Three days passed since Joan had been thrown into the dungeon and visited by Tsukishiro. The spirit soon disappeared after giving her the kiss, but even that sufficed for the delighted woman to endure three days of starvation and dehydration in a dusted, damp cell. On the third day, however, her body reached its limit, and just when some guards unchained her to drag her out of the cell, she fell unconscious in their arms.

When she came to her senses, three more days had already passed. She was left dumbfounded as she found herself in a completely different place from a condemned criminal's cell she had imagined to appear in - she was lying in a rich bed, covered in warm blankets, in a large golden room situated in a high tower. She blinked in stupefaction, for she couldn't discern where she was.

She felt a soft, sturdy hand support her to sit up, and bring a golden, gemmed cup full of some herbal medicine to her lips:

"Here, drink this."

This voice, even though too deep like a middle-aged man's, still sounded somewhat familiar. When she sipped the given medicine and glanced up to meet her benefactor's eyes, she understood why she felt happy and soothed to hear this voice - it was a forty-five-year-old, pleasant-looking man with a long purple braid, purple stubble, and kind golden eyes, dressed in noble white robes, adorned with gems and jewels - His Holiness, High Priest Cedric Ivory.

"Cedric..." she only managed to mumble with her dry lips, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Such a long time has passed, eh, Joan? Ten whole years... I've missed you."

The man rubbed her head and gave her a kind smile. Tears streamed down Joan's cheeks - ten whole years had passed, he had been assigned duties of a High Priest, and still, he forgave her the crime so easily! It seemed he hadn't changed at all.

"Cedric_ I mean, Your Holiness... I am so sorry for what I've done! I sneaked into your archives without permission. I knew I shouldn't have, but... I_"

"Yeah, you've offended me quite a bit there, little one... But fear not - I actually knew you'd do something so stupid someday. I waited for that day to see you again."

Seeing his hearty grin, Joan widened her eyes:

"H... Huh? You knew? Y... You won't punish me?"

"I knew since you are my little sister and I know you like the back of my hand. And don't say stupidities like that!" He puckered. "You barely even read a scroll. What should I punish you for?"

"B... But the laws say_"

"My little one," - Cedric put a finger to her mouth, silencing her, - "I'm the High Priest. I make the rules here. Even though that law you spoke of is absolute even for me, the High Priest, I have still found a way to follow my whims without breaking it. I have already resolved your problem, so you don't need to worry."

"Huh? Resolved? What do you mean? How?"

Cedric's countenance grew sorrowful, but nevertheless, a smile still remained on his lips - a bitter one. He let out a heavy sigh:

"Now don't you have a lot of questions there? But it is no use hiding it from you... The solution is - I've already named you my successor, little one."

"Successor? But you're still so healthy and full of life, and you've got yet more than fifty years left!"

"If it only were so... In these ten years, a lot has happened, my little Joan. I haven't got as much left as you think."

"W... What do you mean?! I've finally had a chance to see you, Cedric! Don't say such hideous things!" Joan grabbed his shoulders in worry.

"Unfortunately, what I'm saying is true, tiny..."

Cedric took his white robe off his left chest, making Joan shudder in dread - his whole chest was soaked in blackness!

"W... What..." Joan covered her mouth with her hands.

"I've been blighted by black energy."

"D... Don't tell me... You've lost Michael?!"

"Ah, no," - Cedric bitterly chuckled, - "it's not as grave as that. I, as a High Priest, have been working hard protecting people of various regions from demonic forces of the Black Energy, since after losing you, Jewel, to the demonic disease back then, I swore I'd never let anyone die suffering like that again. I am happy to admit that I've managed to help a lot of people, but when I confronted that certain disease consuming the heart and the mind of an innocent child, I was not able to do much - even Michael had a hard time against that demon. As you know, angels' powers drastically decrease when they become our guardians, in order not to overwhelm us. Michael couldn't build up his whole strength since he was my guardian, so I lost the fight. I did not back down, however. I remembered how you courageously fought demons and offered them your light energy to purify them, so I did a similar thing: I formed a deal with that demon - Layla, the Princess of Hell. She wanted to harbour her newborn daughter in that child's heart, but I instead offered my own. That's why I got blighted - this blight is in fact a demon child. When it is born, I'll die. However, since I did it to save an innocent human, I was forgiven, and Michael was permitted to stay with me. He'll arrange it so that I get my proper reincarnation. Thus, even though we'll have to part in this life, we'll meet in the next one. We've already done it once, haven't we?"

He kindly laughed, but this cheerful attitude of his over such a grave matter brought even more tears to Joan. She clutched his shoulders, sank her head into his chest, and let out heavy sobs:

"But I don't want to lose you, Cedric! It has already happened once, and it'll be more painful now! I don't want to experience that horror and despair ever again! I've been so lucky to have met you, and now you're saying we should part?!"

Cedric sighed and landed a soft kiss on her forehead:

"You were not 'lucky'. You just kept your promise because you're my sweet little sister. So, this time, I make a promise to you - we shall meet again in next life. Even if it's not right away, I shall definitely find you. I shall reincarnate as many times as it takes until I do. I've told you, Joan - we were going to be together forever. That still stands - I'll do all it takes to find you and remain beside you forever. Let it be our promise, okay?"

He held his hand out with a heartwarming smile. Joan sniffed and squeezed it:

"It's a promise!"

She watched him grin at her. She couldn't hold it anymore - she dashed at him, embraced him tightly, and burst into heavy sobs, wetting his robes and the blackened chest.