When the sky split open, we returned to the real world.

It was already night, and the school grounds were completely empty. I figured everyone had gone home.

“Ireena-san, is your leg okay?” I asked.

“…Yes, I’m fine,” Ireena-san replied, her face contorted in pain as she spoke, despite her white exorcist robes being stained with blood.

There’s no way she’s fine.

As I reached out to heal her leg, Ireena-san summoned a fairy. The fairy entered her wound and slowly spread a soft, glowing light.

It was Ireena-san’s version of healing magic. The wound on her leg closed bit by bit, and before long, it was completely healed.

I couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer variety of fairies that Ireena-san could summon. It seemed like she called forth different ones depending on the type of magic she needed.

I wished I could do something like that soon, too.

“Sorry for showing you something so unsightly, Itsuki-san,” Ireena-san said.

“…It’s fine, really,” I replied.

With her wound now healed, Ireena-san stood up. Instead of tending to Nina-chan, who was still lying down, she picked up Sensei, who was still unconscious, and turned to me.

“I’ll take this person to the hospital. I’m sorry to ask this of you, but could you take Nina back home?”

“No, I won’t,” I immediately declined.

Ireena-san widened her eyes in surprise.

“You should be the one to take Nina-chan home, Ireena-san.”

“Me…? But, that would be…”

Ireena-san frowned, clearly troubled.

“Do you even know why Nina-chan wants to become an exorcist?”

“Nina? No… because she’s a child, she probably admires being a hero of justice, right? There’s no deep meaning to it…”

I couldn’t help but raise my hand to my forehead at Ireena-san’s words.

Oh, come on. Are you seriously saying that?

Holding the still-unconscious Nina-chan in my arms, I shook my head.

“You’re wrong, Ireena-san.”

“…What am I wrong about?”

Ireena-san looked genuinely puzzled.

I hesitated for a moment, but then I decided to tell her what Nina-chan couldn’t say herself.

Why Nina-chan was trying so hard to become an exorcist.

Ideally, it would be best if Nina-chan could say this herself. But seeing how out of sync they were, someone needed to speak up. I knew this might come across as meddling, but I understood Nina-chan’s feelings.

Nina-chan had taught me magic. She showed me what it means to have a strong spirit.

Was it so wrong for me to want to prevent her from feeling more pain?

“Nina-chan is trying to become an exorcist to be recognized by you, Ireena-san.”

“…By me?”

“Yes. Nina-chan told me herself. She thinks that if she can defeat me, you’ll finally notice her. That’s why she wants to become an exorcist.”

“…That can’t be…”

Ireena-san looked at Nina-chan, still breathing softly in my arms.

“Nina-chan told me once about a time she went shopping with you. She seemed so happy talking about it. From hearing that, I realized how much she loves you, Ireena-san. And you care about her too, right? That’s why you’ve been trying to keep her away from the life of an exorcist.”

Ireena-san fell silent at my words.

“If you both care about each other so much, why don’t you talk it out? If you could just face each other and talk, I’m sure…!”

As I spoke, I had a realization.

Maybe Nina-chan inherited her poor communication skills from Ireena-san.

Yeah, that seems likely.

The way they both try to push their own feelings and desires without really talking it out—they’re so alike.

Ireena-san, however, smiled with a resigned expression, as if she had given up on something.

“Face each other… huh. You’re asking for something cruel, Itsuki-san.”

“Cruel?”

“I’ve done terrible things to this girl. I thought I was doing what was best for her… I know it’s just an excuse, but I truly believed that what I was doing was for her own good.”

Ireena-san’s words were calm and measured, but there was a quiet, burning intensity behind them, like smoldering embers.

“A year ago, her father was killed by a monster. She saw him die right in front of her, covered in his blood, and her mind shattered. When I held her in my arms that day, I swore that I would protect her, no matter what. Even if it meant losing my right to be her mother… I made that decision.”

“…”

“I sealed away her memories and stopped teaching her magic. I kept her from knowing anything about the exorcist world, hoping to protect her from it. Was that decision a mistake?”

“…I don’t know.”

I didn’t know. How could I possibly know?

I still didn’t understand so much about life. In my previous life, I just grew older without ever really growing up, living a stagnant existence until I eventually died. How could someone like me understand people, let alone judge them?

“I don’t care if Nina hates me. As long as she survives and grows up, I’m fine with being despised. If it means she can live, I’m happy to be the villain in her story. So tell me, Itsuki-san, even then—am I not facing her?”

Ireena-san’s expression was one of someone who had laid everything bare. I nodded in acknowledgment and replied:

“You’re not facing her.”

In both my past and current lives, I’ve never had children. I haven’t lived a life that gives me the right to meddle in someone else’s family affairs.

But… still.

Even I could see something clear in all of this.

“Nina-chan doesn’t want to hate you, Ireena-san.”

“…She doesn’t?”

Ireena-san had surely thought long and hard about how to protect Nina-chan.

How to keep her safe. How to ensure she wouldn’t die.

And the solution she came up with was for Nina-chan to hate her.

But that was far too clumsy, and in a way, it made Nina-chan more like Ireena-san than she realized.

“That’s why you both need to talk. About why you don’t want her to become an exorcist, and why she wants to become one. You can’t say you’re facing each other when neither of you knows those reasons.”

That was my honest belief.

You have such strong feelings for each other, so why waste that?

Why try to ruin something so important?

It seemed like such a waste.

I wasn’t sure if my words got through to her. But Ireena-san let out a small sigh and softened her expression.

“To think I’d be told this by a six-year-old… I really am a failure as a mother, aren’t I?”

“…”

“You may be right, Itsuki-san. Perhaps I should’ve listened to Nina more.”

With that, Ireena-san turned on her heel. I thought she was going to leave without taking Nina with her, so I called out to her.

“Ireena-san!”

“It’s alright. I’ll talk to Nina properly. But Itsuki-san, I doubt you’d be able to carry this person back by yourself, right?”

I couldn’t argue with that. …Yeah, Sensei was an adult, and unlike Nina-chan, carrying her would be difficult.

“I’ll call an ambulance. I’ll take Nina home too. So please, just wait here.”

“…Okay. I’ll wait, Ireena-san.”

I let out a breath of relief.

As she turned her back to me, carrying Sensei, I called out one last question.

“By the way, why did you want to marry Nina-chan to me? If you didn’t want her to be involved in the exorcist world, wouldn’t that have been a bad idea?”

Ireena-san stopped and turned around with a small smile.

“I thought that if she married you, you’d protect her. After all, you were the boy who, at just five years old, faced a Sixth Order monster to protect your family and managed to exorcise it. If she married you, I thought she’d always be safe.”

“And inviting me to England?”

“I thought Nina would be more comfortable growing up in the country she was born in.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her response.

It reminded me of something Nina-chan had said once.

“My mom only has eyes for you, Itsuki.”

But in reality, it was the opposite.

Ireena-san only ever had eyes for Nina-chan.

“Did you ever tell Nina that?”

“Of course not. Why would I?”

“Was it alright to tell me?”

“You’ve protected Nina even without knowing my shallow reasons, Itsuki-san.”

“Nina-chan’s my friend.”

“…Yes, I know.”

With that, Ireena-san left, carrying Sensei away.

I thought I had received more love from my family than I could handle in this life.

But maybe Nina-chan had experienced the same.

As I stood there waiting for Ireena-san to return, I sincerely hoped that those two could finally get along.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep