The four women who were married to Damien left the palace at roughly the same time, but they arrived at their given destinations at different times.
Originally, Ruyue and Rose were meant to go together, but when she noticed how favorable the location she was given was to her, Ruyue went alone, leaving Rose without any particular assignment.
Now, this was done out of care. Ruyue knew that Rose had no interest in these matters, so she took over, allowing her sister to stay away from battle.
Plus, since she was confident in her power, she felt that it would be unnecessary for both of them to take the time to make the trip.
It could be considered a side effect of the transformation Ruyue was undergoing, but she failed to take Rose's opinion into account.
She unilaterally decided on the practicality of the situation and ignored the emotional aspects related to it. She didn't have an awareness of those emotional aspects anymore, after all.
However, Rose had a bit of an awakening in recent days. Her views were still the same, but unlike before, she did want to leave the palace.
What was she meant to do?
Every Demigod group had been assigned to people from the palace army to help them train.
There were a few unassigned targets, but they were all Gods. Either Damien would take care of them personally, or other Gods would take care of them once they finished their assigned missions.
Rose suddenly found herself in a strange position where she didn't really have a reason to leave the palace anymore but still wanted to.
Finding a reason…
Truthfully, it wasn't something she needed to do. It wasn't like her movements were being restricted. If she wanted to leave the palace, all she had to do was walk out.
But the step she was trying to take was a big one.
She'd lived for a long time without ever considering finding a goal for herself or some sort of hobby. She knew what she wanted, but at the same time, she felt like she could do more.
This feeling motivated her to try something she'd never tried before, to try exploring the world purely out of the desire for self-discovery.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHowever, it wasn't easy to take that step.
Damien's deployment order was an excuse she could use to get herself out of the house. Everything else could come after she'd finished her mission.
Without a mission, the motivation she'd built up began to crumble.
Ruyue acted out of consideration, sure, but she failed to realize that Rose's situation wasn't the same as before.
And because of that, she'd almost ruined her sister's opportunity.
Luckily, there were still people at the palace willing to help.
In Rose's case, it was Claire.
Rose had forged a relationship with her mother-in-law that others couldn't comprehend.
They were similar in many ways, and their husbands were equally similar.
Claire was someone who could relate to Rose perfectly and provide her guidance as someone older and wiser.
If there was anyone who could see Rose's internal struggle happening in real time, it was her.
The deployment order was final. There really wasn't a place for Rose to intervene anymore since her place had been taken.
Claire couldn't really give Rose the exact same motivation that Damien had managed to give her.
But it wasn't a problem to do something different to obtain the same results.
There was one other matter within the palace that held the same importance as the war with Straea.
Dante Void.
When Damien came last time and fed his father the Harmony Fruit, he didn't stay to see what would happen afterward.
He knew his mother would take care of his father better than anyone else could. Even before he brought the fruit, she'd been tending to him every day to make sure he could be comfortable.
Dante was still trapped in his mind. That had yet to change.
However, saying that there was no change would be a lie.
Twitching.
Subtle yet impactful, Dante's body would twitch every few days.
He had never been so responsive before.
His eyelids would twitch occasionally, and his eyes themselves frequently moved around. His body was less responsive, but even it would occasionally show signs of life; a huge improvement from the state Dante had shown until now.
He still didn't react to external stimuli, but the signs indicating that he was slowly regaining his connection with his body meant everything to Claire, Serena, and the rest.
The Harmony Fruit was truly able to provide them with a miracle.
Yet, it wasn't enough.
At this rate, Dante wouldn't wake up for hundreds or even thousands of years. It was enough to make anyone lose hope. Anyone except for Claire and Serena.
The two took Damien's success with the Harmony Fruit quite seriously. It was no more than a rumor that had been spoken of a few times and recorded in history, but it had shown them such a beautiful result.
As such, the two women sunk themselves in the history books, looking for something else that could provide a similar effect, something that could accelerate Dante's healing process.
And while most clues led to nothing, there were a few worth investigating.
Squads had already been made for these searches. Of the five leads that were worth following, four were already being actively chased.
The team for the fifth was just recently getting ready to leave, but…
Wasn't it okay to hand their job to someone else?
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmRose's power existed to protect.
If she got into a perilous situation, it wasn't hard for her to hide herself and escape.
Rather, when it came to concealment, Rose's ability to mimic reality made her second only to Damien himself.
She didn't need a team to go with her, and the forbidden zone she was getting sent to was quite the beautiful place.
In Claire's eyes, the situation that originally brought Rose down was actually perfect for her.
Because rather than sending her to war, sending her on an adventure was far more valuable to her growth.
Rose was a little iffy about it when Claire first told her, but it didn't take long for her to warm up to the idea.
'I need to get out of the house.'
Regardless of the reason, she couldn't stay cooped up anymore. Not if she wanted to better herself.
It would be dangerous. It would be hard. It would be excruciating at times.
But those moments could never outweigh the beauty that such adventures held.
Rose learned that personally in the past, traveling the world with Damien.
Perhaps she wasn't following the same path as everyone else.
Perhaps her motivations and desires didn't make sense to others.
But they were her own, and she didn't want to abandon them just because they were unconventional.
Despite her relative disinterest in it all, Rose was quite excited as she left the palace.
With Claire cheering her on from behind and with everyone else silently supporting her happiness, Rose made her way to the Western Region.
The land of Dragons that no other had ever visited…
She was going to try and find her way in.