CHAPTER 651: [EVENT] [THE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST] [31] PROMISE AND FAREWELLS

For a moment, the world just... stopped.

The chaos, the shouting, even the roaring of Behemoth in the distance—all of it faded into a hollow silence as my gaze locked onto the broken figure lying on the bloodstained earth.

Roda.

Celeste, who had been clutching me only seconds ago, flinched and instinctively let go. She turned—and then she saw. Her body went rigid, her lips parting in disbelief as she stared at Roda’s crumpled form.

I took a shaky step forward. Then another. My knees gave out and I collapsed beside her.

"...Roda..."

I reached for her, gently turning her limp body and cradling her head in my lap. Her skin was ice cold, her clothes soaked red. She coughed—a violent, wet sound—and fresh blood spilled from the corners of her lips.

Her face was pale, drained of life, and the light in her eyes was fading by the second.

That’s when I noticed it.

In her hand, clutched tight even in the face of death, was the glowing emblem of the Prophetess. It shimmered faintly... and then, slowly, began to vanish.

"No, no, no..." I whispered, panic taking hold.

My hand hovered over the gaping hole in her chest—fist-sized and gruesome, the blood flowing out in rivulets. With trembling fingers, I uncorked a healing vial and poured its contents over the wound.

Nothing.

"E–Edward..." Roda’s voice rasped.

"You’ll be fine," I said, my voice shaking as I screamed toward the knights, "We need a healer! Now!"

But no one moved. All eyes were still on Behemoth, still fighting. Still destroying.

"Don’t..." She whispered, catching my arm with surprising strength.

I turned to her, eyes wide.

She was smiling, though it hurt her to do so. "Don’t make that face... I never belonged in your world, Edward. Even if I wanted to, I could never stay in a place I was never meant for. This... this was always how it was going to end."

She coughed again, blood dripping down her chin.

"Stay with me," I said, brushing her hair away from her face. My hands trembled as I supported her head.

But Roda shook her head.

Her gaze wandered upward, toward the moon hanging bright and full in the night sky.

"Even if it was only for a little while... I was happy," she murmured, tears sliding silently down her cheeks. "Happy to see everyone again. Alive."

"You can’t leave like this!" I snapped, unable to stop my voice from cracking. My teeth clenched as I tried to hold back the pain. "You don’t get to just—go. Not after everything!"

She turned her eyes toward me again.

"I was truly happy to meet this version of you, Edward. And Nyrel... For the first time in forever, I felt things I thought I’d buried long ago." She let out a soft laugh—bitter and sweet. "I–I just hope you won’t remember me as some girl who posed as a prostitute to assassinate you..."

I forced a smile, tears stinging my eyes. "Don’t say dumb things."

I swept a bloodied strand of hair from her face. "You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met in Sancta Vedelia."

Her lips quivered.

"I... I really wanted that dream of yours, Edward," she whispered. "That house. That quiet life. I wanted it more than anything..."

I couldn’t speak.

I couldn’t lie to her either—not now.

My hand, still pressed over her wound, trembled uncontrollably.

I felt powerless.

"I’m sorry... I shouldn’t be making you feel worse," she said. "But these past few days, you made me feel something I hadn’t in years. Peace. Happiness. I’m grateful, truly. Just... promise me one thing."

Her fingers brushed against mine, weak and fading.

"Don’t blame yourself. Please. Promise me that?"

I nodded, squeezing her hand tightly.

The Prophetess emblem in her palm gave one last flicker... and disappeared entirely.

Then, right before my eyes, her body began to fracture.

Tiny cracks formed along her skin, spreading like veins of light through glass. She was disintegrating.

Maybe because she didn’t belong in this timeline.

Maybe because she had simply given too much.

"Edward... are you still here?" She asked, her sight gone now. Her voice trembled, lost and fragile.

"I’m here," I whispered, clenching her hand tighter.

"You know... there’s an old myth," she said softly. "That every Prophetess, in her final breath, is granted one wish. I don’t know if it’s true... but I made mine."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I... won’t tell you," she said with a weak smile. "But Edward... in another life... would you let me be part of your family? Live in your house, like we had talked?"

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close—gently.

"I promise," I whispered.

"...I’m glad, then."

She smiled one last time... and just before her arms could embrace me—

Her body shattered into a thousand glowing fragments of white light.

I was left holding nothing.

Only silence and flickering particles remained, drifting upward.

I sat there, fists clenched on my lap, holding nothing. My knuckles turned white, trembling as I tried to hold myself together.

Roda was gone.

She had died.

The words echoed hollowly in my mind. Every moment we had shared in these past few days came rushing back in a flood I couldn’t contain—her voice, her smile, the way she gets angry for nothing, the stubborn light in her eyes, her embarrassing moments. Each memory stabbed deeper than the last.

Then, without warning, warmth pressed against my back—gentle arms wrapping around me.

Celeste.

She held me quietly. Her embrace was steady, grounding... but even that wasn’t enough to hold back the breaking tide inside me.

My breathing turned shallow. My vision blurred.

And then—everything shifted.

The battlefield dissolved around me like mist, swallowed by an otherworldly calm. In the blink of an eye, I was kneeling in the middle of an endless green field. Soft grass brushed against my palms. The wind was quiet, tender. Beautiful.

Celeste was no longer there.

But someone else was.

Cleenah.

She stood before me.

Before she could speak, I dropped my gaze and muttered, "Don’t."

My voice was tight and low.

"Edward..." Cleenah called me softly as she took a hesitant step forward. "I’m sorry... about Roda."

I flinched, shaking my head. "D–Don’t... please."

But she kept approaching, closing the distance with measured steps. Her hand reached toward me.

That’s when I lifted my head, tears brimming, my eyes locking onto hers with resentment I couldn’t hide.

"You can’t," I said. My voice cracked. "You can’t..."

I couldn’t finish the sentence.

But she knew.

We both knew why she had brought me here.

And the realization settled in my chest like lead. Dread seeped into every corner of me—paralyzing, cold and unspeakable.

Cleenah hesitated. Her hand hovered mid-air for a moment but then she knelt quietly in front of me, moving slowly, delicately.

Her fingers brushed through my hair, then guided my head gently down to her lap.

I didn’t resist.

I was too weak to do anything.

I let myself surrender to it.

Her fingers moved with care, tracing through my hair in slow, comforting motions.

"Two years," she said. "It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Edward?"

I said nothing.

"You came into that ancient temple so awkwardly," she went on, a soft smile in her tone. "I became your Legacy, and you... you were such a mess back then. Naive. Always complaining. Honestly, I expected someone colder—more detached. You were supposed to be Samael’s Vessel, after all. And you had Wrath."

She chuckled faintly.

"But instead... I got a softhearted child with too many questions and not enough answers. You were clumsy, emotional, human." She giggled again, fingers continuing their gentle rhythm. "I still blame Nihil for that. But even then, I was... happy. Happy to watch you grow. To see that side of you bloom. It made you—" she paused, "—beautiful, in a way."

Her voice held no judgment. Just quiet fondness.

Cleenah must have sensed my refusal to speak so she continued.

"You made me discover so many things, Edward... things I never thought I could feel. You might not even realize it, but you saved me—from bitterness, from sadness... from a rage I carried for ten thousand years."

I let out a shaky breath.

"I didn’t do anything... you were the one who saved me."

Cleenah shook her head softly, and her long, silky green hair spilled forward like a waterfall, the strands brushing against my cheek as if to comfort me.

"Still dense as ever, my adorable Hero," she said, gently pinching my cheek. "You saved me... and even Nevia. You may not have seen it, but she buried her resentment—just to watch you grow."

"And she left me..." I said, my voice breaking. The anger I felt was hollow, more sorrow than fury, more loss than blame.

"We were never meant to follow you forever," Cleenah said quietly. "That was never our fate, Edward."

"I—I don’t care about that!" I snapped, turning my head to look at her. My voice cracked. "You... you can’t leave me now, Cleenah. Please..."

There was a desperation in me I couldn’t hide anymore. My fear was raw, eating at the edges of my mind. Roda’s face still lingered in my memory, and now Cleenah’s presence was slipping away too.

I must’ve looked pathetic, clinging to her with wet eyes and trembling lips.

"I—I can’t keep going without you," I whispered, rising slightly, leaning into her warmth. "I need you, Cleenah. I love you."

Her gaze softened, her brilliant emerald eyes meeting mine as she reached out, brushing her fingers gently across my tear-streaked cheek.

"And I will always be by your side, Edward," she said.

But I gritted my teeth, my shoulders trembling. "You say that, but... but you’ll disappear, just like the others."

"Look at me, Edward," she said calmly.

But I didn’t. I couldn’t. My gaze stayed rooted to the grass, like if I met her eyes I’d see her disappear like Roda.

"In the future," she continued, "you might face even more pain than this—grief deeper than you can imagine. But you’ll endure it, just like you’ve always endured everything. From the very beginning... even back on Earth."

"I—I won’t be able to," I said, shaking my head. "Not without you..."

It felt like something inside me was cracking. Like the dam I’d held back all this time was finally breaking.

Cleenah placed her hands gently on either side of my face, lifting my chin.

"You haven’t found Ephera yet. She’s still waiting for you to find her. Will you abandon her?" She asked softly. "What about Layla? Alvara? Elizabeth? Celeste?"

I fell silent as I remembered my time and promises with each of them.

"You carry their hopes too," she said, brushing her thumb across my cheek. "And they carry yours. You’ll be there for them... and they’ll be there for you. They’re your strength, Edward. Just as you are theirs."

She smiled gently.

"So... will you abandon them?"

I shook my head slowly, a lump caught in my throat. I couldn’t say anything more.

I looked at her, my voice trembling as I asked, "You’re going to reincarnate too, Cleenah? Like Nevia?"

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she shook her head gently.

"No," she said softly. "And I don’t want you to look for me, Edward."

I blinked. "What...? What are you saying?"

"I’m asking you. Don’t try to find me. I shouldn’t exist anymore."

My hands curled into fists at my sides. "Y–You really think I’ll just let you leave me like this? Even if I have to search every damn corner of the world, confront every gods—I will find you, Cleenah! I won’t let you just disappear like this...!"

But before I could go on, she reached out and gently pressed her index finger against my lips.

"Don’t," she whispered. "Don’t trust Nemesis. Don’t trust my Sisters. Don’t trust Nihil. Don’t trust any God—not even the ones who seem kind. They’ll all have their own plans for you, whether for good or evil. Trust only yourself... and the people who love you. The ones who love you without asking anything in return."

I looked down, my body trembling. There was so much I wanted to say, so much pain surging through me that I couldn’t even shape into words.

She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around me, guiding my head to rest against her chest. The scent of her skin wrapped around me—soft, divine, hers.

"People will try to use you, Edward. You’ve already seen it. Don’t ever let them think you’re a tool... or that you’re weak."

I wanted to believe her.

I needed to.

"You’re not weak. You never were, Nyrel," she said. "You’re the Aithra. Your existence is unique. But above everything else, I need you to remember this: destiny doesn’t control you. No prophecy, no divine plan. You choose your own path. And I’ll be watching you Edward. The only man I have ever loved and will love forever." She added smiling at me.

"C–Cleenah..."

I lifted my gaze to meet hers. She still held my face in her hands, her thumbs brushing my wet cheeks.

And then, without a word, she leaned in and kissed me.

Her lips were soft—warm, tender, and trembling. My breath caught in my chest as an overwhelming surge of emotion swept through me. It didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel wrong either. It just felt like something that shouldn’t have happened.

Between a mortal and a Goddess.

And when she pulled back, I noticed her gaze shift downward, and then I heard it—the soft sound of tears falling onto the grass.

They weren’t mine.

"I thought I was ready," she whispered with a shaky smile. Her green eyes shimmered with tears as they spilled freely down her face. "I really thought I was ready..."

"Don’t..." I said again.

I didn’t want this.

I couldn’t imagine a life without her.

But it was over already.

Her body—beginning to fade. Becoming translucent, like mist caught in sunlight. My heart pounded violently against my ribs.

But she reached out and placed her hand over my chest.

"I’m not going anywhere," she said giving me a wide smile as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I’ll be with you, Edward. Always."

Those words washed over me like a healing warmth, but they couldn’t stop the ache in my heart or the tears I couldn’t hold back. I was breaking, even as I stood there trying to hold myself together.

"Prove me right," she said, stepping back. "Show me who you are. Don’t get lost in the arms of strange women." She smiled. "Don’t live for my sake—live for your own."

I shot up to follow her, reaching out—but as I grabbed her wrist, it dissolved in a shimmer of divine particles, slipping through my fingers.

I met her gaze.

I couldn’t speak.

My throat was too tight, my lips dry.

Cleenah took one last step toward me, her face trembling with emotion. Then, with a gentleness that shattered me all over again, she cupped my cheeks and kissed my forehead.

"I love you, Edward," she whispered.

She leaned her forehead against mine, and for a brief moment, we stayed like this kneeling and leaning against each other.

And then she was gone.

From my arms.

From my life.

From existence.