“Luise, are you all right?”

The urgent voice gradually became clearer. Through her blurred vision, she could make out a man with bright chestnut hair.

Eclace was holding a handkerchief to her nose in an attempt to staunch the bleeding and rouse her.

Ah.

In that instant, before gratitude could rise, disappointment bloomed first.

‘How awful of me. To feel disappointed that it wasn’t Shed, when you are the one helping me. Even now… even in this moment, I was hoping it would be him who came.’

Forcing down the fading pain, Luise steadied herself.

“…I’m fine.”

“What on earth is happening to you?”

“…I suppose I’ve been overexerting myself lately. I must just be tired.”

The excuse had slipped out too easily and too smoothly.

Eclace’s gaze dropped to her blood-soaked bodice. So much had poured forth in that brief moment that the fabric at her chest was heavy and stained.

Luise gave a bitter smile as she looked down at the stained garment.

This dress would have to be thrown away. There were too many deep stains that would never be washed clean.

“You know me. I recover quickly.”

She wiped her mouth and nose with her sleeve, unsure what state she must appear to be in, and smiled faintly.

As she had said, her body had already begun its familiar recovery cycle; the bleeding was slowing and the wound was closing.

Eclace still stared at her intently, unblinking.

“What are you hiding this time?”

He was keen and had a sharp eye. He pushed her firmly into a chair and sat down opposite her, as if to say that she wouldn’t be allowed to leave until she had answered.

“There’s nothing to hide. Everything’s already been exposed—what could I possibly conceal now?”

Luise rubbed absently at the blood drying on the back of her hand.

But his piercing gaze felt like thorns pressing into her skin. Uncomfortable, she dropped her eyes and kept her lips shut.

“Why do you always insist on bearing everything alone?”

“I don’t. I’ve always depended on others for help.”

“Luise.”

“Truly, thank you, Eclace. I mean it.”

She turned her eyes away from him, toward the bed where Eve slept soundly.

The child’s sleeping face was peaceful.

She looked at the handful of peace that had entered her life and spoke softly.

“Please take good care of Eve.”

“…And you can still be at ease, leaving her behind?”

Though he knew she couldn’t possibly be at ease, Eclace still let slip words tinged with blame.

Luise lowered her long lashes and gave a bitter smile.

“…That’s how I’ve always lived.”

She let go of those she loved. Swallowing uncomfortable lies.

She turned away from his reproach and stood up.

She pulled out a small box from a drawer in the corner of the room and handed it to him.

“What is this?”

“If Eve ever misses her mother too much, give these to her in order, from the top.”

Inside, stacked high, were letters.

Eclace let out a short, incredulous laugh and looked at her.

“When did you even find the time to write all this?”

“They just kept piling up without me realizing it.”

Luise’s smile was forced. She hadn’t spent enough time with Eve. Even the hours meant for sleep had felt too precious. The nights spent writing filled a box with letters.

Even after burning the ones that felt too heavy with lingering attachments, this much remained.

Eclace’s mouth tightened as he looked at them.

“I truly don’t know.”

Was this the right thing to do? Was respecting your choice the right thing to do? Should I have taken Eve with me like this?

Luise gave a light shrug and lifted her gaze to the holy painting on the ceiling.

“…Neither do I.”

Unchanging, the golden light of divinity shone down in brilliance.

Silent, answering no questions.

🌺⟡───⟡🌺 🌺⟡───⟡🌺

Eve blinked her round eyes up at the beautiful High Priestess before her.

After observing her for a few days, Eve had decided that the blue-haired priestess, whose hair resembled the sea, didn’t seem like a bad person.

Her gaze drifted past the splendid figure and settled on the small ivory box that Giselle was holding.

“The High Priestess is going to give you a gift.”

The day of receiving a gift.

The box shimmered faintly with the glow of a barrier.

What could be inside? Curiosity swelled within her, nearly overflowing, making it hard to stand still.

“Eve.”

“Yes!”

The child answered brightly at the High Priestess’s call. It was because of her mother’s advice that morning. Luise had told her that whatever the priestess asked, she should simply answer “yes,” and then she would receive her gift.

“Do you vow to serve only before God, dedicating yourself to peace?”

“Yes!”

Eve nodded firmly. Giselle looked into the child’s shining eyes, her face almost devoid of expression. Was it right to give the sacred sigil to someone so carefree and unaware of the significance of such vows?

After several moments of hesitation, Giselle decided that it was. Perhaps that pure, innocent response was the truest vow of all.

“Do you swear to follow the great light of divinity and keep your soul pure until you become one with the stars?”

Eve tilted her head, not understanding the meaning, then turned her gaze to her mother standing behind her.

Luise gave a subtle nod. Following her mother’s lead, Eve echoed her promise.

“Yes…!”

The High Priestess then asked some more challenging questions, to which Eve continued to answer ‘yes’, as she had promised her mother she would.

However, she soon became restless. She wanted her gift immediately, but the High Priestess’s words dragged on and on. Just as she began to stamp her feet in impatience, the High Priestess finally opened the ornate box.

Inside, on a bed of teal velvet, lay a golden, star-shaped seal.

Eve’s eyes sparkled as brightly as the radiant gold. She didn’t know what it was for, but she was certain that it was a wondrous treasure.

Giselle lifted the seal from the box and beckoned the child forward. As Eve rushed towards her, Giselle curled her fingertips tightly into her palm.

“When you receive your gift, it might sting a little, Eve.”

“Sting?”

“But it’s a gift you absolutely need.”

“A hedgehog?”

“No. Much better than a hedgehog. You can endure just a little, can’t you? Mommy will be right behind you. If it hurts too much, you can run into my arms.”

“No! Eve can handle it! I practiced with the bad uncle—oh!”

“Hm?”

“No, Mommy!”

Despite having warned Eve, Luise was still worried.

The sacred sigil was not just a trinket; it was an inscription seared into the body by divine power itself. For a child burdened with heretical strength, the pain would undoubtedly be more intense.

Luise stepped closer and gently laid her hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

For a moment, the two women’s eyes met in the still air, then both dropped to the small figure standing alone between them.

Giselle reached out and took Eve’s hand in her pale fingers.

“This will protect you from now on.”

She knew full well that, regardless of the reason, the repercussions would be immense if it were ever revealed that the daughter of a demon bore this sigil.

Yet this was the least she could do to show her reverence for Luise and the greatest mercy she could show to an innocent child.

As High Priestess, it was Giselle Marlhein’s duty to imbue the golden relic with divine power as an act of grace bestowed by God.

A white glow flared, etching the seal onto Eve’s wrist.

Luise, standing behind her daughter, braced herself, her heart pounding with tension even though it was not her own flesh that was burning. She kept her eyes fixed on the light pressing into Eve’s skin, ready to gather the child into her arms at the first cry of pain.

But Eve endured the engraving calmly and bravely.

No — more than that. Her cherry-red lips parted in awe as she stared at the light streaming from the relic.

Finally, Giselle lifted the seal, revealing a faint, iridescent holy pattern on the inside of Eve’s wrist.

A pardon. Freedom from the temple’s judgement.

Luise turned to her daughter, who had undergone the rite without showing any sign of pain.

“E-Eve… are you all right?”

“Hm?”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“Not at all!”

Eve proudly showed her mother her glittering wrist.

“Look, my wrist is magic! Isn’t it amazing?”

As she waved her hand, the sigil engraved on her wrist flickered, changing color and then disappearing again.

Smiling brightly, she gazed with delight at her new gift.

Luise blinked in faint bewilderment as she watched her daughter move her wrist so easily.

Then Giselle’s narrowed eyes turned towards her.

“You mean… you didn’t know the child had divine power?”

“Divine power…?”

It had been only recently that Luise discovered her daughter bore the mark of heresy. Barely a month had passed since she had been tormented by the thought that her own curse had been passed down to the child.

Her expression showed no sign of awareness, and Giselle let out a dry laugh.

“And yet you begged me to grant her a sacred sigil?”

Of all people, surely she knew how painful it would be to inscribe the sacred seal onto a child who was imbued with only black magic.

At Giselle’s incredulous rebuke, Luise’s eyes wavered in confusion.

‘…Did she truly believe that was the better choice, if it meant sparing the child from damnation? Was she truly that desperate?’

Giselle glanced down at Luise’s hand gripping Eve’s so tightly and gave a bitter smile.

“Eve really does… have divine power?”

“Yes.”

And not weakly, either. Just as you did in your own childhood when your body ached under the strain.

At her nod, the tension drained from Luise’s legs.

It wasn’t just the curse her daughter carried.

‘My sin had not swallowed my child’s life whole.’

Relief washed over Luise, and she sank down where she stood.

“Mommy!”

Startled, Eve clutched at her arm, and Luise pulled the child tightly into her embrace. Beyond her daughter’s small shoulders, the golden radiance of the divine shone from the wall. The gold she had long resented now appeared dazzlingly brilliant.

She forgot, for a moment, the curse that had dragged her life into ruin and offered prayer after prayer of gratitude to God.

“Mommy… are you crying?”

Eve asked, feeling her mother’s body tremble as she held her. Luise pressed a deep kiss onto the child’s forehead.

All those nights she had suffered, tormented by the thought that she had passed on nothing but her curse to her daughter — those nights now felt redeemed.

At last, she felt she could face her punishment head on, with nothing left to weigh her down.

“Thank you, Eve.”

For saving me. For becoming the meaning and hope of life and everlasting death.

Eve gazed quietly at her mother. Her small hand clutched tightly at her mother’s collar — clothes that seemed to tremble as though they were weeping yet smiling all the same.

“Thank you too, Mommy.”

She said, her light green eyes fixed upon her mother’s face. For some reason, her eyes seemed almost grown, unusually serious.

‘Yes. I’ll endure this, repeating your words to myself again and again. For you, I can.’

Luise etched that face into her heart with sharp, unwavering clarity.