saiki

59

'It's okay, Evangeline. Nothing's going to happen.'

It was a memory from her childhood.

Monsters had ambushed the city that night as well.

The city had become a battlefield, and the Margrave of Crossroad had urgently dashed out from his mansion towards the front lines.

As always, her mother had come to Evangeline's room and held her close.

'There's nothing to be afraid of. When the sun rises, all the monsters will disappear.'

Evangeline knew.

The person most afraid was her mother.

Every time her father went to battle, her mother trembled in fear that he might get hurt or die.

However, instead of expressing it, she would come to her daughter and silently hold her.

'...'

Evangeline turned her head. Far off, flames sprouted from the front lines.

Despite the considerable distance between the fortress and the mansion, the sound of iron was clear. The smell of ash made her nose tingle.

The people's screams and cries, the monsters' howls. And, the stench of blood.

'Mom.'

Evangeline asked.

'When will I have to go there?'

'What?'

Her mother looked at her young daughter in surprise. Evangeline had a mature expression uncharacteristic of a child.

'I heard it from dad. The heir of the Cross family must go to the front lines and fight.'

Her mother's expression fell as if the world had collapsed. Evangeline cocked her head.

'Does mom not want me to fight?'

'It's not about liking or disliking. It's the destiny of the Cross family.'

Her mother once again held Evangeline close.

'It's just... sad.'

'Sad?'

'Because your mother is a coward. I'm scared that your dad might get hurt, and that you might suffer in the future... It's frightening and saddening.'

Evangeline hesitated for a moment, then asked the question that had been on her mind for a while.

'Mom didn't know this would happen, right?'

'Huh?'

'You didn't know that you'd worry about dad every time monsters attacked? You didn't know I'd have to fight there when I grow up?'

The fear that her husband might die. The sadness engulfing her as she worried about her daughter's future.

Every night the monsters attacked, her mother trembled in such a way.

'If you knew this would happen... would you have not married dad?'

Her mother, who had been silently looking at her daughter, answered,

'No. I knew.'

Slowly, a soft smile spread across her lips.

'I knew that if I married your father, every time monsters attacked, I'd spend the night in tears.'

Her mother's rough yet warm hand stroked Evangeline's hair.

'I knew that if I gave birth to you, you too would eventually face the destiny to fight. I knew I'd be saddened by that destiny. I knew everything.'