14. End of lingering – 05
Looking back, it seems that the life of a woman named Ariel Thiers was truly unlucky. At least, Ariel herself thought so.
Her life always went in a direction she didn’t want.
Because there has never been a time when things came true the way you set your mind to it.
Ariel was an orphan.
After losing both of their parents, they had to grow up leaving their childhood in an orphanage.
Of course, it didn’t mean that I was an orphan from birth. Except for an unusual case like Bianca del Castana, everyone in the world has someone who can be called a parent.
It’s been decades since I felt it now, so my memory is a little hazy, but I could still recall it vividly.
Ariel was born as the only daughter of a small farming family in a quiet countryside.
Her father had a rough appearance like a farmer, but was a typical dependable family man who always trembled in front of his daughter, and her mother had a rather beautiful appearance to be called a simple farmer’s wife.
To be honest, her childhood was not very wealthy. Like the lives of most farmers, Ariel’s family was very needy and very poor.
However, I was happy. Even though she had nothing and was very poor, at least for Ariel, those days were truly happy. Because her father and mother, who loved and cared for her very much, were always by her side.
But unfortunately, her little happiness didn’t last that long.
A plague spread throughout the village, and all the villagers died.
Really unlucky, except for one of her. All.
“…..”
Like that, Ariel ended up alone. Somehow she didn’t get sick and didn’t die, but she didn’t consider it lucky.
Even though I was young, it was because I instinctively understood.
The people he loved, the father and mother, are not simply closing their eyes, but are actually dead.
Opening your eyes as if waking up from sleep, gently stroking your hair as always, about the fact that it won’t happen again.
…tears did not come out. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to admit that her parents, who loved her, were dead.
However, that fact that could never be undone now just felt sad.
It happened when Ariel was seven years old.
Surviving alone, she sat down in the middle of the village and just stared at the sky. Because there was no place to go back to, and there was nothing to do. Like that, Ariel just stared blankly at the sky with empty eyes.
If the cleric passing by hadn’t noticed Ariel, the only survivor of the village, she would have been staring blankly at the sky until she died.
So, she survived without dying. Only one person has become the only survivor of the village.
…No, they survived. Even with no luck.
The priest realized that the young girl had survived the plague because she had some divine power within her body, and wanted to take her to the Empire.
She obediently followed the priest. There was no particular reason for leaving the hometown where he had lived his whole life and following him.
It was just that anywhere else would have been fine. I thought that if I continued to stay here, I might go crazy after endlessly repeating the memories of people who would never return.
Ariel was entrusted to an orphanage belonging to a secluded church in the Imperial Empire. And there he spent his childhood.
The children raised in the orphanage were children in a similar situation to Ariel. Children who lost their parents, were abandoned by their parents, or grew up without knowing the warmth of their parents in the first place, and do not know love.
Life in the orphanage wasn’t a life that I liked very much, but it wasn’t that I hated it either. It was just that an ordinary time was repeated every day.
However, it seems clear that it was also a time that I liked in its own way.
While playing with children in the same situation as her, Ariel felt the pain in her heart gradually disappear. It occurred to him that one day, he might be able to laugh and talk normally like everyone else. He had dreamed that someday he could have a normal family and be happy, just like his father and mother did.
…Unfortunately, however, the dream she once had turned out to be just a dream.
Because stigmata had appeared in one corner of her body.
stigma.
The only physical evidence and proof that the goddess residing in the heavens declares that she is her child.
When it was revealed that the stigmata had appeared in this era, the entire Fa Empire was turned upside down upon hearing the news.
Ariel was immediately taken to a hearing held by the pope and cardinals.
As if they had waited, the explosion-like divine power that leaked from her body caused all the clergy to bow their heads to her on the spot.
Within a day, she was recognized as the representative of the goddess incarnated on earth, and was given the surname ‘Tier’, which is given only to saints.
She was one of the many children who wandered around the orphanage, and she became a precious status that even the people in power could not dare to treat carelessly.
That’s right.
The representative of the goddess with stigmata does not appear at any time.
In the past thousand years, the saintess has appeared on the continent only three times. The Goddess sent her representative to the earth only when a great tribulation came, which was difficult for human strength alone to handle.
In other words, the moment Ariel was chosen by the goddess and received the stigma, the goddess gave an oracle to the entire continent.
The oracle that a great tribulation may soon come to this continent.
In this way, Ariel became the representative of the goddess and a saint, regardless of her will, and from that moment on, Ariel was not given any freedom in her life.
In order to equip Ariel with the dignity of a symbol of the cult and a representative of the goddess, the adults forced her to educate her.
She was confined to solitary confinement and forced to memorize scriptures, prayed to the goddess every day to further refine her divine power, and forced all kinds of manners and knowledge into her head in order to look like the goddess incarnate. It ended up being stabbed with.
Time was tight. The obsession that trouble might come at any moment has clouded the eyes and ears of all adults. No one thought of taking care of a small girl, even if they were worried about ‘Ariel’, the representative of the goddess, no one existed anywhere.
Although the scriptures say that the whole world is full of light and the grace of the goddess, the light did not shine on Ariel. In Ariel’s world, there was only despair and pain.
What on earth is the representative of a goddess, and what is a saint? If I didn’t want to rebuke the goddess, I couldn’t help but think about these questions in my head whenever I felt pain. Why the hell did the Goddess appoint a girl like herself as a saint and make me suffer so much-
It just hurt. He had never wished for such a strange wound, never once had he ever wished for a strange power such as divine power, but the adults never looked straight at him, and did not even allow him to struggle and scream in pain. did not
There was only one thing they allowed Ariel to do. It just makes people face each other with a beautiful smile as if it were painted in a picture.
At first, I secretly cried a lot. But I soon got used to it too. Suddenly, she no longer felt any pain. Perhaps, at the end of the wear and tear of the heart, I thought that the pain itself had become dull.
And one day, she realized that she had become accustomed to all the pain that surrounded her. At least, I’ve gotten so used to how to still smile on the outside even though I’m hurting on the inside.
…I was really fine with myself.
Because, just like when I lost my parents in the past and became alone, I knew very well that this pain, which I was just hiding from others, would be felt casually.
So, a girl who dreamed of becoming a caring mother like her mother.
In the end, she lost all her smiles and became a pretty doll for everyone.
…But Ariel didn’t resent those adults. No, I didn’t even want to complain.
Because I was able to understand the ugly adults who put a lot of burden on themselves.
A stigma was engraved on his body. Soon, it also meant that a terrible thing might happen that made many people groan in pain.
She is the representative of the goddess, and a saint. It is hope itself, chosen by the Goddess herself and carrying the aspirations of all the people of this era on her back.
So you just have to be patient. Because people can get hope to live tomorrow with peace of mind because they exist.
…but sometimes, very occasionally, even she struggles too much. Tired and exhausted, there were times when I just couldn’t stand it.
Every time she did that, she would carefully touch the cross necklace on her chest that she always wore.
The one and only memento left by her mother.
When she touched it, she was able to get away from all the pain for a while and regain serenity.
Do the people who worship themselves as saints know about them?
Actually, about the fact that she was such a fragile and fragile woman.
…but that’s okay It doesn’t hurt anymore. No, if I keep repeating myself that I am not sick, then I will definitely be able to endure it.
If every time a shaking occurs, if you cover your weak parts with strong steel.
One day, the day will come when no pain will hurt your heart.
One insignificant girl and this world itself.
It was so self-evident which of the two was more important and valuable.
So, you have to be patient. have to endure she is a saint Because it was the only hope that existed in this world.
Despite being so determined, Ariel would sometimes dream of this wish, unknowingly putting her hands together and praying to the goddess.
Someone please, I want you to look at me.
Someone please, please look back at me.
…I want someone to please, save me.
Know. That it’s a dream that will never come true. Because I’m always unlucky, my wishes will never come true.
Even though he knew it well, he was still there, looking up at the sky full of light and dreaming of vain hopes that would never come true.
…even once, even once in a lifetime is fine.
He just wanted to be happy, like everyone else.
That was the one and only wish of the woman who was called a saint.