Two Pinas from different world lines.
It felt like angels and demons were whispering in my ear.
“Are you asking what choice I’m going to make?”
Gasp! My breath stopped for a moment.
Why are they making me choose?
The Saintess chosen by the God of Light, Starter.
The Demon God chosen by the God of Darkness, Risette.
They have god-like powers to manipulate time and space at will.
“Yeah, anyway, our answers are the same.”
“We’re both Pina Grancia who love Su-hyun.”
Why do they willingly sacrifice their lives without anyone pointing out who came first?
Even when I try to hide my sadness by looking down, it just looks awkward.
My tail droops like a puppy caught in the rain, and even biting my lower lip doesn’t stop the tears.
Seeing both of them like this, I realize we’re all the same.
We all loved Su-hyun and want to be loved in return.
“…….”
I didn’t understand.
If sacrificing a life is necessary, shouldn’t it be me, who has the least to lose?
“You’re saying… you’re okay with dying without seeing Su-hyun…?”
When the Magic Hat cloaked the world line, Pina regained the memories of the Nameless Saintess.
A world line where I was kidnapped by monsters because there was no Lee Soo-hyun.
If misfortune exists, that would be the life we’re talking about.
My older sister Schartines, who I was close to, was tortured and killed right in front of me.
All because Pina was said to be the Hero from the prophecy.
“So that’s why our speech was the same…”
My sister, who was dying in front of me, still worried about the lonely Pina.
Even as the Demon Kings erased names, memories, power, and talent, she tried not to forget her kindness.
Should I call it coincidence or fate?
Because of Schartines’ death, the Saintess’s position became vacant and Pina inherited it.
“Yes, we’ve already experienced losing Su-hyun once.”
In another world line, she became the Nameless Saintess.
The reason she could use Divine Power, albeit feebly, was because of the God of Light’s consideration for her.
“You liar! You want to be by Su-hyun’s side too, don’t you?”
Despite Pina’s words, the Nameless Saintess replied, only to provoke her mood further.
A white lie mixed with truth and falsehood.
The Saintess has the willingness to sacrifice for Lee Soo-hyun but also wants to be by his side.
“No, if I can save Su-hyun…”
“You’ve never even heard him say he loves you properly!”
She had never received even a single proper declaration of love from Lee Soo-hyun.
It was a dark and ugly desire, already burned black and stuck to the bottom.
In her first life where even physical contact wasn’t allowed as a vessel.
He possessed Lee Soo-hyun’s body to exterminate the Magic Hat.
There were many situations to cross the line as comrades because of their mutual feelings.
But she didn’t feel dignified because it wasn’t truly her own body.
“Yet you don’t regret it?”
“……”
She couldn’t say a word, tears streaming down her face.
The Nameless Saintess told a small lie.
She wasn’t afraid of dying to save the Demon King transformed Lee Soo-hyun.
But she was afraid she would never see his face again.
“Really…?”
Even without a name or memory, the only one who loved her was the Black Knight.
“If I say I don’t regret it, that would be a lie…”
In truth, she wanted to be by his side always.
That was her wish, even the one she asked of the God of Darkness.
When the Pina in glass armor spoke, the Saintess trembled and approached Lee Soo-hyun.
Just finding out he came to this world in his original body made her jump for joy.
Using the Ideology Helmet as a medium, she even appeared in his dreams, going back in time.
“The blue rose… right now, your existence is just like that flower’s meaning.”
A miracle.
A blue rose represents love that won’t give up.
Seeing her past self wearing a mana rose in her hair, the Saintess noticed her past had changed.
Originally she should have been kidnapped by the Magic Hat and turned into the Nameless Saintess.
“My past self attending the academy with the knight changed everything.”
That possibility has now vanished.
Hiding in Pantos Shrine, she was prepared for what would happen later.
“Jealous of my past self? I really don’t fit in with the Saintess.”
When Lee Soo-hyun chose the princess in front of him over her as the Saintess, jealousy surged.
She had begged him in her dreams not to go.
“No! It’s just that Su-hyun is a bad man, the sinful person who took away Pina Grancia’s heart.”
She cried in front of him, even wrapping her tail around his legs, pleading to be chosen.
Yet, his heart remained unmoved.
“When you think about it, I was the first to like him…”
The Nameless Saintess caressed the Black Knight’s cheek.
I liked him first. I should have stolen his lips first.
Everything she wanted to do with the one she loved was stolen by her past self.
“I lost Su-hyun because I didn’t have the mana rose.”
The Black Rose, who had been watching her, spoke up.
He had always talked about the black-haired Pina Grancia.
“I lived a lifetime full of regrets.”
She looked at her wrist.
How many times had she prayed to the heavens to take her life instead?
To resurrect the Black Knight, she turned back time and even created the Magic Sword Horizon for safekeeping.
She even went so far as to fall into corruption as a Demon God.
“Another me…”
“Just call me Black Rose. It’s easier that way.”
A new possibility that never existed before.
Without the Grand Route, it was impossible to beat fate itself.
The Pina Grancia in front of the Demon God now indicated that.
A small coincidence where her helmet was not removed during the grade exam.
The outcome turned out to be the complete opposite.
“Black Rose, you also… loved Su-hyun.”
“I love him enough to give him my life in return.”
A direct answer with no hesitation.
At first, she had wanted to take him using the Demon God’s power to manipulate space.
Like the Nameless Saintess, she had appeared in dreams too.
Even entering the realm of the gods, trying to take Lee Soo-hyun from the Grand Route, but failed.
She lived in despair of never being able to see him again.
“Such a fool… really, such a fool…”
But, he knew he was the same Pina Grancia and tried to save her.
The last world line the inheritance system transported him to was.
Even after falling into corruption as the Demon God, it was difficult to maintain sanity.
“Su-hyun said he wanted to save me because I’m also Pina.”
The black-haired Pina Grancia responded to Lee Soo-hyun’s wish to save her.
Realizing everything through the omniscience of the Black Rose, she began to weep blood.
“Su-hyun even told me to kill myself to cross the world line.”
“…I need to scold him.”
“How can anyone just sacrifice themselves…?!”
Everyone here is the same Pina Grancia.
Though they may look a bit different, they have the same thoughts and feelings.
“Then Su-hyun revived my memories that he had sacrificed for a wish.”
“I saved Su-hyun’s life during the heart transplant!”
It was as if they provided help in every way for the Black Knight.
Even she, as a princess, used the Dragon Heart and erected statues across the empire.
“So… Black Rose, is there really no other way?”
The Pina in glass armor held on to a glimmer of hope.
Is there no way for everyone here to be happy? Because they all wish to be by their loved ones’ sides.
“There isn’t. Once the Grand Route is established, both of us must disappear.”
“Why…? How come…?”
Shake shake.
With a long sigh, Black Rose began to explain.
Contrary to Pina’s expectations, the reason the Saintess and Demon God could gather like this now was:
“The Grand Route turns all possibilities into one.”
All achievable possibilities intertwine like threads, converging into a single fate.
It was because the Grand Route hadn’t been established yet.
To twist fate requires a resolve.
If those who govern time and space do not sacrifice,
“To save Su-hyun, we must perish.”
“We are like remnants of the past.”
That means no new possibilities would open up.
The Nameless Saintess and the Demon God held Pina’s hands.
“You are the only one who can do this, Pina.”
They couldn’t hide their sad expressions.
Unable to conceal their desire to be by the Black Knight’s side.
They handed the decision-making power to Pina of the Grand Route.
Is this truly the right thing to do?
The small tremors of the hands and the sobbing voice revealed a heavy sadness of never being able to see their loved ones again.
If saving Su-hyun means this, will I truly be happy later on?
At first, it should be fine.
But then, I must live my life as a liar forever.
I can’t say I had to kill another version of me from another world to save you.
Even knowing this, will you still love me?
“…No.”
No one else will sacrifice anymore.
Pina pushed their hands away and pinched their cheeks hard.
Just like the first time she faced the Nameless Saintess.
“Caw caw caw!! Why are you pinching my cheek again!!”
“Why the sudden change? Ugh…”
They retaliated by pinching Pina’s ears.
The Saintess and Demon God Pina may differ in status, appearance, and age from now, but…
“After all, no matter how you look, you’re still the same Pina Grancia.”
Their feelings for the Black Knight were the same.
Unlike others, their feelings wouldn’t easily cool off just because hardships came.
An eternity that transcends time and space.
That’s what Pina Grancia’s love for Lee Soo-hyun was.
“No. There’s only one way for you all to not disappear.”
With a faint smile at the corners of her mouth, Pina declared.
“How? Once the Grand Route is made, we’ll both disappear…?”
“That’s right. The future gets fixed into one path…”
Seeing the confident expression of the Pina with a blue rose, they narrowed their eyes.
If the future is fixed into one, shouldn’t they, as another possibility, disappear?
“I won’t make you guys as if you never existed.”
What kind of confidence does the Grand Route Pina possess to say that?
“You are like the fragments of the future that I had to experience.”
Pina hugged the two of them warmly.
It’s also because of many failures that they can be here like this now.
Even if the future changes, the past built up won’t change.
“I will accept you, and we can live together as Pina Grancia.”
