Since the solstice, the days had grown shorter and the sun was slowly sinking. On the night of the Harvest Festival, people gathered alongside the Leche River for the annual lantern release.

Luise worried she was taking too much of Shed’s precious time, but he silently took Eve’s hand and walked with them toward the river.

“Your Grace, if you have work, you can go on ahead…”

“We’ve already come this far, haven’t we.”

Shed pointed toward the river at dusk.

Although it was getting dark, the riverbank was packed with people gathered together like stalks of wheat in a field. At the water’s edge, members of the Faradel Town Council were handing out lanterns one by one.

Realizing that the council workers would undoubtedly recognize the Duke of Lester, Luise went alone to collect a lantern and returned with it.

“Mommy, what’s this?”

Eve turned the pale lantern over in her hands, curious.

“It’s a sky lantern. When you light the flame inside, it floats up. They say if you make a wish and release it, God in heaven will hear you.”

“Really?”

Eve’s eyes sparkled as if she had found a new toy, eager to send it flying at once.

“But since it’s fire, you must be very careful, Eve.”

“Mm! I will!”

Shed accepted a small flame from nearby and lit the bottom of the lantern.

“Hold it steady so it doesn’t slip away. Now, you can make your wish.”

He and Luise carefully guided Eve’s hands towards the frame, shielding them from the heat. Then, they both took hold of the corners of the lantern.

“I’m going to make my wish now!”

Holding the lantern, she squeezed her eyes shut and furrowed her brow, concentrating fiercely.

Watching her, Luise slowly closed her own eyes.

Could a sinner — someone branded a demon — have the right to ask God for anything? Heaven would surely never heed her prayer.

And yet, if by some miracle her wish did reach the heavens, she would gladly risk everything for one chance.

She would not plead with heaven to grant happiness to Luise Ideana, already condemned. Her only prayer was that Eve—so pure, so unknowing—might be allowed this small measure of joy.

If suffering, trials, or punishment must come, let them fall upon her instead. Let her daughter have whatever happiness might once have been hers.

As the lantern’s warmth spread through her fingertips, Luise opened her eyes again. She knew her prayer was futile, yet whenever she thought of Eve, her desperation cut sharper, more unbearably real.

Beside her, Eve still wore that solemn expression, eyes pressed shut, lips moving in a silent wish.

Luise looked at her daughter’s face, serene in prayer, as though it were the rarest jewel in the world.

“…All done!”

At last Eve popped her eyes open, her long wishing finished. Just then, the sound of the lantern release ceremony beginning swept over the river.

“Mommy, Mister, did you both make your wishes too?”

“Yes, I did.”

Luise said with a smile. Shed gave a silent nod in response, his manner calm as ever.

Soon the deep boom of drums rolled out, and the crowd began to chant together, their countless voices uniting as one. Luise, Eve, and Shed joined in the count.

“…Three!”

In Eve’s bright eyes, Luise saw the glow of the lantern reflected.

“Two!”

Yes, just like today.

“One!”

For Eve’s happiness.

At the signal, they all released their hold.

The swollen, heat-filled lantern rose slowly into the sky, drifting upwards as though a star had been sent from Earth to Heaven.

“Mom! Look, it’s flying! And on the river too!”

Eve cried out, tilting her head back as far as possible. Above them, across the shimmering water, countless lights floated like scattered fragments of stars. It felt as if all those wishes had been fixed in the sky to shine forever.

Luise held Eve close as they gazed at the night sky together during the Harvest Festival.

“Eve, are you happy?”

She asked, watching her daughter, who could not stop smiling.

“Mm-hm! The best!”

Eager to show just how thrilled she was, Eve nodded so enthusiastically that she almost fell over.

The sight was so precious that Luise couldn’t resist pressing a kiss onto her daughter’s flushed cheek. Eve returned the gesture, leaning in to kiss her mother warmly on the cheek.

“Mommy, I love you.”

At that simple, honest confession, a surge of emotion swelled in Luise’s chest. She held it back, answering with a smile.

“Mommy loves you too, Eve.”

As she whispered, Eve beamed back at her. Before that smile, Luise’s heart ached with a deep, tender warmth.

“But Mom, what did you wish for?”

Eve asked suddenly. Luise lifted her eyes to the lantern that was already far, far out of reach and answered,

“For our Eve to stay healthy and happy.”

“Ehh? That’s no good!”

“Hm?”

“Mommy, you should’ve wished for your own! That one’s mine!”

Eve did not seem pleased with her mother’s wish, responding sharply. She wanted to know what her mother wanted and what she herself liked. But her mother always spoke only of Eve.

“Then I’ll give my wish to you too.”

Luise said with a smile, gently stroking her daughter’s sulking cheek.

“No! Eve’s wishes are Eve’s to make!”

A firm reply came, filled with a budding sense of independence. It sounded stubborn, too.

“What wish did you make, Eve?”

“Eve made a hundred wishes!”

That was why she had kept her eyes shut for so long.

Things she wanted to eat, things she wanted to have, places she wanted to go—everything she liked, she had asked God for.

Luise listened carefully as Eve chattered on about her many wishes.

“And for Eve and Mommy and Daddy to live together…”

Amidst a stream of childish wishes, one pierced Luise’s heart.

She had always seemed so bright and strong. But was the absence of a father figure still an issue?

Luise had given her everything she could, but raising a child alone was never easy. Luise was a first-time mother, too, and she had learned through trial and error. Compared to a home with a father, there were bound to be shortcomings.

So when Eve said she wanted to live with her father, Luise’s heart sank.

“Eve, do you miss your father?”

At that word father, Luise’s gaze flicked briefly toward Shed before returning to her daughter.

“Eve’s fine. But Daddy says he misses me all the time.”

Eve remembered Egon, who always told her he missed her whenever he came back. Despite being busy, he only came back every few months.

She would wait for him to come home with his arms full of presents.

While he was there, he played tag, hide-and-seek and even sleep with her. Whenever he brought new toys, he showed her how to play with them.

“Daddy has to play with me every day. He promised.”

Eve said proudly that her father had no choice but to keep the promise because he wanted it so badly, as though it were only natural.

To Eve, her father seemed rather pitiful. He was always away, leaving her and her mother alone.

‘Daddy loves Mommy and Eve so much…’

“Uncle, you know…”

“Call me Daddy, Eve.”

“But Mommy told me to call you Uncle.”

“I’d like it if you called me Daddy.”

“Why? Because you want to be Mommy’s partner?”

Eve knew that the words Mommy and Daddy were meant to be the closest of partners.

At her innocent question, Egon laughed.

“Yes. Mommy and Daddy are partners.”

Her daddy liked her mommy so much that he wanted to become part of her family. However, as he was often alone and unable to play with them, Eve found him a bit pitiful. That’s why she wanted them to live together.

“Mommy, do you not like Daddy?”

Eve suddenly asked. Mommy told her to call him uncle every day, but Daddy said to call him daddy.

When her daughter asked the question, Luise hid the pain in her heart behind a quiet smile.

‘Of course not, Eve.’

She couldn’t possibly tell her child that she disliked her father.

And yet… her thoughts kept drifting back to Shed.

There were times when she felt she should tell Eve that Egon wasn’t her real father, but she remained silent. She didn’t have the courage to tell her daughter that she had been born with the black magic.

What if the truth would only make Eve unhappy?

Instead, she held Eve closer, burying the words she could not say.

Shed watched the mother and daughter in silence, his lips pressed into a tight line. Bound together so firmly as “family,” he remained apart.

Then, just as she had been chattering about her many wishes, Eve turned her bright attention on him.

“Bad man uncle, what’s your wish?”

“It’s late. Time to go back.”

Shed said, choosing not to answer as he began to walk away.

But even a powerful duke could not so easily escape the persistence of a child.

“We all told ours! If you keep it a secret, that’s cheating!”

Eve’s shrill protest rang in his ears until, at last, he stopped.

“I didn’t make one.”

At his cold reply, Eve tilted her head.

“Why not?”

“…Because I have nothing to wish for.”

Shed gave the brief answer and strode on toward the ducal estate of Faradel.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

By the time they returned, Eve was yawning loudly. She had skipped her nap and spent the whole afternoon running around, so she was bound to be tired.

Back home, after Louise had bathed her, it was well past midnight.

The faint clamor of the city, still celebrating the Harvest Festival, drifted through the night air.

Eve’s eyelids drooped and fluttered as sleep overtook her.

“Mommy, today was fun… wasn’t it?”

Even as her head bobbed with drowsiness, Eve asked in a languid voice.

“Yes. It was fun.”

“Next time… let’s do it again.”

“Of course. We’ll do it together.”

After finishing Eve’s change of clothes, Luise lifted her daughter into her arms and carried her to bed.

“It’s late now, Eve. Time to sleep.”

She laid the child down, pulling a blanket over her small, sleepy frame.

“Mommy… lie down with me.”

Eve tugged at her mother’s hem, whining like a child who was reluctant to go to sleep.

At that moment—knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

Startled by the sound that had broken the silence, Luise turned around.

The moon was high in the sky. Who could be seeking her out at this hour?

The servants had mentioned gathering to drink and celebrate the Harvest Festival, but they wouldn’t have invited her.

‘Could Shed have sent someone?’

Perhaps there was a message to deliver, or something about tomorrow’s schedule to share.

“I think a guest has come. I’ll go see who it is.”

Leaving Eve beneath the covers, Luise carefully opened the door.

And froze.

“High Priest…?”

She recoiled a step in surprise.

There, standing at her threshold, was High Priest Dietrich.

“May God be with you.”

He greeted me from outside the room, without crossing the doorway.

His voice was quiet and his eyes were clear and sharp behind his glasses.

There was something different about him tonight — perhaps because of that, or perhaps for some other reason.

“May God be with you… But, High Priest, why are you here…?”

It was such a late hour. This was not the temple, but the Duke of Lester’s estate.

Had he come to see Shed?

The great festival had ended—perhaps there was something about it he wished to discuss?

But to Luise, the presence of such an unexpected visitor at her door was nothing short of unsettling.