The War Council Chamber blazed with light through the night.

Bessdaitiel and Loyning served steaming cups of milk tea to everyone.

"Feyn Senior…" Feiyan only just noticed her.

"My lady President," Loyning murmured, head bowed, "I am merely Princess Sulia’s handmaiden now."

"Loy-Loy," Bessdaitiel whispered in her ear, "The Princess’s Maid Honor Guard ranks just below the Layer Guardians. Don’t underestimate yourself."

"Princess…" Loyning hadn’t seen me in a while. Her gaze held a flicker of anticipation.

"Senior Sister Luo, stay and listen with us," I said.

"Really? As you command!" Joy lit up Loyning’s face.

Just then, a masked girl appeared in the chamber. Pink hair swept into a towering ponytail framed her slender, willowy figure. Her bright eyes gleamed with icy detachment.

"Madam Bess," the girl reported, "We’ve investigated this witch Esther as instructed. Truth is, she’s had ties to our Undercity before."

I searched my memory but drew a blank. "And you are…?"

"This is Lodis, captain of the Maid Honor Guard’s Intelligence Unit," Bessdaitiel explained. "Freshly transferred from His Majesty the Demon King’s elite maid squad in the Lower Realms. She’s exceptional at reconnaissance! Lodis—report your findings to the Princess."

"At once!" Lodis dropped to one knee. "Esther is a witch dwelling between nearby villages. She’s summoned low-tier demons to fend off bandits raiding villagers, and brewed potions to cure plagues. The locals adore her. She champions the Balance Theory—believing humans and Undercity beings can trust and benefit each other. Recently, the Empire intensified purges against Undercity settlements to bolster its military. Esther pleaded with Redfang Castle’s lord to cease excessive demon hunts. For a time, she even earned his trust. But then… she fell in love with a young woman. When discovered, informants reported them to the lord. In the Empire, love between women is a grave crime! Both sisters face brutal stoning if caught. As a witch, Esther drew even fiercer mob fury—they blamed her ‘sinful lust’ and ‘black magic’ for recent famines and plagues. A witch and forbidden love… she’ll be stoned at noon tomorrow, then burned to ashes. Yet Esther never revealed her lover’s name."

Silence swallowed the room after Lodis finished.

A faint, urgent fragrance brushed my senses.

I turned. Feyn Senior’s chest heaved visibly. Her beautiful eyes now burned with something terrifying.

"These beasts!" Her voice cracked, raw and trembling. "Stoning a defenseless woman—a healer who saved them, blessed them! Just for loving another girl? Just for being a witch? I won’t allow it! I *refuse*! I’m ashamed to share blood with such savage fools! Scum! All men are trash, villains!" Her fingers whitened around her sword hilt, delicate knuckles stark against the leather.

"Burning witches? Stoning adulterers?" Sulia shrugged. "Haven’t humans done this for centuries? Why get worked up? Besides—it’s none of our concern. Just more lowly human barbarism."

"We *must* save that witch! We *must*!" Feyn’s breath came in sharp gasps.

"Hah?" Sulia blinked. "My lady human—seriously? Why meddle in human witch-hunts? She’s some third-rate sorceress! Risking the Undercity to rescue her? Absurd!"

"Lowly human? Third-rate witch?" Feyn’s cheeks flushed crimson. "To that girl Leonora, her sister was worth *everything*—even her soul! Where’s the lowliness in that courage? In that love?"

"Tianlin Feiyan," Sulia’s tone turned icy. "Why do *you* care? Do you know what happens when the Undercity interferes topside? We shatter the balance. The entire Empire could retaliate! I fear no Imperial warrior—but is this trouble worth two irrelevant humans?"

"Princess!" Feyn whirled before me. For the first time ever, she dropped to one knee, head bowed. "Your Highness… I beg you. Save this witch. Save these sisters."

"Feyn Senior…"

"If you cannot decide…" Her voice hardened like tempered steel. "Then let *me* go alone."

Her proud knee pressed against the cold floor. Her porcelain frame trembled—not just with rage, but grief. *Why does this wound you so deeply?* Sulia was right—it was just human barbarism. Yet the sight of her biting her lip, trembling… I couldn’t look away.

How could I, as her sister, bear to see her heart break? To let the sister kneeling before me drown in sorrow?

Even if she’d never called me sister aloud.

I drew a deep breath and rose. My gaze fixed on the holo-image: a desolate forest, a primitive village clinging to ignorance.

"It’s time humans learned the Undercity no longer sits idle. A girl saw almost no hope… yet offered her most precious possession to save her beloved sister. That plea?" My voice rang clear in the silent chamber. "The Undercity has heard it."