of the Elder Council. The pain of genetic breakdown … that feeling of your bones shattering from the inside out … it doesn’t feel good, does it?”

Anry’s hands pressed down on the tabletop, her fingers digging in so hard she gouged the surface. “Your Highness, what are you implying? You refuse to sign the search agreement?”

The corner of Agares’s mouth lifted in a faint, almost mocking arc. “What’s the rush, Elder Anry? Is your genetic breakdown hurting so badly you can’t wait?

“Or are you terrified that now that we finally have a Level-7 Plant Healer-someone who could mend your genes-she might slip through your fingers? That she might run, and you’ll be stuck enjoying your daily bone-shattering agony forever?”

“Prince Agares.” Anry’s voice shook with barely contained anger at being so nakedly exposed. “Please mind your words. Everything I do is for the Empire.”

Agares shifted the hand on his knee to the table and drummed his fingers once more. “For the Empire? Elder Anry, having a loud voice and a sharp tone doesn’t actually solve anything.”

17:52 Mon, Dec 15 N

Chapter 49 ‘Protect’

A 23

Finished

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