The collapsed wall of the chapel looked terrible in the dawn light. White stone lay shattered across the floor, and morning light streamed through the gaping hole. Aria stared at that opening while replaying last night over and over in her mind. The place where Zephyr had knelt. The place where Kale had drawn his sword. The place where Morgus had quietly spoken the word "infidelity." It had all happened inside this chapel. The morning of the Solstice Festival had arrived. All of Heliodor had been waiting for this day. A day of gratitude to the sun god Solvarna—the one annual holiday in the Kingdom of Soltia. Footsteps of preparation echoed through the temple corridors from early morning, decorative flowers were being carried, white vestments swayed in the breeze. Aria had barely been back in her room for an hour when she heard a knock. "[cold]Open it." She knew from the voice alone. Morgus Tein. When she opened the door, an elderly man in white priestly robes trimmed with gold stood there, flanked by two priests. The wrinkles etched into his 78-year-old face seemed deeper than usual in the morning light. Morgus glanced at Aria once, then looked past her down the corridor. "[cold]To the healing ward. We need to talk." It was a command. Not a suggestion. The healing ward was in the north wing of the Great Temple of Solvarna. White walls, white ceiling, white floor. Normally it was a place where injured priests and pilgrims were healed. Today it sat empty. Morgus ushered Aria inside, then gestured to the two priests who had remained behind. They stepped outside, and she heard the sound of the lock turning from within. Aria looked at the door. Then at Morgus. "[cold]About last night." Morgus began speaking while keeping his gaze fixed on the window. "[cold]The Demon Lord of the Nocvell Demon Kingdom infiltrated the chapel of the Great Temple of Solvarna. The Saint held hands with that Demon Lord. The chapel wall collapsed, and this sacred ground was defiled. This is Elderath's understanding of events." "[scared]That's not true. I was——" "[cold]Be silent." His voice was quiet. Not a shout. That made it heavier somehow. Morgus turned from the window and looked directly at Aria. His gaze was sharp. Utterly devoid of emotion. And that gaze spoke more eloquently than any words: *I will not hear your defense.* "[cold]Do you remember Saint Lina from 120 years ago?" She did. The sacred marriage ceremony—the punishment imposed on a Saint who married without the approval of the Elder Council. The severing of the solar plexus. A sentence that sealed away magical power forever. Lina had spent her remaining life in the aftermath of that punishment, ending her days as little more than a husk. That was what the temple records said. Aria had read it many times as a child. As a warning. "[cold]The severing of the solar plexus is not merely the loss of power. A Saint whose connection to the solar plexus has been severed becomes a body incapable of anything—yet retains only the memory of having once been a Saint. Lina remembered her own name until the very end. That was precisely why she suffered." He spoke matter-of-factly, as if merely reciting a historical precedent. Aria's hands trembled. "[cold]Elderath has the authority to execute that sentence on a Saint who has broken the sacred marriage ceremony. And last night's incident is more than sufficient grounds for its application. You understand, don't you?" "[sad]……But that——" "[cold]There is one demand. By noon, you will submit a written statement to Elderath accepting the sacred marriage with Kale Hermant. That is all." Aria lost her voice. Zephyr's voice from last night came back to her. That trembling voice saying "people are dying." Kale's shout: "You are mine." The fear she'd felt at that moment hearing Kale's voice. And the red-inked notation she'd seen on the desk at the field headquarters—*No action required*—with Morgus's seal. It all caught in her chest. But she couldn't put it into words. Where would she even begin? Should she even speak? Would anything change if she did? Nothing came out. Morgus watched Aria's silence. Then he nodded slightly. "[cold]If the written statement does not arrive by noon, Elderath will act independently. I'm simply informing you of that." The old man walked toward the door. A knock. The priest outside opened it. Morgus left. The door closed. *Click*—the sound of the lock engaging. Aria was alone in the healing ward. --- The white walls looked colder than usual. The time for the midday meal came. Footsteps sounded beyond the door. Aria stood and knocked. "[gentle]Excuse me. Could I have something to eat——" The footsteps in the corridor stopped. Silence hung in the air. Then the footsteps receded into the distance. No one came. Aria stepped away from the door. She stood beside the white wall and looked out the window. She could see the corridor that ran through the temple courtyard. Priests preparing for the festival walked past, two at a time, then three. One whispered something in another's ear. The other glanced toward the window. The moment their eyes might have met, both of them looked away in unison. They hurried past down the corridor. Carried on the wind, fragments of words reached her. ——the Demon Lord——the Saint—— Aria turned from the window. She had been raised in the temple. The temple was her entire world. The voice of dawn prayers, the light of the solar plexus streaming into the chapel, the corridors she'd walked beside Helena, the faces of pilgrims who had smiled at her in the healing ward. All of it existed within these white walls. She had ventured outside only a handful of times. To be isolated here—it cut far deeper than isolation in the outside world. Aria tried to think of Kale. The sensation of those large hands. The golden eyes that had said "your smile is my strength" in the setting sun. The back that had held back enemies alone at the front lines. ——The memories are there. All of them. But. Her chest didn't respond. That sensation from yesterday—that certain feeling that had taken shape as love—she reached into the depths of her chest searching for it, but her fingers dissolved into mist, grasping at nothing. (*It's because I'm exhausted.*) She tried to convince herself. But she knew better. It wasn't just exhaustion. This had been coming from before. Since the day she'd used sacred healing consecutively at the field headquarters, it had been accelerating. That sensation of emotions receding. Perhaps she had already crossed the point of no return. --- Noon passed. Aria had kept thinking that Kale might come. It was a hope grounded in reason. A childhood friend, someone who had sworn to protect her—if he learned she was under house arrest, he would come. He'd promised so many times: *I will absolutely protect you. Trust me.* But the door remained closed. Morgus's priests were controlling access. Even if Kale had tried to come, they might have stopped him. She could have thought that. But as noon faded, there was no sign of Kale beyond the door. What Aria couldn't see was that Kale had stopped once in the corridor outside the healing ward. He'd come to the door, pressed his fist against the wall, and couldn't move from that spot. The self-loathing for the words he'd hurled at Aria last night. The image of Zephyr and Aria holding hands wouldn't leave his mind. Unable to control either emotion, Kale had turned on his heel and left. For Aria, only the fact remained: Kale had not come. The person who had promised to protect her was not here in this moment. That fact struck her chest quietly, but deeply. She tried to confirm her feelings for Kale. That emotion she should have felt, the one she'd loved. But the mist only grew thicker, and her hand couldn't reach through it. It was the same with Zephyr. Crimson eyes. Kneeling. That low voice saying *I need you.* The memories were there. But they didn't reach into the depths of her chest. --- As afternoon set in, Aria could no longer deny it. She wanted to cry. She closed her eyes. No tears came. She wanted to rage. She clenched her fists. No heat of anger rose from within her body. She pictured Kale's face. Blonde hair, golden eyes, the sun shield earring in his right ear. The memory was there. But her chest said nothing in response to that memory. It was the same with Zephyr. Black hair with red streaks. Crimson eyes glowing in the darkness. The coldness of his hand. She held all of it as memory. And yet——it didn't reach her. She was afraid. Fear was the only sensation that still remained, barely. But even that was fading. Her emotions were withering away. They'd been eroding bit by bit since the first day, worn down more heavily during the consecutive healings at the field headquarters, and now here, at this moment. Aria walked to the wall of the healing ward. She slid down with her back against it, hugging her knees to her chest. A voiceless scream repeated in her throat. *I'm afraid. I don't want to disappear. I loved them, I really did love them. I wanted to tell someone before it all vanishes.* But no voice came out. She couldn't cry. That very fact—*that she couldn't cry*—became the deepest despair, tightening around her. If she could cry, it would be proof that emotion still existed. But her eyes remained dry, simply staring at the white wall. She was suffering this much, yet the sensation of suffering itself felt thin. (*What do I do?*) The phrase repeated like a mantra. A question with no answer. --- A sound came through the small window. A drum. Then stringed instruments. A bright, celebratory melody. The Solstice Festival. At this very moment, all of Heliodor was gathering in the plaza. Dressed in white vestments, offering prayers to the sun god Solvarna, singing with smiles on their faces. The cheers of the crowd reached her. Children's laughter mixed in. The music was bright. Far too bright. That brightness reflected off the white walls of the healing ward like a mirror, making Aria's solitude stand out all the more starkly. The sound pierced her chest with particular sharpness. Something hurt. She could still feel it. It wasn't completely gone. Aria remained with her knees drawn up, her back against the wall. The deadline for the written statement to Morgus had long since passed. She hadn't submitted it. Whether she couldn't or wouldn't, she couldn't distinguish anymore. She simply hadn't. She hadn't done as Morgus demanded. That much was certain. Even as her emotions faded away, that one thing——remained unmoved. The edge of the evening sky visible through the small window began to stain orange. The direction of Divine Ravine, the western sky. Beyond Divine Ravine lay the Nocvell Demon Kingdom. Zephyr had said *I'll come again.* Whether she believed those words or not, Aria couldn't say now. She simply continued to gaze at that edge of the evening sky for a long time. In the midst of emotions whose outlines were blurring away, something—something so faint it was barely there—still burned.