Chapter 33: The Fool - Cyrille

Bronya’s intense reaction stemmed from a dark chapter in Belobog’s past—an incident that occurred during the reign of the eighth Supreme Guardian, Cyrille Rand, nicknamed “Cyrille the Fool.”

This incident was so sensitive that even the Architects avoided mentioning it, and the world’s understanding of it was largely limited to the title “The Fool.”
The glory that should have been bestowed upon the Supreme Guardians was erased, leaving only an indelible stain.

To understand this incident, three key figures must be mentioned: Cyrille, her sister Cyrille Rand, and Stefan Marquez.
Cyrille was born in a remote suburb of the upper district, orphaned at a young age. She lived under the same roof as her older sister, Cyrille Rand, who was one year her senior, and the two relied on each other for survival.

Cyrille’s childhood was unremarkable, but her sister displayed extraordinary intelligence from a young age, showing remarkable talent in language, mathematics, logic, and other fields.
At the age of eleven, Cyrille Rand passed Belobog’s collective aptitude test and was officially selected as the Supreme Guardian’s heir.

However, just as the Architects were preparing to move her residence to Qliphoth Fort, Cyrille Rand mysteriously disappeared.
After several days of fruitless searching, some Architects proposed abandoning the search and restarting the heir selection process.

But Stefan Marquez, the then-Minister of Internal Affairs and another key figure in this incident, vehemently opposed restarting the selection process. Instead, he pushed for Cyrille, Cyrille Rand’s younger sister, to take over as the Supreme Guardian’s heir.
He claimed that during his long interactions with Cyrille and Cyrille Rand, he had discovered that Cyrille possessed talents no less impressive than her sister’s.

Additionally, with the previous Supreme Guardian having recently passed away, delaying the heir selection process would inevitably destabilize Belobog’s political situation.
After intense debate among the Architects, Stefan’s proposal was ultimately approved, and Cyrille was named the new Supreme Guardian heir.

However, history proved that Cyrille’s ascension was a carefully orchestrated political deception by Stefan Marquez.
Cyrille, who was supposed to lead and excel in various fields, was not only mediocre in ability but also socially inept, showing no qualities of a competent leader.
These shortcomings, forgivable in an ordinary person, were magnified infinitely due to her position as Supreme Guardian. Yet, this was not the main reason she was called “The Fool.”

The true reason for this title was that she lived her entire life under the manipulation of others, devoid of autonomy, and likely remained confused until her final moments.
Forced onto the throne of Supreme Guardian by Stefan Marquez, she lived as a puppet.
Deceived by him, she distrusted other Architects, leading to the gradual expansion of the Minister of Internal Affairs’ power during her reign.

Stefan’s cronies soon gained absolute authority within Qliphoth Fort and enacted numerous oppressive laws.
The title “The Fool” began to spread among the people, and dissatisfaction with this “puppet” Supreme Guardian and her close advisor grew daily.

Finally, in the fourteenth year of her reign, a resistance group within the Architects began secretly planning to overthrow Stefan and his faction.
At the time, the resistance group enlisted the help of a Silvermane Guard Captain, planning to lure Cyrille and Stefan to the Restricted Zone under the pretext of a military exercise and stage a coup.

On the day of the exercise, Supreme Guardian Cyrille attended as scheduled, but Stefan Marquez was nowhere to be seen.
To avoid jeopardizing the plan, the Architects sent a squad of Silvermane Guards to escort Cyrille under the guise of inspecting the Restricted Zone’s military equipment. They then pushed her into an open equipment crate and, under cover of darkness, transported her to the northernmost part of Belobog, where they pushed the crate containing the unconscious Supreme Guardian off a cliff.

Afterward, to prevent the resurgence of Stefan’s faction, the resistance group launched a three-day manhunt across Belobog. Many of Stefan’s cronies were captured, but he himself was never found.
To this day, public opinion attributes the death of the seventh Supreme Guardian and Cyrille Rand’s disappearance to Stefan’s political machinations.

Although historians have yet to find conclusive evidence, Bronya, as the current Supreme Guardian heir and someone raised under Cocolia’s guidance, can almost certainly conclude that Stefan was involved.
Due to the unique nature of the Supreme Guardian’s position, heirs are trained during the incumbent’s reign, a process that can last anywhere from a few years to several decades.

The sudden death of the seventh Supreme Guardian was itself riddled with suspicious details and inconsistencies in the records.
However, this case remains a tainted affair, and no one would risk their career over it. Moreover, the conditions for a thorough investigation are lacking today.

In Cyrille’s diary, which remains unknown to the public, there is evidence of Stefan’s early scheming.
Unlike the Architects who came to meet Cyrille Rand, Stefan paid close attention to Cyrille from his very first visit.
Looking back, it’s clear that compared to the highly capable and difficult-to-control Cyrille Rand, Stefan had deliberately targeted the more easily deceived and manipulated Cyrille, gradually gaining her trust to pave the way for his political ambitions.

Thus, it’s no mystery who stood to gain the most from Cyrille Rand’s subsequent disappearance.
Because of the severity of this incident, almost all subsequent Supreme Guardian heirs have been required to study this history and receive additional education on the subject.

If Venti harbored similar intentions toward her, Bronya would be deeply disappointed, even heartbroken.
However, she was still willing to give him a chance.
Not only did he not strike her as someone obsessed with power—if he were, he would have seized the opportunity during their first meeting instead of acting recklessly and getting himself imprisoned—but what benefit would that have brought him at the time?

He could have easily become her friend, then used the guise of advocating for the lower district to amass wealth and fame.
With Venti’s abilities, achieving these things would have been effortless.
Moreover, since arriving in the lower district, Venti had never shown any desire to control her, simply doing what he always did.

If all of this was an elaborate act, Bronya was willing to be deceived.
After all, the current Supreme Guardian was in her prime, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, there would be no change in leadership for at least a decade.
That was more than enough time for Bronya to figure out what kind of person Venti truly was.

Perhaps this reflection cooled her initial agitation and left her feeling disappointed in herself for doubting Venti because of Svarog’s words.
After saying all this, Bronya’s confidence didn’t rise—instead, it wavered, and she seemed to shrink back slightly.

Venti, however, simply sighed and began explaining the first half of his plan and the disaster caused by the Stellaron.