The song is now nothing more than a decoration for the ritual. The dance, too, is no longer a method to summon the gods. It's just a performance. A hollow shell. A spectacle. And yet, she dances. Deep within this nation, in an underground sanctuary no one can reach. Without knowing the meaning of the dedication.

Duke Manti does not believe in gods. Nor does he recall ever swearing loyalty to the state. He was simply hired. To protect the girl deemed a "vessel" until the day of the ritual— That was his sole, expressionless mission.

The girl still does not know her role. That her voice, her dance, her blood— will be "used" as a life-prolonging measure for someone. And that the price will be the erasure of her own existence. This ritual is the will of the state, a device of control. To safely deliver the girl to the stage, until the day she is "offered up"— That is Manti's mission.

However.