A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

Page 114

The inside was pitch black, with no lights on. Just as she was about to go in, someone grabbed her and she slammed her back against the door with a thud.

Just as she was about to act and resist, a slender, pale index finger touched her lips and pressed against hers.

The fingertips were soft, delicate, and warm—the warmth of a person.

“Sister Saint Karina, it’s me.”

That was a voice she knew very well.

Even the familiar texture and feel of the fingertip touching her lips made it clear to her who this person who had suddenly appeared in front of her was.

Sure enough, after the light from the outer room shone into the inner room, she realized who this person was, just as she had guessed.

This is the third Esther, but she's not a child; she's an adult.

Saint Karina recognized her all too well; this was Esther, who had imprisoned her, tried to deprive her of her freedom, and forced her to say many shameful things and do many undignified things.

She has long, golden hair with a light red ombre at the ends, crimson on the left and gold on the right, and heterochromatic eyes. Moreover, within her golden pupils, there is a clear clock with its hands ticking, which looks rather eerie and contains the power of laws that grants her some of the power of a god after becoming a demigod.

Order is time.

204. Emptiness and Truth

She has long, white legs, and her feminine figure is vastly different from that of a child.

"Bang bang."

Beneath the woman's advantages lies an extremely fast-beating heart.

The moment her delicate body separated from Saint Karina, a strong sense of emptiness washed over her. How to put it... well, Esther was simply more alluring than before.

"I'm here to take you out."

Having already experienced the two Esthers before, she was only slightly shocked when she met the third Esther before she quickly reorganized her thoughts.

"It's not safe here. Come with me."

Unsure which of the three Esthers was the real one and which was a fake, Saint Karina decided to take them all and bring them together.

"You'll be safe if I go with you. Are you kidding me?"

"What do you mean."

“Sister Saint Karina, wasn’t it you who pierced and destroyed my heart, banishing me to this hellish world full of demons?”

"You still remember..."

"It hurt so much to have my chest pierced. Even someone like me, who is used to suffering and pain, will remember it. Because this pain was given to me by you, Sister Saint Karina."

She grasped her own feminine advantage with her hand; it was so large that it couldn't be held in her hand.

Her expression was pained, from the intense agony, and filled with deep resentment towards Saint Karina. Her eyes were filled with disbelief and confusion; she seemed unable to comprehend why Saint Karina could so readily plunge a blade into her own heart during their most tender moment.

As we all know, the heart and head are vital organs for humans.

She was seeking an explanation from Saint Karina, and so she continued to endure it.

However, she was panting slightly, her pink little snake still showing, and she seemed a little astringent.

"If it's painful, then I've already stabbed myself, so I've already returned it to you."

When Saint Karina gets ruthless, she'll even stab herself.

"I don't need to explain. You wouldn't understand anyway..."

"Anyway, come with me. If you don't come, I'll take you away by force."

Freedom... is something very important to St. Karina. No one can take it away from her.

"You've really gone too far, resorting to coercion against a weak woman, Sister Saint Karina..."

Esther seemed to be lamenting and blaming Saint Karina for not explaining herself and for trying to force her to make a choice.

“You are a demigod, I have never regarded you as a weak woman.”

Saint Karina felt that the more she talked, the more she sounded like a villain, so she retorted irritably.

"Besides, you've kept me trapped for almost a month, so this is just giving you a taste of your own medicine."

She had no intention of playing around, but when she thought of the various intimate moments the two of them had engaged in as mistress and servant after Esther trapped her, she couldn't help but blush.

Saint Karina wasn't entirely unaffected by those things.

If she were the master, it wouldn't be bad for that relationship to continue.

After Esther agreed to follow, she explained that the outside world was fraught with danger and that taking Esther with her would increase the danger several times over.

"By the way, there's something I need to confirm with you: what was your personality like when you were a child?"

Without wasting any time, Saint Karina told her about the other two Esthers.

She felt there was something wrong with this larger Esther. Although this Esther was more like the Esther she knew, the evil god Eris had said that by trapping her in this world, the dreamer would find it difficult to realize that she was dreaming.

If the other party has a problem, then under that premise, Saint Karina wouldn't mind revealing information about the two little Esthers. She believed the other party probably already knew this information.

If the other party is genuinely unaware of the existence of the two little Esthers, then the problem is even easier to solve; based on the other party's testimony, she can quickly determine the truth.

"According to what you said, Sister Saint Karina, the timid and obedient one is not me. The one who is calm and rational is me."

Elsie quickly made her judgment.

"When I was little, I liked to act well in front of you, Sister St. Karina, just so you would like me and make you feel at ease and happy."

“But… this kind of personality won’t survive in an orphanage. You should know that, right, Sister St. Karina… After all, we are the same kind of people, not that damned woman who stole you away.”

When she spoke of "that woman," her expression twisted, and at that moment, Esther looked more like a demon. More demonic than a demon.

She was jealous of Ernest VII, jealous that he had stolen her sister's man, and jealous that he had won Saint Karina's love. Yet, she had to resort to all sorts of despicable means to keep her sister Saint Karina, who was loyal but not truly devoted.

Even if their bodies were intertwined and they were doing pleasurable things day and night, Saint Karina's heart was never with her.

Being treated like a younger sister, she felt she was simply a little late. She hadn't yet transitioned from being protected to being a protector, nor did she have the right to walk alongside her older sister, Saint Karina, from that time.

All she could do was wait in that orphanage, every day, every hour, every minute, every second, longing for her sister Saint Karina and waiting for her to come back.

Her eyes were gentle, and she looked at me like I was a real sister, even though we weren't actually related by blood.

She had always felt that wasn't enough... just being a younger sister wasn't nearly enough...

She wanted to replace Ernest VII and become the one in Saint Karina's heart...

Only in this way can the terrible void in her heart be filled forever.

"She... is a thing of the past..."

Saint Karina opened her mouth, and finally uttered these words.

"Hmph. Whatever you think."

The conversation ended unhappily, and Saint Karina always felt that she might know something about Ernest VII.

That was the truth that Saint Karina had been searching for... However, given Esther's current state, she certainly wouldn't willingly tell herself that answer.

She had asked before, but the other party brushed her off by saying that she didn't need to concern herself with these matters and that she was the master.

Putting their questions aside for the moment, Saint Karina and the Great Esther continued their search for an exit.

However, there is only one road, and this time when they walked, they actually saw the end, which was a dead end, a wall.

Saint Karina tried bombarding the area with magic and divine spells, but just like when she tried to blow up the fence, the walls and fences were indestructible, much like an indestructible map in a game.

"Let's go back the way we came. I'll take you to meet up with the other two."

The three Esthers are easy to distinguish, and there won't be any misunderstandings like the real and fake Monkey Kings.

For example, the adult Esther is so easy to recognize. As for the other two younger Esthers, Leng Ai-chan can immediately distinguish them by their personalities and facial expressions.

She wanted to see how the world would change if the three Esthers were brought together.

On the way back, she encountered several times more ghosts than she had encountered alone. It seemed her guess was correct: having three Esthers with her, whether big or small, made her an automatic monster-attracting machine. The passive effect was that she would unconsciously and automatically attract ghost attacks.

"Boom--boom--"

"Boom bang bang."

Following the agreed-upon signal, after two long knocks and three short knocks, the door was opened from the inside.

This was for the sake of a safe house; Santa Karina had the two little ones hide inside and wait for a signal.

If the signal is wrong, they cannot open the door.

"Sister Saint Karina, you're back~"

A happy sound came from Ai-chan's mouth, and she jumped into Saint Karina's arms with a thud.

"Huh—who are you?"

She only looked up after enjoying the facial cleanser.

A slight doubt flickered in her large, bright eyes. She looked at this clearly magnified version of herself, a hint of hostility deep within her eyes.

Of the three, the calmest was Leng Ai-chan, who sat on the bed on the other side of the door, swinging her legs and looking at them with a cold expression.

Although the older Esther said that Cold Ai-chan was her true personality when she was younger, she didn't completely believe it. She was still happy to see Saint Karina, but because of her awkward personality, she didn't actively participate and was forced to give the opportunity to shine to Little Ai-chan.

Saint Karina noticed that when Leng Ai-chan saw the newcomer Da Ai-chan, there was no surprise in her eyes, and her expression was indifferent, as if she didn't care at all.

She didn't seem surprised by Dai Ai-chan's existence, just as she hadn't found it strange when she first saw Ko Ai-chan.

"Do you... have any thoughts?"

The three Esthers looked at each other, and finally a large hole appeared in the room, and the room underwent a dramatic change.

The room transformed into a bloody wasteland, the walls into a forest of bones, and suspended above the three Esthers, a deep, dark void.

A powerful gravitational force appeared in the void, attempting to suck the three Esthers in to fill it.

"Divine Words, Gravity. Come down here."

Saint Karina cast a spell, causing the three people who were already levitating and about to be sucked into the void to fall back to the ground.

To say it fell isn't entirely accurate. It's more like it was impacted by a powerful force and slammed into the ground.

Their bodies lay prostrate on the fleshy ground, bearing a terrible weight. Even the fleshy ground beneath them was pounded, churning out red water, like a river of blood.

Then, countless images were drawn out of the void—

“Sister Saint Karina, we made a promise that you would come to me whenever I am in danger. So… I will wait for you, until you come.”

A small, soft, white hand extends its little finger and makes a pinky promise with Saint Karina.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

There were two figures, one big and one small, looking very warm and cozy.

……

"Sister Saint Karina, you're not coming... right?"

That was after waiting for a very long time, she grew from a tiny little person into a big one, her features also developing, and she began to take shape as the future beauty that could topple kingdoms.

She sat in the dark room, drew the curtains, and watched the candles she had placed on the cake go out one by one, her expression dark and unreadable.

Her life was significantly better than before. Her small room was now decorated with many more expensive and luxurious items. Even the food on the table was much more lavish. It was clear that Esther's material life was getting better and better.

Her mental state, while not exactly deteriorating, became increasingly strange.

……

"Really? I understand..."

"I said I understand, my affairs are none of your concern. Okay, get out."

"The devastating news about Sister Saint Karina... I never imagined that after all these years, I would finally have the chance to come to you, Sister, to exchange our identities as promised, only to receive this terrible news."

"You know what? Sister Saint Karina... Actually, all these years, I've harbored resentment towards you. I resented why you didn't find me sooner, I resented why you never came to see me all these years, and why you couldn't keep our promise to be a cool and handsome person..."

Despite the blazing sun, the room where she was was unusually cold.

Not only that, the official documents on the desktop also started flipping through the pages automatically, without any wind.

It was as if there was another unseen person in the room, whose invisible hand was brushing over the scrolls and documents.

“Sister Saint Karina, I’ve always known that I like you, that I love you, but you seem to only have sisterly feelings for me. So, I often wonder if the reason you didn’t show up in time is because I’m not the one for you, since you have absolutely no interest in me.”

"It's so cruel... The person she likes doesn't like her back. Or rather, she's just oblivious to it."