childhood
020. Lucard
"Lucard. You always look happy."
The priest always said that when he saw me.
"The chirping of birds, the murmuring of a stream, the rustling of trees and the smell of the wind passing by your cheeks. I believe in my heart that feeling peace and happiness in everything that surrounds you, is your greatest treasure"
The face of the priest-sama who said that with a smile is still burned into my eyes.
But at the same time, when I see that smile, I can't help but feel pain in my chest.
Because, as Priest-sama said, I wasn't a person who could find happiness in such trivial things.
Keep smiling.
For me, it was just a way of life.
I lost my parents when I was young and was sent to an orphanage run by a church, where I worked hard.
Even though they are children, they are just orphans with no guardian.
I didn't want to be just an existence to be protected, so I did whatever I could.
I didn't want to be an unnecessary person.
I wanted to be a good child that adults need.
That's why, no matter how hard the job was, I accepted it with a "smile".
Eventually, when I turned 12 years old, it became even more important after I realized that I had magical powers and that I had the qualities to become a priest.
I just continued desperately.
A smile is just a persona that I wear.
Even after completing training as an apprentice priest and starting touring the land of Ao as a traveling priest.
A pious priest who teaches people with a smile.
While playing such a self, he continued to work hard on his duties and training as a priest.
I don't want to show my weakness to anyone.
Always smile. With my desperation closed only in my heart, I thought I was just pushing forward.
But she... Only Lady Selene noticed my heart.
I've been hiding it all this time, in that figure beneath the smile...
When I looked up at the sky on her lap, I certainly felt a "happiness" that I had never felt before.
The blue of the sky and the green of the trees seemed more vivid than usual.
I just lay down and it was like magic.
And the moment I saw her soft smile looking down on me, like a true saint, I felt a sense of fulfillment that I had never felt before in my life.
Even though she was a saint candidate, the smile of a young girl who was five years younger than herself.
It was like a warmth of my mother, whose face I can no longer remember.
Unknowingly, I fell asleep.
When was the last time I slept so peacefully?
When I woke up, the sun was already setting.
Soft feel on the head.
Even though I had been asleep for a long time, she seemed to be holding me all the time.
Before I knew it, I would support Selene-sama who had fallen asleep, so that she wouldn't wake up.
light.
As I supported her slender, small body that showed off her youthfulness suitable to her age, an indescribable feeling sprang up in my chest.
what exactly is she?
What kind of existence is she for me?
The only thing I can say is...
"You are definitely someone who should become a saint."
I was already convinced within myself.
Lady Selene will surely become a saint.
So I will continue to support you.
As a priest of the white country. no…….
"What are you thinking? I..."
Shaking off the delusions that popped into my head, I glanced at the setting sun and started walking towards the mansion while holding Selene-sama in my arms.