The Basilica cathedral had not recovered.
Even hours after the incident, the air remained heavy-thick with whispers that refused to quiet, no matter how far they carried.
The mass had been dismissed.
The nobles, however-
Had not.
They lingered in the halls and corridors.
In corners where voices could lower but never fully disappear.
"...She was right there-"
"I saw it-"
"No, no one saw anything-"
"But who else could it have been?"
The name passed between them, unspoken but understood.
Esmeralda.
It did not take long. The Church moved swiftly.
A private inquiry was conducted within the cathedral itself.
No audience.
No spectacle.
Only those necessary.
At the center of it stood the Pope, his expression grave, the weight of the situation resting heavily on the sanctity of the event.
Beside him, officials of the crown remained present.
And before them-
Esmeralda.
She remained unmoving, unbothered.
"Lady Esmeralda," the Pope began, his voice calm but firm, "you were found at the balcony from which Lady Amaria fell."
"I was," she answered.
"Were you alone with her?"
"...Yes."
Murmurs stirred faintly at the edges of the room.
"And yet," one of the officials added, "no witness saw the moment of the fall itself."
Another voice followed.
"What exactly happened, my lady?"
A brief pause.
"She jumped," Esmeralda said plainly.
The reaction was immediate.
"Nonsense, my lady! The blessed child of the Goddess would never commit such a horrifying act!"
More voices followed—overlapping, restrained yet firm. Measured and careful, yet unwilling to accept, they wove together into something heavier than silence. And just like that, the conclusion began to take shape on its own—not innocence, but uncertainty.
Rael stood to the side, his gaze fixed on Esmeralda—unwavering and unreadable.
"...Then we await Lady Amaria's statement," the Pope said finally.
And just like that-
Everything rested on her.
----
The room was quiet when Amaria opened her eyes.
Soft light filtered through the curtains, the scent of herbs lingering faintly in the air.
At her bedside stood the Saintess.
Nearby stood the Emperor, the Empress, and Rael, with others arriving shortly after, while Esmeralda remained further back—silent, watching.
"...Lady Amaria," the Saintess said gently, "how are you feeling?"
"My..whole body hurts. My head..feels heavy as well."
"It is natural. Falling from a height like that, pain would not be an option," the doctor in the room explained, "Do you remember what happened?"
Amaria's gaze shifted slowly.
Unfocused at first.
Then-
Her eyes landed on Esmeralda.
And stayed there long enough to matter.
"...I..." she began softly.
The room stilled.
Waiting for her testimony.
Her gaze flickered-just briefly-
Toward Esmeralda.
Then back at the crowd in front of her.
"...I was heading down from the balcony," she said, her voice faint. "For the mass..."
"I remember... standing near the edge looking over the mass..."
Her fingers tightened slightly against the sheets.
"And then-"
"...I felt something."
The room leaned in.
"...A push on my back," Amaria whispered.
Silence fell.
The Saintess stilled. "A push?"
Amaria hesitated.
As if unsure.
As if reluctant.
"I'm not certain," she added quickly. "It happened so fast... I might be mistaken..."
Her gaze briefly shifted again in Esmeralda.
"...But Lady Esmeralda was there," she continued softly. "Perhaps... she saw what happened..."
The words were gentle, careful—but they landed hard.
Murmurs stirred immediately.
"So she was pushed-"
"But she says she's unsure-"
"She says lady Esmeralda saw, but the lady was the one just behind her before falling-"
"Why would she say that if it wasn't true?"
The Saintess raised a hand slightly, trying to settle the room.
"Lady Amaria, are you certain of what you felt?"
Amaria shook her head faintly.
"I... don't know," she said, almost apologetically. "It could have been my imagination... I don't want to accuse anyone wrongly..."
Then, softer-
"...I'm sorry for causing such trouble."
The Saintess's expression softened at once.
"You need not apologize."
"Now that the blessed one has awakened," the Emperor spoke, "we will take our leave. This has been... quite an event."
The Empress exhaled quietly.
The tension shifted-
Not gone but redirected.
Rael didn't speak but his gaze moved-
From Amaria...to Esmeralda.
Slower this time.
It was announced clearly before the day ended.
Carefully worded.
"An unfortunate accident."
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
No blame.
No accusation.
No punishment.
Esmeralda was not guilty.
But to everyone who had seen it unfold, her guilt had already been decided.
The whispers did not stop even as they walked along the corridors of the Cathedral.
If anything- they sharpened.
"She felt a push..."
"But she said she wasn't sure..."
"Still... Lady Esmeralda was there..."
"It's strange, isn't it?"
No one said it outright.
No one dared.
But the distance was there. It was subtle yet noticeable. Sometimes, even intentional.
Esmeralda walked through it all without pause.
Without reaction.
As if none of it mattered.
Which only made it worse.
By the next day, Amaria was already receiving visitors.
Nobles came one after another.
Offering their concerns along with praises and admiration.
"To endure such a fall..."
"And still remain so composed..."
"Truly blessed..."
Her gentleness had only deepened.
Her kindness, more radiant.
Even toward Esmeralda-
She showed no resentment and no fear.
Only warmth in her eyes.
That evening, the palace felt different as Amaria walked through the corridors.
Not visibly.
Not loudly.
But in the way people looked.
In the way they spoke.
It was a though she was the most innocent being they have ever laid their eyes upon.
---
Night settled along the palace walls, quiet and unyielding.
The torches in the corridors burned low, their light flickering faintly against stone. Outside, the courtyard had long since emptied, leaving only the distant sound of guards making their rounds.
Inside his chamber-
Rael stood by the window.
He was still and unmoving.
The glass reflected a faint image of him-composed, steady, untouched.
But his thoughts were anything but.
The scene replayed.
Again.
And again.
The fall on the balcony.
White fabric disappearing over the edge.
The sound that followed.
Then-
Her.
Esmeralda.
She was just standing there.
Calm..
Unshaken.
As if the chaos below had nothing to do with her.
Rael's gaze darkened slightly.
"...Why did she just take it?"
His voice was quiet.
Almost lost in the silence of the room.
The accusations.
The whispers.
The way the nobles had looked at her-
They looked at her with disgust, suspicions, and unforgiving judgement, And yet-
She hadn't said a word.
Not once.
Not to defend herself.
Not to explain.
Not even to deny it.
His jaw tightened.
If I hadn't stopped myself...
His fingers curled slightly at his side.
I would have silenced them all.
The thought came too easily.
Too naturally.
A flicker of something dangerous passed through his expression-gone just as quickly as it appeared.
"...Ridiculous."
He exhaled slowly, forcing the tension out.
And yet-
The irritation remained.
Because it wasn't just the nobles.
It wasn't just the whispers.
It was her.
Rael turned slightly, his gaze drifting away from the window.
Esmeralda did not say a single sentence.
Not a denial. Nothing.
She hadn't.
And that bothered him more than the accusations themselves.
Silence settled again.
Then-
His thoughts shifted.
Amaria.
His gaze lowered slightly.
For the first time-
It soured.
"...How convenient for the blessed one to fall like that in front of so many people."
The words were quiet.
Flat.
And yet, they lingered longer than they should have.
Because now-
He couldn't unsee that moment.
Rael exhaled again, slower this time.
His thoughts no longer steady.
The room fell silent once more.
But the unease remained.
And for the first time-
Rael wasn't sure which of them he was watching more closely.
Esmeralda.
Or Amaria.
---
Elsewhere-
Marcus leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking faintly beneath his weight.
The room was dim, lit only by the low flicker of a single lamp on the table beside him. Shadows stretched across the walls, shifting slightly with every movement of the flame.
He stared ahead.
Not at anything in particular.
Just... thinking.
"...Hm.. people don't fall like that," he muttered.
The words hung in the air.
His fingers tapped once against the armrest-slow, deliberate.
He replayed it again.
The height, the angle, the timing.
It was too clean and too... convenient.
Marcus exhaled quietly, tilting his head back slightly.
Not from that height.
Not in that place.
Not during something like that.
A faint frown settled deeper on his face.
"...So what are you playing at, blessed child?"
He didn't say her name.
He didn't need to.
At the Marquis of Arundel Estate-
The estate was quieter than usual.
Servants moved more carefully, their voices lowered as if the events of the day had followed them home.
Inside his study, Aziel stood by the window, his gaze fixed on the darkening horizon.
Unmoving.
The reports on his desk remained untouched.
For once-
He had no interest in numbers.
No patience for order.
Because nothing about what he had witnessed made sense.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Then opened them again.
"...She wouldn't lie."
The words were quiet but certain.
He believed that much.
Esmeralda would not say something like that without reason.
She jumped.
The way she had said it was simple and direct.
"...Then why?"
Why would she?
Why would someone like Amaria-
The blessed child of the Goddess-
Choose to fall?
His thoughts circled back, again and again, refusing to settle.
Amaria's expression.
Her voice.
Her hesitation.
Aziel's gaze darkened slightly.
He exhaled slowly, his composure returning piece by piece.
"If Lady Esmeralda was telling the truth..."
The room fell quiet around him.
"...Then why would the blessed child jump?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
And the quiet realization-
That whatever had happened that day-
Was not as simple as it appeared.
---
The Ducal carriage arrived without fanfare.
No announcement yet no delay, as well.
The gates opened as they always did.
The servants bowed as they always did.
And yet-
Something was different.
The silence lingered a little longer than usual.
The air, heavier.
As if the events of the cathedral had followed them all the way home.
The carriage came to a stop.
The Duke stepped down first, then the Duchess.
Esmeralda followed.
Her presence composed.
As if she had not just stood at the center of the empire's most whispered scandal.
"Esmeralda-"
The Duke's voice broke through, low and strained.
But she did not stop.
She did not turn.
She did not acknowledge it.
Her steps remained steady as she crossed the threshold of the estate, her heels echoing faintly against polished floors.
"Esmeralda," he called again, more firmly this time.
Still-
Nothing.
The Duchess reached out slightly, as if to stop her husband.
"...Let her be," she said quietly.
Because they both saw it.
The stillness in their daughter.
It was too calm. She was not in the state to explain herself to anyone.
Esmeralda continued down the corridor.
Past the servants who quickly lowered their gazes.
Past the familiar portraits lining the walls.
Past everything.
Until she reached her room.
The door closed behind her with a soft click.
And only then-
Did the silence truly settle.
She moved without pause.
Without hesitation.
Her gloves came off first.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Each finger loosened with practiced precision before she placed them neatly on the table beside her.
No rush.
No tremor.
No sign of strain.
As if she were simply ending an ordinary day.
She stepped toward the mirror.
And stopped.
Her reflection stared back at her.
She looked unchanged.. unaffected.
No trace of what had happened.
No trace of what had been said.
No trace of what had been implied.
"...An accident, huh." she murmured.
The words felt hollow.
Her gaze didn't shift.
Didn't waver.
But her fingers did.
They lifted slowly, brushing against the emerald earrings resting against her ears.
For a moment-
She said nothing.
Then-
"...So this is the heroine of the story."
The words were quiet.
The room remained still.
Unmoving.
Just like her.
But beneath that stillness-
Something had shifted.
Not loudly.
Not violently.
But undeniably.
And now-
Everything had already been different from the book she believed she knew.