[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]

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  On the way back, elia felt strangely weak and vulnerable to the cold. Her cold seemed to be of an unusual iy, different from other people’s. Because of this, she couldn’t walk alohroughout the entire journey.

  Her father and Uncle Benjen had to take turns carryio Nightfort. Naturally, the return trip took much lohaward journey. However, both on the way there and back, the journey was calm. They entered her wildlings nor White Walkers.

  The only exception was elia herself.

  It was still an unresolved mystery. She spent days and nights studying the egg. When thinking of eggs in this world, one famous figure came to her mind: Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother ons. Although elia didn’t remember all the details of this legendary character, she knew about the three dragon eggs Daenerys possessed.

  It was because she had hatched a loinct dragon that Daenerys came to be revered as the Mother ons, respected and loved by many. Her dragons were alsreatest strength.

  However, elia looked at the egg in her hands and couldn’t bring herself to pare it to the eggs of the Mother ons. She knew Daenerys’s eggs were extraordinary at first gnce, with plex and impressive patterns.

  And hers... well, it was better not to ent!

  But, as on as the egg seemed now, elia was certain of ohing: if it could burn with blue fmes, there were reasons to believe it wasn’t something ordinary!

  Moreover, one night, elia actally lost trol, letting the egg fall and hit a sto that moment, her heart nearly stopped. Even without fully uanding what had happehe sense of danger was real. After all, the egg was her only gain from the journey, and she had paid a high price for it. If it broke, the loss would be immense!

  Fortunately, the egg was extremely durable. Even after the impact with the sto remained intact. Later, she decided to test it more boldly and firmed that the egg was indeed very hard, like a diamond encased in an eggshell.

  After many days of research, elia discovered that the strange weakness in her body was reted to the egg. Since she had woken up, she had noticed a stant cold and that her old powers had disappeared. She could no longer freeze objects or trol snowfkes. In fact, she had lost almost all of her powers, being even weaker than a normal person.

  This was undoubtedly the most frustrating and saddening experience of ret times.

  elia tried tain her powers using the methods that had always worked in the past. However, whenever she felt her energy slightly strengthening, it would disappear the moment. For a brief moment, she believed she would never be able to use her pain, which left her panicked.

  Fortunately, after many experiments, she realized that her energy wasn’t disappearing, but being drained by something!

  It wasn’t that elia could no longer use her powers. Since disc them five years ago, her energy had grown. If, at first, she had only a small pool of energy, years of effort had tur into a pool. Her power naturally increased with time.

  Now, however, it seemed that someone had opened a el that drained her energy away before she could use it. As a result, her body had no energy avaible for her powers.

  To make matters worse, her body had bee aced to the presence of this energy. The sudden loss caused extreme exhaustion, leaving her weaker than ever.

  And the culprit for all of this was that seemingly ordinary egg!

  For some reason, elia couldn’t feel any bitteroward the egg. From the moment it appeared beh the water, she felt it beloo her, as though it had been waiting for her. It seemed the egg had called her to the North to recover it. And that was exactly what she did, even though she had paid a high price for it.

  elia didn’t know how long this situation would st, but now that she uood the cause of her weakness, the panic had disappeared. She believed she would find a solution. One day, that egg would be full of energy, and she khat eventually, it would hatch.

  If she could absorb more energy than the egg ed, she could use her pain! Still, there was something she deeply wished to discover: what that egg would produ the end.

  Despite feeling a slight rese over all the drained energy, elia khat, for now, there was no alternative. Her only hope was that the effort would be worth it.

  Of course, deep down, she reized that this was unlikely. Just looking at the egg destroyed any thoughts or hopes that it could be something grand, like a dragon.

  But elia wasn’t ready to give up. There was still a glimmer of expectation and curiosity in her heart.

  On the way back, the journey slowed down to take care of elia. This made it take more than 20 days to reach their destination. When they finally arrived, they found Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik, who were already worried. The dey had made them sider returning to Winterfell to fetch reinforts.

  elia’s father and Uncle Benje her at Nightfort ier Luwin’s care before departing. elia, oher hand, headed for Winterfell apanied by Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik.

  Given her dition, she could no longer ride a horse. Ser Rodrik improvised a simple cart using abandoned wagons at Nightfort. elia’s favorite horse, Shils, pulled the cart along the way. ed in several yers of bs and cotton cloaks, she finally felt some relief from the cold.

  When they returo Winterfell, two and a half months had passed sihey left. As expected, elia’s weakeate caused despair in Catelyn. Even after hours of care and worried attention, her mother still couldn’t feel at ease.

  "When Ned returns, I definitely won’t be able tive him. What kind of care did he take with you? You’re exhausted from the journey! Go bad rest!" Catelyn said, uo tain her frustration.

  In all ten years, she had never seen elia so weak, with such cold hands. How much suffering had elia endured during this journey beyond the Wall?

  She had said from the beginning that she couldn’t go, that she shouldn’t go! But no one listeo her. Catelyn seemed relut to pin again, but she knew she o have a serious versation with Ned wheurned.

  Catelyn took elia back to her room, made her eat something, and insisted she rest. Exhausted, elia fell into a deep sleep, without even seeing Robb, Jon, and the others.

  She was so tired that she slept for hours and hours.

  At noon the day, Robb and Jon arrived in her room apanied by their brothers and sisters. They gathered around her bed, surprising elia, who had just woken up. She quickly realized there were indeed a lot of Stark children there.

  "What happened up north this time? Why are you so cold?" Robb asked, furrowing his brow as he looked at the closed window and the thiket that Catelyn had pced on the bed. He khat, normally, elia’s room windows were open all year long and that her b was always light and thin.

  They had never seen elia ed in such a thiket. Robb and Jo strange about it, but mainly ed.

  "Anyway, everythi well. My father and Uncle Benjen made it back to Castle Bck safely. My father should arrive in Winterfell soon!"

  elia and Maester Luwin had returned slowly, even though Castle Bck was farther from Winterfell than Nightfort. Her father had probably returned as quickly as possible, riding a horse.

  "My mother picked up some clothes st night and adjusted them to your liking. Try them on to see if they fit. This should be enough for now."

  Sansa pced a thick dress on the bed, which her mother had sed for her the previous night. Noblewomen’s clothes were always long skirts that reached the floor, but elia had never liked that style since childhood.

  elia was somewhat germophobid loved being . While Arya pyed like a boy and often got dirty, elia preferred light-colored dresses and was always immacute, from m until night.

  For this reason, she hated the idea of the hem of her dress dragging on the floor. Even though her clothes were washed and ged every night, elia couldn’t stand the sight of a skirt stained with mud and having to wear it for the rest of the day.

  Because of this, her clothes and even her cloak were made to avoid toug the ground. They e her ankles, ensuring a look without being long enough to get dirty. If it weren’t for Catelyn’s strong opposition, elia would have probably cut the dresses even shorter.

  Catelyn believed long dresses were the most appropriate for all women, including princesses and queens. However, she eventually gave in somewhat, allowing elia to wear dresses that reached her ankles.

  "How is the Wall? Did you mao solve your physical problem? Why does it seem to be getting worse?" Jon asked, uo tain his curiosity. He had always known that elia didn’t feel cold and liked light clothes. Seeing those thick clothes on the bed felt stra seemed something had drastically ged in her after the jouro the North.

  "Jon, you ask so many questions at once! How I answer everything at ohere’s a lot to say about the Wall. I’ll tell you everything ter. As for the North… I think I’ve discovered the reason for my current dition!" elia replied, looking at Jon with a sigh of helplessness.

  Knowing Jon’s fasation with the Wall, she decided it would be better to tell him the details ter. She then pulled her hand from beh the pillow and showed them the egg she had found.

  "A egg? What egg? A bird’s egg? Why did you go to the nd of eternal wio find it?" Bran asked, carefully taking the egg. He exami from all angles, but saw nothing special about it. It looked like just a regur bird egg. So why go to the North just to find a bird’s egg?

  "Well… maybe!" elia replied, feeling that Bran had touched on a doubt that had been tormenting her. She really didn’t know what kind of egg it was.

  "Could it be a dragon egg?" Arya suggested, taking the egg with curiosity. She had always been fasated by the Targaryen dragons since she was little. Wouldn’t that be amazing?

  "I think that’s unlikely! Definitely impossible!" elia replied, embarrassed by the very idea.

  elia’s words only increased Bran and Ri’s curiosity. They leaned in closer to observe the egg, as if they could discover something just by looking.

  "So why do you say it made you like this?" Robb asked, looking carefully at the egg before turning to his sister, his evident.

  "I feel that… it’s abs the energy from my body… I’m not sure, but that’s the feeling I have."

  elia took the egg from Arya’s hands, holding it carefully. Although she wasn’t sure of anything, that was the only expnation that made seo her.

  No matter how unknowe was, ohing was certain: she was deeply ected to that egg. It beloo her, just as she beloo the Stark family.

  So what if her powers came from the nd of eternal winter?

  She felt the presence of her brothers and sisters around her bed. Even though she couldn’t see them clearly, she felt their affe and , which warmed her heart.

  No matter what happened, she knew she belonged in that pce.

  She beloo Winterfell.

  She beloo the Stark family.

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