Reborn as the General's Useless Daughter-Chapter 186: The Compensation (Part-1)

The moment that thought took shape, Morgana Frost felt as if her entire body had gone cold.

Her first instinct was to rush straight to Clarissa and the others, to demand an explanation, to vent her fury.

But before she could even sit up, the reasoning dragged her back down again.

Even if she went looking for them, what good would it do? Clarissa and her group were hardly better off than she was. What compensation could they possibly offer her now?

Just as Morgana expected, Clarissa, Silvan, and Adrian were also sitting together, their faces dark and troubled.

Clarissa’s situation was the most obvious.

After losing the gamble against Zora, she had already been pushed to the brink financially.

She had once comforted herself with the thought that Gabriel would eventually return and ease her situation, but reality was cruel. Gabriel’s money had all gone into the auction for the Elixir of Tranquility, and there was not a single extra coin left.

Now, on top of that, she still had to pay compensation for reputational damage.

Just thinking about it made her chest tighten.

She did not even dare to consider defaulting on the payment. The vice principal had personally borne witness to the matter. If she refused to compensate and the issue reached his ears again, the consequences would be far worse than a loss of money.

Silvan and Adrian were only slightly better off, but not by much either. Neither of them came from wealthy families. But then again, if they truly had spare money, they would never have needed to cling to Gabriel in the first place.

Now, not only had they lost Gabriel as their support, but they also had to bear this enormous expense.

Among the three, the most miserable was undoubtedly Adrian.

Clarissa and Silvan, at the very least, had enjoyed tangible benefits while relying on Gabriel. Adrian, however, had only just attached himself to Gabriel and had gained nothing at all before everything collapsed.

Counting it carefully, since choosing to side with Gabriel, Adrian had achieved nothing except humiliating himself in front of Zora, getting beaten senseless, and now being forced to cough up a large sum of money for compensation.

If there truly were a ranking for bad luck in this world, he would surely be near the top.

Meanwhile, Gabriel lay motionless on the bed.

After countless futile attempts to circulate his spiritual energy, after testing again and again only to find that his damaged mana core could no longer hold even the smallest trace of mana particle, he was finally forced to accept reality.

He was finished.

Clarissa looked at the broken figure on the bed, her earlier concern long replaced by impatience and cold calculation.

After a moment, she spoke slowly, her tone calm yet merciless. "Gabriel, I won’t be able to take care of you anymore."

Gabriel jolted out of his numbness and stared at her in disbelief. "Clarissa... what do you mean?"

"You know very well," Clarissa replied without hesitation. "You can’t cultivate anymore. That’s the end of it between us."

Her words were firm, leaving no room for misunderstanding. In her eyes, Gabriel was now a useless burden. Not only did he have no future, but staying with him would only invite ridicule and possibly vengeance from the enemies he had once offended.

Even if her own reputation had suffered, as long as she could still cultivate, she believed she could eventually rebuild her standing and find another path forward.

Gabriel reached out and desperately grabbed her hand. "Clarissa, Adrian is gone, Silvan has already left. Are you leaving me, too?"

Clarissa pulled her hand back with a faint sneer. "Look at what you are now. I can’t be with you anymore."

"Not necessarily," Gabriel said hoarsely, clinging to the last shred of hope. "Maybe my mana core can still be healed..."

Clarissa cut him off sharply. "Even if it could be healed, you’d have to start from nothing. From zero. How long would that take? How would you even survive until then? Accept the reality. Your future no longer carries any hope."

Those words struck harder than any blow.

Gabriel’s body trembled, and the little strength he had left seemed to drain away all at once. His shoulders slumped, his gaze empty and hollow.

Clarissa was right.

He was finished.

Completely finished.

"Clarissa... don’t leave me."

Gabriel’s voice trembled as he reached out again, his eyes clinging to her like a man grasping at driftwood. "Can we get married?"

That single sentence carried all of his remaining hope.

His cultivation was gone. His future was shattered. His reputation lay in ruins. The only thing he believed he still possessed was Clarissa.

If she stayed, if she was willing to marry him, then perhaps he could still return to the Elysia Empire with a shred of dignity. Otherwise, he feared he would not even survive long enough to make it home.

Clarissa looked at him, and a trace of mockery flickered across her eyes.

In that instant, she remembered every time she had asked him about going back to his family, about meeting his parents, about making things official. Every time, he had brushed her off with excuses, vague promises, or outright avoidance.

"Gabriel," she said coldly, "I once wanted to go home with you. It was you who blocked everything at every turn. And now that you’ve fallen to this state, you suddenly want to marry me and take me back?"

She laughed softly, but there was no warmth in it. "You really think too highly of yourself."

With that realization, the last remaining affection in her heart vanished completely.

She had once believed that Gabriel hesitated because her family background was ordinary, because he was worried about appearances. Now she finally understood the truth. It had never been about circumstances at all. He simply had never intended to marry her.

And now, when he had lost everything, he wanted to use her as a lifeline.

Whether it was deception in the past or exploitation in the present, neither was something she could forgive.

Without another glance, Clarissa turned around and slammed the door behind her.

The sound echoed loudly in the room.

"Wait... My father is still... a General..."

Gabriel’s hand, still half-extended in the air, fell limply back onto the bed. His chest tightened, and for the first time, a hollow despair swallowed him whole.

Only now did he truly understand what it meant to lose everything.

*

Later,

When Morgana Frost came to Zora to deliver the compensation for reputational damage as agreed beforehand, her expression was stiff and tightly controlled.

Zora accepted the items calmly, then lifted her gaze and asked lightly, "What about your master’s share? Didn’t I say it had to be double compensation?"

Morgana Frost’s face darkened at once. "My master is dead," she snapped. "You expect me to pay double compensation on his behalf?"

Zora raised her brows slightly, the curve of her lips carrying a faint but dangerous amusement. "As everyone knows, your master died without heirs. His possessions naturally fall to you. You’ve inherited so much from him. Isn’t it only right that you shoulder the compensation he owes?"

Her tone was casual, but every word pressed down with unmistakable force, leaving Morgana Frost with no room to argue.

"You..."