|| ᴀ ꜱᴀɪɴᴛ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴀᴅᴏᴘᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴜᴋᴇ || ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴇᴛᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ꜱɪᴅᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ ||

Chapters 96-100

Episode 96: Three Sides to Every Story (I)

The next morning.

Esther's eyes twitched open at the unbearable itching of her face.

What she saw upon regaining consciousness was the soft and rich fur coat of Cheese.

"Cheese? Why are you here! How did you climb up the bed?"

The cat which she treated back in the garden was bestowed the name 'Cheese', inspired by the yellow and white pattern of its fluffy body.

Judy was determined to raise the kitten himself and brought it to his chambers, but it would always sneak to Esther's room whenever the chance appeared.

It was like that again today. Cheese had come to the bed, buried its body deep into the nape of Esther's neck, and lightly snuggled.

"Brother will be sad if he finds out."

These days, Judy was trying his best to win the heart of Cheese by offering it snacks every chance he got.

Cheese's house was also in his room. He would surely be disappointed to find that it came to Esther's room during his sleep.

Esther stood up, wide awake. It would be better if she took Cheese back before he woke up.

Cheese's face scrunched up as she lazily stretched her front paws.

While mesmerized by the cute wiggle, last night's events abruptly came to mind.

"...How did I get here?"

She recalled reading the documents, but everything that followed was wiped from her memory.

"Did Father take me back...?"

She was upset over how he had to carry her all the way to her room when she was the one who offered to help him.

'After breakfast, I'll go to his study and help finish the papers.'

She put on her slippers and walked to the window.

Bright sunlight illuminated the room as she pulled away the curtains. She grimaced at the blinding view when Noah popped up in her mind.

'He said it didn't end well.'

Noah received the most support, but the results were withheld due to the firm opposition of the temple.

She was worried that Noah would struggle now that things hadn't gone his way.

"I want to tell him to stay strong."

Looking back, Noah always cheered for her in any way he could, while she did nothing in return.

However, she couldn't just head all the way to the Imperial Palace for this reason.

While she struggled to figure out a way to contact him, a good idea surfaced in her mind.

This was what she heard during a festival- a middle-ranked priest could use pigeons as a means to communicate.

At that time, she was a low-level candidate, so doing such a thing seemed impossible in her eyes, but now she was more than confident.

Esther took a deep breath and pushed the window open wide. Then, she whistled forcefully.

As the beautiful but powerful sound flowed like a melody, miraculously, pigeons soon flocked to her.

'Done!'

Esther made eye contact with the liveliest-looking pigeon and brought it inside her room.

Despite having stopped the call, the pigeon did not leave but acted cute while hovering around Esther.