The Daughter of Evil - Volume 3 - Chapter Pr

Prologue
Praeludium of Red, page 4-7

Very soon the day would be over.

.

The church bells that signaled it was three o'clock had just rung. It was in the colder season, so it got dark much earlier.

The sky and the ocean were dyed in scarlet as the sun wavered over the horizon, and as the day ended it sank below.

I gazed at the sea from the beach.

When I grew up, I stopped having as much interest in the ocean. I had no incentive to; all the waves did was just continue the same repetitive back and forth motions over again. The only changes to be seen were the fishing boats and such that came in occasionally.

 .

I myself didn’t know why I was gazing at something so boring for such a long span of time.

Whether it was to calm my heart, or just that I wanted to escape from reality for a while–

 .

I shook my head to deny my thoughts. I was content with my life as it was now.  It was a modest but fulfilling way of living. I had no sorrow towards that.

It wasn’t this life that I wanted to escape from. It was memories of long ago.

I felt that it was only times like now, when I was being buffeted by the salty air and looking at the sea like this, where the old wounds of my memories could be healed, however slightly.

 .

A span of five years had passed since that revolution.

On that day, I lost everything. I had to leave it all behind in the palace.

My wealthy, my prestige–my memories.

I couldn’t forget it. Even as I immersed myself in my new life, the trauma would cast a shadow on my heart like an occasional fit.

In such times like that, I would always sneak out of the monastery and gaze at the ocean in this place.

 .

“I’m fine already. Relax.”

 .

Those words were towards myself, and towards the other me who was gone now.

By murmuring it I could release myself from the darkness that wrapped up my heart just a little bit.

I would not be forgiven. I knew that.

I had to atone for my sins my entire life.

I heard a voice from right behind me.

“That’s why I told you to properly look everything up beforehand.”

An affluent looking lady was scolding a boy with a displeased expression.

Judging from their clothes, the boy was the woman’s servant. She was beautiful, but before such a harsh-seeming master the boy was holding a map vertically, and up towards the sky, while sweating heavily.

Them being in a place like this, they were probably foreigners who’d come to this port by boat.

As I continued to gaze at the two of them, my eyes suddenly met with the lady’s.

“Hold on a moment. Are you from the Held Monastery?” she asked, after checking the nun uniform that I was wearing. I nodded, and her face suddenly lit up. “Would you mind showing us the way? I came here to visit a friend, but I’ve gotten lost on the road.”

I cheerfully agreed, and started leading the two of them.

I had been thinking about heading back soon anyway.

Apparently they were foreigners from across the ocean after all, and they’d arrived at the port just past noon. But the new servant boy made a mistake about the monastery’s location, and after wandering around the port town for a while they’d arrived here.

“Random luck though it may be, thank goodness we ran into you. This is the first time I’ve come to the monastery.”

Contrary to the lady’s bright face, the boy was sullen. He’d made a sudden failure in his new job. I could tell that he was pretty down.

When I asked if she was an acquaintance of someone at the monastery, the lady grinned and offered up the name of a dear friend of mine.

 .

“I’ve come to see Clarith today.”

 .

I had no way of knowing that a new story was about to begin.