- il y a 12 minutes
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00:00Vous pouvez marcher.
00:01Vous m'avez fait me force Evelyn à kneer pour trois ans.
00:04Non, laissez-moi expliquer.
00:05Ce n'est pas ma faute.
00:13Trois ans, j'ai été le plus grand guide sur la Holy Mountain.
00:21Pendant une avalanche, j'ai arrêté ma vie pour sauver Celeste,
00:24ma fiancée Adrien's first love.
00:34...
00:38Mais après qu'elle s'est réveillé,
00:39qui s'est éloigné à tous tes uns à la protection des limites.
00:41Crippled, Adrian believed her
00:44He threatened me with the money
00:45For my brother Noah's life-saving medicine
00:47And forced me to kneel through all
00:49Ten thousand ice steps at the holy mountain
00:51To atone to Celeste
00:53From that day on
00:55I became the kneeling sinner everyone in the north despised
00:58Today was the final step
01:00Kneel
01:01Adrian pushed Celeste's wheelchair in front of me
01:05Take off your cloak
01:06Use it as her footnet
01:07Then lick the melted snow
01:09Clean off her boots
01:11He said it in full view of everyone nearby
01:14Without so much as a frown
01:15Three years ago
01:17He had personally slipped an engagement ring onto my finger
01:20And said that no matter how cold
01:22The holy mountain became
01:23He would bring me home
01:26Three years later
01:27He forced me to serve as a footmat for his first love
01:30Celeste sat in the wheelchair
01:32A white veil draped over her legs
01:34As the wheels slowly rolled over the edge of my cloak
01:37Laughter finally rang out from above
01:39She'll lick it
01:40Adrian is the duke of the north
01:42To crawl back to his side
01:44This sinner would do anything
01:47Adrian looked down at me
01:48Evelyn
01:49Lick it
01:50Only one step left
01:52Once I finished kneeling
01:54Noah's life-saving medicine would keep coming
01:56So even if Adrian wanted me to lay the last shred of my dignity beneath Celeste's feet
02:01I endured it
02:02But just then a black raven pierced through the snowstorm and landed beside the ice steps
02:08A black-edged envelope was blown to my knees by the wind
02:11I opened it
02:12There was only one line
02:13Noah succumbed to the frost plague last night
02:15He has been confirmed dead
02:17The laughter above still had not stopped
02:20Adrian only glanced at it
02:21Putting on a show with your brother again
02:24Did you forge this letter?
02:27Evelyn, I don't believe you
02:29To escape atonement you would even make up your own brother's death
02:32I lowered my eyes to the cloak pinned beneath the wheelchair
02:35Noah had bought it for me with three months worth of medicine money
02:39Inside the lining he had stitched a crooked line of small words
02:43Sister, the holy mountain is cold
02:45You have to come back alive
02:47All at once I felt that the blizzards of the past three years had never been as cold as that
02:51one sentence
02:52Then, in front of everyone
02:53I tore the atonement contract to pieces
02:56He is dead
02:58You have nothing left to threaten me with
03:02The snowstorm swept away the shredded pieces of parchment
03:05The noble seats went quiet for a beat
03:07Then someone laughed again
03:09Is she completely out of her mind?
03:12How dare she tear up the contract in front of the duke?
03:16Adrian's face hardened with fury
03:18Pick it up
03:20I didn't move
03:21He stepped down one eye step
03:23Stopping his boot right next to my bleeding knee
03:27Evelyn
03:28I said pick it up
03:29Celeste's wheelchair rolled forward
03:31Adrian, don't push her
03:34She only wants to soften your heart
03:36I saw the words Noah had stitched crushed into the snow beneath her wheels
03:41I lunged to grab it
03:43Celeste jerked back
03:44Get your hands off me!
03:46Adrian moved in front of her at once and snatched my wrist in a vice grip
03:50You're still trying to hurt her in front of me?
03:52I looked at where his fingers dug into me
03:53The frostbitten skin was forced open under his grip
03:56And blood seeped out
03:58I want back the cloak my brother gave me
04:00Celeste lowered her eyes
04:01Her voice was soft enough that only I heard it
04:05Good thing that sick little blood bag died
04:08Now he won't drag you down anymore
04:10My fingers clenched
04:11But Adrian shoved me to the ground
04:13You robbed her of her legs three years ago
04:17What else do you want to ruin?
04:20I collapsed into the snow
04:23This time
04:23I didn't explain
04:25The hurried crunch of footsteps came from the entrance
04:28A boy from the Requiem house ran up the ice steps with a ragged bundle in his arms
04:33Excuse me
04:34Which one of you is Miss Evelyn?
04:37These are the personal effects of the deceased Noah
04:40The bundle dropped into my arms
04:42The knot loosened
04:43And an old rope knot slipped out
04:45The core was permanently stained, dark red
04:48Adrian's expression dropped the second he saw it
04:53Adrian snatched the old rope away before I could
04:56I lunged for it
04:57But he stepped back and clenched it tightly in his fist
05:03This is evidence from three years ago
05:06You cannot have it
05:08I stared at him
05:09Eyes burning
05:11Didn't you say the investigation was concluded back then?
05:14If it was settled
05:15Why are you scared to let me touch it?
05:19His gaze hardened
05:21Because you'll use it to spin more lies
05:23Celeste murmured
05:24Evelyn
05:25Why did you keep it?
05:27Did you know you were guilty all along?
05:29Only those with a guilty conscience hide evidence
05:32A noble beside her jumped in
05:36I ignored them
05:37My eyes remained locked on that rope
05:39After the avalanche three years ago
05:41I was unconscious for seven days
05:43Everyone was eager to condemn me
05:45Only Noah refused to believe it
05:46Sick as he was
05:47He found that old rope in the watch's salvage yard
05:50He said, sister, wait for me
05:51I swear I will uncover the truth
05:53But he never lived to see that day
05:55Adrian tucked the rope into the breast pocket of his coat
05:58When you calm down
05:59I'll have it sealed again
06:02I laughed
06:02Again?
06:04You never investigated it back then, did you?
06:07His face tightened
06:08I picked up Noah's belongings and stood
06:14Get out of my way
06:15Adrian frowned
06:16Where are you going?
06:18To the Requiem house
06:19I'm bringing my brother home
06:21I'll send someone tomorrow to verify Noah's condition
06:25He said coldly
06:27I looked at him
06:28Spitting out every word
06:30Verify what?
06:33Whether he's dead enough to satisfy you?
06:36A man's unfamiliar voice cut through the howling wind
06:40She isn't lying
06:41Ron, a combat healer from the watch
06:43Climbed the ice steps and handed me a bronze token from the Requiem house
06:48No one's urn is ready
06:52Adrian's eyes landed on the heavy mantle Ron had draped over my shoulders
06:56His stare was colder than the snow
06:58So you can ask for help?
07:02You just found someone else to beg
07:03I was so tired that the very thought of explaining nauseated me
07:07Ron stepped in front of me
07:10Your Grace
07:11Evelyn needs to be tended to
07:13Adrian scoffed
07:14I'm talking to my fiancé
07:16It's none of your damn business
07:17I looked up
07:19Not anymore
07:19He froze
07:20I took the broken silver betrothal bracelet from my wrist and threw it into the snow
07:25I stopped being that
07:26The day you forced me to kneel
07:28Celeste rushed to speak
07:29Evelyn, don't be rash
07:31Adrian is just lashing out
07:33You're still in his heart
07:34I looked at her
07:35Haven't you grown tired of playing the cripple in that chair?
07:38Her eyes flickered
07:39One second later, the fragile mask was back
07:42I clutched Noah's belongings and turned down the mountain
07:45At the Requiem house, the urn was painfully small
07:48The wooden lid was unvarnished
07:50Noah had carved his own name into it
07:52The cuts crooked and uneven
07:53The female steward checked the register and lowered her voice
07:56He came to ask the price before he died
07:57He said his sister owed too much money
07:59And insisted on the cheapest option
08:01He didn't want her to bow her head to beg anyone again
08:04I held the urn and pressed my forehead to the wooden lid
08:08My eyes remained completely dry
08:12Ron stood beside me and didn't rush me
08:15Before dawn, I returned to the holy mountain camp
08:17The fire was still burning
08:19Adrian stood beside it, as if he had waited all night
08:22His brow furrowed when he saw the urn in my arms
08:24What is that?
08:26My brother
08:27A maid pushed Celeste out
08:30She looked at the urn and said softly
08:33Evelyn
08:34Using a fake urn to provoke Adrian is cruel to Noah too
08:38Adrian held out his hand
08:39Hand it over
08:40I stepped back
08:40No
08:44Celeste's wheelchair suddenly slipped forward and slammed into my knee
08:47I crashed into the snow
08:48The urn tumbled out of my grasp and hit the stone steps
08:51The wooden lid cracked
08:52Noah's ashes scattered across the cold stone
08:54I dropped to my knees and scooped them up by the handful
08:57The wind was too strong
08:58Ash and snow mixed together, sifting through my fingers
09:01The more I tried to scoop up, the more slipped away
09:03I called his name
09:03Only silence answered
09:04Noah
09:05Celeste looked down at the ash on the toes of her boots and laughed softly
09:07Looks like he's bowing to the holy mountain at my feet
09:10No one laughed
09:11Even the nobles who had come to watch went pale
09:14I looked up at Adrian
09:16Is this the price for your so-called atonement?
09:19His face went white
09:20His lips moved
09:22Celeste grabbed his hand at once
09:23Adrian, I didn't mean to
09:24Adrian looked down at her by instinct
09:26That one glance told me everything
09:29For three years, he had always looked at her first
09:32I placed what ashes I could save back into the wooden box
09:36Only half remained
09:37I stood with it in my arms
09:40Adrian!
09:40He looked up
09:41You owe Noah a life
09:43His voice was rough
09:45I'll find out if he really-
09:47Really?
09:47I laughed
09:48What?
09:49You need him to die twice for you to buy it?
09:53I carried the urn toward the snowy slope
09:55Adrian finally panicked
09:57Evelyn, where are you going?
09:58I didn't turn around
09:59I'm taking him away from you all
10:01The next second
10:02I fell down the snow-covered slope with the urn in my arms
10:07When I woke, the stove was burning hot
10:09The urn sat in my arms, wrapped in gauze
10:12Like a tiny corpse, banded tight
10:14Ron sat at the edge of the bed, cleaning my knee
10:16It was a snow slope below, not a cliff
10:18It's a miracle you survived
10:19I looked down at the urn
10:20It wasn't luck
10:21Noah wouldn't let me die
10:22An argument came from outside the door
10:24Adrian was here
10:26His cloak was covered in snow
10:28And the old rope knot was clenched in his hand
10:30She needs rest
10:31Ron blocked the doorway
10:33Only a few words
10:35Adrian's voice was coarse
10:36I didn't look up
10:38He came in and stopped three steps away
10:42Brother Oliver said you were the one who pulled me out of the snow pit three years ago
10:46I adjusted the gas around the urn
10:50A little too late for that now, don't you think?
10:53Evelyn, I'll investigate it again
10:54His face paled
10:57Don't do it for me
10:58I looked up at him
11:00Do it for Noah
11:02He was still chasing the truth for me before he died
11:07Every one of you owe him
11:08Adrian set a silver fox cloak beside the bed
11:11Wear this for now
11:13I didn't even look at it
11:15I picked up Noen's old wolfskin cloak and handed it to Ron
11:18Can you stitch this back together for me?
11:20The lining's torn
11:22Ron nodded and took it
11:23Adrian looked at the old cloak
11:25His voice almost broke
11:28That one is worn out
11:29Warmth isn't measured in gold
11:32The room went silent
11:33After a long while
11:35He asked Horsley
11:37What about me?
11:39I looked at the fire
11:42You're not an old cloak
11:43You are beyond repair
11:47On the third day
11:49I went through Noah's belongings
11:51A hard-bounded ledger
11:52Was wrapped in layers of waterproof leather
11:55On the first page
11:56He had written
11:58My sister owes them nothing
12:00It is I who owe her everything
12:02Every page after that was an account
12:04Celeste's sanitarium tribute
12:0647 gold coins
12:07Sanctuary rehabilitation medicine
12:0912 gold coins
12:10Winter coal for the orphanage
12:128 gold coins
12:13Travel cost for my atonement path
12:143 silver coins
12:15Every entry had a red bot beside it
12:18Ron's face darkened when he saw them
12:20These are puncture wounds from bloodletting
12:26I kept turning the pages
12:29The gaps got shorter and shorter
12:32Seven days
12:33Five days
12:35The last one was only two days before Noah died
12:39My fingers shook so badly
12:41I could barely turn the page
12:43So what I had knelt for these past three years
12:46Wasn't atonements
12:47It was blood
12:48Drawn from my brother again and again
12:50The last page was so messy
12:52It looked like he had been writing with his last breath
12:55If I die
12:56My sister won't have to bow to the duke anymore
12:58She used to be so proud
12:59She can't keep kneeling forever
13:01I closed the ledger
13:02My eyes ached
13:04Drained of all tears
13:05Ron didn't comfort me
13:07He only pulled a yellowed paper
13:09From a hidden pocket inside the ledger
13:11There's more
13:11It was the original medical report
13:14From the sanctuary three years ago
13:16The words were clear
13:18Celeste's leg injuries were mainly caused by prolonged exposure to the cold and delayed treatment
13:22They were not directly caused by the main rope being cut
13:25Note, if the secondary rope tangled around her leg had not been cut
13:29The left leg would have rotted away completely
13:31I stared at that line
13:33So I hadn't cut the lifeline
13:35I had cut the secondary rope to save her
13:38Noah had found the truth long ago
13:41But he never got to see me stand
13:44The door flew open
13:47Adrian stood outside
13:49Deathly pale
13:51He had clearly seen the medical report too
13:57Adrian walked in and reached for the report
13:59I slipped it into a waterproof leather pouch
14:05Hands off
14:06His throat moved
14:09Evelyn, let me see it
14:11No
14:13I'll believe you
14:14I smiled
14:16I couldn't care less what you believe
14:18He went rigid
14:19As if the words had stabbed him
14:22Three years ago
14:23I cried and told him I hadn't cut the main rope
14:29He said Celeste would never lie about her own legs
14:32The first year I brought in the watch records
14:35Stop making excuses
14:37The second year Noah got worse
14:39And I nailed outside the duke's estate
14:41Begging for medicine
14:41He said the medicine would keep coming
14:43As long as I confessed
14:45Now at last he said he believed me
14:48But my brother was already half a box of ash
14:51That night
14:52Celeste's maid brought medicine
14:54Celeste says she is willing to forgive you
14:56As long as you stop making a scene
14:58Ron stopped the maid
15:00And dumped the packet onto the table
15:02A small vasil of silver powder rolled out
15:05Ron sniffed it
15:06And his eyes turned cold
15:08Silence powder
15:09Take this
15:10And it will steal your voice for three days
15:12The maid dropped to her knees in terror
15:14It wasn't me
15:16Celeste told me to bring it
15:18I looked at the vial
15:20And smiled for the first time
15:23She's afraid I'll talk
15:25Then I'll scream it loud enough
15:27For the entire north to hear
15:29The next day
15:30I walked into the royal circuit court
15:32With the blood ledger
15:33The medical report
15:35And a copy of the old rope knot
15:37The clerk looked up
15:40What are you appealing?
15:42I want the Holy Mountain avalanche case
15:44From three years ago overturned
15:47I want a public trial
15:49Before the royal court
15:52When the royal decree for retrial came down
15:55The Holy Mountain camp erupt
15:56Bishop Marlod came to the watch station in person
15:59He wore platinum white robes
16:01And carried a sanctuary scepter
16:03Evelyn, my child
16:05God has seen your pain
16:08Three is willing to compensate you
16:10And give Noah a proper requiem
16:12I asked him
16:13Did God see Noah sell his blood?
16:15Marlod's expression darkened
16:16Watch your mouth
16:20Celeste is a noble woman of the north
16:22She cannot be publicly humiliated
16:25I looked at him
16:25When I was publicly humiliated for three years
16:28Why didn't you say that?
16:29She went silent for a moment
16:31Then his voice cooled
16:33The orphanage supplies still pass
16:36Through the sanctuary warehouse
16:38Evelyn!
16:39A child's voice came from outside the door
16:41The orphanage director arrived with several children
16:44Ron stood behind them
16:46With a new supplantract in his hand
16:48Starting today
16:49The watch will handle the orphanage winter deliveries
16:52The sanctuary has no right to withhold them
16:54Marlon's face changed completely
16:56Adrian stood in the distance
16:58For the first time
17:00He didn't defend the sanctuary
17:01Celeste was pushed over
17:03Pale-faced
17:08Evelyn
17:08Are you really going to drag a disabled woman into public court?
17:14I walked up to her
17:19No
17:20I'm going to make a liar stand
17:24On the day of the public trial
17:26Nearly every noble in the north came to the sanctuary
17:29They had watched me kneel on the ice steps
17:31Watched me bleed
17:32Watched me apologize to Celeste
17:35Now they sat in the gallery
17:36Too afraid to meet my eyes
17:38Celeste sat in her wheelchair
17:40Draped in white
17:41She still looked like a suffering icon
17:43Adrian sat in the duke's seat
17:45Pale and silent
17:47After the clerk read the case
17:48The first witness was Hark
17:50The rope maker
17:51He picked up the old knot
17:52Glanced at it
17:53And said
17:54This is a secondary rope
17:56Bishop Marlowe frowned at once
17:58Are you sure?
18:00Hark gave a cold laugh
18:03I've made ropes for the watch for twenty years
18:05Main ropes have grey cores
18:08Secondary ropes have red cores
18:10This one
18:11Has a red core
18:13A murmur swept through the hall
18:15Hark pointed to the cut end
18:16Clean cut
18:17It severed the wrap section
18:19Not the load bearing section
18:20If a secondary rope tangled around someone's leg and wasn't cut
18:24The injury would get worse faster
18:26Celeste went pale
18:27She said softly
18:28I don't know anything about ropes
18:30I only know that when I woke up my legs were gone
18:33I looked at her
18:34You don't know ropes
18:36But you must remember who cut my safety rope first in that snow pit three years ago
18:41The sanctuary fell dead silent
18:44Adrian's head snapped up
18:48When old brother Oliver was helped inside
18:50Snow was tapping against the stained glass windows
18:53He was the first person to reach the snow pit three years ago
18:57He was also the only witness the duke's estate hadn't silenced
19:01Bishop Marlin said coldly
19:03Oliver is old
19:05His memory may not be reliable
19:07Oliver pulled a damp stained rescue log from his robe
19:11That is why I wrote it down
19:14The clerk took the log and read the entry word by word
19:18First survivor out
19:20Evelyn
19:21First rescuer
19:22Adrian
19:23Second rescue target
19:24Celeste
19:26Oliver spoke slowly
19:28When I arrived
19:29The main rope around Evelyn's waist
19:32Had already been cut halfway through
19:35If she hadn't wedged her ice axe into the crevice
19:38The snow flow would have swept her away
19:40The wine glass in Adrian's hand shattered on the floor
19:44He looked at Celeste
19:46You said she cut your rope
19:49Celeste burst into tears
19:54I was terrified
19:55Maybe I remembered it wrong
19:57I cut her off
19:58You didn't remember it wrong
20:03The first thing you did after waking up was put the blame on me
20:06I turned to Adrian
20:08And you never even asked me
20:10His throat worked
20:12But no sound came out
20:15Oliver took out a small gold clasp
20:18I found this in the fibers of Evelyn's main rope
20:23Looks like a pin from a prayer glove
20:26Every eye in the room turned to Celeste's hands
20:29Her white prayer glove was missing a clasp
20:34Celeste instinctively hid her hands under the blanket
20:37Too late
20:37Adrian stared at her hands
20:39His voice shaking
20:42Why?
20:43Celeste shook her head
20:44It wasn't me!
20:48Adrian, believe me
20:50I didn't do it
20:51I took out the scrap of paper Noah had left behind
20:53The ink had bled in the snow
20:55But a few words were still clear
20:57Gold clasp, main rope, glove
20:59Noah was still investigating this before he died
21:02He was sick and feverish
21:04But he dragged himself through the holy mountain's old storage rooms
21:07The watch archives and the underground blood shops
21:09I handed the blood ledger to the clerk
21:11Read it
21:12The clerk opened it
21:13His voice growing quieter with every line
21:16Celeste's sanitarium tribute
21:1747 gold coins
21:18Underground bloodletting
21:19Noah
21:19400 milliliters
21:21Sanctuary rehabilitation medicine
21:2212 gold coins
21:23Underground bloodletting
21:25Noah
21:25450 milliliters
21:27Orphanage coal
21:288 gold coins
21:29Underground bloodletting
21:30Noah
21:31500 milliliters
21:32Someone in the gallery gasped
21:34The orphanage director covered her mouth and started crying
21:37Celeste sprang
21:38He volunteered
21:39I nodded
21:40Yes
21:41He volunteered to keep me alive
21:45And you?
21:46You chose to deceive the entire north for three years
21:50Adrian closed his eyes and swayed
21:58He finally understood
22:01Every coin he called atonement money was stained with Noah's blood
22:06Bishop Marlowe shot to his feet
22:08A dead man's ledger cannot be used as sanctuary evidence
22:12The royal judge looked at him coldly
22:15But it can be used as a lead in financial fraud
22:19Seal the sanctuary sanitarium's account books
22:21Marlowe's face changed
22:23Celeste panicked too
22:25She reached for Adrian's sleeve
22:27But he moved away
22:28For the first time in three years
22:31He did not help her
22:33The second witness was Mara
22:35Celeste's personal maid
22:37She knelt before the public bench
22:38A slap mark still on her face
22:40I don't want to push her wheelchair anymore
22:42Celeste's face twisted
22:44Don't you dare, Mara
22:46With shaking hands
22:48Mara pulled a pair of soft-sewed shoes from her cloth bag
22:51The soles were badly worn
22:54Celeste walks at night
22:56She practices by holding the bed frame
22:59Because she's afraid her muscles will waste away
23:01And people will find out
23:04Every time before the duke visits
23:07She soaks her legs in ice water
23:09To make them look purple and pitiful
23:12The whole hall exploded
23:14Someone stood up and cursed her as a liar
23:17Celeste couldn't keep pretending
23:19I only wanted Adrian to look at me
23:26She turned on me
23:27Her eyes full of hate
23:32Why do you get to have everything?
23:35The duke's engagement
23:36The watch's honor
23:38Noah's love
23:40Even legs that walk
23:44You had all of it!
23:47I looked at her
23:50So you destroyed my life?
23:52She lunged from the wheelchair
23:54Trying to snatch the shoes from Mara
23:56Everyone saw it
23:57Her feet were planted firmly on the ground
24:01Celeste was standing
24:04The sanctuary went so quiet
24:07I could hear snow falling
24:08Celeste froze
24:09One second later
24:11She dropped back into the wheelchair
24:12I was just scared
24:14I'm not healed
24:15It hurts so much
24:17Then let a medic examine you right here
24:18Ron said coldly
24:19Celeste's face went white
24:21Absolutely not!
24:22Adrian looked at her like he had finally woken from a nightmare
24:28You can walk
24:30You could always walk
24:32Celeste grabbed his hand
24:33I didn't mean to lie to you
24:34I was afraid you would leave me
24:36Adrian pulled his hand free
24:38Inch by inch
24:42So you made me force Evelyn to kneel for three years
24:47Celeste laughed
24:49There was nothing holy left in that smile
24:51You chose to believe me
24:54All I had to do was cry
24:55And you found her guilty
24:58Adrian
25:00Why are you pretending to be awake now?
25:02Her words hit him like a knife
25:03He stumbled back
25:06Bishop Marlow ordered the guards to take Celeste away
25:09But she screamed
25:09Marlon, don't act clean!
25:12The sanatorium tribute tripled!
25:14How much did the sanctuary pocket?
25:17You knew my legs could recover, didn't you?
25:20The bishop's face went ashen
25:22The royal judge struck the silver gavel
25:26Seal the sanctuary
25:29Inspect every ledger
25:30Now!
25:31Before Celeste was dragged away
25:33She stared at me with pure hatred
25:35So what if you won, Evelyn?
25:37Noah isn't coming back!
25:38I closed my eyes
25:40When I opened them, I said
25:42That is why you deserve to pay
25:46On the day the royal court gave its verdict
25:49The holy mountain saw its heaviest snow in three years
25:52The judge read slowly
25:54Evelyn's cutting of the secondary rope
25:56Was an emergency rescue
25:57She is innocent
25:58Celeste fabricated her disability
26:00Defraudged tribute money
26:01And framed a member of the watch
26:03She will be handed over for trial
26:04Bishop Marlach is implicated
26:05His holy office is suspended
26:07And sanctuary property will be sealed
26:08Each word landed like a chip of ice
26:10Breaking loose inside my knees
26:13The orphanage children cried together
26:15The director held my hand
26:17Too choked to speak
26:18Adrian stood in the gallery with red eyes
26:20But he didn't dare come near me
26:22To save face
26:23A sanctuary representative came over carrying a silver crown
26:26Miss Evelyn
26:27The sanctuary grants you forgiveness and glory
26:30I looked at the silver crown and laughed
26:32Forgiveness?
26:33I'm innocent
26:34I don't need forgiveness
26:36The representative's face turned ugly
26:38I turned and walked down from the public bench
26:41Behind me, Adrian finally spoke
26:44Evelyn
26:47I didn't stop
26:48He chased me outside
26:49And knelt in the snow before the sanctuary
26:51I'm sorry
26:52Snow littled in his hair
26:54He had once been so proud
26:55That even looking down at people
26:57Felt like charity
26:58Now he was kneeling before me
26:59I'll atone
27:00I'll do anything you ask
27:03I looked down at him
27:05Kneeling is an atonement
27:06Facing the consequences is
27:08His voice trembled
27:09Then our engagement
27:10It ended three years ago
27:12When you told me to lick her boots
27:15Celeste refused to give up
27:17Before she was taken to trial
27:19She bribed a prison guard
27:20To set fire to the orphanage warehouse
27:23I was handing out winter boots
27:25To the children
27:25When flames rose from the granary
27:28Thick smoke flooded the hallway
27:30Amy was trapped in the attic
27:32Her cries swallowed by the fire
27:34Ron started to run in
27:36But I snatched the rope from him
27:39I'll go
27:40He frowned
27:42Your knees won't hold
27:43I had already tied the knot
27:47They held three years ago
27:49They'll hold now
27:53I climbed the outer wall
27:56Flames licking the edge of my cloak
27:58Amy was curled by the window sealed
28:00Her face covered in soot
28:05Evelyn, I'm scared
28:07Look at me
28:09I clipped the rope around her waist
28:11The rope will bring you home
28:13The beam collapsed as I grabbed her
28:16And slid down the outer wall
28:20When I landed
28:21The old wound in my knee tore open again
28:24Blood soaked through my skirt
28:26In the distance
28:27Celeste tried to flee under a cloak
28:29The children pointed at her and shouted
28:31It was her!
28:33She ran so fast!
28:35When the royal guards caught her
28:37She couldn't pretend to be crippled anymore
28:39They dragged her back
28:40And she screamed at me like a madwoman
28:43Why won't you just die?
28:45I held Amy and whispered
28:49Because Noah wanted me to live
28:51This time no one spoke up for Celeste
28:53The court sentenced her to life
28:55At hard labor
28:56I heard she was still screaming Adrian's name
28:59When they took her away
29:00But Adrian did not go to see her
29:01He was in the ruins of the orphanage
29:04Moving charred beams with his bare hands
29:08After the fire
29:09I never went back to the Duke's estate
29:10I used the recovered tribute money
29:13To build the watch keep
29:14Beside the old watch station
29:15It sheltered the orphanage children
29:17And trained young guides
29:18In avalanche rescue
29:19Ron handled medicine
29:21I taught rope work
29:22In the first class
29:24Amy raised her hand
29:26Evelyn
29:27Can a rope actually kill people?
29:29I picked up the old knot
29:31The core was dark red
29:33The cut end worn fuzzy by time
29:36Ropes don't kill
29:37People do
29:38The children nodded seriously
29:40I taught them how to check the core
29:42Tie double knots
29:43And listen to the snowpack
29:44If anyone got it wrong
29:46They unrid it and start it over
29:47Because on a snowy mountain
29:49One wrong knot can cost a life
29:53Adrian sent three carts of timber and medicine
29:55No signature
29:57The director asked if I wanted to return them
30:00I shook my head
30:01The children need them
30:03But the receipt only says the supplies were received
30:06No gratitude
30:09No replies
30:11No forgiveness
30:12Ron looked at me
30:13You really don't want to know how he is?
30:17I trimmed a loose thread from the mended old cloak
30:21No
30:22Knowing would tie me back to him
30:24I didn't want to be bound to anyone anymore
30:28That evening
30:29I buried Noah's urn on the slope behind the watch keep
30:34The headstone was small
30:37I carved only one sentence on it
30:41Sister stood up
30:44Adrian resigned from his royal military post
30:47The Duke of the North
30:49Became the lowest ranked snowline volunteer
30:51In the Holy Mountain Watch
30:52No attendance
30:54No badge
30:55No noble privilege
30:57Every morning
30:59He moved supplies with the team
31:01Repaired rope posts
31:02And cleared snow trails
31:05One by one
31:06He sent the nobles
31:08Who had bet on my invisa relation
31:09At the ice steps
31:10To volunteer at the watch keep
31:12On Bella's first day
31:13She wore velvet gloves
31:15Half a day later
31:16Coal ash had buried their color
31:19She stood before me
31:20With her head lowered
31:22Evelyn
31:23I'm sorry for what I said back then
31:26I handed her an axe
31:28I heard you
31:29The firewood still needs chopping
31:31She paused
31:33Then took it
31:35She used to bet gold coins
31:36On whether I would kneel
31:39Now she chopped wood
31:41Until her palms split
31:42And no one cried pain for her
31:44Adrian stood far outside the yard
31:46And did not come closer
31:47When Ron came back from patrol
31:49He mentioned
31:54He checks the safety rope
31:55Three times
31:56Before every mission now
31:58The new recruits
31:59Think he's annoying
31:59He says the rope
32:01Can't be wrong again
32:02My hands paused
32:04For one second
32:06Then I kept tying
32:08Amy's scarf
32:08People who were too late
32:10Could still learn
32:11To do things right
32:12But that didn't erase
32:13The past
32:14That night
32:15A new rope knot
32:16Appeared at the watch keep's gate
32:17It was clumsy
32:20I didn't throw it away
32:22I hung it in the classroom
32:24And put a label under it
32:25Wrong example
32:26Must be relearned
32:29Years passed
32:30The children of the watch keep grew taller
32:33Amy could run across the snowy slope
32:35With a first aid kit bigger than she was
32:37Thick calluses formed on my knees
32:39And they ached on snowy days
32:41But I no longer kneel
32:43Noah's wolfskin cloak had been mended many times
32:45The edges had faded from washing
32:47But it was still warm
32:48In the autumn of the fifth year
32:51Adrian came
32:53He stood outside the courtyard gate
32:55Instead of barging in like he used to
32:58The wind had worn his cloak thin
33:00He had lost weight
33:01And the highland sun had burned red marks into his face
33:04The old rope knot was wrapped around his wrist
33:08He looked at the cloak on my shoulders
33:10His voice soft
33:13Still the same one?
33:14It's been fixed
33:15I nodded
33:16He was quiet for a long time
33:19What about us?
33:20I looked at him
33:21There was no hatred in my heart
33:23No love either
33:24Only a piece from very far away
33:26We are not a cloak
33:28We are beyond repair
33:31His eyes reddened
33:32But he did not take another step
33:34Amy ran out of the house and grabbed my hand
33:38Evelyn!
33:39Dr. Ron says dinner is waiting!
33:41She pulled me back inside
33:42At the door
33:43I heard Adrian whisper
33:46I understand
33:49This time
33:50He didn't call my name
33:51He didn't follow me
33:54The snowstorm behind me was heavy
33:56But I didn't look back
34:00Winter came early that year
34:02The north slope of the holy mountain showed signs of a major snowpack collapse
34:07The watch broadcast an evacuation warning to every traveler
34:12But by evening
34:13A herder's family had lost contact
34:16Their seven-year-old son was with them
34:21Ron set out with the medical team
34:24Adrian was on the rescue list too
34:26Before leaving
34:27Before leaving
34:27He unwinded the old knot from his wrist
34:30And tied it back beside his safety harness
34:33His peatmate asked
34:35You're still carrying that?
34:38To remind me
34:39He said
34:41That night
34:42The first wounded were brought to the watch keep
34:45Three herders
34:46Mild frostbite
34:47The second group brought the child
34:50His lips were frozen purple-black
34:52And he was clutching a piece of rope
34:54I banded his fingers
34:57An uncle pushed me over
34:59He trembled as he spoke
35:00Who?
35:02I asked
35:04Broken screams burst from the radio
35:07Second collapse at the cliff
35:08Safety rope can't hold the weight
35:10Only one of them can cross
35:11Report your location
35:12Ron grabbed the radio
35:13The wind nearly shred the channel
35:15Then I heard Adrian's voice
35:17Calm
35:18Pull the kid up first
35:20His teammate shouted
35:21Adrian, don't cut it
35:22The next second
35:23The roar of the avalanche
35:25Swallowed everything
35:28The watch keep went dead silent
35:30The child lay on the emergency bed
35:32Sobbing so hard
35:33He could barely breathe
35:34That uncle cut the rope on himself
35:36With a knife
35:37He pushed me over
35:39He said something
35:40But the wind was too loud
35:41I couldn't hear
35:42I covered him with a blanket
35:46Sleep?
35:47You survived
35:51That's what he wanted to say
35:53Ron looked at me like he wanted to speak
35:56Then stopped
35:57I lowered my head and kept treating the frostbite
36:00The gauze wrapped around the child's fingers without one crooked turn
36:05But only I knew my reflection in the bassin was shaking
36:09Three years ago, I had cut a secondary rope too
36:12I had pushed Celeste towards life
36:14Then I was judged for three years
36:16Now Adrian had stood inside the same choice
36:18The realization finally dawned on him
36:20The search lasted two days
36:22At dawn on the third day
36:23The watch found him below the snow slope
36:25The old knot was still wrapped around his wrist
36:27The tail of the rope had frozen into the ice
36:29When Ron came to tell me
36:31I was teaching the children to tie a double knot
36:34He stood at the classroom door and didn't come in
36:37After class he said
36:38It's confirmed
36:40I nodded
36:42Do you want me to take you to see him off?
36:44Amy ran over
36:45Holding up a crooked knot
36:46Evelyn, did I do it right?
36:48I knelt and tightened the left side for her
36:50This part is loose
36:51Wrap it once more
36:52Amy ran back
36:54I looked out the window at the holy mountain
36:56The mountain will lay him to rest
37:01Adrian's belongings were sent to the watch keep
37:03No love letters
37:04No long confession
37:05Only a donation contract
37:07And a short note
37:08The contract gave most of his northern supply lines to the watch keep
37:11The note held one sentence
37:13May every rope learn to save a life before it's too late
37:16Amy leaned over the table and asked in a whisper
37:18Was he a good person or a bad one?
37:22I looked at the old knot
37:25After a long while I said
37:27He did terrible things
37:29Later he remembered
37:31Amy asked again
37:33So did you forgive him?
37:35I tied her scarf
37:38Some things don't end with sorry or forgiveness
37:41She brinked
37:43Then when do they end?
37:44I looked at the lamp before Noah's grave
37:48When the living finally untethered themselves from the past
37:51That night
37:52I put the old knot into the teaching box
37:56The label read
37:57Old rescue rope
37:58Not for use
38:00Warning sample only
38:01Ron stood by the door
38:03Is that the end?
38:05I closed the lid
38:07For him, yes
38:08For me, it ended long ago
38:13Snow tapped against the window
38:14The stove burned warm
38:17That night
38:18I dreamed of Noah for the first time
38:20He stood at the foot of the holy mountain
38:22Smiling and waving at me
38:25No sickness
38:26No blood shop
38:28No ice steps
38:31Years later
38:32The watch keep became the most important snow line outpost in the north
38:35Some of the orphanage children became guides
38:38Some became medics
38:39Some became rope makers
38:40Amy grew into the finest female knight among them
38:43Her safety knots were prettier than mine
38:45Every year
38:46On the first snow
38:47I took them to the training ground
38:49Check the rope core
38:50Confirm the load
38:51Learn to hear the mountain before an avalanche
38:53The new children always asked me
38:55Why do we talk about the tall rope before every class?
39:02I picked up the old knot from the teaching box
39:05The dark red core had faded to a pale shade
39:10Because the same rope can lead to different endings in different hands
39:15Some people use it to lie
39:17Some use it to judge
39:20And some finally learn to use it to save
39:23The children listened in silence
39:25I went on
39:28But remember
39:29A rope has only one true purpose
39:32Amy stood at the front and answered for them all
39:34To save people
39:35The wind blew down from the holy mountain
39:38The white flowers before Noah's grave swayed gently
39:41I pulled my patched wolfskin cloak tighter around me
39:45Winter on the plateau was still cold
39:47But the cloak Noah gave me was still warm
39:52Later
39:53The northern court wrote the wrongful conviction from three years ago
39:56Into the watch's new rules
39:58No noble may privately judge an avalanche case
40:03All rescue rope evidence must be reviewed by a third-party rope maker
40:08No sanctuary member, noble, or member of the watch
40:11May withhold medicines, supplies, or orphanage goods in the name of atonement
40:15Those rules were carved into the stone wall of the watchkeep's main hall
40:19Every new member had to read them aloud before joining
40:22Someone asked me whether this late justice still felt too light
40:26I said yes
40:28It could not save Noah
40:31It could not give me back the three years I spent kneeling
40:34But it could save the people who came after us
40:37That was enough
40:38Ron stood beside me and handed me a cup of hot berry wine
40:41The North Slope is stable this year
40:43The children can do two fewer patrols
40:45I glanced at him
40:48Are you pleading for them or trying to slack off?
40:51He laughed
40:52Both
40:54A Amy shouted from the training field
40:56Evelyn, come see my new team
40:59I walked outside
41:01Sunlight hit the snow bright enough to sting
41:05I thought of Noah, years ago
41:07Carving his own name into the cheapest wooden box at the refurium house
41:12He must have been terrified
41:18But he still saved his last bit of courage for me
41:28Noah, look
41:31Your sister really never knelt again
41:38On the winter solstice
41:39The watchkeep held a rope-giving ceremony for the new members
41:42Each child received a safety rope of their own
41:45Not a gift from nobles
41:47Not charity from the sanctuary
41:48It was a right they earned by learning to inspect, tie, and care for it themselves
41:53Amy handed the first rope to a little boy
41:55He was the herder's son Adrian had pushed back from the cliff years ago
41:59He had grown taller
42:01And his eyes were bright
42:03When he saw the old knot in the teaching box
42:05He said
42:06I remember that, uncle
42:09Everyone went quiet
42:11The boy lowered his voice
42:14I remembered later
42:18The wind was loud
42:19But before he pushed me
42:21I think he said
42:26He looked at me
42:28Tell her I didn't cut the wrong one this time
42:31Wind blew in through the door
42:32The stove flame flickered
42:34I didn't cry
42:37I only placed my hand on the old knot
42:39After a long time, I said
42:42Then it's good, he knew
42:44The boy asked
42:46Did you want to hear that?
42:48I shook my head
42:52It doesn't matter anymore
42:55What mattered was that the person he saved was standing here
43:00What mattered was that the child held a new rope
43:04What mattered was that the mistake had not been passed down
43:11The rope-giving ceremony went on
43:17One by one
43:19The children raised their safety ropes
43:21And recited the watch oath
43:25I stood at the front
43:26And watched heavy snow fall outside the window
43:31This time, the snow was not punishment
43:37It was a beginning
43:41News of Celesta came many years later
43:43She died in the most remote penal monastery in the north
43:46Mara later became the watchkeep's logistics officer
43:49She told me Celesta's last words were that she had only wanted to win once
43:54I felt nothing when I heard it
43:58Should we tell the children?
44:00I shook my head
44:03She doesn't deserve to be the end of the story
44:06The real ending should not belong to the liar
44:09It should belong to the people who were saved
44:11To the people who stood again
44:14To every rope tied the right way
44:17That spring, the watchkeep expanded
44:20We raised a stone monument in the center of the new training ground
44:24Adrian's name was not on it
44:26Neither was Celesta's
44:29Only Noah's
44:33Without his frail life guarding the truth for me
44:35The north would not have the watchkeep today
44:39Would Noah be happy?
44:41On the day the monument was unwailed
44:43Amy asked
44:45I looked at the name on the stone
44:47Yes
44:50He was always most afraid I would bow my head
44:53Now so many people are looking up at his name
44:56He must be proud
44:58The children laughed
44:59I laughed too
45:01Wind swept across the snow field
45:03And sunlight fell on the stone
45:05In that moment I finally felt that Noah had truly come home
45:10Many years later I still sometimes dreamed of the 10,000th ice step
45:14In the dream Adrian stood above me
45:17Celise sat in her wheelchair
45:18And the nobles raised their glasses to place bets
45:21They told me to kneel
45:23They told me to confess
45:25They told me to lick the snow from her boots
45:28But in the dream
45:29I never knelt again
45:31I turned and walked down the ice steps
45:35Noah stood below in his old coat
45:38Waving at me
45:40Sister, let's go
45:41When I woke the sky was still dark
45:43Ron was already in the yard checking the sleds
45:46Amy and her new team were preparing for their first solo mountain patrol
45:49I put on the wolfkin cloak and went outside
45:52Ron saw me and smiled
45:54It's windy today
45:55You don't have to see them off yourself
45:57I'm only checking their knots
45:59Amy lifted the buckle at her waist
46:02Checked three times
46:03I walked over and tightened it one more time
46:07She sighed
46:08Evelyn, you're even more nagging than Dr. Ron
46:11I laughed
46:11The mountain won't judge us for double checking
46:17Before team set out
46:18Everyone turned back to look at me
46:21Remember
46:23Ropes are not for proving guilt
46:25I said
46:26They are not for binding people
46:27They are for pulling people out of the snow
46:32Understood
46:32They walked into the morning light
46:35I stood at the door and watched their figures shrink into the distance
46:38This time
46:39I wasn't afraid
46:42Snow fell on the holy mountain year after year
46:44Some people turned my story into a northern ballad
46:47Saying I rose from 10,000 ice steps and built the watch keep
46:49They like to talk about injustice
46:51Trials
46:52Revenge
46:52And late regret
46:54But that isn't what I wanted to remember most
46:57What I remembered was the line Noah stitched inside my cloak
47:00Sis, it's freezing on the holy mountain
47:02Make sure you come back alive
47:05I came back alive
47:07And I brought back many children
47:10Many ropes
47:12Many people who would never have to kneel again
47:17At dusk I went to light a lamp at Noah's grave
47:19Amy had become captain of the watch
47:23Not far away
47:24She was teaching new children to tie knots
47:27A child asked
47:28What is this knot called?
47:30Amy said
47:32The way home knot
47:37I paused and looked back at her
47:38She winked
47:39I named it
47:41I smiled and didn't correct her
47:44Maybe every rope tied the right way should be called a way home knot in the end
47:48Wind brushed over the headstone
47:49The old threads of my wolfkin cloak swayed
47:52I pressed them down with my hand
47:53This cloak was very old
47:55But I would keep mending it
47:56Because some things can be stitched back together
47:58And some things simply can't
48:00What can be mended, I cherish
48:01What cannot, I let go
48:03Winter on the holy mountain was still cold
48:08But this time
48:09I stood in the snowstorm
48:11Waiting for no one's forgiveness
48:14I was innocent
48:16I was finally free
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