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

Chapters 166-169

Episode 166: The End Is Where It Begins (V)

"Yes. It's just unfair to go."

Esther raised her tightly clenched fists upwards.

Then, as if she was really going to punch, she slammed it towards Espitos' shoulder.

Espitos did not dodge, even though she could have avoided it. She stood still and waited to be hit.

If Esther really wanted to hit her, she was willing to take any number of blows until she calmed down.

However, Esther's fists lost their speed just before they touched, and they landed on Espitos' arm.

"I will not forgive you. The reason why I helped this time is to protect the people who are important to me."

Instead of hitting her, she pinched Espitos' arms.

"I know. I won't ask for forgiveness."

Espitos smiled brightly even as she complained and pretended to be in pain.

And with determination, Esther hugged Espitos tightly.

"Still... Thank you for bringing me back. Thanks to that, I was able to meet my current family. If I had just died, I would not have known such happiness."

Surprised by words of gratitude, Espitos' lips parted slightly.

She gently closed her eyes and slowly raised her arms and embraced Esther.

"I'm sorry."

The resonance of her voice also reached Esther's ears.

"...I will really go back now."

Esther awkwardly moved away and quickly looked away, embarrassed of her actions.

"You know that in the future, even if you die, you will not come back to life, right? You only live once like everyone else, so be careful."

"Isn't that normal? I will live hard every day for an uncertain tomorrow."

With that, Esther turned around and ran vigorously on the golden path.

After running for a long time, she glanced back. Espitos was already gone.

"How far do I have to go?"

Esther thought she had covered quite a bit of distance, but the road still continued.

And around the single road, a round halo of light was formed.

She stopped and looked around because it was pretty, but suddenly a familiar face came into her eyes.

"Is that... Noah?"

Among the round lights floating around, there was one that depicted a view of a sleeping Noah.

Noah was groaning and breaking out in a cold sweat, as if he was having a painful dream.

"You've been having nightmares."

That sight made her sad, so she strayed slightly from the road.

She wondered if it might be the same Noah she saw right before she passed out in the Saint's Palace.

As she gently touched the group of lights...

"Huh?"

Instantly, Esther was sucked into the light.

Confused, she looked around and saw a familiar bed and window.

"This is the sanctuary. Why is Noah here again?"