Simons’ facial transformation upon hearing those words was swift and dramatic. First he turned pale white, then blue, and finally black. I was so worried he might have a heart attack that I unconsciously prepared to use holy power.

Even Lady Eleanor, who had been having a discussion bordering on an argument with Simons, was so flabbergasted that she confronted Kyle in a shrill voice.

“No, Your Majesty! Why are you saying such things the moment you arrive? Doesn’t Lady Cioranne look absolutely beautiful? The dress was made to fit her perfectly!”

She had just been attacking Simons about everything being unsatisfactory moments before.

I blinked blankly. Kyle’s gaze swept over my face and then Richard standing behind me.

“Too beautiful. That’s why I don’t like it.”

“What kind of nonsense is that!”

Lady Eleanor finally exploded.

* * *

The moment Cioranne walked out from behind the curtain, Richard thought his heart would stop.

‘An angel?’

Since Cioranne already had fluffy, cotton candy-like pale hair, he had thought a white dress would suit her. But seeing Cioranne actually wearing the dress, she seemed to radiate brilliant light. Like an angel descending from heaven.

The impulse to sweep her up and run away with her surged so strongly.

And the black-haired beast who suddenly appeared, seemingly reading his thoughts, glared at Richard with fierce eyes and growled.

“Too beautiful. That’s why I don’t like it.”

The sizzling jealousy mixed in his voice was unmistakably clear.

Receiving such obvious hostility, fierce waves also rose in Richard’s heart, which he had been struggling to suppress. Richard bit his lip in sorrow.

‘I met Cioranne first.’

Not only had he met her first, he had also been the first to hold her in his heart.

Richard’s memories drifted to long ago while watching Cioranne in Kailas’s embrace.

To when he was first entrusted to the temple.

* * *

“Hello?”

Richard looked at the scrawny girl who spoke to him with fierce eyes. She was a girl with hair cut crookedly here and there, like she had done it herself while looking in a mirror.

“I’m called Cioranne. Who are you?”

“……Don’t talk to me.”

Richard turned away sharply. He was terribly twisted at that time.

‘I was abandoned.’

His parents had suddenly died. Then strangers came rushing in to seize the house and take away the servants. The only person he could rely on was his half-brother Noel. But Noel had also left him at the temple.

[I’ll come get you once things are sorted out.]

Though he said that, Richard instinctively knew he wouldn’t be able to come. And the temple was full of children abandoned like Richard. It was a gloomy place where everyone was sunk in their own sorrows.

In the midst of all this, that girl had appeared. With round eyes that knew nothing of sadness.

‘You should have taken me with you, Mother.’

Would it have been better to die with his parents? Richard was hanging his head with a gloomy expression when it happened.

Perhaps because Richard told her not to talk to him, Cioranne turned away sharply. Then she suddenly appeared again and held out something like a hard stone.

“Here.”

“……What is it?”

“Eat this.”

It was the yeast bread they ate at the temple. To Richard, who had always eaten only soft bread, the yeast bread looked strange.

“How can I eat something like this?”

“It’s delicious though.”

“Delicious my foot.”

Even eating weeds from the roadside would taste better than this. Richard was about to throw away the hard bread when it happened.

Cioranne, who had sat down next to Richard with her bottom pressed against his side, chattered like a baby bird.

“Eat it all the way to the end. If you don’t eat, people can die. Lots of kids die after coming here. But I hope you don’t die.”

Her tone suggested she herself would never die, making her words oddly irritating. But the fact that she worried about him wasn’t bad. Richard answered gruffly.

“……Idiot.”

Then after hesitating for a moment, he told her his name.

“I’m Richard. Richard Ferol.”

“That’s an unusual name.”

“My brother gave it to me.”

“Brother? You have family?”

“Well……”

What good was having a family when he’d been abandoned?

Richard was hesitating and couldn’t readily answer when the surroundings grew a bit noisy and a group of nuns and priests came rushing over.

“Goodness! Holy Maiden!”

The one they were looking for was the very girl who had been talking to Richard just moments before. They glared at Richard, who had been eating bread with Cioranne, and poured out scolding words to Cioranne.

“We told you there’s no need to worry about the temple children. What are you doing in a place like this? Do you know how much we’ve been searching for you? The minister has come and is waiting for you right now.”

“The Holy Maiden doesn’t need things like friends. How could anyone dare become friends with someone who receives God’s abundant love like the Holy Maiden? Come here right now.”

Then they dragged away Cioranne, who wanted to stay by Richard’s side. Watching their retreating figures, Richard clenched his fists tightly.

‘A cherished child. Not abandoned like me.’

The pity she had shown him was now in Richard’s hands. Richard, feeling even more miserable, hung his head with a dejected expression.

Even after that, Cioranne persistently came looking for Richard.

“Richard.”

“……”

But Richard avoided Cioranne each time. Just when he thought she would get tired and stop coming around this point.

“Richard!”

Like a fool, Cioranne looked for Richard yet again. Perhaps annoyed by the continued ignoring, she raised her voice quite loudly.

“Why are you pretending not to know me!”

A girl small like a chestnut shouting wasn’t scary at all. Richard turned his head away sharply and answered gruffly.

“Go away.”

That girl, having no pride, followed Richard and grabbed his hand. Her blue eyes full of worry seemed to pierce Richard’s heart.

“Your face has gotten thin. Are you eating properly?”

“You don’t need to worry. I’m not special like you. If I die, I just die.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

Cioranne’s face twisted sadly. Then she said something Richard hadn’t expected.

“I’ve had no family since birth. But you do. Someone who would be sad if you died.”

At the words about having no family, Richard’s eyes widened. Only then did he understand why that child had made such a strange expression when he mentioned having a brother.

That child had been looking for common ground between him and herself in her own way. And at the root of that behavior was the loneliness she harbored.

With eyes clear like glass beads glistening, Cioranne said.

“And even if there wasn’t anyone, I would cry.”

“……Idiot.”

That was when the sharpness disappeared from Richard’s voice. Noticing that Richard’s tone had softened, Cioranne widened her eyes and looked at Richard.

Richard reached out and ruffled Cioranne’s hair while saying.

“I would cry too. So don’t say things like that.”

At those words, she smiled brightly like a flower bud just blooming.

How lovely that face was, she herself would never know.

* * *

A sharp voice shattered Richard’s reverie.

“How about you stop thinking about another man’s wife?”

Richard, who had been recalling childhood Cioranne, finally raised his head again. Cioranne had gone back in to have her waist re-basted, and Kailas stood alone, generously revealing his true nature.

Even if he was going to be Cioranne’s husband, facing those eyes was off-putting. Richard also asked back in a stiff tone.

“……Are you now interfering with thoughts too?”

Then Kailas answered shamelessly.

“I’m narrow-minded and have a terrible temper.”

This was the most detestable thing about this man. Knowing his temper was bad, he made no effort to hide or disguise it.

Even the kindest and most honest man in the world would be insufficient to stand beside Cioranne, yet this selfish tyrant was becoming her companion – it was completely incomprehensible. Richard twitched his eyebrows and muttered complainingly.

“Cioranne should know about this side of you.”

“Wouldn’t she just laugh it off even if she knew? You know it too. That woman has such a carefree personality. She knows no suspicion and has no caution.”

“……”

Though it was a shameless answer, it was also a statement that showed accurate knowledge of Cioranne.