Content Note: This chapter contains emotional Elements, grief, and intense family conflict. Some scenes may be heavy or difficult to read. Please take care of yourself while reading.
(Yuuta's POV)
The kitchen was unusually quiet, the kind of silence that pressed against the skin and made every breath feel heavier than it should. Sister Mary stood across from me, her hands restless, fingers knotting together and then loosening again. The faint movement of her blindfolded eyes gave the strange impression that she was listening for something the rest of us couldn't hear.
I felt a lump form in my throat. She wasn't here for a casual chat—her whole posture betrayed that. Whatever she wanted to say, it weighed on her. My chest tightened as a thought crossed my mind. Was this about me? About Erza's identity? Or something else I wasn't ready for?
She turned toward the window, letting the dim light spill across her face. Her lips parted as though she was about to speak, but then she pressed them together again, as if swallowing the words back down. For a moment, I thought she might abandon the conversation entirely.
From the corner of my eye, I caught movement. Erza and Elena—two little heads—peeked shyly around the doorframe. Quiet as mice, wide-eyed with curiosity. They knew something was happening too.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to cut through the thick silence.
"Sister Mary… what is it? What do you need to tell me?"
Her head turned toward me. Her gaze was unwavering, but her voice carried the faintest tremor.
"I… I'm going back to my hometown."
The words hit me strangely. I blinked, not sure if I'd heard correctly.
"…Your hometown?" The word twisted in my chest, heavy with confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
She drew herself up straighter, though her hands still fidgeted. Her voice grew firmer, steadier, though sadness clung to every syllable.
"I'm leaving this country, Yuuta. I have to go back home."
Relief slipped through me, quick and foolish. A chuckle escaped my lips before I could stop it. "That's all? I thought it was something serious."
But then… why did her voice shake like that? Why did her hands tremble?
"Where is it?" I asked cautiously, curiosity gnawing at me.
Her gaze faltered. She lowered her head and whispered, "It's… far away."
I leaned forward, searching her face, unwilling to accept that vague answer. "Far away how? Where exactly? Australia? Canada? United States? India? Africa?"
Her lips trembled. The words came broken, fragile, but final.
"It's hard to explain. It's Very far from here. So far… I fear we will never meet again not in this life."
And with that, tears began to spill from her blindflood.
Something inside me cracked. My hand trembled as I reached out, my voice rising before I could control it.
"Sister Mary—what do you mean?!" My vision blurred, tears burning my eyes. "You're leaving me forever? Why? Where?!" The words came out ragged, half a plea, half a demand, as I grabbed her shoulders. "Why are you making this so confusing?!"
She didn't fight me. She only shook her head, her voice broken by sobs.
"I'm sorry, Yuuta. I can't tell you. Please… let me hold this secret. I have to leave you."
My tears spilled freely now, my chest aching with every breath. "Why? Why are you leaving me? If you go… who will I have to call Sister anymore?"
My voice betrayed me then, cracking like a child's, my composure unraveling. I buried my face, unable to keep it together.
"I can't lose you, Sister Mary…"
Her blindfold hid the tears she never let fall, yet I could feel the heaviness pressing from her unseen eyes. Even without sight, the weight of her presence was almost unbearable.
"Please, Yuuta… I have to leave you."
The words landed like stones in my chest. My knees buckled beneath me, and before I knew it, I had sunk to the cold floor, clutching at her like a drowning man grasping the last piece of driftwood.
"Why?" The word tore from my throat, ragged and broken. "Please… don't go. I… I can't live without you."
It wasn't just desperation—it was truth. Sister Mary had been my anchor in every storm, the only constant in a life built on absence. My parents were nothing but faceless shadows I would never meet, my bloodline a mystery. She had been the one who filled that void—raising me, teaching me, shaping me into someone who could stand in this world at all. Without her, the horizon felt like a vast, merciless abyss.
Tears blurred my vision. I clung to her feet, my voice cracking under the weight of my grief.
"Please… please don't leave me. You're all I have. The only family I've ever known."
Her hands trembled as she bent down, fingers brushing gently through my hair in that tender, familiar way that had comforted me countless nights as a child. Her voice was soft, fragile, yet steady with conviction.
"Yuuta… don't worry. Even if I'm not around… you've already found your own family, haven't you?"
The words stilled me. I froze, chest heaving, and lifted my eyes in confusion.
A gentle pressure touched my shoulder. I turned and found Erza standing behind me, silent but resolute. Her hand rested firmly on me, her presence steady, unshakable—a pillar when I was crumbling. She said nothing, but in her gaze I saw a quiet promise: You're not alone.
And then… Elena.
She stepped forward hesitantly, her tiny frame trembling, her cheeks stained pink from trying so hard not to cry. Yet she didn't falter. Her little hands pressed against my head, fingers smoothing over my hair. Her voice was small, determined, and heartbreakingly tender.
"Papa… don't cry. Elena knows a healing song, You will be fine."
My breath hitched. Her lips quivered, but she refused to let the tears fall. Instead, she began to sing. Softly at first, the melody weaving through the air, fragile and earnest.
"Pain, pain… go away…
Come again another day…
Papa want's to happy again…
Pain, pain… go away…"
The simple, childish tune wrapped around me like a warm blanket on a winter night. Each note carried a piece of her heart, and with every word, the crushing weight pressing on my chest lifted—just a little.
I buried my face in my hands, overwhelmed by the innocence, the courage of this small girl trying to heal wounds too big for her little shoulders.
When I glanced back at Sister Mary, her blindflood were glistening with pride and sorrow all at once. Tears spilled freely now from cloth, but she smiled through them, radiant and aching.
"See, Yuuta?" she whispered, voice breaking yet warm. "You have your family now. People who care for you… people who will stand beside you. Let me go back to where I came from. You'll be alright."
The words tore at me. I wanted to scream, to protest, to demand she stay. But Elena's tiny hand in mine, the silent strength and then, Erza's Hugged me out of nowhere.
Her arms wrapped tightly around me, her breath warm against my ear.
"Please, Yuuta… let her go. Don't make this harder for her."
"But—" My voice cracked, my chest aching with a pain I didn't know how to name.
Her embrace only tightened, steady and unyielding. "I know it hurts. I know you're confused. But trust me—she's doing this for your own good."
Her calm voice clashed with the storm raging in my heart. Elena's tiny hands trembled against my lap, her warmth pressing against me like fragile reassurance. I shook my head violently, desperate, clinging to the only thread of hope I could grasp.
"Then at least… at least promise me you'll write me a letter. Or call me. Something—anything!"
Sister Mary lowered her gaze, her expression dimming like a candle about to fade.
"Once I reach there… no technology will work. No letters, no phone calls. Nothing will reach you. The distance… it's too far."
A bitter laugh ripped from my throat, jagged and ugly. "What is this place then, huh? Heaven? Hell? Jupiter's sun? Some corner of the earth that doesn't exist?!" My voice cracked as it rose, fighting against the tears that choked me. "I don't even know my real parents… I don't even know you! You never told me about your hometown, never told me why! So what am I supposed to be, Sister Mary?! Why are you so afraid to tell me the truth?! Who am I?!"
The last words shattered into sobs. My body shook, my head bowed, ashamed at how weak I sounded.
"Why… when everything finally felt perfect, like I had a family again… why is it slipping away? Please, just tell me what you're fearing. Tell me the truth, Where is this place."
"Yuuta…" Sister Mary's voice was so soft I almost didn't hear it. It trembled, fraying at the edges, yet somehow it carried through the heavy air. "It's not fear. I just don't want you carrying a burden you don't need. Some truths… will only hurt you."
Her words sank into me like stones in water, rippling through the quiet kitchen.
I lifted my head slowly, anger and grief twisting inside me until I could barely breathe.
"So that's it?" My voice cracked, hoarse. "I don't even get a choice?"
Her head bowed, a single, steady shake.
"Even if you begged me a thousand times, my answer would not change. Because if I told you where I was going, it would only drag you back into your trauma."
The room stilled.
Only the faint ticking of the old clock on the wall filled the silence, every second dragging like a blade across my nerves. Fifteen minutes passed—or maybe it was longer, I couldn't tell. The air felt heavy enough to crush me.
Erza's fingers threaded gently through my hair, drawing slow circles on my scalp. It was the kind of touch meant to calm a child's nightmare, but it only made my chest ache harder. Elena crawled into my lap without a word. She clung to me tightly, her tiny arms trembling, as if she believed her small body could hold me together.
Finally, my voice slipped out, ragged and dry.
"…Then at least… let me walk you out. Let me see you off."
Sister Mary's lips parted, trembling, but she shook her head. Her blind eyes shimmered with sorrow that she tried to hide, but couldn't.
"No, Yuuta. If you saw me leave… that image would never leave you. It would haunt you for the rest of your life. I can't do that to you."
A bitter laugh escaped me, sharp and broken. I lowered my head, shoulders shaking.
"So I can't even say goodbye? I can't even give you a farewell?" My voice rose, uneven, desperate. "Sister Mary… please. Don't joke with me like this, Are you Stupid."
Smack!
The sound cracked through the kitchen like lightning. My cheek burned, stinging where Erza's palm had struck. I froze, stunned, staring at her in disbelief.
Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths, her eyes blazing with a storm of fury and grief.
"Enough!" Her voice trembled, yet it tore through the silence like thunder.
"Enough, Yuuta! Can't you see? She's not abandoning you. She's… going home. She doesn't hate you—she hid the secret from you for your sake, because she's thinking of you! Why can't you see it? Why can't you see her love? She was protecting you in ways you're unaware of… she did it all for you. She's been doing everything… all of it… for you!"
I touched my cheek, the sting still throbbing. The word echoed in my head like poison.
"Protecting me…?" My voice was hollow.
"Idiot." Erza's voice cracked, breaking against her tears. "Stupid, selfish idiot."
Before I could answer, she leaned in. Her forehead pressed against mine, hot with the warmth of her skin, damp with her tears. Her voice broke as she spoke, yet every word hit like steel.
"She didn't raise you so you could cling to her like a child forever!" Erza's voice cracked, her eyes burning with tears. "She raised you so you'd learn to stand on your own two damn feet! so you could find happiness… and marry the woman who's right in front of you.—and build your own family!".
The words twisted in me. My throat closed, my chest tightened. My own breath felt like it was betraying me.
"My… own family…" I whispered.
Then I felt a tug on my shirt.
I looked down. Elena's small hands gripped the fabric tightly, her eyes red and swollen from crying. She wiped at her cheeks with her sleeve, sniffling, then looked up at me with a shaky, determined smile.
"Papa already has one," she whispered, her voice trembling but clear. "Papa has me. And Mama, Don't cry."
Her words pierced deeper than any slap, sharper than any wound. They broke through the grief that had drowned me and struck the very core of my heart.
For the first time… I couldn't speak at all.
"I… I understand... I understand now, Thank you Erza," I whispered softly. My throat was raw, my words barely more than a breath.
I reached out and gently rubbed Elena's head. She sniffled but smiled faintly through her tears. Slowly, with legs that felt like stone, I forced myself to stand.
The moment I rose, Elena let out a tiny gasp and quickly scurried behind Erza, clutching the hem of her dress as though afraid I might collapse again.
My vision blurred with tears, but I kept moving forward until I stood face-to-face with Sister Mary. Erza remained at my side, her presence steady, her warmth keeping me from falling apart completely.
I wiped at my face with the back of my sleeve, my vision still blurred by tears. My voice came out shaky, but I forced a smile through it.
"I'm sorry… Sister Mary. Take care of yourself. I… I hope you'll be happy again in your hometown."
She smiled. Before I could say more, she pulled me into her arms. Her embrace was warm, motherly, and trembling with the weight of goodbye.
"I will, Yuuta," she whispered against my ear. "You will always be my only son. Thank you… for giving me so many precious memories."
My arms wrapped around her tightly, clinging as though I could anchor her here if I just held on hard enough. My voice cracked, muffled against her shoulder.
"I'm sorry if I ever hurt you in the past… Please forgive me and remember me. And… if it's possible, meet me again one day."
Her breath hitched. She stroked the back of my head gently, like she had when I was a child.
"Sure… if it's possible, I will," she said softly.
I pulled back just enough to meet her eyes. My hand trembled as I lifted my little finger between us.
"Then… promise me."
For a moment she only stared at it, I mean feel it. Then her expression shifted—surprise, sorrow, nostalgia flickering across her face. I could tell she remembered.
In my mind, the memory replayed itself with painful clarity:
I had been just a boy, sitting on the church steps with tears streaming down my cheeks.
"Sister Mary," I had whispered to her back then, "everyone keeps leaving me. One day… you'll leave me too, won't you?"
She had shaken her head fiercely, her blindfolded eyes glistening.
"No. Never. I will always be here with you."
I had raised my pinky finger, small and trembling.
"Promise?"
And with a soft smile, she had hooked hers around mine.
"Promise."
That vow had sealed something unbreakable between us.
Now, years later, with tears streaking down both our faces, I held my pinky up once more. My voice cracked as I whispered:
"Promise me again… that you'll meet me, if it's possible."
Her lips trembled, but she raised her little finger, touching it gently to mine. A tear slipped down her cheek as she whispered:
"Promise, Yuuta. Someday… I'll meet you again."
The weight of her words sank into me, filling my chest with both hope and unbearable ache.
So this is the turning point of my life.
From now on, I can't stand as a child anymore—I must stand as a man.
I don't know why Sister Mary raised me, nor what secret she's been hiding from me all this time. But one thing I am certain of… she raised me with love.
And yet, I can't help but wonder—did God truly hate me all along?.
(Grandpa POV)
So it's true… I whispered to myself, standing with my arms crossed, listening to their conversation while hiding behind the kitchen wall.
Erza's voice was heavy with emotion, trembling yet fierce. She wept openly, and the raw intensity of her words cut through the air. As soon as Yuuta's tears fell, I realized—both of them… they are bound together by love so deep it carries pain and grief in equal measure. They share everything, even the sorrow that threatens to crush them.
Fate… it has a cruel sense of humor. It's playing with my granddaughter's life again, just like it did four years ago. Four years… and yet here we are, repeating the cycle. I couldn't look away, couldn't stop the ache twisting in my chest. How many times must she endure heartbreak before the world finally lets her breathe?
Damn it. Fate… it's toying with my granddaughter's life again, just like it did four years ago.
I clenched my fists. No. I cannot let this continue. I have a choice to make.
Either… I find a way to extend Yuuta's life, buy him time so their bond remains unbroken. Or… I sever it. Break their connection entirely, sparing them both from a cruel destiny.
Both paths are cruel. Both carry a weight I cannot fully bear.
But saving Erza and Elena… that is more important than anything.
Yuuta… I will do everything I can to help you live. My grandson-in-law, I will push the limits of magic, medicine, whatever it takes, to give you more hundred years—so that you can be together.
Yet if I fail… if I falter… please, do not blame me for choosing the second option.
I love you like a grandson, but fate is merciless. I cannot allow it to destroy everyone I hold dear. I can only hope… that one day, you understand why I had to make this choice.
Yuuta Konuari.
To be continued.
End of chapter.