“Is it because you’re nervous about standing in front of many people, or is it because the high status of those attending the coming-of-age ceremony is the problem?”

Elios asked. The former was the common case, and the latter was something Snow hadn’t even told Ceres.

‘What should I do?’

Snow pondered and then decided to just open up completely. She couldn’t explain why. It just felt like she could. Perhaps she had been enchanted by that warm smile.

“Both. I’ve never met nobles before, but somehow I feel a distance from them.”

“Why?”

“They seem like people from a different world than mine. Though they’re close to where I am, they also feel too far away. It’s like their place is right next door but is a different world that can’t be crossed despite just a glass window separating us. That’s why they make me a bit uncomfortable.”

She was about to finish by saying, ‘I’m afraid of what will happen if I make a mistake in front of them’, but Ceres’s words, “It’s alright to make mistakes,” echoed in her mind, so she stopped.

Elios understood well enough what kind of burden Snow was carrying. He lowered himself to match Snow’s eye level and smiled comfortably.

“Snow. I’m something like a noble too. Do I also seem scary and uncomfortable to you?”

‘Something like a noble? What does that mean?’ Snow wondered, but shook her head.

“Then, do I seem like someone living in a different world from you? I’m right here beside you now.”

Elios’s calm voice echoed through the empty round hall. As if drawn to Elios’s voice, which resonated like a song, Snow answered quietly, almost as if enchanted.

“No.”

Elios returned to his original posture. And secretly took a slow, deep breath.

“Then what makes you so worried? Have you seen any nobles other than me?”

“No. I haven’t.”

Snow shook her head slightly again. And opened her small lips, but stopped after uttering just a few syllables. Elios waited for Snow to say what she wanted to say. Finally, Snow began to express her thoughts. Elios listened to her story with a gentle gaze, as if watching a small bird begin to chirp on its own.

“I just… Thinking about it now, the word ‘scary’ doesn’t seem appropriate. It’s more complex than that. I envy them, I’m uncomfortable with them, and above all, they feel alien to me. Oh, of course I don’t mean you, El! I mean, you’re a noble too, but… well…”

Suddenly remembering that the El in front of her was also a noble, Snow swallowed her words, not knowing what to do. Elios responded kindly, as if not particularly concerned.

“I understand what you’re trying to say. I don’t mind at all, so please continue. Why do you envy those people? Do you envy their lifestyle of wearing splendid clothes or eating rich, delicious food?”

It wasn’t a reproachful question. Preferring splendor over simplicity is a characteristic of most humans. However, regardless of her own preferences or will, she was destined from birth to live a life far from such things. Elios pitied Snow for not being able to live according to her own will.

“No. I don’t envy those things.”

“Then what do you envy?”

“That’s actually closer to the discomfort side. I’ve heard that some nobles prepare so much food that they can’t finish it all, and then throw the leftovers to their dogs. So most dogs kept by nobles are quite fat, they say. When I hear such stories, I wonder if nobles really need to do that. I hear there are many starving people outside the walls. Many children die from simple illnesses because they can’t call a doctor. If they reduced that unnecessary splendor just a little, they could make many people under their care happy. That kind of splendor makes me a bit uncomfortable.”

Watching Snow articulate her thoughts in a small but clear voice, Elios felt something welling up inside him. He wanted to hear more of her opinions. Despite being a noble himself, or rather a member of the imperial family, Elios said to Snow:

“If nobles truly all live in such a manner, they are truly pathetic characters. Is it really such people that Snow envies?”

Snow hesitated whether she should say this.

“Despite standing above so many people… they seem free.”

“They seem free?”

Elios slowly repeated Snow’s last words.

“When they’re annoyed, they can frown and complain, when they want to be angry, they can be angry, and when they occasionally feel like crying, they can cry too. Nobles probably live like that. Just like everyone else below them. But I can’t do that. I have to smile even when I’m sad, smile even when I’m angry. I have to smile even when I’m in pain. Because I don’t know what will happen if I don’t.”

Even in that painful moment, Snow was smiling serenely.

Elios had only seen Snow twice, including today, but nevertheless thought she was a girl with very rich emotions. She rejoiced as if she had the whole world over small things and frequently blushed with embarrassment.

No matter how much one tries to prevent unpleasant things in advance, human affairs don’t always flow as intended. During her 18 years, she must have had times when she truly wanted to cry or seriously wanted to get angry.

Abnormal dark clouds occasionally formed over the empire. Once every few years, once every few months. Sometimes even once every few weeks. This doesn’t just mean rain clouds. These were black, dense clouds that seemed like they would destroy the world, swallow the entire empire.

When such clouds formed, the atmosphere would become either unusually muggy or unusually chilly, and small insects would crawl up from underground, abandoning their subterranean homes, as if something was happening beneath the earth.

It was clearly due to Snow’s emotional changes. Although the cycle was much longer than for other people, Snow must also have times when she gets upset and frowns. Each time, nature would have heated up in sympathy with her mood.

However, ordinary people who didn’t know the truth would chatter that it was still traces of the witch’s curse, and they would pray to their holy maiden who was protecting them against the curse.

Snow was the holy maiden, but she was also a small, timid, and shy girl. However, the burden she carried on her small shoulders was of a kind that no one in the world could understand.

Even if she was crushed under the burden and her delicate skin was scraped and bleeding, no one could properly understand her pain. Not in the past, not in the present. Perhaps not even in the future. She is the holy maiden, and everyone loves and looks up to her, but ultimately, she is alone.

Elios could now vaguely understand how much pain this caused her.

“Because they are free unlike me, I think I’m also afraid of standing before nobles. They seem fundamentally different from me.”

“Snow.”

Without answering, Snow rolled her pearl-like silver eyes and looked at Elios.

“You’re right. You can certainly feel uncomfortable around nobles. But there’s no need to fear them.”

“…Why not?”

“Listen. Let me explain why Snow doesn’t need to be intimidated by nobles.”

Elios looked very confident. Snow decided to listen to what Elios had to say. When she nodded, Elios began his story.

“Though it’s gone now, there was once a family in the Akelan Empire that held power almost equal to the imperial family. The Nigritia Ducal House, have you heard of it?”

“I know. Freia Nigritia…”

Freia Nigritia. The name of the witch who was the cause of the one-year calamity. Snow seemed to understand what Elios was trying to say.

“Yes. The ducal house grew increasingly powerful over several generations by marrying their daughters into the imperial family. Freia Nigritia was the daughter of the last Duke of Nigritia. The ducal house, not satisfied with the power they had, committed an unforgivable act. They plotted treason. But fortunately, the rebellion failed, and the duke and his son met a miserable end. Ironically, the only survivor from the Nigritia Ducal House was Freia, who had been physically weak. With her father and only brother dead, she too was imprisoned in a dark dungeon without a single ray of light. In such a situation, what do you think she did?”

Snow knew the answer to Elios’s question. The story Elios was telling was known to everyone in the empire.

“She sold her soul to the devil and cursed the entire world.”

Snow said. Outside the temple, ‘Holy Maiden Bernadette’ was revered as a completely opposite figure to ‘Witch Freia.’ Snow felt as if ‘Bernadette the Holy Maiden’ was some great person existing separately from herself. Even though she was that very holy maiden.

Holy Maiden Bernadette was the very embodiment of a true representative of God, loving and gentle. But ‘Snow’ was not like that. She had never even once heard the voice of God, the revelation of Amir.

Elios said:

“That’s right. Since it was before both you and I were born, it’s hard for us to imagine, but they say that the dark and viscous emotions in Freia’s heart—hatred, resentment, and vengeance—summoned a demon from the abyss into the world. Freia, who had nothing more to lose, willingly sold her soul to wreak havoc on the world. Winds that blew everything away, rivers that overflowed, and snow that seemed to bury everything fell. Whether noble or commoner, it didn’t matter much. The calamity did not discriminate by social status when taking human lives.”

Snow also became serious in response to Elios’s grave expression. But suddenly, he smiled and lightly tapped the tip of Snow’s nose with his thumb.

“The one who defeated such a terrifying witch’s curse was none other than you, Snow.”

“…What?”

“From small forest animals to trees, lush green forests, newly born children, people who survived the calamity. All of these things exist here now because of you. I said earlier that the calamity did not discriminate based on a person’s status or birth. The nobles that Snow is so uncomfortable with are no exception. Without you, they too would not exist. Snow, you are an incredible being. There’s no need to fear mere nobles. They are people who survived thanks to you. Including me, of course.”