NOVEL WEB Chapter 185: Has My Sadness Been Healed by You?
Early morning on the 3rd, while Rita was brushing her teeth and thinking about what to have for breakfast, she received the rewards Shadow.Q had sent her.
The package contained two wooden food boxes, slightly larger than the palm of her hand. The boxes, made from wood with visible grains, were rectangular and resembled typical takeout containers.
Along with the package was a note:
**"The box with a '♪' on the top right is for you, and the other is a snack for you and Nivalis to enjoy. — The Food Maker"**
**"This food comes with a message from the creator. The reward can only be triggered once a day, so for the next 29 days, you will receive a new reward daily."**
**"These food boxes have a preservation function, but the food inside will disappear along with the box once the countdown ends. The food can only trigger the attribute point bonus once per day—if you take the first bite and nothing happens, further eating will not trigger it again. You can eat at your own pace, but remember to keep an eye on the countdown timer." — Shadow.Q**
Rita gently traced the "♪" on the food box with her fingers. When she opened it, there was a palm-sized meat pie inside.
**[Meat Pie] (100 points): A seemingly common street snack, but with perfect ingredients, expertly fermented dough, finely balanced meat filling, and flawless cooking technique. Eating this restores 30% of your health and has a chance to increase one freely distributable attribute point. The effect is influenced by how much the eater enjoys the dish. The effect can only trigger once per day.
(Maker: Eleanor)**
Eleanor… That name felt so distant now.
In her previous life, when she was a wanted fugitive, Eleanor had sent her several dishes that could boost her attribute points and had even asked if she needed help. At the time, Rita was on the run and stubbornly refused, not wanting to drag Eleanor into her mess. After all, their relationship as grandmother and granddaughter wasn't particularly deep.
After leaving B City as a child, they had only seen each other a few dozen times when she was in Los Angeles, and not once after she turned 10. The next time they met, Rita was already an actress, shooting a film in an old castle during the sweltering summer, decked out in a fur coat, crying and jumping while reciting her lines.
Once the scene wrapped and she wiped her tears, she noticed Eleanor standing at the alley entrance, holding a lace fan, silently watching her—who knew for how long. That's when they reconnected, although Rita never knew how, after all these years, Eleanor had recognized her after she had grown from a child to an adult. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire
From then on, whenever Rita visited B City, she would ask Eleanor if she had time for a meal. They would sit down for dinner, and that was it—nothing more, nothing less. Their relationship was plain and distant, and Rita had always felt that she didn't deserve to trouble her grandmother.
But after refusing Eleanor's help, she still occasionally received food boxes, each marked with the "♪" symbol, containing dishes that had the potential to increase her attribute points. The gifts didn't come often—only five times in total—but each one sustained her during the darkest times of her life.
Every time she huddled in a corner eating those steaming hot dishes, she would convince herself she could hold on a little longer.
Back then, her luck stat was only 8, yet every time she ate one of Eleanor's meals, she gained an attribute point. Later, when she was desperate and received another delivery containing spicy beef buns, she mustered the courage to message Eleanor, asking if B City had any organizations that were friendly to lone players and brave enough to stand against the guilds from Los Angeles.
She wanted to move to B City, but promised she wouldn't cause any trouble for her.
**Eleanor's reply:** *"Do not come to B City! And don't come looking for me."*
After that, Rita never received another food box from her grandmother.
She didn't contact Eleanor again, not even after her rebirth. In her previous life, she hadn't felt sadness or resentment—there was no time for that. When she received that message, she was too busy rolling to dodge an attack to even reply.
She wasn't in a position to be sad. Eleanor, though her grandmother, had no obligation to keep helping her, right? Rita couldn't act like an ingrate.
Now that she was stronger and had nothing to fear, looking back at that moment—the moment her last match was snuffed out by the wind—the sense of unfairness still lingered.
She grabbed the meat pie and took a huge bite, stuffing her mouth so full that she barely had time to savor the taste before she swallowed, forcing down the lump in her throat along with it.
Behind her came a playful voice, "What delicious thing are you eating~?"
Rita blinked away her tears quickly and smiled as she pushed the other food box toward Nivalis. It contained two meat pies, each rated 99 points. "Meat pies," she said.
Nivalis stared at her reddened eyes for a moment, then used her **[Expert's Care]** skill. A soft white glow enveloped Rita, and the little ice dragon perched on her shoulder spread her wings and hugged Rita's head. "Has my magic healed your sadness?"
Rita felt her heart clench. Fighting the urge to cry, she nodded hard, "Yes!"
They shared the pies—each taking one and a half. After finishing, Rita's emotions had finally calmed down.
She had later wondered if Eleanor was going through something difficult herself—perhaps her grandmother's life hadn't been easy either. But sometimes, when you are at your lowest and don't get the support you so desperately need, even after surviving, that wound never fully heals.
Eleanor had helped Rita through her darkest days, but when Rita was left clinging to her last shred of hope, Eleanor had blown it out. She wasn't sure how to face her grandmother now.
Did she feel resentment? That would be ungrateful. She had never blamed Eleanor. But to say she was entirely grateful? That didn't seem quite right either.
She simply… couldn't bring herself to trust her grandmother anymore. If she ever found herself falling into the abyss again, she wouldn't reach out for Eleanor's hand—or anyone else's. She would choose to grab onto the jagged cliffs herself, even if it meant shredding her hands to pieces, even if it meant falling to her death. It was better than relying on someone who might let go.
So even though she knew about Eleanor's powerful Divine Gift, Rita hadn't sought her out after her rebirth. She decided to let things happen naturally. If she had time to visit B City, she would see Eleanor, have a meal with her, bring her gifts, and offer her respects. If Eleanor was in danger, Rita would undoubtedly help her… and that would be all.
After breakfast, Rita prepared to take Nivalis to continue clearing the 13th-level instance. The night before, she hadn't had time to check the forums, but Shadow.Q had sent her an email explaining that someone had secretly recorded footage of Nivalis fighting in an instance.
The Special Affairs Bureau was not responsible, but they planned to send 99 players into the instance ahead of her today to secure the area. Once Rita entered and killed the first monster, locking the instance, they would exit.