Heartwarming / Eight Intertwined

• Ophilia's return to Saintsbridge. Despite being worried about discussing her actions in Quarrycrest with Bartolo, she immediately lights up upon seeing Emil, Nate, and Derryl again, and the four immediately hug as if they were seeing family. It really goes to show how Ophilia has the capacity to make others happy. Once the kids leave, Olberic and Cyrus both note how good Ophilia is with children, a compliment Ophilia, in her humility, brushes off.
  • Even better, the children are so happy to see Ophilia they nearly bowl her over. Olberic needs to lend Ophilia a hand lest she be tackled to the floor. She truly brightened their lives with her actions, and their love for her is sincerely felt.
  • This reaches an especially happy climax following the party's Darkest Hour fighting Miguel. Ophilia is one of the first travelers to recover, because despite all her fears regarding her discussion with Bartolo, the Bishop actually commends her for the actions she took and commiserates with her for the actions she felt were failures on her part, outlining how she effectively saved Saintsbridge from a despot and made the best choices for the situation she was in. When she discovers that Derryl, Nate, and Emil began listening in on her conversation with Bartolo at some point, she even gets a hug from Emil that quickly becomes a massive group hug with all the children.
• The novelization expands upon Odette's role in the lives of Cyrus and Primrose. Beyond being his original instructor, Odette is portrayed as one of his greatest confidants, and the two are shown to share a bond of steel, with Odette urging Primrose to keep Cyrus' habit of leaping into conflict in check out of concern for him. The novelization also emphasizes the sisterhood between Primrose and Odette, with Odette affirming her faith in whatever Primrose feels she needs to do and promising to become a part of Primrose's life again once Primrose liberates Noblecourt. It's telling that this is one of the few times where Primrose feels like she earnestly has a place to belong after finishing her quest for revenge.
• After trying and failing to talk Alfyn through his difficult thoughts and feelings after the latter is forced to kill Miguel, Olberic finally gets through to Alfyn somewhat by giving the man a hug for several minutes. Despite struggling with his own purpose for the past hundred or so chapters, Olberic knows then and there Alfyn needs his help and gives it readily. Though they both know things are far from positive, even the narration notes Alfyn finally found some small degree of acceptance from the deed.
  Narration: 'Neither one of them dared to speak; if they did, they would break the fragile balance they had found, and they had broken more than enough that day already.'
• The end of the Noblecourt arc revolves around several of the travelers working together to finally get past their emotional hangups and realize just how much they mean to each other;
  • Olberic convinces Therion that, even if Therion can never trust them not to abandon him, he can at least start by knowing they'll never betray him. This marks the part Therion finally starts listening to his friends and recognizing his partnership with them isn't as fragile as he feared.
  • Ophilia convinces Primrose the latter is loved, and Primrose finally starts to recognize some measure of humanity within herself. Her goals likewise change from enacting revenge to ensuring Simeon and the Obsidians never hurt anyone again, marking a positive shift in her priorities.
  • Tressa veers on the edge of complacency and grim acceptance of how bad things had been going recently for the party, but realizes when confronted by Orlick that, despite everything, she still loves the adventure and would do anything to continue traveling with the people she loves. Tressa even recognizes that, for every tragedy the party experiences, they nonetheless awaken to a potentially bright dawn every day and have just as many fun adventures together.
• The end of Chapter 165 has an amazing line that fully encapsulates Olberic's Character Arc and his transformation into a more complete person. Upon realizing just how much the party means to him, Olberic reflects on how happy he's been in their company, and thinks;
  Narration: 'Olberic had found his new knights, and he loved them more than words or blade could ever hope to say. '
• Chapter 172 finally has Primrose work up the courage to do what she laments she never had the chance to do with Yusufa and what she regretted doing with Simeon; be upfront with her love for someone and take charge of her life. Primrose approaches H'aanit with a Love Confession that lets out everything she ever wanted to tell her family, her friends, and Yusufa, and once H'aanit recovers from finally understanding how Primrose feels about her, she readily accepts Primrose's courtship.
• Ophilia's decision to trust Lianna following Lianna's theft of the Ember is made more impactful here because Ophilia actually acknowledges just how much the party's willingness to trust others inconvenienced them in the past. Despite seeing the depths of human cruelty in people such as Lucia and Miguel, Ophilia still maintains under scrutiny by Olberic that Lianna can be trusted and is ultimately just being manipulated by someone. Made equally heartwarming is that the other travelers don't question or criticize this belief Ophilia has; their trust in Ophilia is enough for them to believe her opinion of Lianna and agree to mount a rescue operation.
• At the climax of chapter 181, Alfyn reveals to Ophilia that he desperately wishes he could trust others the same way Ophilia could, having lost that basic human instinct ever since meeting Vanessa and fighting Miguel. Ophilia, still hurting from being betrayed by Lianna but still refusing to believe Lianna could have been anything other than manipulated, takes Alfyn's hands and pledges she'd trust enough for both of them until Alfyn felt better. Even recovering from being drugged and betrayed, Ophilia still holds nothing but love and acceptance in her heart for Lianna, and is willing to share that love if it brings Alfyn peace.
• At the tail-end of Ophilia's fight with Mattias, Ophilia is given an additional line that brings the theme of love and consideration for life and all its imperfections together, thoroughly demonstrating what Ophilia has that Mattias lacked; an ability to move on and love again.
  Ophilia: 'My bonds have made me the person I am today. We must treasure every bond that we have because it is physically temporary... But love lives on forever. There is more to this world than the cycle of life and death. Life has value because we have chosen to see the value in it. As long as I am alive... I will continue to fight for that beauty. It shall not be extinguished by any mortal's hand... And I will not let a god ruin it either!"
• The finale of Primrose's story has her approach her dad's grave. As opposed to the glum, uncertain ending to the original game, Primrose is cautiously optimistic about her future, and takes the time to introduce Geoffrey to her fellow travelers, hitting on each of their own strong points as an indirect way of thanking them for all the effort they put in to help her avenge her father and move on from his death.
• During chapter 197, it's noted that Therion looked upon Ophilia with a strange fondness. This could be a Call-Back to the travelers' second trip to Bolderfall, where Therion very nearly left the party, only for Ophilia to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the others would support him by going out of her way to drag him back into the party.
• After meeting up with Heathcote in Northreach, the party makes it to an abandoned building to hide from Darius' lackeys. Heathcote, though spirited for a man in his sixties, immediately starts rasping for breath, so Tressa and Ophilia take the chance to help him over to a chair.
• During chapter 200, Ophilia and Olberic take a moment to heap praise on Therion for his effort in growing as a person, thoroughly flustering the man with their heartfelt open adoration of his positive qualities.