Honestly I think the author left it that way to leave it to us the readers to interpret it in our own way for me personally since she waited before coming out to see Pell meaning she probably returned a bit earlier on that same day so she could’ve already reunited with her family and then rushed back to find him hence the ending
since elra said that rael consciousness is gonna disappear I can guess that essie no longer possess the power of death bc elra did say that a new rael will be formed to set the balance back into place so ig it’s kinda impossible for Essie if she’s already been cleansed by elra and then brought back to life by her
In the end she’s most likely will indeed become the empress I bet Pell will pull some strings to clean her name bc well he’s emperor so ofc he’s gonna have insane amount of connections to get rid of her “witch” reputation
but I really did hope they had spread the og story of the founding empire bc omg the first emperor was a dickhead and a asshole for betraying someone that gave them will to live again especially a god??? Like what?? Ofc theres gonna be consequences for messing a higher being that’s beyond human bound
Reading this feels like having more sauce than the salad itself. Solid plot but the ending was totally a big cliffhanger. So did she return to her parents after Elra granted her life? Does she no longer possess the power of death? Will she become empress even after being branded as witch? I wished there'd be side stories. Well, at least it was a happy ending, I guess.