“Louise, are you alright?”

At that moment, a desperate voice gradually became clearer.

Then, a man with bright brown hair came into her blurry vision.

Eclas was urgently using a handkerchief to stop her bleeding and trying to wake her up.

Ah.

At that moment, disappointment unexpectedly bloomed before gratitude.

I’m really terrible.

To be disappointed that it’s not Sched who came to help me.

To only wish for him to come at this moment.

Louise slowly suppressed the fading pain and gathered herself.

“…… I’m fine.”

“What on earth happened?”

“…… I guess I’ve been overdoing it lately and got exhausted.”

The excuse came out more easily and skillfully than expected.

Eclas’s gaze then turned to the blood-soaked front of her dress.

The area around her chest was thoroughly drenched from the blood that poured out in a short time.

Louise looked at the clothes stained with blood and gave a bitter smile.

I’ll have to throw this dress away.

Too many bloodstains remained to completely remove them.

“You know. I recover quickly.”

Louise laughed weakly as she wiped her nose and mouth with her sleeve, not knowing how she looked.

As she said, her body was already entering the cycle of recovery, and the bleeding was slowly stopping.

Eclas stared at her intently.

“What are you hiding again?”

Eclas was sharp and quick-witted.

He forcibly sat Louise in a chair and blocked her way as if he had to get an answer.

“I’m not hiding anything. What’s there to hide when everything’s already exposed.”

Louise rubbed her blood-crusted back of the hand.

A stinging gaze then stared at her intently.

That gaze was as uncomfortable as thorns, so Louise kept her eyes down on her own hands and closed her mouth.

“Why do you always try to shoulder everything alone?”

“I’ve never done that. I’m always just receiving help.”

“Louise.”

“I’m really grateful, Eclas. Sincerely.”

Louise avoided Eclas’s gaze and turned her eyes to Eve’s bed in the distance where the child was sleeping.

The sleeping child looked peaceful.

She gazed preciously at the handful of peace that had come into her life and opened her mouth.

“Please take good care of Eve.”

“…… Can you be at ease leaving Eve behind?”

Even though he knew she couldn’t be at ease, Eclas spoke to her with a hint of resentment.

Louise lowered her long lashes and smiled bitterly.

“…… I’ve lived like that all along.”

Sending away the people I love.

Swallowing uncomfortable lies.

She turned away from Eclas’s resentment and stood up from her seat.

Then she took out a small box from a drawer in the corner of the room.

Louise held out the rough brown box to Eclas.

“What is this?”

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

Opening the box, letters were piled up inside.

Eclas gave a hollow laugh and looked at Louise.

“When did you write all these?”

“I just kept writing and before I knew it, they piled up.”

Louise laughed awkwardly.

The time she could spend with Eve was too short.

Even the time spent sleeping was precious.

The letters she wrote through the night had filled a whole box before she knew it.

Even after burning the clumps of lingering attachment that shouldn’t be shown to the child, there were still that many left.

Eclas looked at the letters and hardened his expression.

“I really don’t understand.”

If this is the right thing to do.

If it’s right to respect your decision.

If it’s okay to take Eve like this.

Louise also shrugged her shoulders lightly and looked up at the sacred painting on the ceiling.

“…… Me neither.”

The golden sanctity was shining brilliantly as always.

Silently, without answering any questions.

Eve blinked her round eyes and looked up at the pretty Cardinal standing in front of her.

After observing for a few days, the Cardinal with hair resembling the ocean didn’t seem like a bad person.

Eve’s gaze, which had been looking at the Cardinal’s glamorous appearance, stopped at the small ivory box Giselle was holding.

“The Cardinal will give you a gift.”

The day of receiving the gift.

The box shimmered faintly due to the barrier.

What could be inside the box?

Curiosity was boiling over, making it hard to stand still.

“Eve.”

“Yes!”

Eve answered vigorously at the Cardinal’s call.

It was because of her mother’s advice this morning.

Mother had said to answer ‘yes’ to whatever the Cardinal asks, then she would be able to receive a gift.

“Do you promise to serve only before God and dedicate yourself to peace?”

“Yes!”

Eve nodded her head strongly.

Giselle looked at the child with sparkling eyes, her expression somewhat indifferent.

The child’s unhesitating answer. The ignorance of not understanding the meaning of her question.

Was it alright to give the guardian emblem like this?

There were a few concerns, but in the end, it seemed okay either way.

Perhaps that pure answer was the most genuine response.

“Do you swear to follow the light of the great sanctity and purify your soul until you become a star?”

Eve tilted her head as if Giselle’s words were difficult to understand, then turned her gaze to her mother standing behind.

Louise nodded quietly. Eve followed her mother’s answer and replied as promised.

“Yes……”

After that, the Cardinal asked Eve a few more difficult questions, and Eve repeated the answer ‘yes’ as she had promised her mother.

She wanted to receive the gift quickly, but the Cardinal’s words kept getting longer. Just as she was fidgeting impatiently, the Cardinal finally opened the pretty box.

Inside the box, there was a gold star-shaped seal on top of turquoise velvet.

Eve’s eyes shone as brightly as that splendid gold.

She didn’t know what that item was used for, but it was undoubtedly a pretty and fascinating treasure.

Giselle took the star-shaped seal out of the box and gestured to Eve.

Louise clenched her fingertips tightly at the sight of the child approaching readily.

“It might sting a bit when you receive the gift, Eve.”

“Sting?”

“But it will be a gift that Eve really needs.”

“Hedgehog?”

“No. It’s much better than a hedgehog. Eve, can you endure it for a bit? Mommy will be right behind you. If it hurts a lot, you can cuddle up to Mommy.”

“No. Eve endures stinging well! With the bad guy mister…… gasp!”

“Hm?”

“Nothing, Mommy!”

Although she had given Eve a heads-up first, Louise was worried.

The guardian emblem was like a certification engraved on the body with sanctity, not a physical object. For Eve, who had the power of heresy, there would definitely be pain.

Louise took a step closer to Eve and quietly grasped the child’s shoulders.

The gazes of the two women met in the air and then fell back on the child standing alone in front of them.

Giselle gently held Eve’s hand with her white fingertips.

“From now on, this will protect you.”

Giselle whispered in a small voice.

She knew. If it became known that this emblem was engraved on the daughter of a demon, there would definitely be a big reaction no matter the reason.

But this was her minimal respect and reverence towards Louise, and the best mercy she could bestow for this innocent child.

As the Cardinal and with the goodwill granted by God, Giselle Marlhein infused sanctity into the golden sacred object.

Along with a white light, the emblem’s pattern was reflected on Eve’s wrist.

Louise supported Eve’s back firmly, anticipating the child’s pain. Her heart raced and pounded rapidly even though it wasn’t her own pain.

She didn’t take her eyes off the light illuminating Eve’s wrist, thinking of embracing Eve at any moment.

However, Eve endured the guardian emblem being engraved very calmly and reliably.

No, rather, she just stared at the light flowing from the sacred object in wonder with her cherry-like lips parted.

When Giselle finally removed the seal, a sacred pattern shimmering faintly in five colors was engraved on the inside of Eve’s small wrist.

An indulgence to be free from the judgment of the temple.

Louise looked at Eve who had endured the ritual without showing any signs of pain.

“E, Eve……, are you okay?”

“Hm?”

“Does it hurt?”

“It doesn’t hurt at all!”

Eve confidently showed her sparkling wrist to her mother.

“My wrist is magic! Isn’t it amazing!”

When she waved her hand, the emblem engraved on her wrist repeatedly shimmered in five colors and disappeared.

Eve smiled and admired her wrist, seeming very pleased with her newly received gift.

Louise blinked her eyes somewhat puzzledly at the child moving her wrist so comfortably.

Then Giselle looked at Louise with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t tell me, you didn’t know the child had sanctity?”

“Sanctity……?”

It was only recently that she found out the child had the power of heresy.

It hadn’t even been a month since she was agonizing over the thought that her curse had eventually been passed on to the child……

When she looked as if she had no idea, Giselle gave a hollow laugh.

“And you asked for the guardian emblem?”

She should know best how painful the process of engraving the guardian emblem would be for a child with only black magic.

At Giselle’s exasperated reproach, Louise’s eyes took on a confused light.

‘…… Well, I guess she thought that was the best option rather than the child receiving hell’s punishment?’

Was she that desperate?

Giselle swallowed a bitter smile as she looked at Louise’s hand tightly holding Eve.

“Does Eve really…… have sanctity?”

“Yes.”

Quite strongly too. So much sanctity that it made the body ache, just like your childhood.

Giselle nodded.

Then the tension in her legs dissipated.

It wasn’t just a curse that Eve had.

My sins didn’t completely consume the child’s life.

Louise sat down on the spot with relief.

“Mommy!”

When surprised Eve grabbed her arm, Louise hugged the child tightly.

Beyond the child’s small shoulders, the golden sanctity on the wall was shining.

The golden light that had always been resentful looked particularly brilliant.

Forgetting all the curses that had plunged her life into the abyss, she offered prayers of gratitude to God several times.

“Mommy……, crying?”

Eve asked, feeling her mother’s trembling body hugging her.

Louise deeply kissed the child’s forehead.

The nights she had been agonizing over passing only her curse to the child.

It felt like all those nights had been redeemed.

Now it seemed she could really receive the punishment with a light heart.

“Thank you, Eve.”

For saving Mommy.

For becoming the meaning and hope of eternal life and death.

Eve gazed at her mother like that.

The child’s hand tightly grasped the collar of her mother who seemed to be crying, yet smiling.

“I’m grateful too, Mommy.”

The jade-green eyes said, looking at her mother.

Somehow, the child’s gaze seemed quite serious as if she had grown up.

Yes, I can endure by repeating these words from you countless times.

For you, I can do it.

Louise engraved that face clearly in her eyes.