“So please take good care of me until the end.”

“Until the end?” Cassel did not understand this word properly. It was evidence that, as Evie had complained earlier, he had not listened carefully to Evie’s words.

Once again, everything Evie said yesterday was sincere.

Evie intended to show it this time. What the cost of messing with her is. Since the example is a great noble, she can become a difficult saintess as they wish.

Of course, it won’t be easy, but most of Evie’s life has been tough. Yet she has never given up and has come this far.

It’s the same this time. If there’s still something she can do, she must do it. The world may be a messedup, but since she has decided to live, she has to live.

Yesterday, Evie raised her toast with this thought.

Celebrating having knocked Cassel Montra down for the first time, and toasting to her future of diligently beating and moving on.

.

.

.

After finishing the meeting with Cassel, Evie came out into the corridor and ran into Rio Tuha outside the door.

As always, Rio was staring at Evie with a stiff face.

He was definitely waiting for Evie, but as usual, Evie just smiled as if she didn’t know and greeted him as she passed by.

“You!”

Then Rio shouted angrily, calling Evie to stop.

“Talk to me.”

Rio’s face, speaking so nervously, looked just like the current Saintess, Loble Tuha.

So Evie hesitated for a moment and nodded as if she couldn’t help it.

(This is the time separator.)

At the same time, Zion was waiting for someone in the greenhouse of the garden.

Small birds living in the greenhouse were chirping, and the sunlight came down through the glass ceiling. This greenhouse was filled with peace, as if deliberately ignoring the turmoil of the day before.

So Zion thought it was very funny and momentarily recalled the events of last night.

.

.

.

Last night in the hydrangea garden, Zion was secretly sympathizing.

With Evie’s servant, who controlled the lady’s drinking now that she was an adult.

“Heh heh heh.”

Evie, with her long hair stretched out like a ghost, laughed eerily again. From a while ago, Evie had been giggling intermittently like that, giving Zion the creeps.

About half an hour ago, Evie stubbornly gulped down a sip of wine. Then the reins seemed to be off, and she gulped down the rest of what was left in the glass.

Once the glass was empty, Evie sneakily handed it over to Zion, who inadvertently refilled Evie’s glass. Evie, who had just complained about touching the bottle, now drank that wine, slurping it all down.

After repeating this a few times and just as Zion began to doubt Evie’s drinking capacity, Evie started laughing to herself.

‘Is she drunk?’

“Hee hee…….”

‘She’s drunk.’

The infamous Evie Ariate. Even when drunk, she doesn’t get drunk like normal people.

Evie was hugging her knees and giggling like that, all by herself, making Zion wonder what she was thinking.

“Yeah, before.”

Then she suddenly began a deep drunken rant.

“He told me.”

That damned man…….
“Get angry. Why. Think carefully about why you got angry first.”

At Evie’s words, Zion involuntarily flinched, then silently heaved a sigh.

But Evie, who was already quite drunk, didn’t realize this and continued to speak earnestly.

“So I thought about it. Why I was angry at Cassel Montra.”

“Because of betrayal.”

“What betrayal? I never believed from the beginning?”

When Zion mentioned it casually, Evie firmly denied it. Then she laughed ominously again. The sight of her laughing with a strand of hair in her mouth was quite a spectacle.

“So because you were made fun of?”

“No, no. Um, it’s true, but no. I was really upset that everyone knew about my business except me, but that’s not the first reason.”

Then what is it?

Zion wondered what Evie was trying to say, making her pause like this. So he waited, but Evie didn’t continue speaking.

……She’s not asleep after speaking up to this point, is she?

Zion looked at Evie with suspicious eyes. Fortunately, Evie was not asleep, but resting her chin on her knees, deep in thought.

“……Everyone should have a chance at least once.”

After a while, Evie quietly opened her mouth.

“Because everyone is desperate at some point. So it’s okay to save them without reason at least once. Just once.”

Evie spoke as if making excuses. Uncertainly, hesitatingly.

Zion found these words quite familiar. So he recalled it soon. Last month, what Evie had said.

―It seems fair to me.

―Just once, I was saved without any exchange. So I thought it would be fair for others to have this happen at least once.

Evie had said this in response to Zion’s question of why she had broken the tower’s rules to purify the poison spread in the village.

He thought it was just hypocrisy at the time, but looking back, that answer was Evie’s uncompromising sincerity. Evie really thought so without an inch of falsehood.

“But that person said it’s not okay. That if you save once, they cling and beg.”

Evie’s words continued without context, but Zion immediately understood the meaning.

He had received a report from Moren. Some nobles praised Evie as a saint for that act, and others were displeased.

It seemed that Count Montra was the latter. And he had let Evie hear him say so.

Zion swallowed a curse in disgust.

Whether Evie had finished speaking or was now just tired, she had buried her head in her knees.

She looked precarious. And lonely.

But Zion couldn’t reach out, so he merely spoke.

“Did that make you angry?”

Evie answered softly, yes. Then she added,

I’m furious that I’m the only one desperate, she said.

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.

“You arrived first.”

A gentle voice broke Zion’s reverie.

Following the voice, he looked up to see a veiled lady.

The lady bowed gracefully to Zion.

“May the blessing of the brilliant morning be with you. I have been well, Count Laurel.”

The lady was the current Saintess, Loble, who had hidden her face at an official banquet two years ago.