If Evelyn had acted on instinct, she would have grabbed Adonea by the hair.

‘People already think I’m dangerous. I can’t afford to act recklessly.’

Evelyn ground her teeth.

Duke Chantalis, who had silently observed the situation, placed a hand on her shoulder.

[Evelyn, calm down.]

“But Father…”

[Sometimes silence serves you better than words.]

Evelyn bit her lip in frustration.

Princess Maelia’s gaze settled upon the dead bird lying on the floor.

“…Laila, I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.”

Just as the princess carefully reached down to pick up the bird, Adonea stopped her.

“Please don’t dirty your hands. I’ll take care of her.”

Adonea gently lifted the bird’s body in the princess’s place.

At that moment, a brilliant light burst forth in every direction.

Evelyn’s eyes widened in disbelief.

It was exactly the same sacred light she had witnessed during the family dinner.

When the radiance finally faded, the myna bird’s beautiful song emerged from Adonea’s hands.

Gasps of astonishment escaped the nobles.

Even Obson sprang to his feet from the imperial throne.

A chill ran down Evelyn’s spine.

“Is it alive? The bird came back to life?”

“Oh, Chara!”

The princess looked equally astonished.

Only Evelyn stared coldly at Adonea.

Adonea gazed lovingly at the myna bird in her hands, appearing just as surprised as everyone else.

‘…In the original story, Adonea was supposed to use her divine power to revive a fallen noble. But this time, she brought the princess’s myna bird back to life?’

And at the most dramatic moment imaginable?

Evelyn could not shake her unease.

The absence of the noble who was supposed to collapse also bothered her.

The bird left Adonea’s hands and settled upon the princess’s shoulder.

The nobles who had witnessed the miracle applauded Adonea in admiration.

“To think I would witness such a miracle with my own eyes!”

“May Chara remain with Lagria forever!”

Adonea smiled shyly.

Derrion watched her with an unreadable expression.

The nobles’ attention shifted toward him.

Without saying much, Derrion bowed to the princess.

“…I hope Your Highness was not too frightened. It seems your sincerity reached Chara.”

“You should be saying that to Lady Adonea.”

“No, Your Highness. His Eminence is correct. I merely conveyed your sincere feelings to the goddess.”

Adonea smiled modestly.

Derrion continued staring at her.

“Did you hear anything?”

“Pardon?”

“A message.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean…”

“After wielding power borrowed from Chara, one always hears her message. Even a young priest who has used only the faintest trace of divine power will hear her voice.”

Chara might not always answer prayers, but she willingly spoke to the children who borrowed her power.

And when her divine power manifested around the same time, the message each person heard from Chara would be identical.

“So, what did she say to you this time?”

“…Ah, that is what you meant.”

Adonea smiled.

“She said, ‘For your sake, I return this young life to the world.’”

“I see.”

Derrion’s response was impassive.

The princess gently stroked the bird.

“As expected, Chara is truly merciful.”

As the warm atmosphere continued, the commotion in the banquet hall gradually subsided.

All the strength drained from Evelyn’s body.

When she staggered, Sachi hurriedly caught her.

“Evelyn, are you all right?”

“Thank you for worrying about me, Brother Sachi.”

A weary smile appeared on Evelyn’s lips.

Duke Chantalis gently stroked her hair in concern.

[The banquet will end soon anyway. We can return home early if you wish, Evelyn.]

“No. It’s been so long since I’ve gone anywhere. I’d like to stay a little longer.”

More importantly, Evelyn could not leave without knowing what Adonea might do next.

[There’s no way Adonea will willingly abandon an opportunity to bask in everyone’s attention. Even if we tell her to come home, she’ll slither out of it somehow.]

Evelyn headed toward a corner of the hall.

It had been far too long since she had exhausted both her mind and body like this. She desperately wanted her bed.

Just then, Obson, who had been speaking with one of his advisers, approached Adonea.

“Are you the one who healed the princess’s bird?”

“Ah! Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty.”

Startled, Adonea bowed.

Obson arrogantly accepted her greeting.

“Yes. You have my gratitude for healing the princess’s bird. You are a young lady of House Chantalis?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“This is excellent news for House Chantalis. To think that the family bearing the seed of evil would also possess a light capable of purifying it.”

Evelyn could not conceal her disgust.

‘What the hell is that bastard talking about?’

Obson glanced at Duke Chantalis.

“I shall keep an eye on you. I am tired, so we will conclude tonight’s banquet here.”

Anyone could see that he was drunk, yet he continued striving to preserve his imperial dignity.

He did not seem to realize that the effort only made him appear more ridiculous.

Once Obson departed, the nobles began leaving the banquet hall one by one.

House Chantalis joined the procession.

Evelyn was so exhausted that she wanted someone to carry her on their back.

“Evelyn, can you board the carriage by yourself?”

Locke asked carefully.

Evelyn smiled at him.

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

Adonea, descending the stairs beside Oden, also looked at Evelyn with apparent concern.

“Evelyn, are you truly all right? I’m terribly sorry about what happened today. I was simply so frightened by what happened that day…”

Sachi immediately cut her off.

“Father, it looks as though our carriages have arrived.”

As Sachi had said, the carriages bearing House Chantalis’s crest were approaching one after another.

Duke Chantalis gently ruffled Evelyn’s hair.

[Yes. Evelyn, return home and get plenty of rest.]

“Yes, Father.”

[You worked hard today as well, Adonea.]

“It was nothing. Please, go ahead.”

Duke Chantalis studied Adonea for a moment before boarding the first carriage with Oden.

When the second carriage arrived, Locke climbed inside.

Sachi, however, did not leave Evelyn’s side.

“Sachi, aren’t you coming?”

“Please go ahead, Brother Locke. I’ll ride with Evelyn.”

There was nothing particularly scandalous about underage siblings sharing a carriage.

However, the higher a family’s rank, the more strictly such customs were observed. It was unusual for Sachi and Evelyn to travel together.

Evelyn firmly pushed Sachi toward the carriage.

“I’m fine, so please go ahead, Brother.”

“Evelyn.”

“We can talk in the tower later.”

Evelyn whispered the words.

She felt as though she might genuinely make herself sick if she did not have the chance to curse Adonea to her heart’s content.

Eventually persuaded, Sachi boarded the carriage with Locke.

Only Adonea and Evelyn remained on the stairs, waiting for the next carriage.

As if she had never worn a gentle expression at all, Adonea stared coldly at Evelyn.

“You put on quite the performance today, Evelyn.”

“What do you mean?”

“You killed the princess’s bird and pretended you hadn’t. I know everything.”

Evelyn was almost grateful that Adonea had chosen to provoke her.

‘I’ve already dealt with truckloads of people like you, people who lie and turn others against each other.’

Evelyn beamed at Adonea.

“The birds? Do you mean the ones you killed, Sister?”

Adonea’s expression stiffened.

“…What?”

“You killed those birds. I saw everything.”

‘Of course, I didn’t see a thing. It’s a complete lie.’

Evelyn chuckled.

Adonea had been the first to make absurd accusations.

Childish or not, sometimes there was no strategy more effective than an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Evelyn had expected Adonea to look shocked and demand to know what she was talking about.

Instead, Adonea fell silent.

She almost appeared flustered.

Evelyn, who had been only half-serious, was equally taken aback.

‘What is that reaction? She was behaving strangely earlier too. Don’t tell me…’

“Was it really you? Did you kill the princess’s bird…?”

When Evelyn murmured in shock, Adonea abruptly came to her senses.

Her usual gentle expression returned.

“Evelyn, why do you keep telling such horrible lies? You know I could never do something like that.”

Tears gathered in Adonea’s eyes.

Her expression was so pitiful that even Evelyn, who had already witnessed Adonea’s suspicious behavior several times, nearly wavered.

“If you continue tormenting me like this, I’ll have no choice but to tell someone. I’ll have to explain that you keep trying to make me seem like a terrible person.”

Adonea raised her voice deliberately, clearly intending to be overheard.

Sure enough, Derrion happened to be descending the stairs.

He turned toward her.

“Lady Adonea? What happened?”

Making a show of wiping away her tears, Adonea climbed into the carriage that had stopped before them.

“…It’s nothing. I’ll see you at home, Evelyn.”

Evelyn stared incredulously as the carriage disappeared into the distance.

‘What an endless parade of b*llshit. If she’s ever reborn, she absolutely needs to become an actress.’

“Evelyn, I thought I heard shouting. Are you all right?”

“Yes, of course.”

It was hardly Evelyn’s first time encountering someone unhinged.

Though Adonea might have been the most deranged person she had ever met.

‘I need to be even more careful around her.’

If Adonea truly had killed the princess’s bird only to revive it afterward, Evelyn could not simply overlook it.

There was no guarantee that she would not move on from birds to larger creatures.

Before her carriage arrived, Evelyn offered Derrion one final word of thanks.

“Thank you, Lord Derrion. I wanted to tell you that because of your help, I wasn’t falsely accused.”

Evelyn smiled radiantly at him.

Her green eyes sparkled beneath the glow of the magic stones embedded in the carriage.

Derrion stared into Evelyn’s eyes as if entranced, then slowly turned his head away.

“…Yes. I’m glad.”

“Then I’ll see you at my next prayer for peace!”

The sound of the carriage wheels receded, taking Evelyn’s presence with it.

Even after she disappeared, Derrion remained motionless until Aymon approached.

“Lord Derrion, we should return to the temple now.”

“…Yes.”

Derrion covered his mouth with one hand.

‘Oh Chara…’

His benevolent goddess was clearly subjecting him to yet another trial.

Trying to calm his confused heart, Derrion followed Aymon and boarded the carriage.

Yet his heart, once set racing, showed no sign of slowing.

Meanwhile, entirely unaware of Derrion’s condition, Evelyn rubbed her drooping eyes.

‘Oh, right. I never gave Iole an invitation.’

Out of habit, she reached for her pouch.

But she felt nothing beneath the folds of her dress.

Her drowsiness vanished, and Evelyn’s eyes flew open.

“No!”

“My lady, what’s wrong?!”

Evelyn clutched her head.

‘How could I lose the pouch containing the invitations, of all things?!’

She desperately prayed that the Black Diamond Club invitations would not fall into the hands of some hideous man.

After all, maintaining the club’s quality began with maintaining the quality of its members’ faces.

With Evelyn’s anguished cry echoing behind it, the carriage left the imperial palace and sped vigorously toward the ducal estate.

***

Meanwhile, a man picked up the black pouch Evelyn had dropped near the entrance to the banquet hall.

It was Iole, Duke Germand’s son.

“It seems a young lady dropped this.”

Iole frowned, creasing his handsome face.

Their departure had already been delayed because he had been forced to soothe his drunken father, who kept whining that he did not want to go home.

Now he had another troublesome matter to handle.

He was reluctant to search through a lady’s belongings, but unless he examined the contents, he would have no way to identify the owner.

Iole carefully searched the pouch.

An invitation adorned with elegant calligraphy soon slipped into his hand.

As he slowly read it, curiosity flickered in his eyes.

‘They arrange introductions?’

It was a secret social gathering open only to carefully selected noblemen and noblewomen.

What young man could possibly resist such words?

Though widely known for being hopelessly inexperienced with women, Iole hesitated instead of returning the invitation to the pouch.

‘But I’ll have to contact them somehow if I want to return this pouch, won’t I?’

There was no name engraved upon it, so he had no choice but to follow the only clue he possessed.

After completing his self-justification, Iole hurried after his father, who was staggering away in a drunken haze.

“Father, please be careful!”

Iole could not conceal the excitement shining across his face.