At those words, the entire Courtyard fell silent.
The members of the Communion all turned to look at Dorothea.
Dorothea's eyes widened in shock, as though she had heard something unbelievable.
"Win...nie?"
That name already felt rather distant to Dorothea, yet her heart still clenched at its mention.
Winnie had been an utterly ordinary girl. She had been kind and weak, growing like a weed and passing away like one too.
The only difference was that she had done her best to squeeze out some of the little warmth in her life and share it with Dorothea.
Dorothea knew that, in this world, Winnie could even be considered fortunate.
For Winnie to have grown up here safely, to have had a job, to have known someone she loved, to have adopted a group of children-those things were already nothing short of a miracle.
But Dorothea was greedy. She always felt that someone so kind deserved more.
Or perhaps this world had simply been too stingy with them to begin with.
Dorothea took several deep breaths, her expression gradually growing solemn. Her gaze swept over the discarded husks before finally settling on the other woman's face.
For some reason, this unfamiliar Immortal gave her a sense of familiarity.
The name Winnie was like a key, slowly unlocking dust-covered memories.
"Who are you?"
Lillian did not answer. She kept surveying her surroundings, her gaze passing over the Believers, lingering on the Fountain and garden in the Courtyard, then turning toward the distant Wood and Stream.
By the time her gaze finally settled on the magnificent Palace whose boundaries lay beyond sight, her eyes were already filled with shock.
"This is an Abode?! Such an enormous Abode, even more expansive than the [Shell of Regret]..."
Lillian murmured to herself, her pupils beginning to