Why it never ends

Chapter 1230 Disagreement
Hester stared at herself in the photo with great interest for a while. There was a mirror on the wall next to her. She looked in the mirror and tried to make the same expression as in the photo, but no matter how she adjusted it, she could not reproduce the unique temperament in the photo.

She glanced at the article quickly, her expression becoming somewhat subtle. After exiting the page, Hester sat alone in the room for a while, lost in thought, before suddenly getting up and walking outside.

……

In Packart's room, the old woman was resting. She heard a knock on the door, opened her eyes wearily, and soon heard familiar footsteps coming through the living room and into the bedroom.

"Are you taking a nap?" Hersta asked—a question that was somewhat rhetorical, as Pakate's expression and movements clearly indicated that she was not in good condition.

“…I’m not feeling well.” Packart frowned and propped himself up with two pillows, sitting up halfway.

Throughout the entire process, Hersta remained silent. In this somewhat unusual silence, Packart reached for his glasses on the bedside table so that he could see Hersta's face more clearly.

"What's wrong?" the old man asked.

"...You're not going to tell me next that you have some kind of illness and only have three months to live, are you?" Hersta said with a sigh.

Packart stared at the young man in front of him, bewildered. "What did you say?"

Hesta mumbled "Nothing," then walked to the window, parted a corner of the curtain, and looked outside.

“It’s not a serious illness,” Packart said slowly, “but for an old man, death is something that can come at any time.”

Hersta suddenly turned around.

“...The good news is that in my family history, almost no one has died before the age of ninety. My mother and several of her sisters even lived to be over one hundred.” Packart shrugged. “So I’ve always considered ninety as the end of my life—relax, I still have at least ten years to live.”

"Then why are you feeling unwell?"

“I ate a whole chicken and drank some wine last night,” Packart said. “I was happy, but my stomach is obviously a little upset.”

"...Why did you eat so much last night?"

“Are you all celebrating? I’m happy too,” Packart said. “Are you free today? Did you come all this way to chat with me?”

“No, I’m busy,” Hester glanced at his watch. “It’s already 1:15, I have to get back by 2:00. Zoe and the others still need to talk to me about Mrs. Brownbo…”

At this point, Hesta looked out the window again, as if something particularly interesting was happening outside that had captured her attention.

Packart remained silent, knowing that silence usually meant preparation, and Hester wouldn't come to her for no reason.

"...Are you and Ava very close?" Hester asked.

"You came here today to talk to me about Ava?"

Hershta nodded.

Packart narrowed his eyes slightly, lost in thought, "...I don't have much to share. I didn't meet her many times, maybe four...five times in total?"

“When Xia Yixue and I were chatting today, she mentioned that Ava was very supportive of your pilot program in the Nia province,” Hersta said. “I remember you said before that you were involved in the rule-making for the reserve base… I thought you two were old friends.”

“She did decide to meet me because I had been involved in the rule-making process for the reserve base,” Packart said. “Our first meeting wasn’t in her office, but in her home, on the ground floor, in a place with lots of greenery…”

“A glass sunroom,” Hester added, “the one that leads to the backyard?”

Packart looked at Hester: "So you've been to Ava's house too?" "I was imprisoned by her," Hester said, "in her basement."

“Really?” Packart looked at Hersta. “Then you must have done something very bad.”

“…I guess so.” Hersta sat down at the foot of Packart’s bed, arms crossed. “And then?”

“I was very impressed when I first saw her,” Packart said. “I knew she was five or six years younger than me, but when we met, I had a very strange feeling, like I was meeting an older sister.”

“Sister…” Hershta repeated the word softly.

“Hmm.” Packart recalled her first meeting with Ava with a smile. “I’ve met a few officials from the Mercury Needle School before, and they all have a similar unique quality, but Ava doesn’t have that quality.”

"What kind of aura?" Hersta asked curiously.

“A clumsy quality,” Packart said. “Even when they’re in their forties or fifties, that clumsiness is still there, as if they’re still young people just entering society.”

“Is that so?” Hersta said noncommittally. “I haven’t really seen many mercury needles like this.”

"You have that kind of quality about you."

Hershta frowned again, lost in thought for a moment: "...When?"

“Right now,” Packart said, looking at her. “What brings you to me today?”

Hester fell silent again, her hand resting on the footboard of the bed as she sat sideways on the edge.

Packart had no idea what she was thinking, and Hershta herself felt a little lost.

Why did she come to Packart's place today? Didn't she already know that Packart was a staunch abolitionist?

A certain emotion surged within Hershta.

Considering that Packart had been living in District 3, Hershta could even conclude that Roger's ability to live a carefree life in prison and quickly return to his hedonistic lifestyle after a short time in jail was largely due to the efforts of "evangelists" like Packart, who praised the abolition of the death penalty in every public opinion and actively promoted it to the surrounding wastelands.

“There’s a problem I’ve never been able to discuss openly with you,” Hester said in a low voice, after which she fell into another long silence.

Packart straightened up slightly, sensing the weight of the topic she was about to bring up from Hester's expression.

“You’re not some frivolous theorist; you’ve been through it,” Hester’s voice was soft, but her tone was undeniably stern. Her gaze returned to Packart. “Do you still believe that the death penalty is unnecessary?”

Packart took a soft breath.

"Yes."

For a split second, Packart could almost feel Hersta’s right cheek twitch slightly.

"……Why?"

"If you're curious about my perspective, then you should look directly at my articles; they'll obviously be more comprehensive than if I were to recount them verbally—"

“I can’t read a single line of that kind of article,” Hesta said in a low voice, “so I came directly to you. I want to hear what you have to say.”