“Renee, are you awake?” Renee was pulled out of her surveilling by a loud whispering from outside the door to her isolation chamber. The sun had already set, and the only light in her cell was from the faint light shining through the bars of her window. 

“Hmm?” Renee’s consciousness returned to her body instead of being splintered into tens of butterflies. It took a moment for Renee to recognize the voice as Anise’s voice.

“What are you doing here?” Renee aggressively whispered back. 

“I heard that you got locked up here for refusing to cooperate with a high priest.”

“Of course! He was trying to kidnap a child with magic!”

She heard Anise’s breath hitched at her words. “I guess Abel was telling me the truth when he said he met you earlier. So you now know about how the magicians are treated here, right?”

“Yes.” Renee confirmed. 

“And you have magic too?”

“And so do you.” Renee pointed out.

There was silence from the other side of the door for a moment before Anise spoke again. “Yes, but I got lucky. I was already somewhat aware of everything by the time my power manifested, so I managed to hide it. Don’t ever let them know you have magic.”

“Thank you for warning me.”

“By the way,” Anise added, “I brought you some food.”

A loaf of bread was pushed through the bars of the window, along with some fruits. 

“Sorry, that’s all I can take from the kitchen without anyone becoming suspicious.”

“It’s alright.” Renee smiled. She wanted to tell Anise that her efforts weren’t needed, as saints don’t really need to eat anymore. “Thank you again. By the way, who is Letha?”

She could feel the shift in the air as soon as she spoke that name. 

“Letha?” Anise asked, strongly concerned. “Where did you hear that name?”

“After the high priest didn’t get my cooperation, he told Marisol to lock me away and fetch Letha.”

Renee had tried to find out what happened to the Hyperian couple after she was sent to the isolation chamber, but by the time her butterflies were out and about, they had already left the temple, so she wasn’t able to find out what Letha did to them.

There was a long pause, in which Renee became more and more anxious.

Finally, Anise spoke again. “Letha is one of the magicians. Their magicians. She specializes in memory magic. Whenever a parent is too resistant to the idea of giving up their child to them, they send Letha to wipe their memory so they’ll forget their own child.”

“What?” Renee almost forgot to keep her voice down. “How could they? Why is Letha cooperating with them?”

Anise shrugged, the action barely noticeable through the barred window. “The same reason the others are doing it. Money and power.”

“They are pocketing the tithes, aren’t they?” Renee asked.

“Yes.” Anise confirmed.

So much for Marisol’s righteous speech about shunning wealth and power. They were only pretending to be virtuous on the outside. Renee’s surveillance on them had confirmed as much.

Renee sighed. “What happens to the magicians when they become an adult?”

“They are either brainwashed into becoming loyal to the temple, or they receive the Letha treatment and then are brainwashed into becoming loyal. Some are sent to other kingdoms as some sort of tributes. Some become holy knights. Some… don’t reach adulthood. Either way, the temple keeps a tight control on them throughout their whole life.”

Rage flared up in Renee’s heart again, but she tamped it down. Now is not the time to lose her mind to anger. “And how long has this been going on?”

“Fortunately, not too long. Only a couple generations.”

“That’s still too long.” Renee clenched her hands into fists. “Well, it’s going to end soon. I swear it.”

“What are you going to do? You’re locked up in the isolation chamber.”

“Am I?” Renee sent a small spark of mana into the locked door and it instantly swung open.

Anise’s jaw dropped. “You could have escaped the whole time?”

“Yes, but I need to play along a little longer so I can gather enough evidence to convict them..” Renee answered as she swung the door shut again and relocked it.

“How will you convict them?” Anise’s expression grew hard. “The only people who can make a difference are the saints, but normal people like us don’t have the opportunity to get close to them.”

“Then I’ll make a scene.” Renee replied. “Trust me, they will come, and they will hear us out.”

Anise nodded, her eyes wide and hopeful. “I need to go now before they catch me.”

“Stay safe. And you don’t need to bring me more food. I’ll be fine.”

After Anise left, Renee decided to cut her spying short and sleep a little since it was an eventful day and she wanted to shut her brain off for a bit. Surely nothing important will happen this late into the night? She didn’t realize until later that she was wrong.

On the second day of her imprisonment, she was finally released. She later learned that her fellow friends and acquaintances spoke up for her, insisting on her release.

“Oh, my heart!” Sera exclaimed. “You scared me for a bit there when you didn’t come back to your room last night, Renee! I can’t believe you got into an argument with a high priest of all people and got locked in an isolation chamber!”

“Yes, High Priest Terrence is one of the more volatile ones. Try to steer clear of him from now on.” Julia advised her.

“Don’t mind Marisol, she’s always been a snobby one.” One of Renee’s fellow translator coworkers told her. “I told her you had a headache yesterday, which is probably why you lashed out at her.”

“We missed you, Renee!” Another one practically sobbed.

“I was only gone for less than a day.” Renee reminded her. So much for Marisol’s threat. Her imprisonment didn’t even last a full twenty-four hours.

“Ugh, who else is going to make us tea and bring us snacks during the late night translation sessions?” They asked. 

“Is that all I’m good for?” Renee asked incredulously, equally amused and annoyed.

“And you have a good work ethic too.” Another translator, a more senior one, added. “Now, let’s stop crying and get back to work.”

However, Renee noticed that most of the other higher level temple workers seemed to be watching her more carefully. At times, she would turn and find a priest close by, as if monitoring her. 

There’s no way they found out that she managed to talk to Abel, one of their imprisoned magicians. However, they know that she is somewhat aware of their corruption, and they are probably keeping an eye on her to see how she will react next. Perhaps, if she proved to be too difficult, they will send in Letha to wipe her memory as well.

Therefore, Renee had to play dumb until the saints showed up. She pretended to be more docile and regretful of her behavior. She didn’t argue or make any accusations again. 

It took her a while to realize that Anise was nowhere to be seen. At first, she wasn’t worried until she tried seeking Anise out actively and couldn’t find her anywhere. When she asked some other temple workers, they were told that Anise was being punished for something she did. That’s when alarm bells went off in Renee’s head.

Just before daybreak, Renee slipped out of her room while her roommates were still sleeping and made her way back to the magician’s wing. She used magic to open Abel’s door immediately, then went over to his sleeping figure, which was still in bed.

“Abel.” Renee shook him awake. 

“Hmm? Who are you?” Abel immediately became alert and alarmed.

“It’s me.” Renee created a few glowing butterflies from her hands again.

“Oh, Butterfly Girl. How did you get in here?”

“Magic. Where’s Anise?”

Abel’s face grew serious as he started to cry. “She’s in an isolation chamber.”

“I heard about that, but why?” Renee asked.

“Orion, the new boy, tried to run away last night. The holy knights caught him and returned him back to the temple, then Anise snuck over to heal him early yesterday morning, but she got caught, and now they know she has magic.”

Renee drew in a deep breath. “What?”

Behind her, the sun started rising over the horizon, bathing Abel’s room in bright sunlight. She has to go back to her room soon before her roommates wake up or they will notice her missing, but Renee didn’t care about that at the moment. All she cared about was Anise, locked away for trying to be the only piece of good in this terrible, corrupt place. 

“She’s going to be locked in an isolation chamber for two weeks for ‘hiding Eislyn’s gift and selfishly keeping it to herself’. Anise is usually the one giving us food. I don’t know how anyone is going to give her food this time. They won’t let her starve, will they?” Abel sobbed into Renee’s shoulder as she embraced him.

After he finally pulled away, Renee straightened her back, then glanced over her shoulder at the rising sun. She decided to stop being patient and stop playing nice.

“Abel,” she started in a slow voice. “How would you feel about me starting a revolt against the priests right here and right now?”

Abel raised an eyebrow. “What are you going to do?”

Renee stood, then summoned mana to her hands. Her mana crackled in her palms as she stood up and faced the doorway. “I’m going to blast this place apart.”