The girl performed a miracle and disappeared mysteriously into the tower.

The nobles left behind stood dazed, doubting and doubting again.

Whether this was a dream, an illusion, or if they had all been enchanted by something.

They could not easily accept what they had seen and heard. Yet they could not deny it either. The ribbon falling like a butterfly remained in that space, nailing the girl’s existence to reality.

So the nobles followed the fluttering ribbon with their eyes until it settled on the lake, then belatedly came to their senses and set out to find that girl.

It happened at the 78th purification ceremony of Saint Roble Tuha.

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The purification ceremony that day ended like that.

It ended in a mess, covered by two things: the song of the unidentified girl, and the excitement of the nobles trying to find her.

Those who witnessed the miracle that day searched for the girl as if seeking God.

Some, not content with just urging their servants, ran up to the tower themselves or jumped into the lake to retrieve the ribbon.

Furthermore, the great nobles present, including Duke Laurel, directly asked the tower master about the girl’s identity.

Even the great Rohika Sedro could not pretend this never happened.

If the tower kept quiet and sealed their lips, the nobles were prepared to investigate the only trace the girl left behind, that white ribbon, tracing it to the source of the thread.

While all of Tienda was in an uproar like this, Roble also quietly began to assess the situation.

“Ibi?”

Roble turned her gaze to the side upon hearing the name reported by her servant. Soon she recalled a certain girl.

“Are you talking about the child the tower master personally brought to Bis?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“She was still alive?”

Roble muttered in disbelief at the servant’s answer. Then she hurriedly closed her mouth. She felt too cruel to herself.

“How long has that child been underground?”

“Three and a half years.”

The servant answered in a lowered voice. The story Roble heard afterwards was all outrageous.

Three years ago, Ibi, who had been a nuisance underground, finally reached a dramatic compromise with the tower master.

Apparently, there was someone she desperately wanted to find, so the tower master promised to find that person if Ibi behaved well.

In the end, the tower master failed to find him. And she did not intend to release Ibi, who had spent 3 years underground.

“This caused quite an uproar. It seems the child intended to search for someone with the tower master’s support once she left the tower. But when told she couldn’t return to Bis, everything she had been holding back burst out.”

That pitiful prisoner, upon realizing the tower master had no intention of releasing her, rebelled even more fiercely than when she first came underground.

Then she finally escaped from the tower. Along with one of Rohika’s hounds she had secretly befriended.

The underground was turned upside down by this shocking situation. The tower master was furious and released the other hounds.

As a result, Ibi and the traitor were recaptured in Bis after a month on the run.

Afterwards, the precious girl was gently imprisoned, but the offensive and replaceable hound was mercilessly torn apart.

“We were ordered to gouge out its eyes and keep it barely alive. So we started with treatment first. There was no part left unharmed, and it would have died if left alone…”

“Enough.”

Roble cut off the servant’s words as if she didn’t want to hear. So the servant bowed his head and trembled.

Death was frequent in the tower’s underground, and blood often flowed. So this servant was not one to be frightened by just such an order.

He was so cowed only because of the suffocating anger of the tower master, Rohika Sedro.

The tower master was quite fond of her hounds. They were no different from her own limbs, and she had a considerable attachment to them all, having raised and tamed them with difficulty.

But one of them dared to betray her, so the tower master showed rare anger, and the underground was on thin ice because of this incident.

“Why did the tower master order to keep that one barely alive?”

“Well, originally she intended to use it to tame Ibi.”

The tower master was not a lenient owner who would spare a dog that bit her and ran away. Nevertheless, she had not yet broken that hound’s neck because Ibi followed him like a close elder brother.

Rohika wanted to have Ibi completely in her hands.

But when that young thing wouldn’t listen no matter how much she was coaxed and persuaded, insisting she had someone to find, the tower master planned to use the now useless hound to put a leash on Ibi.

Since she seemed to cling to the end once she gave her heart, she probably couldn’t turn a blind eye to the dog that had become ragged because of her.

The tower master probably thought like this.

“But Ibi found out about it and moved one step ahead.”

“You mean what happened at the purification ceremony?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Was that some kind of revenge?”

Roble couldn’t quite understand the situation.

It was true that Rohika was put in an awkward position because Ibi revealed herself to the nobles, but she couldn’t quite guess what other meaning it had.

Was it to show that even a worm will writhe when stepped on?

Roble only thought this far, and so was shocked once again by the words that followed.

“No. That wasn’t revenge, but a foundation for a negotiation.”

“A foundation?”

“Yesterday, Ibi told the tower master she would become a saint.”

Roble’s eyes widened at these unimaginable words.

As the servant said, Ibi went to the coldly angry tower master and made a proposal.

The nobles of Tienda will look for me now. Since you can’t hide me anyway, introduce me. Then I’ll purify the water and keep the tower’s secrets too. By becoming a saint.

“She seems to have demanded that the hound not be touched in return.”

“And the tower master agreed to that?”

“She accepted conditionally. If Ibi reveals her Bis origins and gains support to become a saint on her own, she’ll release her nicely. Both Ibi and that hound.”

Roble felt strangely oppressed at this story that far exceeded her expectations.

Becoming a saint? Why a saint of all things?

Roble barely understood their deal as she mulled it over.

The girls who sing underground are finally released after 3 years. But that’s not liberation, it’s the process of disposal, and the tower must find another replacement.

But if there’s a child who is fine even after 3 years, and moreover resonates with manyana closely enough to be visible, the tower master would want to hold onto that child by any means necessary.

Ibi, who painfully realized this fact, thus decided to become a saint. Because that was the only way to escape the noose of that fearsome ruler and move from the shadows into the light. Because then she could keep the tower master in check with the gaze of the nobles.

Roble felt a strange heat while guessing at the intentions of those two amidst the confusion.

To challenge that Rohika Sedro.

Roble’s heart raced with excitement. All of this was simply astonishing.

Ah, but can you really become a saint?

That child is certainly marvelous, but that alone is not enough to become a saint. The tower’s saint is a position where various interests intertwine, the best means to show off Tienda’s nobility and superiority to Bis.

But will Tienda’s timid and greedy nobles really give you that position? Unless you fell from the sky, a commoner from Bis as a saint.

Moreover, your conduct, having learned nothing while locked in the tower, will not be satisfactory in anyone’s eyes. So while you may be worshipped as a daughter of manyana, you cannot be elevated as a saint in noble society.

Roble was convinced of this.

Then, not knowing whether she felt relieved or disappointed, she watched the bustling Tienda from one step behind.

A month passed like that.

One day, as the tower was soothing the impatient nobles and buying time, a girl took her first shy step into Tienda’s social circles.

The girl’s name was Ibi Ariate. She was a young lady so well-educated it was hard to believe she was from Bis.

The nobles who had been longing for the miracle girl were truly ecstatic at Ibi Ariate’s appearance.

And Roble felt as if the world stopped when she saw that girl.

That Ibi looked completely different from what Roble had seen and heard. The Ibi that Roble had seen 3 years ago and heard about from her servant a month ago was a cunning but ill-mannered and stubborn child.

But the Ibi who appeared before the nobles was unbelievably pure. She was gentle and innocent, possessing a dignity no less than that of any noble. Just like a saint.

Something snapped inside Roble when she saw that appearance.

She couldn’t believe it.

Everything felt like a lie and strange.

She even had the illusion that the whole world existed for you.

It seemed as if this indifferent world was listening and responding only to your voice.

So the saint, the one who was once desperately alone, became terribly resentful.

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That was already two years ago.

Even after that, the world still revolved around that child.

So Roble never doubted that everything would go according to Ibi’s will afterwards.

Until the young man with the majesty of an emperor barged in before her now.

“Are you sure you can handle such a statement?”

Count Laurel asked quietly. So Roble answered most honestly since becoming a saint.

“No. I can’t. Not recklessly charging in fearlessly like Ariate.”

Though fear pressed down on her chest, Roble did not regret these words.

Then the count spoke indifferently towards Roble.

“I heard you resent Ibi Ariate.”

“The story of a saint who lost her glory being jealous of manyana’s favorite is famous.”

“Is it true?”

“Is there anyone who would be jealous of a bird for not being able to fly in the sky?”

Roble whispered with a smile in response to the count’s question.

“Jealousy is something between similar beings, not an emotion to harbor towards a being one can’t dare compare to.”

There was no lie in these words of Roble.

For the past 2 years, the nobles had spoken ignorantly. A woman more miserable than a neglected legal wife, a saint pushed out of her position, Roble Tuha who wears a veil to avoid shame, they said.

But that was nonsense they could say only because they didn’t know how greatly Roble regarded Ibi.

Roble held her in utmost reverence.

Ibi Ariate, who would not succumb to any adversity and face powerful enemies, chosen by the world, who would overcome solid darkness, who would save this imperfect world.

When that child becomes a saint, when she obtains that rightful position, everything will be resolved. The underground of the tower will be filled, slaves will be liberated, and righteous killing will end. Through that, this pitiful Roble Tuha will finally gain freedom too.

This feeling of Roble’s could be called religious devotion.

“If I ever resented Ariate, it was only disappointment that she appeared too late. I am more earnestly hoping than anyone. For Ariate to become a saint and save us.”

Roble hoped the count would understand. That Ariate was such a savior, that they must not selfishly block her path.

So she confessed feelings she had never revealed to anyone and waited for the count’s response.

As if responding to the saint’s heart, the count opened his mouth.

“It seems it would be better if you were jealous instead.”

Then he butchered the saint’s faith with an indifferent voice.

“Rather than being servile and irresponsible, that is.”