"He didn’t come after all."

Holy Maiden Bernadette gazed toward the capital.

Her golden hair shimmered brilliantly under the sun—a radiance that belonged to Lisanna alone.

A bitter smile touched Lisanna’s lips. "Do you think he knows how we feel?"

"I don’t know."

Clearly, Bernadette didn’t either. Her path was far harder than Lisanna’s. Lisanna might still be just a friend to him—but Bernadette? He despised her.

After a moment of silence, Bernadette finally asked, "Must you really go to the Tower of Sages? You can’t become a Sage here, but you might not become one there either."

"Yes, Bette. Even at the Tower, becoming a Sage isn’t guaranteed. But since they invited me—believing I have the potential—I can’t just throw that chance away."

"But…"

"Will this only push me further from him?"

Bernadette stayed silent.

Lisanna turned her eyes from the capital toward the distant frontlines. "That girl, Lilithia—even after winning Fiore’s heart, she still fights on the frontlines. She never calls his name. Never leans on anyone. Why do you think she does it?"

The Holy Maiden had no answer.

"I’ve thought long and hard," Lisanna murmured, her voice drifting like an echo in an empty valley, "I want to live happily with Fiore. Even now, just picturing his smile bathes me in warm sunlight. Nothing else in this world matters—"

"I don’t doubt my love. But love alone can’t keep you with the one you love."

In Lisanna’s eyes, Bernadette saw something she’d never witnessed before.

"That woman—only eleven years old—battles on the frontlines. I once asked Fiore about her. That fool just gushed, ‘She said she wants to be the moon, hanging in the sky alongside him, the sun.’ The way he said it… that look on his face…"

The sight of her beloved’s happiness brought Lisanna the deepest pain. He wore his obsession with that girl so openly—and worst of all, that girl was *right*.

Even now, Lisanna lacked the courage to face Lilithia. Meeting her felt like staring into a mirror, exposing flaws she’d buried even from herself.

"I *must* become a Sage!"

The golden-haired girl clenched her fists, a new light blazing within her. "I must become a Sage," she repeated firmly. "I don’t know if I have the talent, but I can’t give up hope. If that girl can fight to the death on the battlefield, what about me? Only now do I realize—I’ve trained in peace all this time because Fiore shielded me from every hardship."

"Nobles scheming against me. Assassins from enemy nations. Demonfolk… Whenever danger came, Fiore always dealt with it. That’s why I could focus on my training. Looking back—I’ve only ever enjoyed his protection. I’ve never solved anything myself. I grew under his shelter, yet I blamed him. Of course he’d scold me. It was only right."

"Mephas was right. Her will… I can’t even compare. Even after meeting that girl, she dared to say she’d claim both Fiore and Lilithia for herself. Arrogant? Foolish? But—how I envy her."

Suddenly, she was pulled into an embrace.

A breathtakingly beautiful girl—the most stunning in the world, perhaps—held her tight.

"Lisanna…" the Holy Maiden sniffled, tears streaming. "What will I do when you’re gone? I’m scared…"

Though a Holy Maiden, she often acted like a child—gushing over romance with Lisanna, pulling mischievous pranks. Only now did Lisanna realize how deep their bond had grown.

"Don’t make it so sad!" Lisanna patted her back gently. "It’s just stepping through a spatial gate. I’ll be back before you know it."

Finally, the Holy Maiden stopped crying.

"Then—I’m off!"

Lisanna stepped into the shimmering spatial gate.

Bernadette’s face fell with loneliness. Then she turned. From the shadows, another golden-haired girl emerged.

Her expression was unnaturally grim—far too heavy for an eleven-year-old.

"She’s gone to the Tower of Sages?"

Luna’s voice was colder than Bernadette had ever heard, sending a flicker of fear through her.

"It was her choice. She wants the strength to stand beside Fiore."

"She doesn’t *need* to!"

Luna cut her off harshly. "Why are you all so selfish? After being called out, did any of you change? You only ever chase your own desires. Do you really think that’s right? Why twist fate when walking its path would be enough?"

She never acted like a child. Truthfully, she wasn’t one. Beneath that lovely face lived something else entirely.

*Seers are noble beings*, Bernadette had always believed.

But this girl radiated nothing noble—only a chilling distortion. She muttered, "I sensed something was wrong. Do you expect a Seer to know *everything*? Do you think this power costs nothing?"

"You’ve shattered fate’s course. The future? I have no idea what it holds now." Luna seemed to sink into a dark abyss, her twisted aura threatening to drag others into eternal shadow.

She looked strange.

Suddenly clutching her forehead, she shook her head. "Failed again. But next time will be better. There must’ve been some tiny, unexpected factor this time. One small change alters everything. I just need to keep moving toward the right answer…"

Her words made no sense, yet they filled Bernadette with unspeakable dread—as if beneath a glittering surface lay rotting corpses.

*Gulp…*

She instinctively wanted to find Fiore. But she remembered his hatred. Because she’d lied to him.

One lie could unleash endless consequences. Bernadette understood that now.

Many thought small lies were harmless—they lied too, after all. But Fiore?

He treated everyone with raw honesty. He never lied. Deceit was poison to him. He’d endured it silently… until that girl arrived.

Until Lilithia came to correct their mistakes.

*That’s* why she was the only one Fiore trusted. She never lied to him. And he always listened.

Luna was a Seer—she saw the future. What horrors did her eyes truly witness?

If not for the abyssal darkness clinging to her, Bernadette might’ve used magic to peer into her mind.

But instinct screamed: *Doing so would drag you into that darkness too.*

She had to find Lilithia.

Going to the frontlines was dangerous.

Especially for her—a figure under scrutiny. Her last trip there had been a mission, watched closely by Fiore. The Tulip Empire had been prepared.

Sneaking to the front now could trigger unthinkable consequences—

The girl’s gaze drifted to the horizon. The road ahead vanished into a haze of gray mist, endless and uncertain.

…

Meanwhile, the much-relied-upon Lilithia found herself in deep trouble.

The Crystal Orchid Empire was *destroying corpses*? Unthinkable! After losing the main battle, they’d retreated—leaving behind zombies programmed to self-destruct if pursued.

She’d planned to poison their camp once they settled.

Instead, they’d fled without stopping.

Could her fifteen little zombies possibly strike now? Absolutely not.

But… at least her clone had fully infiltrated their ranks.

Lilithia had already lost connection to her clone—it was dozens of kilometers away. Her power couldn’t reach that far. The clone was now acting entirely on its own.

It had secretly drained someone’s blood and taken their form.

*Magic constructs are handy like that*, she thought. *Blood-filled cores allow major shape-shifting.* But how developed was the clone’s intelligence? Would it be discovered? If so, she’d lose everything—including the secrets of her Blood Magic.

Lilithia pushed herself up from the ground. Beyond her fifteen zombies lay hundreds of corpses.

Zombie blood was stale—useless for growth. But Lilithia was never one to waste. She activated Blood Transmutation, draining every last drop of vital fluid from the corpses into herself.

*Riiip!*

Verutan’s eyes narrowed.

"I haven’t gained weight! My body just… developed some curves. You know."

"If it’s curves, shouldn’t the tear be *up here*? Why’s your skirt—"

"Silence!"