“I’m only going to say this once, so listen carefully. I don’t dislike you.”

“…Yes?”

“At that time, I thought I hated you. Actually, I did hate you. I hated people, I hated the temple. I hated everything. But you annoyed me the most because I knew we’d end up fighting every time you came to see me determinedly.”

…So, isn’t this just saying you hated everything in the world?

“But while running away and raising kids, I’ve thought about it. It wasn’t you that I hated, exactly… It was you, who was trying to save me.”

“What…?”

“No one believed that I was Tara. Every day, I fought with anyone who provoked me.”

The end of her sentence vibrated intensely.

“Just because of me, you beg and plead and break down, far from your Astariol self.”

“…”

“I hated the whole world that called you crazy. But ironically, I couldn’t even believe in myself as Tara, so it made me even more irritated. I believed that if you still didn’t abandon me even if we fought like this, maybe I could finally believe in you.”

The man’s face, which had been puzzled when he was caught off guard, gradually hardened.

“I apologize for not apologizing when I saw you. Now I know that I’m your Tara, Ashel. I’m sorry for not believing in you all this time.”

“…”

“Before being abandoned, I left you with the heart of abandoning you. I’m sorry.”

Even as the door to the room remained slightly ajar, the maids were still there, tidying up the clothes we had changed into.

The maid who had guided Eciel to the room where she slept was also by our side.

Despite knowing that quite a few people were listening, Mother’s face as she apologized for the mistakes of the past, when she was younger and even more immature, didn’t look embarrassing, but rather relieved.

“I don’t hate you. In fact, I loved you. I wanted to say this first thing when we met again.”

My mother released her grip on his collar, straightened out his wrinkled clothes, and smiled as she turned away.

The maid hurriedly followed my mother to guide her back to her room. I followed her quietly before looking back.

The man was looking at my mother as if he had heard words of salvation directly.

* * *

As dawn began to break, Eciel was the first to wake up.

It was natural as she fell asleep early, unlike us who had stayed up talking until late into the night.

The problem was that Eciel had fallen asleep too quickly and hadn’t had a proper look around this gorgeous mansion.

After waking up to the incredibly soft and fluffy  bed, she looked at the  bed she was lying in once.

Then, she looked at the smooth  pajamas she was wearing twice.

Once she had mustered the courage to peek outside the bed, she looked at the rich interior decorations three times.

Eciel, who was incredibly surprised, buried her head back under the covers like a rabbit hiding in its burrow.

I woke up abruptly and groggily uttered a faint voice.

“…What’s the matter?”

“Claire, was that man yesterday actually an angel? Did we die and come to heaven?”

Her voice was on the verge of tears. I realized before asking, ‘Are you kidding?’ that there was no way Eciel would know.

How should I explain it to make Eciel able to understand easily?

While I was trying to come up with a logical reason amidst my sleepiness, my younger sister calmed down and spoke plaintively.

“But that person looks so much like Claire that I thought he was the dad the May Fairy sent to us!”

… For your information, the gift that Eciel asked from the May Fairy was a father.

She was an extraordinary kid. There was no way a normal child would be able to write a letter every week with bright nonsense about how she wanted to have a father because she was curious about what it would be like to have one.

Of course, it was a normal thought process to infer that he was my father because he looked so much like me. I admitted it.

But what did it have to do with ‘sent by the May Fairy’? Since we looked alike, you could just think of him as your real father.

“Or perhaps… was Dad an angel?”

“… huh?”

“Did you forget about us before you became an angel, then he finally remembered us yesterday and brought us to heaven?”

There wasn’t a single plausible one among that long list of hypotheses…

It seemed like we needed to first resolve the premise that this was heaven, but in fact, she would be disappointed if I told her that we were not in heaven.

What should I do here?

“First… Mom is sleeping, so let’s be quiet, Eciel.”

I chose a stopgap measure.

Eciel listened carefully, covering her mouth with both hands while rolling her big eyes.

It seemed like our voices could be heard outside. There was a knock on the door and three maids came in.

Since we were the only ones awake and my mother was still asleep, the woman in front spoke in a low voice.

“Lady Claire, Lady Eciel. Did you sleep well?”

I paused for a moment at the title ‘lady’ while Eciel smiled brightly.

I was wrong. This child’s belief that this was heaven couldn’t be resolved here.

I just nodded and quietly got down under the  bed. Eciel followed me and stepped on the floor.

The maids were quick to hand over children’s slippers.

I’d been thinking about it since yesterday…. it was understandable that there were  pajamas for adult women and items tailored for mothers.

It was like a house built from the beginning to bring Mother in and persuade her.

But he didn’t seem to know us when we met for the first time.

‘How on earth do they have  pajamas and slippers for children?’

I couldn’t say it because I thought it would add validity to Eciel’s so-called ‘heaven theory’, but I was genuinely curious.

Anyway, we quietly went outside and took a quick shower.

To the butler’s friendly question asking when she would like to have breakfast, she answered that she would eat it together when Mother woke up.

And since we had some free time until Mother woke up, I needed to make Eciel understand that this was not heaven.

‘If Mom wakes up, Duke Chelsiers will definitely come to see us.’

‘Perhaps …is this my dad who became an angel?’ Thinking that I might hear Eciel’s expectant question when she saw Duke Chelsiers later, I felt a desperate sense of mission.

I couldn’t see that…

Until now, Eciel didn’t say anything because she was too busy looking at this gorgeous and huge mansion. We went looking around the garden as we waited for Mother to wake up, so I bought some time.

Now it was time to clear up this grand misunderstanding.

A maid followed behind us at a reasonable distance. It was far enough that if we spoke quietly, she wouldn’t hear us.

Only after measuring the distance between the maid and us did I speak to Eciel, who was looking at the garden as if fascinated.

“Eciel, what do you think about this place?”

“I didn’t know heaven was such a nice place, but it’s so good. What does Claire think?”

Since I was speaking quietly, she also spoke softly to match the rhythm…

For a moment, my vision became blurry.

No, you couldn’t give up here.

“Well, good. No, rather, do you really think this is heaven?”

“Huh! I love it here.”

“Uh… okay… But, um, heaven might be… isn’t there a better place than here?”

Eciel opened her eyes wide with a look in her eyes that seemed to ask, “What could be better than here?”

Let’s forget this one. In fact, I had never been to a better place than here, so my imagination was limited.

It was a very weak rebuttal.

“Claire, I said people should feel satisfied with what they have.”

Eciel’s voice, which seemed to be on the verge of tears, was filled with affectionate concern.

She might think that the maid behind us is a diligent servant of heaven, as described in the scriptures.

According to the teachings of the scriptures, even if one faithfully served the residents of heaven, if they did not follow the doctrine, they would be thrown into the fierce hell.

“It’s obvious… But Eciel, heaven is supposed to be a place you go after you die.”

I tried to refute it for the second time. This time, Eciel nodded seriously.

Okay. She was accepting it now.

“Since we’re alive and well, then maybe this isn’t heaven?”

Eciel obediently nodded.

“That’s right. This isn’t heaven.”

Her quick acceptance could be another virtue of hers. Although she often made mistakes, she listened well.

“Okay. At least one thing is clear now.”

Now I had to tell her that Duke Chelsiers wasn’t an angel.

But just as I was thinking about how to tell her, Eciel suddenly raised her voice.

“Mister!”

I was forced to return to reality as my sister was now running towards Duke Chelsiers, dragging me along.

No, I hadn’t explained to her yet that he was not an angel!

I frantically looked around for an escape route.

I had to run.

But… how could I pull my hand away from the child who had been holding my hand since before we were born?

Moreover, the man was already quite close.

He must have already spotted us and moved closer.

There were about 30 seconds left before Eciel asked him ‘that question.’

Let’s give up.