[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-omega-s-rebirth":3,"chapter-omega-s-rebirth-omega-s-rebirth-chapter-286":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Omega's Rebirth",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1368290,1811,"Chapter 286: To Keep Skies (Ch.286)","omega-s-rebirth-chapter-286",286,"\u003Cp>\"You fool...why is it so hard for you to understand anything?\" Estelle grumbled beneath her breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Estelle wished Dante could see into her heart, that would have made things so much easier on her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, she would not have to struggle to speak any words and end up swallowing then down for lack of courage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Estelle was weary now, deeply exhausted and it was not even because of the High Maiden, the nymphs, the Black Network or anything...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was just Dante, and the truth about him she had never dared admit even to herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A truth Estelle knew she would never admit to, if not now...in this moment when Dante waited and watched quietly and all she needed to do was speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in speaking was where the trouble lay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do I not understand?\" Dante asked with a raised brow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Estelle’s silence had dragged on for more than a moment now and Dante’s patience was waning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I...I...\" Estelle stuttered, clenching and unclenching her fists as she tried to come up with the best way to convey what she felt at this moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Estelle had come to an unexpected realization in these past few days and she was all the more certain of it now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Certain that all along, she had missed the obvious...or she had pushed it away because she simply did not want to believe it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, after all that had just happened, there was no denying it anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Elle, for once in your life, can you just make things easy?\" Dante asked in exasperation when Estelle still could not say anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was another one of Estelle’s tantrums, at least that was what Dante believed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Somewhere in Dante’s mind he expected that any moment now, Estelle would make an absurd decision like telling him she no longer wanted his company on her mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante braced himself for the cold, harsh words he knew Estelle would say. You see, whenever Estelle was hurt, throwing the hurt right back was always her backup plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just... just let me finish.\" Estelle said back with a shaky sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante grunted beneath his breath but kept his silence and waited for Estelle to gather her thoughts and speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The severing...it must have been so painful and terrifying for you.\" Estelle began in a tone thick with sadness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those words were completely unexpected and not at all the cold, harsh words Dante had expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante raised a brow at Estelle, she had never bothered to acknowledge what he had been through and if Dante was being honest, he had found it a relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the past months, he had been on the receiving end of sympathy from his kin and it was mentally draining.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when Estelle asked, there was no sympathy in her tone, instead what Dante sensed was pain and that made it easier for him to broach the topic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I woke up one day to realize the other half of my soul was... gone. And there was nothing I could do about it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I could not protect or save her, I could not run to her or even be by her side because I didn’t even know who she was or where in the world I could find her...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I felt a part of me die, Elle. My heart shattered piece by piece within me... Pain? That is an understatement.\" Dante replied with a quiet sigh.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante was not sure why he was being so honest, he did not find it easy to speak of his feelings with many people but with Estelle, even after a decade, it was still like impulse to Dante.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When a dragon placed his trust in someone, he could never take it back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Estelle bit down on her lip, nodding in understanding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know what I am about to say might anger you, but I have to be honest with myself this time...\" Estelle began again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When some time has passed... I mean even a decade or more... when it feels easier and not as devastating as it is now... even by just a little...\" Estelle stuttered out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So what I’m trying to say is... when your heart is ready, would you let me try...to heal you? A new bond to replace the old...\" Estelle asked quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I do not need your sympathy.\" Dante replied blankly, his brows furrowed in displeasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s not it Dante... I know I was the one who turned down your father’s proposal, and that was stupid of me.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I do not want to make the same mistake I did a decade ago. I thought I would truly lose you this time and it was... unbearable.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I... I want to be more than a friend to you Dante, if you would allow it. It does not have to be anytime soon too... just, when you’re ready.\" Estelle replied, her tone still quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante’s heart gave a sudden and unsteady beat for the first time, an intense reaction for the first time since the severing had passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The words Estelle said, Dante wondered if they were what he thought them to be or was his mind conjuring up a scene to make his life even more miserable than it already was?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"What do you mean by the same mistake?\" Dante asked slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of all the words Estelle had said, those words caught Dante’s attention. He still could not understand just what had happened between them a decade ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I...A decade ago, when you were in a slumber in our cave... I... I wanted to know for sure, if there was hope...so I checked. I touched your reversed scale... and nothing happened.\" Estelle finally admitted to a truth she had never said before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That was why you shut me out.\" Dante realized in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It hurt too much to face the reality that you could never be mine. I believed it would be for the best if you were gone... so I never have to watch you find happiness with someone else.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Now I feel like... I jinxed you... and I’m so so sorry. When I heard of the severing, I flared up...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I didn’t want to be just a replacement for the love you could never have...not when I had found myself a version of you that could actually be mine.\" Estelle sobbed quietly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Jason?\" Dante asked after a moment of stunned silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Did you never realize it? He sounds like you... and cares for me in the way you did.\" Estelle murmured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh, Elle...\" Dante sighed, watching Estelle struggle to swallow down her sobs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past few days, since the night at Fort Blazed, Dante had witnessed Estelle display such great strength over and over again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Estelle who had somehow been able to move forward after what happened with Fort Blazed, with her mission as her priority.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Estelle who had just battled the High Maiden so fearlessly, instead of sitting and waiting for Dante to find her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the Estelle Dante had known from his youth, the one she had buried beneath all that grief and despair till it was lost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know it’s too much to ask, you... you don’t have to take me seriously... I just wanted you to know.\" Estelle assured, forcing a smile to her lips that did not hold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a moment, Dante just stared at Estelle, rendered speechless by her words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"If you were going to replace me with someone...he should have been a bit taller.\" Dante finally blurted out, his response completely off topic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Dante!\" Estelle exclaimed in disbelief before she broke into laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Elle... a severing as strong as mine is known to be a death sentence. Why do you think I lived?\" Dante asked as he covered the distance between he and Estelle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When I needed a precious memory to grasp onto...a reason to live, I thought of Estelle Starron... the woman I cherish the most.\" Dante said,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He placed a hand on Estelle’s cheek, wiping her tears with his thumb.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So when some time has passed... Certainly not another decade or more.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But when it feels easier and not as devastating as it is now... even by just a little...\" Dante repeated Estelle’s words from a moment ago, adjusting the parts that did not sit well with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So what I’m trying to say is... when my heart is ready, I will entrust it to you. A new bond to replace the old.\" Dante finished with a small smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Truly?\" Estelle asked in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I would not have it be any other.\" Dante assured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on Estelle’s forehead before he took her hand and lead her down the path till they found a larger space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dante took his dragon form, the massive maroon beast in all it’s wild beauty, a beauty that never ceased to amaze Estelle no matter how many times she had witnessed the shift.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His large head turned to Estelle, nodding his permission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Estelle walked over, climbing up to Dante’s back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To Keep Skies?\" Estelle asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To Keep Skies.\" Dante’s agreement echoed in Estelle’s mind as he took to the skies.\u003C\u002Fp>",1525,"2026-06-05T21:38:30.127Z",1,"novelbin.me","0dfcfc04c6fb95c782182b1f4129b1604b3dd1705d18508a1eb307530078ddcf","omega-s-rebirth-chapter-287","omega-s-rebirth-chapter-285",929,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fomega-s-rebirth-cover.jpg"]