Episode 118: When Desires Clash (XII)
“Me?”
Esther blinked rapidly, taken aback by the unexpected question.
‘Do you hate the temple?’
She didn’t know that Noah would say such a thing, but she could understand. Since he was kicked out of the Imperial Palace because of the temple’s persistence, he must have some resentment towards them.
“Do you want to take revenge on the temple?”
Esther asked cautiously, feeling a sense of sympathy.
“Um. I want to take revenge. You think it’s wrong?”
“No. You had to leave your home because of the temple. It’s quite possible.”
Since Noah made to only wait for the day he would die, it wouldn’t be strange if he resented the temple.
Noah’s eyes lit up when he got the answer he expected from Esther.
“I think that if something has been done to you, you have to pay it back. As it happened, no, at least twice as much.”
Noah brought a fist in front of Esther. Then, for emphasis, he slowly spread all his fingers out.
“It’s only natural to pay back what you’ve been through. So I want to destroy the temple.”
Esther’s eyes widened as she listened to Noah’s candid words.
Unbeknownst to anyone, the desire that she had been suppressing was about to burst out.
‘It’s natural to pay back…’
In fact, when in the temple, Esther was confident that she would not lose to anyone in her desire to take revenge on Rabienne.
However, at first, there was no way to get revenge, and then she thought she should endure it because it might cause damage to her family.
Most of all, she became happy, but was afraid that if she wanted revenge, she would be too greedy and that even her hard-earned peaceful daily life would be broken, so she suppressed her feelings.
But when Noah shared his feelings, pure vengeance against the temple was about to burst out again.
“If Esther has been hurt by anyone, I hope you will not sit back. Promise me.”
Noah smiled prettily as he held out his little finger to Esther.
Esther looked at the finger and asked softly.
“What if I can’t do that?”
“Why can’t you? There is me, also the reliable twin brothers, and the mightiest grand duke in the empire. We’re all on your side.”
Noah clearly recited the people who had naturally taken Esther’s side.
“So promise me. That you will not let anyone upset you.”
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A smile appeared on Esther’s lips as she gained strength from him.
Thus far, she had thought that if she was going to take revenge on the temple, she would have to do it alone. Because it’s her own business.
However, as Noah said, her older brothers and father were not people who would let Rabienne off if they knew what had happened.
“I will. Thanks.”
Esther hooked her little finger with Noah’s.
The little fingers of the two which were tightly bound dangled in the air.
“And I have something to tell you.”
Esther tried to remove her finger because she had something serious to reveal, but she couldn’t because of Noah’s strong force.
“What is it?”
Esther smiled at Noah, finding it funny he seemed unwilling to let go.
She twisted their interlocked hands, changing the posture so that he could see the back of her hand.
“Can you see this?”
As soon as she thought of releasing the power she had been suppressing all along, the mark of the saint immediately appeared on the back of her hand.
“I… Umm, I am the real saint.”
Esther was a little hesitant to say it, but she didn’t want to fool Noah anymore; he always told her everything.
It was a big decision for her to say it. However, Noah, who she expected to be shocked, was very calm.
“I knew. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me. You finally did.”
Patting her head, Noah thanked her for trusting him.
The very nonchalant expression startled Esther, to the point she quickly blinked several times.
“You knew? How?”
“You healed me of my illness. I knew that your divine power was extraordinary. And I’ve seen it pop up on the back of your hand before.”
It was a rough statement, but it was quite plausible, so Esther overlooked it.
“Right. I was nervous for nothing.”
Noah smiled at Esther, who believed easily, thinking she was cute.
“You are the real saint. So Rabienne, who is now posing as a saint, is a fake?”
“…That’s right. I am the real one.”
As Esther said that, something deep in her heart was released.
Noah was the first person ever to tell Esther that Rabienne was a fake.
Noah spoke assertively, turning his face to the side so that Esther, who seemed to be deeply contemplating, could see him.
“Let’s destroy the temple together. Will you help me?”
It seemed like immature children’s play, but Saint Esther and Crown Prince Noah had the strength to do so.
Esther nodded her head vigorously as Noah voiced out what she wanted to ask.
“Yes. I really want to see the temple collapse.”
The two made a promise once again with their little finger. A feeling of strangeness overcame Esther as she pondered.
‘How can I pay it back?’
The thought of taking revenge on Rabienne was so thrilling, so exhilarating.
“How did the temple get so corrupted?”
“Exactly.”
The two people, whose thoughts were complicated, stopped talking for a moment and looked up at the sky.
It was a very pretty night sky full of stars.
“And Esther, while we were talking, a flower grew next to you.”
Where Noah pointed, there were really white flowers growing that weren’t there before.
It was the flowers that grew in response to divine power. Even without a seed, it could grow anywhere in response to the saint’s divine power.
Even so, it was a flower that took effort to bloom, but these days, they easily bloomed wherever Esther was.
“Isn’t that a holy flower?”
For some reason, it seemed familiar to Noah. So he searched through his memories, and recalled how he had received those holy flowers several times instead of holy water for his illness.
“Right.”
“The temple was very condescending, saying it was more precious than holy water, but next to you, it just grows right away.”
Esther was also amazed by it. She gently caressed the soft petals of the flowers in full bloom.
She wanted to spend more time like this, but Dorothy said it was too late and beckoned her to leave.
“Noah, are you going back tomorrow?”
“Should be.”
“Then when can we see each other again?”
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“I will be back soon. I think this will be the base for destroying the temple.”
Then Noah turned his gaze to Esther. Esther filled her black eyes again.
“Let’s see the sky together again next time.”
“Let’s.”
The two looked at each other, smiled, and rose from their seats at the same time. And this time, they turned around with ease.
Returning to her room, Esther lay down on the bed and looked back at the conversation she had with Noah.
“Revenge…”
Esther blankly stretched out her hand and looked at the back of it, then eventually approached Shur and clung to him.
“Shur, I will avenge myself. Is that okay?”
She quietly closed her eyes, recalling Noah’s words.
“It’s only natural to pay back what you’ve been through.”
‘I really want to see Lavienne collapse.’
Esther was very curious about what Rabienne would look like when she was kicked out of her saint position, which she had taken for granted.
★★★
The next morning.
Deheen, who was all ready to go out, visited Noah early.
As if he knew that Deheen would come, Noah greeted him with all preparations completed.
“If you had called, I would have gone.”
“I came here myself because I didn’t have time.”
While staring at Noah with his still indifferent eyes, Deheen announced his decision.
“We have decided to close the temple.”
Noah assumed that Deheen had made up his mind from the time he spoke with Esther, but he bowed his head deeply, pretending to hear it for the first time.
“Thank you for the quick decision. It will be of great help.”
“Not for the imperial family. It’s for my own needs.”
Deheen firmly drew a line, saying that there was nothing to be thankful for.
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“I don’t want you to work for the imperial family either. Our goal just needs to be the same, destroying the temple.”
Deheen stared at Noah, who showed a particularly strong resistance to the temple, and then crossed his arms deeply and asked.
“I’m going to go to the temple right now. Would you like to come with me?”
Even though they were in a closed room, there was an illusion that a cold wind was blowing only around him.
At Deheen’s suggestion, Noah responded quickly with a bright smile.
“Yes. I will go.”
Deheen quickly turned around, and Noah, fearing that the older man would change his mind, grabbed his luggage and hurried after him.
‘This will do.’
Actually, Deheen was upset when he heard that Esther and Noah had met separately last night.
‘I’ll take him out since he won’t be able to see her if he’s away.’
On the other hand…
‘I think the grand duke has opened up to me a little. Thank god. I have to keep looking good like this.’
Noah mistakenly thought this was a positive sign and cheered inwardly. When he exited the mansion, he saw two horses whose manes had a glossy finish. It seemed Deheen had prepared one for him.
“You know how to ride a horse, right?”
Climbing onto his horse gracefully without stepping on the harness as if it was natural, Deheen looked down at Noah and asked,
“Yes, just to the extent that I won’t fall.”
Having learned horseback riding since he was young, Noah got on a horse quite nicely, unlike his modesty.
“I’m going to the knights’ quarters.”
Noah hurriedly tugged at the reins to follow Deheen as he rode away.
The difference in size between their horses was huge.
Noah had to drive his horse with all his strength to follow Deheen.
When he arrived at the knights’ quarters, he could see at a glance the knights waiting in advance.
“…….”
Noah was speechless for a moment and swallowed.
The undefeated knights who always brought only victory. An overwhelming feeling that far surpassed the rumors spread throughout his body.
Even though only a small number of elite knights were gathered, the force was amazing.
It was the moment when he realized that the knights wearing the same black armor as Deheen were not called the best in the empire for nothing.
“From now on, we will head towards the temple. Don’t doubt that we have justice.”
Noah’s back shuddered at the sound of his roaring voice.
With just one sentence from Deheen, the knights’ fighting spirit was ignited. All of it was transmitted intact to Noah’s skin.
“Let’s go!”
As Deheen rode away, he beckoned Noah to follow him.
Noah gritted his teeth and pulled the reins to give chase. And as he ran outside, he looked back for a second.
His gaze was in the direction of the grand duchy where Esther would be.
‘Esther, it’s finally starting.’
Although he was just taking the first step, and there were many more steps he had to go through to reach Rabienne.
Still.
It was the moment when the prelude to revenge opened, which both Esther and Noah had long hoped for.
Ame: While I was digging around, I discovered that this novel actually has chapter titles! o_o (all the titles you’ve seen so far came from me, cause I thought the author doesn’t have them) Turns out, these chapter titles aren’t in the kkp version >_<
It’s a little too late for me to change the titles, but for the curious, I’ll put the whole list in a comment like this in one of the last few main story episodes. Not now because some titles legit spoil a lot haha
Going forward, will I use the actual titles? Well, not all. Since things have already become like this, I’ll just do whatever that I prefer ^^; and to be honest, ‘Crystal Ball’ isn’t exactly the chapter title I imagined Rabienne to go down in… I’ll prefer something more dramatic…
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