A while later, as everyone awaited the event to start, the church bell rang to give everyone a signal. A few nuns lined up on the sides and began with the prayers. Then came Mable, in her gorgeous white outfit resembling a gown, holding a rainbow-colored shawl in her arms.

As she stood on the podium, the whole church fell silent. One of the nuns then revealed a painting behind Mable by pulling a red cloth covering it.

The painting was magnificently beautiful, depicting our church exactly as it looked that day. But what caught my eye was the small, glowing figure of a lyre floating above the apex of the nave roof, where the church bell hung.

"Today, I will recite a holy poem written by the believers of the Goddess, followed by a beautiful piano performance by Saul. We will then admire the beauty of the Goddess as we conclude the program and await the upcoming night when the luminous aurora will shine upon the world," Mable announced.

She then signaled to the nun standing beside the picture, who tapped two wooden flat sticks in a rhythmic order.

~

Behold the sky aglow,

A sight that leaves us in awe,

A wondrous spectacle to know,

A shining path of hope it draws.

With colors bold and bright,

A rope that binds the earth and sky,

It reaches low and soars up high,

A beacon shining in the night.

And though it may have been some time,

The light can change a child's mood,

Transforming sorrow into a gentle smile,

A joy that's bound to lift the mood.

So let us gaze upon this sight,

And let our hearts be filled with light,

For in this glowing, vibrant scene,

We find a world that's evergreen.

~

The whole room fell silent. It was the first time I had heard about this shining lyre. One of the nuns looked at me and signaled for me to get up to the piano.

I took a deep breath as I walked up to the piano. I glanced at Mable, who gave me a smile. I sat down on a small wooden round chair and raised my hands, thinking, "I will make sure that everyone present here will have their ears filled with pleasure from my song."

But the moment I touched the key, it felt like a dark aura had surrounded me. I looked around; everyone was looking at me. Can no one see this black smoke surrounding me? The moment I tried to play, the aura oozed out, taking the form of a person I knew very well, clenching her hands tightly around my throat. It felt like my past had come back to traumatize me.

I could hear my breath, feel the gaze of the people with each passing second. "No, I can't play this…" I looked around to ask for help and saw Mabel, who was looking at me with aspiration. She believed in me. As I looked back at the piano, I knew I couldn't just back out now. I had to get myself back up and think logically. It didn't happen the previous night when I played this, so why now? Is this magic? Does someone not want this event to succeed? If that's the case, then the only thing I can do is play even better.

I closed my eyes as I pictured 'her,' my only friend in my past life and the reason why I quit everything and became a shut-in. But whatever this dark aura is, "you're impersonating her WRONG." I took a deep breath and slapped my cheeks with both hands. Even if the memories haunt me, it still won't be able to stop me today.

I started playing the song. Every time I pressed a key, it felt like the air around the dark aura stiffened. But to stop this aura from traumatizing me any further, I started to think of the days when 'she' would dance to my song.

Before I knew it, the dark aura disappeared, but I was now surrounded by magical particles that seemed to be dancing in a rhythmic order around the Goddess statue. I closed my eyes as my hands followed through the keys to bring out the mesmerizing sounds. My heart felt light. I had overcome this traumatic event.

Hmm, I was so mesmerized by the dancing particles, but suddenly, I felt a hint of bloodlust in the air. The particles that surrounded the statue started behaving in a weird way. I looked at Mabel to see if anything went wrong just when I saw something glistening on the upper part of the hall.

"Somebody's trying to attack Mable!" I thought, not knowing why anyone would do this.

I saw some movement on the upper floor of the church. There were only two entrances to the second floor, and the main gate was always guarded. The second gate was known only to the people of the church. That definitely meant that someone associated with the church must have let the culprit in.

I could think about all of this later. The important thing was to save Mable. She had immense faith in the villagers and would never think that something like this might happen.

I got up to create distance between me and Mable. In the midst of all my thoughts, I spotted an arrow closing in on Mable at high speed. "Mable!" I screamed. Everyone turned towards me, but it was already too late. I tried to use the white particles to help me reach the arrow before it reached Mable. I gathered all the particles in my calves for a greater thrust. It all happened in a second.

I managed to push Mable away, but I wasn't able to dodge the arrow myself. The arrow thrust through my chest, and the force pushed me back into the wall.

"SAUL!" Mable screamed.

The villagers and the nobles all rushed out in a panic. I could hear the faint sound of their footsteps rushing out. Mable and Ambra rushed towards me as I lost consciousness.

My whole body went numb, except for the place where the arrow had hit me. I didn't know how long I had been unconscious, but it had been a while since I was in this state. Something about this seemed funny.

I heard some voices behind me. I turned around and tried to push myself in the direction of the voices.

As I got closer, the darkness surrounding me changed to a small alley in the town. I heard some footsteps rushing towards me. I looked up and saw Mable running towards me, but she seemed a bit younger. There were two men running behind her.

"Huh, are they chasing her?" I tried to call out to Mable, but she didn't seem like she heard me. So, I went towards her, and she literally passed through me.

"What the...?" It's like I'm some kind of spirit or something. But why am I here? And what's going on right now?

I set aside my thoughts and followed Mable. One of the men ran on the wall, leaving a trail of wind behind him.

"He's a magic user," I thought. The man was wearing a ripped shirt and had dirt-brown hair. He almost caught Mable when she suddenly turned and punched the man in his abdomen. The man went flying and hit the wall, while Mable stood there with a grim look on her face. Her hand glowed in a beautiful cyan color.

"You think you could just touch me with your hand, you rascal?" Mable said as she walked towards the man she punched and stepped on his face. "KNOW YOUR PLACE!"

Khek khek khek. The other man just stood on the opposite side, clapping and laughing as if he didn't care about whatever happened to his partner.

The man wore similar ripped clothes and had dark black hair. He had a scar on his face that ran from his nose to his right eye.

"Ahahaha, Mable-chan, just why are you struggling?" he walked towards Mable while showing a foul smile. "Now you know that your goddess ain't coming to save you, so hand me the Lyre!"

"Heh, just take your ass back to your goddess and tell Huxiana that she's not worth enough to even sniff at our holy place. So stop dreaming about taking our Lyre," Mable answered with a fierce aura surrounding her.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by darkness once again.

What was that? Was it Mable's past? And why were those men after the Lyre?

Suddenly, the scene around me changed, and my nerves burst forth as I saw Mable being pushed to the ground, her face bruised. The man slowly got closer to Mable and punched her in the face. I tried to jump in, but the punches passed through me. The man kept throwing punches at Mabel's face. My blood boiled as I saw her helpless, taking the punches.

But in the previous scene, Mable showed monstrous strength. So why was she in this state? Is the man that strong? However, looking at the man, it seemed like he himself had been pushed back by Mable. His nose was bleeding, and there was a fresh bruise mark on his shoulder.

I looked around and noticed that Mable's left leg was bleeding, and there was a greenish color near her ankle. I ran towards her and saw that the greenish mark was spreading in tracts.

"It's poison!" I looked around to see what could have caused it and found a small arrow with the same greenish colour lodged in its tip.

"An arrow! There were others besides those two," I exclaimed. Who could it be? I looked around but couldn't clearly see due to the darkness that enveloped the area.

Just then, I saw a figure moving from afar. And when the person's face came into light, I was left speechless. It was none other than one of the nuns from our church, one of the nuns who had been standing behind Mable at today's event.

"Khek khek, the great Mable is helplessly struggling on the ground," the man pulled up Mable's hair.

Mable spat on the man's face. "You... pathetic insect... you think you've won! Even if I were to die today, the glories of Goddess Aurora would never fade away."

"Die? Who said you're going to die!" The man made an evil laugh as he pushed Mable's face into the ground repeatedly. I felt so helpless, but all I could do was watch.

"What... Do you mean?"

"Ahaha, you aren't going to give up the Lyre, will you? But that's not a problem," he pulled Mable by her hair again. "You know, you're quite hot."

Wait, wait, wait! My blood boiled as I saw the man pulling Mable by her hair towards the dark alleyway. Mable struggled a bit but couldn't do anything else as her body seemed to have gone numb due to the poison.

"N-no, no, stop!" Mable pleaded as the man pulled her along the dark trail. Mable screamed for help, but it was to no avail. He pushed her against the wall and ripped off her clothes. Mable begged and cried, but the man kept attacking her lustfully.

"Khekhekhe, if I can't get the Lyre, let me take away all your pride. Lady Huxiana would be happy either way."

This time the scene didn't change.I witnessed the entire scene of Mable getting sexually abused helplessly, I saw her cry for help, struggling to get away from the man, and finally how her body gave out, with no strength to fight back anymore.

I don't know why I was made to see this, but it made some things clear about what I should do now. Their faces were etched in my memory. I won't let them get away with this. I clenched my fingers when suddenly I heard someone calling my name.

The scene blurred, and I saw Mable's face. It was the current Mable that I know of, and she seemed as if she was crying.

"Ah, you're fine," Mable said as she suddenly hugged me.

I was in my room with Mable sitting beside me. She wiped off her tears as she patted my head. "I'm so glad you're safe. I... I don't know what would have happened to me if I were to lose you." She started crying on my shoulders. Just looking at her is making my heart ache.

"Haha, I'm not going to let you be free from me so soon, Mable."

"Huh, are you not feeling well? Your voice seems a bit down," she asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Ah, no, I'm just a bit tired. And um, wh-what about the event?" I asked her, hoping nothing else had happened.

"Don't worry about it. I have taken care of that," she smirked as if she wanted me to praise her for that... seriously, I'm just an eight-year-old.

"Okay, for now, go off to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time for dinner. Hehe, I will make the most delicious porridge for you today." She passed me a smile as she was about to leave. "Alright, call me up if you need anything."

I couldn't make eye contact with her just now, and I can still here her cries. Was it the guilt of helplessly watching her past, or was it regret? I don't know, but all I can think about is how I will bring that nun down for her crimes.

Just then, I heard a small crack sound from my door. Ambra's pet cat entered my room.

Meow! The cat glared at me. She was black in color with dark, space-black eyes

It meowed! At me again before leaving my room.