Chapter 441: Chapter 441 Self Reflection

“If not Addie… then maybe Levi?” Maxwell added, unwilling to let go of hope just yet.

Zion let out a slow breath. “That guy… forget it. He’s probably still brooding over what happened with Greg. His pride and confidence took a serious blow; something like that doesn’t heal quickly. Honestly, we’d already be lucky if he’s helping Addison shoulder the burden, and luckier still if the two of them have managed to talk things through.”

He paused, jaw tightening. “That’s the best scenario I can imagine right now. I’m not trying to be pessimistic, I’m being realistic.”

Zion didn’t want to crush Maxwell’s hope, but false hope was far more dangerous. If they clung to something fragile and events took a sudden turn, the price they’d pay would be devastating. Better to keep their minds sharp, to keep searching for alternatives, than to let hope lull them into complacency and stop thinking altogether.

“Fuck, Zion, this won’t work, that won’t work. Do you just shoot down everything I say?” Maxwell growled, irritation thick in his voice. A snarl nearly slipped past his lips, but he forced it back at the last second, barely reining in his temper.

“Better I tell you the truth than let you cling to hope that won’t help either of us,” Zion replied flatly. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked away, leaving Maxwell to stew in his frustration.

Though Zion had just returned from his patrol, his mind was far from settled. He needed to keep moving; maybe the motion would jog his thoughts, maybe somewhere in the tension he’d find a better solution.

“Tsk.” Maxwell clicked his tongue, rolling it against the back of his molars. Then, following the same line of thought as Zion, he turned and set off again, circling the area once more.

「Meanwhile, on Addison’s side…」

Addison was busy assisting the guards with the construction of the hot air balloon. The structure was far too large for only a handful of guards to assemble; they needed every able hand they could get.

Even Levi was helping. After spending half an hour moving through the people who joined the caravan and the mission to the West, recording names, noting each person’s role, and documenting their contributions to the mission, his mind had finally found some relief. The steady work kept his darker thoughts at bay, grounding him in something tangible.

Once he finished the task Addison had assigned him, Levi hurried back to lend a hand with the hot air balloon. Together with two other guards, he carefully spread out the nearly paper-thin, specially made textile that had been sewn tightly with thick, rope-like thread. They laid it flat on the ground and inspected it inch by inch, checking for holes or weak spots, any flaw that could prevent the balloon from rising properly, or worse, cause a fatal accident later.

They also examined the seams and thread ends, ensuring everything was securely sealed. Once heated from within and pressed by air from outside, even a single loose stitch could spell disaster.

Addison wasn’t worried about that part at all. She knew Levi was meticulous, so she left the inspection to him without hesitation. Meanwhile, she worked with the other guards to assemble the carrier, the platform the guards would stand on, with the biochemical agents secured at their feet.

As they built it, they carefully calculated and weighed everything: the guards’ individual weights, the amount of biochemical agents they would carry, and the necessary counterbalance.

Sandbags were prepared and hung around the carrier to fine-tune the load, ensuring the balloon would rise to a controlled height, not too high into the clouds, and not too low either. It only needed to ascend just above the barrier.

Precision mattered. A miscalculation of even a few kilograms could mean the difference between success and disaster.

“We need to hurry. We still have to conduct a test flight before the actual operation,” Addison reminded them as she helped carry the brazier that would be installed above the heat source. It still needed to be secured in place.

“Princess, please… let us handle the heavy lifting,” one of the guards said quickly, anxiety flashing across his face when he saw her carrying the brazier. “You can oversee the weighing and calculations instead.”

It wasn’t that they doubted her strength; they knew very well how capable she was. But to them, a princess shouldn’t be burdened with such hard labor. That was their role. Addison only needed to give instructions and guide them with her insight.

“It’s fine. Stop treating me like I’m made of sand, I won’t fall apart just from lifting this,” Addison chuckled, catching the nervous looks the guards kept throwing her way.

Although her wolf still hadn’t surfaced, and she still couldn’t shift yet, but her time in the Sacred Land with Silas had rebuilt her body far more than people had realized. Her strength had returned; it was now steady and reliable.

Besides, she needed to move, too, to keep herself in top condition. Even without her wolf, she could still fight. Carrying something like this was nothing to her.

More than that, staying active helped clear her mind. Ever since Greg appeared, her thoughts and emotions had been churning restlessly beneath the surface. And talking with Levi had only brought more realizations to light. If she didn’t sort through them properly, they would pile up and overwhelm her before she even noticed.

She knew she wasn’t perfect, but she could reflect, reassess, and act when it mattered. She might not be the most sensitive person in the world, but she was trying. That much, at least, she owed herself.

This wasn’t an excuse. It was her resolve.

Because if she kept doubting herself, who would believe in her? She had already been down that path before, spiraling into self-doubt and self-pity.

And she knew all too well where that led.

So now, although she knew she had wronged Levi, that was in the past. She recognized her mistake, and this time, she was determined to make amends before it was too late. She could only hope that Levi wouldn’t be led astray by his own thoughts, consumed by doubts the way she once had been.

Still, she trusted him. Fully.

That was what she told herself as she took a steady breath and cleared her mind.

____

Hello everyone! I’m really sorry for the sparse updates lately. Quite a lot has happened, and I’ve been extremely busy.

I just wanted to give you a heads-up that from December 15 to 20, I may not be able to update at all. I’ve been invited to attend the WSA award ceremony, and I’ve heard that the website may be blocked there. I’ll try to find a workaround so I can still write and update if possible, but I wasn’t able to prepare a stockpile in advance due to everything that’s been going on.

That said, after December 20, I’ll be doing mass releases. It may not be a huge amount, but I hope it can make up for the missed updates.

Thank you so much for all the love and support, especially to my most loyal and supportive readers! 💛

And thank you for the gifts and the Golden Ticket as well. I truly appreciate them, and they made me very happy!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep