Chapter 4
Midnight.
The town was swallowed by darkness, and its people were fast asleep.
In the center of the night sky, the moon shone brightly, casting a pale, cold light upon the earth.
In a corner of such a shadowy world, in a room of the shrine, two people slept close together.
"Suu... suu..."
"Good grief... Well, I figured this would happen."
He had submerged the tearful girl up to her shoulders in the bath and finished her first bath.
Thoroughly warmed by the bathwater, Clael and Reina decided to get into bed before they caught a chill.
In the shrine, Clael, the Priest, lived alone. Naturally, there was only one bed.
Clael tried to give the bed to Reina, but—as if it were the most natural thing in the world—Reina shook her head and tried to sleep on the floor, saying she always did.
There was no way he could let a young girl sleep on a cold floor. Clael desperately tried to persuade Reina to use the bed.
After a bit of back and forth—
As expected, Clael and Reina ended up sleeping in the same bed.
"Suu... suu..."
In Clael's arms, Reina breathed peacefully in her sleep.
Her utterly relaxed expression was like that of a cat curled up in a sunbeam.
Even though he had fed her and given her a bath, he felt like scolding her for trusting a man she had just met too easily.
(Well... I suppose it can't be helped...)
Reina was a ten-year-old child.
Whether she was the heroine of a game or a Saint didn't matter.
She was still at the age where she would want to cling to her parents.
And yet, she had lost her mother and been taken in by a father who could only be described as toxic to a child.
She had been abused and fought desperately to survive.
To Reina, Clael might be the first person to ever show her kindness since she became aware of the world.
"No... it hurts, no..."
But suddenly, Reina's face twisted in pain.
Was she having a nightmare...? She clutched Clael's clothes tightly, and tears streamed from the corners of her shut eyes.
"No... not alone... it's lonely... it hurts..."
"...It's okay. I'm right here."
Clael narrowed his eyes in sorrow and whispered into Reina's ear.
He placed his hand on the fevered Reina's head and activated sacred magic.
"Mind Cure"
Reina was enveloped in a soft blue light.
It was a spell that nullified status effects like 'confusion' and 'fear' in the game, and as it took effect, peace returned to Reina's sleeping face.
Seeing her wear a look of relief, as if embraced by her mother's arms, Clael let out a breath of relief.
"Kuu... kuu..."
"It's okay. Everything's going to be okay... Your hardships will surely be rewarded."
She must have endured pain like walking a path lined with thorns.
He didn't know how much she had suffered, how much sorrow she had endured.
But... her time of misfortune was over.
From now on, she could live a life where she picked up the happiness she had lost.
She could eat delicious food until she was full, soak in a warm bath, and sleep without a single worry.
"You'll definitely become happy. You'll become a heroine everyone envies and is captivated by."
Yes... Reina was the protagonist of the otome game 'Beyond the Rainbow Gleam.'
One day, she would meet a wonderful man, fall in love, and be promised a happy future.
A golden future awaited her, one that would wipe away her unfortunate past.
(Honestly, at first, it was just on a whim...)
Originally... Clael was supposed to report the existence of the Saint to the Grand Shrine, and that would be the end of his duty.
He wasn't supposed to have any further involvement in Reina's life.
Even so, he had fed her and bathed her because he didn't want to make her unhappy by sending her to the Grand Shrine.
He couldn't bear the thought of a young girl suffering because of him.
(But... it's different now. I truly want to see you find happiness. I mean that from the bottom of my heart...)
This must be what they call paternal instinct.
Clael sincerely wished for Reina to live a happy life.
He wanted to protect Reina, who had thought it normal to eat weeds, be beaten until she bruised, and sleep on the floor.
At some point, those feelings had taken root in him.
(One day, you'll spread your wings as a heroine and soar into the world. Until that day comes, I'll protect you. So sleep peacefully...)
"Suu... suu..."
Until the day Reina leaves the nest as a Saint, he would protect her no matter what.
With that firm resolve, Clael closed his eyes.