As I looked at Benedict's face, with tears streaming down, I reached out and wiped them away.

It wasn’t the kind of thing a mesugaki would do, but my actions weren’t stopped.

The restriction on my behavior eased somewhat after returning from the archipelago. Or perhaps, this was what Lucy had wanted me to do.

Watching Benedict’s expression go blank, the emotions rising in my heart gradually became clearer.

And then I understood. I understood what Lucy had thought of Benedict, her father.

“Lucy.”

The child who had suffered under the curse had blamed her father. She hated the one …