When Eleanor disappeared, the Umber Tower ceased operations and nobody was allowed to leave during the ensuing investigations. That is, except for Princess Grace Graham, who was ordered to return to the royal capital.

Now that Eleanor has returned and the culprit Kaiden Kline is dead, the Tower is back in business, and people are excited about finally ending their curfew and getting back to class.

Including Princess Grace, who bursts through the door one lazy afternoon, looks at young Amelia up and down, and busts her guts laughing.

“Hahahaha! Look at you, Adrian, you’re absolutely adorable! Hahahahaha!”

“It’s been a long time, Princess. And I’m still not Adrian Acker.”

“Hahaha! Oh, come now, Adrian. Just drop the gag already. With you looking like this, why deny it at this point?”

Amelia looks toward Donna Day, who is tilting her pink head in confusion, and Carter Cage, who is pretending not to hear the conversation.

“This form is only the side effect of over-exerting myself in the dungeons. It is not a confirmation—nor does it have any correlation—with any wild theory you may have about me, Princess.”

“Yeah, right.” Princess Grace comes closer and flicks the thin string between Amelia and Donna. “Somehow, you became even more pathetic than when I last saw you. Ha! Serves you right.”

“Emm … I beg your pardon, Princess, but I don’t believe it’s right to make fun of a person while they’re down … Even if it’s Ms. Eleanor,” Donna says.

“Nobody asked you a darn thing, you darn ginge. This is between us royal cousins.” Princess Grace sticks out her tongue.

“Oh, my.” Donna is taken aback. She rests her cheek on her palm and says, “Now I see where Ms. Eleanor gets her bad behavior from. It’s because she surrounds herself with bad influences.”

“What did you say?! Do you wanna go right now, bitch? Because I can go right now.”

“How uncouth. If the nobles are all like this, then it’s no wonder there is so much suffering in our country.”

“Why you self-righteous, sanctimonious slu—”

“Girls, girls, girls!” Carter steps in to break the fight. “It’s a beautiful day, so how about we step outside to take some fresh air? You girls haven’t visited the town square in a long while, right?”

“I would love to, Mr. Carter. But Ms. Eleanor and I have an appointment at the orphanage in an hour, then we have to go to the soup kitchen, then we need to give a sermon at a new church, then a couple asked us for a blessing, then …”

Donna excitedly lists out the schedule she set up for ‘Priestess Eleanor’ and Amelia looks like she just ate a mouthful of lemons.

“Somebody … just end me.” Amelia sinks into the couch.

“Since you guys are busy, then I guess there’s no choice but for me and Carter to go hang out by our lonesome selves. Just the two of us—like a date! Right, handsome?”

Princess Grace hugs Carter’s arm, and the boy forces out a hapless laugh.

Eleanor watches the two with an indecipherable smile, then she spreads her wings and flies off to tend to her duties.

On the first day of school, the girls decide Eleanor should be the one who returns to class, as the name Donna Day isn’t very popular in these parts, even after the Duchess has cleared her name.

So Eleanor Ambrose, dressed in a more appropriate attire for her age, steps through the halls of the Umber Tower among the curious gazes and whispers of her peers.

When she nears her lecture hall, Lady Joanna Jones and the rest of her entourage rush up to greet her.

“Elle! I was so worried about you! How have you been? Where have you been? They say you got lost in the abyss area of the dungeon. Poor dear, you must’ve been terrified. I know I would’ve been terrified, so I’m guessing you should’ve been too. They say senior Kline kidnapped you and threw you into the abyss because you rejected him. Is that true? C’mon, you can spill the tea with me. I promise I won’t tell. Oh, and don’t you need a wheelchair anymore? You used to need a wheelchair wherever you went. It was pretty inconvenient. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind that you were in a wheelchair. I just think that it would suck if it was me in a wheelchair, so I’m guessing—”

“Joanna, dear. We’re blocking the hallway. Let’s continue this in the classroom.”

Eleanor leads her entourage into the lecture hall. Her purple eyes aim toward the back row—and there he is, the blonde-haired Xander Xenos, sitting in the same seat, with the same sleepy look on his face.

Half of Eleanor wants to bully him, and the other half says to leave him alone.

“Come on, he’s obviously the hidden boss. I mean, look at him! Look at how he sinisterly raises his face and his eyes locked in with intense hatred for a split second before going back to sleep. Do we really need to wait until he goes psycho mode before you get it through your thick skull?”

“Ms. Eleanor, you can’t go around accusing people of a crime they didn’t commit based on gut instinct. Guilt needs to be proven with proper evidence in a court of law, under the eyes of God.”

“God, Smod. I met the guy. He ain’t shit.”

“Ms. Eleanor, if you think I’m willing to tolerate blasphemy, then you have another thing coming!”

As Eleanor is having a tug of war in her heart, the door opens and Professor Orlando Oak enters.

Professor Oak tells the class to be seated. Then he explains to the students how their classes will resume from where they left off six months ago.

“That is besides our kidnapped princess over here,” Professor Oak says, “who earns herself a lifetime ban from the Amber Dungeons. I probably don’t have to say why.”

The class laughs, and Professor Oak playfully puts his index finger on his lips.

“Shhh. Now, now. What happened was a very serious incident. So really, Lady Ambrose, please, for the love of all that is holy and scientific, don’t up and disappear on us again, okay? My career won’t survive another episode like that. Okay? Great. Now that we’re all caught up, let’s get back to our studies. I want you to open your books to page 117 where …”

The rest of the class goes by with little happening. The day continues in the same, unremarkable way.

Late in the afternoon, Eleanor stops by the local hospital to give a hand with some intense cases, then gives a sermon at a church. After that, she heads home, chats with her friends, and hits the hay.

Each day, she sticks to her usual grind, and with every passing day, her accumulated hatred grows, all thanks to her growing fanbase.

The more people jump on the Eleanor bandwagon, the stronger and more influential she becomes. Hatred and mana—the Devil’s two greatest assets keep flourishing without much effort. Even her money keeps going up thanks to donations from her wealthy followers. No longer does she need to go back to her old tricks of causing chaos or painting graffiti.

It is a time of plenty, and the Devil can now throw her weights around in ways she couldn’t before.

After listening to Professor Declan complaining about the plummeting property values around Mellow Bay for the thousandth time, the Devil commissions Lady Tate to build a new town to house the squatters.

“Let’s name it say … Harvest Spring.”

“But master, there is no spring in or near the location,” Tessa says.

“Harvest Field? Harvest Valley? Harvest County?”

“Why do you insist on the word harvest? What exactly do you plan on having them harvesting?”

Amelia clears her throat and says, “Medallion should work well enough.”

And with that, the holy city Medallion is born.

Medallion, the nearest place to heaven.

Medallion, the last bastion of mankind.

Medallion, the very city where our courthouse is standing.