Chapter 15: A Place to Return To and a Thumping Heart
Under the pale glow of the moon, Raphiel and I sat side by side, quietly talking beneath the night sky.
The silver light spilled over the village rooftops, soft and gentle, while the cool night breeze carried away the lingering warmth of the feast and laughter from earlier.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Then, without warning—
“My oldest memory… is the moment my parents abandoned me.”
“Eh? We’re starting with something that heavy all of a sudden!?”
“Please be quiet and listen.”
“Ah… right.”
Her voice was more serious than I had ever heard before.
That alone was enough to make me sit up straight and listen in silence.
Raphiel continued calmly, her gaze fixed on the moon hanging high above us.
“They most likely never even realized they had abandoned me. My parents were deeply devout people. To them, I was never their daughter… merely a Saintess.”
“…That sounds lonely.”
“Yes. I was lonely. On the first night I was left at the temple, my childish heart wept from sorrow. But that was also the last time I ever cried. The training began the very next day.”
Training.
If what Grana had told me was true, then “training” was putting it lightly.
What Raphiel endured had been closer to torture than religious discipline.
As if reading my thoughts, she glanced at me briefly.
“Judging from your expression, it seems you already know. Did Grana tell you?”
“…Yeah. More or less. About how they whipped you for entire days… and if you so much as groaned, they’d dump ice water on you or hold you over flames.”
“And in addition, they ordered me to climb mountains of needles and survive on nothing but mist.”
“Ugh… How could anyone do something that horrible to a child?”
“Thank you for being angry on my behalf. However, the decrepit old bastards who imposed those trials upon me have long since fallen from power, so there is no need to worry.”
…Oh. Really?
“Cardinal Larsa, Cardinal Uranos, and several others who cared for me were the ones who brought about their downfall.”
“…I see.”
Following the warmth in Raphiel’s gaze, I looked through the open doorway toward the living room.
There, sprawled out without a shred of dignity, snoring loudly with her stomach exposed, was Cardinal Larsa.
So that woman had saved her.
Well… no wonder Raphiel treasured her so deeply.
Anyone would be grateful to the person who reached out a hand and rescued them from hell.
“Though by that point, I had already stopped reacting emotionally to most things. HAH AHA.”
“Please don’t laugh with a blank expression. It’s terrifying.”
“I forgot how to laugh.”
“That just makes it even heavier!”
“It is quite rude to keep calling a lady ‘heavy,’ you know.”
For a moment, I found myself imagining it.
What kind of girl would Raphiel have become if she had never been subjected to those torturous trials?
If she had been raised with love, cherished by her parents like any normal child her age?
Maybe she would have turned out like Luca, Nor, or Rio—
bright, energetic, always smiling.
A cheerful girl whose laughter naturally drew people in.
Honestly, I kind of wanted to see that version of her.
“I have spoken more than intended. In any case… what I wished to say is that I never truly had a place to return to.”
“A place… to return to…”
“To me, the temple was merely a place of pain and suffering, though it was also where I met Cardinal Larsa and Cardinal Uranos.”
I understood.
I understood all too well how painful that was.
“When my parents died in that accident, I stopped knowing where home was supposed to be too. So… maybe I understand how you feel, at least a little.”
“Oh? What a coincidence. …How did you recover, Eight?”
“I didn’t really do anything special. The old man who took me in was just ridiculously cheerful. Before I knew it, between all the praise and scolding… that house became the place I belonged. The place I wanted to come back to.”
“How romantic.”
“I’m already aware that sounded embarrassingly cheesy, so please don’t tease me.”
Damn it.
Now that I’d said it out loud, it really was embarrassing.
Apparently sensing my growing shame—or perhaps deliberately ignoring it—Raphiel continued in her usual calm tone.
“…Do you remember when the Inquisition Knights came to this village, and I tried to resume my pilgrimage?”
“I got my arm chopped off right afterward, so yeah, that’s not exactly something I can forget.”
“At that time… when you did not try to stop me, and instead sent me off with your blessing… it made me happier than I can express.”
“…Eh?”
Raphiel looked directly into my eyes.
A warmth burned within her gaze unlike anything before.
And here, it is important to remember one thing:
Raphiel was, exactly as she claimed, an absurdly beautiful girl.
A breathtakingly beautiful girl.
So naturally—
My heart skipped a beat.
“In that moment, for the first time in my life… I felt relieved. I felt as though I finally had a place I was allowed to return to.”
“W-Well… hearing that definitely makes me happy as the host, at least.”
“And so, this is my thanks.”
“—Huh?”
For a split second, my mind failed to process what had happened.
Raphiel leaned toward me.
Her face drew closer.
Then—
Softly, gently—
Her lips brushed against my cheek.
“W-Wha—!? What are you doing!?”
“The first kiss of the most beautiful woman in the world. You should consider yourself fortunate, Eight.”
“Could you please stop saying things that ruin the mood!?”
At my panicked retort, Raphiel’s lips curved ever so slightly.
A tiny smile.
Barely visible beneath the moonlight.
“Then… would you prefer something even more heart-pounding?”
“Eh? E-Even more…!?”
In the span of an instant, my imagination went completely off the rails.
Meanwhile, Raphiel quietly leaned against my shoulder.
My heartbeat was deafening.
Could it be…?
Was tonight the night I finally advanced to the next stage as a man?
My expectations started spiraling dangerously upward.
But no.
Getting swept away here would be bad.
Very bad.
“R-Raphiel-san!! Doing things that make my heart race too much is— …huh?”
“…Suu…”
“She’s asleep!?”
I mean, sure, Raphiel had been drinking a lot earlier, but still!!
Come on!!
The flow of the conversation totally made it seem like we were about to do something even more intense than kissing!!
“Well… whatever.”
Watching Raphiel’s peaceful sleeping face resting against my shoulder, I quietly pulled out the fried chicken I had secretly saved for later.
It had already gone completely cold.
But even so—
The fried chicken we made together with the children still tasted unbelievably good.