Star Rail: Starting with a Lyre, Living off Busking [33]
The incident tied to this period was so sensitive that even the architects of the city rarely spoke of it.
What the people remembered most was the name "The Fool."
The glory that should have adorned the name of every Supreme Guardian was washed away, leaving only an indelible stain.
To understand this story, one must know three key figures: Ciel, her older sister Celia, and Stepan Markuse.
Ciel had grown up on the remote outskirts of the upper district. Orphaned young, she lived under the same roof as her elder sister Celia, only a year older than her, depending on each other for survival.
There wasn't much worth noting in Ciel's early life. In contrast, her sister Celia showed extraordinary talent from a young age, excelling in languages, mathematics, and logic.
At eleven, Celia passed Belobog's selection exams and was formally chosen as the next Supreme Guardian.
But just as the architects prepared to move her to Kreaperburg, Celia mysteriously disappeared.
After days of unsuccessful searching, some architects suggested abandoning the search and restarting the selection process.
However, one of the other key figures in this incident, Stepan Markuse, then Minister of Internal Affairs, opposed this. He instead pushed strongly for Ciel, Celia's younger sister, to take on the title of Supreme Guardian's successor.
He argued that, in his long acquaintance with the sisters, he had found Ciel to possess abilities no less remarkable than her sister's.
Moreover, as the previous Supreme Guardian had only recently passed, any delay in selecting a successor would inevitably threaten the stability of Belobog's political landscape.
After fierce debate within the architects over this matter of power transfer, Stepan's proposal was finally approved, and Ciel was made the new successor.
But history proved that Ciel's rise to power was part of Stepan Markuse's carefully orchestrated political scheme.
Instead of showing the leadership expected of her station, Ciel was remarkably unremarkable in both aptitude and social skills, completely lacking the qualities of a capable leader.
These traits, which might have been forgiven in ordinary people, were only magnified in the Supreme Guardian's role. Yet this wasn't the main reason people called her "The Fool."
Her legacy lay in her lifelong lack of autonomy—forever deceived, a puppet to the end, likely dying as bewildered as she had lived.
Forced into her role by Stepan Markuse, Ciel spent her life as a figurehead.
Under his influence, she trusted no other architect, allowing his faction to grow stronger over time.
Stepan's allies and subordinates quickly took hold of Kreaperburg, issuing a host of exploitative and oppressive policies.
It was then that people began calling her "The Fool," and discontent with the "puppet" Supreme Guardian and her close advisors steadily grew.
Finally, in her fourteenth year of rule, a faction within the architects began secretly planning Stepan's overthrow.
At that time, the rebels recruited a captain of the Silvermane Iron Guard and planned to lure Ciel and Stepan to the Iron Guard's restricted zone under the guise of a military exercise, intending to seize the opportunity for a coup.
On the day of the exercise, Supreme Guardian Ciel arrived as scheduled, but Stepan Markuse was nowhere to be seen.
To avoid jeopardizing their plan, the architects arranged for a squad of Iron Guard soldiers to escort Ciel, under the pretense of inspecting military supplies, and then, catching her off guard, pushed her into an open crate. Under cover of night, they transported the unconscious Supreme Guardian to the farthest reaches of Belobog and tipped the crate over a cliff.
In the following days, to prevent Stepan's faction from regaining power, the rebel architects launched a three-day manhunt throughout Belobog. Many of Stepan's supporters were captured, but he was never found.
To this day, many believe that the death of the Seventh Supreme Guardian and Celia's disappearance were part of Stepan's political schemes.
Though Belobog's historians lack concrete evidence, Bronya, as a Supreme Guardian's successor and raised under Cocolia's tutelage, could deduce that he was likely involved.
The position of Supreme Guardian was unique, and its successors were trained rigorously throughout the reigning Guardian's term, sometimes for decades.
The sudden demise of the Seventh Guardian had been suspicious, with many unclear and contradictory records surrounding the case.
But it was a scandalous affair, one that few would risk their careers to investigate, especially with the lack of concrete evidence today.
Unbeknownst to most, Ciel's diaries contained clues of Stepan's ambitions.
Unlike other architects who'd come to check in on Celia, Stepan had shown a keen interest in Ciel from his first visit.
Looking back, it was easy to see that he had targeted Ciel from the beginning—a less competent but more easily controlled sibling compared to Celia's exceptional talents—and worked his way into her trust, all to secure his own political power.
Celia's disappearance had ultimately been most beneficial to certain parties, and this connection was evident.
Due to the incident's gravity, almost all future Supreme Guardians were taught this history, with additional training on related matters.
If Venti harbored similar motives, she'd be deeply disappointed, even saddened.
But Bronya still wanted to give him a chance.
After all, Venti didn't strike her as someone obsessed with power. If he were, he could have taken advantage of her at their first meeting instead of going to jail on a whim.
What would he have gained from that?
He could have easily positioned himself as her ally, profiting under the guise of assisting the underground.
And with his power, achieving such a goal would have been effortless.
Besides, since arriving in the underground, Venti hadn't shown any desire to control her. He was simply… doing what he did.
If this was all an elaborate act, she was willing to be fooled.
The current Supreme Guardian was still in their prime, and barring any surprises, would likely hold the position for at least another decade.
That time was more than enough to understand who Venti truly was.
Perhaps reflecting on this cooled her anger, and she felt a little disappointed in herself for doubting Venti because of Svarog's words.
After her accusations, Bronya's presence faltered, her assertiveness waning.
Venti simply sighed and began explaining the first half of the plan and the disasters caused by the Stellaron.