Gradually, poverty became a distant word for Saint Anael.

The Emperor gifted her pure white dresses and various jewels that far exceeded the Divine Temple’s annual budget, claiming they befitted a saint.

In exchange, he made her set aside the sword she had wielded like an extension of herself, saying nobles might find it threatening.

Anael accepted these demands, resolved to give up even more if it meant her master would recover and the people of the North would be helped.

Thus, the hard wooden bed she shared with her comrades, the rough fabric nightclothes, and crude armor slowly faded from her memory.

Even though those who were like family to her still lived in the same or worse conditions.

“Whenever I felt doubtful, I would scold myself for being weak.”

However, at some point, Anael had to acknowledge it.

What was truly unbearable was that she was genuinely becoming a ‘saint.’

“I felt like a jester, becoming numb to unjust criticism and silently smiling through insults about my homeland.”

At the Imperial ball, when she received applause for skillfully performing dances she had learned instead of sword practice as the Emperor’s partner.

She felt no pride at all. She felt like nothing more than a well-trained marionette.

“Many criticized how Lady Rabius treated me… but truthfully, I didn’t dislike her.”

Anael gazed at Teaerik’s red hair and striking eyes, smiling faintly as if remembering someone.

“At least she was always honest with me.”

Although it was hostility and rejection, in a social circle where everyone wore masks, only Callia remained transparent.

“Look who’s here, the beggar saint. Why don’t you go fill your quota of pretending to be nice somewhere else? Just looking at you makes me sick.”

That’s why her gaze was constantly drawn to her.

“I thought perhaps I could become friends with her.”

She wanted to be honest with Callia, just as Callia was with her.

So she carefully confided these feelings to the Emperor.

But Friedrich, who called Callia a ‘villainess’ and declared that ‘a saint and villainess cannot be friends,’ allowed no objection from Anael.

And as if proving the Emperor’s words, the opposing dynamic between Anael and Callia grew more intense daily in social circles.

Despite neither party intending it.

Her protests were futile. If anything, the voices comparing the saint and villainess only grew louder.

Finally, Anael gave up trying to intervene in the unstoppable flow.

Since everything she tried only backfired, she believed the only option was to quietly wait for things to settle naturally.

“But Lady Rabius was incomparably braver than I was.”

Anael was certain she would never forget that moment when she faced Callia at the May Festival.

“Anael.”

From that moment when Callia first called her name.

“What matters isn’t the past.”

Anael couldn’t take her eyes off Callia for even a moment.

“I cannot change what has already happened. I know this well.”

Unlike herself, she didn’t endlessly regret and agonize.

Instead, she accepted that the past couldn’t be changed.

“So I thought, what matters is ‘what I do from now on.'”

She chose to move forward.

“The more I heard Lady Rabius’s voice, the more my mind, which had been foggy all along, seemed to clear.”

That day, Anael felt the world of hypocrisy and lies surrounding her crumble.

While she stood frozen in shock and shame, unable to do anything, Callia looked at her and turned away with bitter eyes.

“I, Callia, as a sign of deep reflection and repentance, will never appear in this social circle again.”

And as if determined to keep her self-proclaimed word, she hasn’t shown herself in Rainfeld since.

“Not a day has passed since the May Festival that I haven’t thought of Lady Rabius.”

More precisely, she couldn’t forget the image of Callia turning away with that bitter expression.

Callia had laid everything down and apologized to her, but she couldn’t even give her an answer.

“I’m still foolish, and when I think of that moment, I still regret it.”

If only she had expressed her joy and approached Callia when she called her name.

If only she had immediately refuted people’s abuse and honestly asked Callia to be friends.

If only she had stood before Callia, who was defenseless against the shower of food, even if it meant wielding a fork and knife.

Everything was regret and remorse.

Though the Emperor, noticing Anael’s feelings, tried to persuade her with all sorts of words.

She was no longer swayed by his words.

“Your Majesty. Please stop calling Lady Rabius a villainess.”

When Callia, who had left for the South, did not return, the Emperor grew anxious.

According to what he had said, it should have been cause for celebration since ‘the saint had triumphed over the villainess.’

Thanks to this, Anael gradually came to realize the truth.

The Emperor simply needed a villainess to make the saint shine.

For such a trivial reason, he had driven someone into the mud.

Anael judged that she, too, bore responsibility for the entire situation.

Thus, she immediately demanded that the Emperor void their contract.

When Anael wouldn’t yield despite all manner of insults and threats, it was Friedrich who broke down first.

“I won’t touch Lady Rabius anymore. I’ll stop calling her a villainess, too. So, Anael…”

Anael didn’t share the details of that conversation with Teaerik.

But he could easily guess the Emperor’s feelings.

‘Neither threats nor persuasion work on someone who shines with such firm conviction.’

As he surmised, the Emperor had no choice but to let her go helplessly.

Anael’s attire as she left was as simple as the day she first set foot in Rainfeld.

Unlike then, her steps were light, though she felt somewhat at a loss.

‘…I should return to the North and do what I can as a holy knight.’

Though she wanted to meet Callia one last time, she worried about the situation back home to detour to the far South.

Moreover, she couldn’t predict what kind of retaliation the Emperor might take.

It was divine fortune that she met a holy knight who had grown up like a brother when she went to borrow a horse.

“Heavens, by the Divine God. Anael!”

“Kamael!”

The joy was brief; to Anael, who worried that something terrible had happened in the North for him to come here, Kamael said with a bright face.

“Something big did happen! An anonymous angel donated the enormous sum of 30 billion golden to the Divine Temple!”

When Anael came to Rainfeld, her goal was to collect 3,000 golden, and the Emperor had promised 10 billion golden as payment for their contract.

Even hearing about 10 billion golden then felt unreal, but 30 billion golden…

However, Anael couldn’t readily rejoice at the amazing news her comrade delivered.

The social circles of Rainfeld had taught her painfully well that there was ‘no kindness without price.’

“Kamael, what did the donor demand in return?”

Friedrich had tried to strengthen imperial authority by using religious authority.

Then what would a donor who offered three times that amount demand?

However, at Anael’s wary response, Kamael burst into cheerful laughter and said good-naturedly.

“Sister, if there were demands, we couldn’t call it a ‘donation.’ Of course, I understand being cautious given the amount, but the angel demanded nothing at all. Ah, there was one thing.”

“What was it?”

“‘Use it freely for righteous purposes, but if anyone embezzles, misappropriates, or steals the donation, throw them to the magical beasts as food.’ That was the only request from the angel who carefully concealed their identity.”

Kamael, who delivered the donor’s suggestion in an exaggeratedly solemn voice, smiled brightly.

“Thanks to the angel, we brought in skilled physicians, and Master regained consciousness. And we can give milk instead of gruel to the orphanage children, and the poorhouse’s free meals have resumed with even more nutritious food than before…”

Though Kamael went on listing how the North had improved thanks to the donation, Anael couldn’t hear it.

‘Lady Rabius.’

The moment she heard the anonymous donor’s suggestion, Anael suddenly became certain.

Though there was no concrete evidence, she intuitively knew.

The identity of the donor who readily gave such a huge sum without any conditions, asking only that it be used properly, must be Callia.

An indescribable emotion welled up from deep within her heart.

“Anael, are you listening? No, are you crying?”

“Kamael, I’m sorry. I need to go somewhere right now…”

After hurriedly apologizing to her comrade like that, Anael rushed straight to the Rabius residence.

To confirm directly if her thoughts were true.