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A few days later.

Just like usual, I am cleaning the dishes with Marie in the church’s dining room. Then all of a sudden, Marie yelps in surprise and also a bit of excitement.

“Marie-sama? What’s wrong?”

“Lian-sama! Oh, look at this!”

Standing still with the plates she initially intends to carry to the kitchen, Marie smiles and looks back at me. Then with her small finger, she points at the window.

Naturally, my gaze shifts toward it.

Outside the window, I see extremely small and white fluffy beads fluttering down from the sky.

The way it falls is soft. Gentle.

One after another without any sign of stopping.

With every bead that falls to the ground, the outdoor scenery is gradually dyed a pure white more and more.

It seems the kids playing in the garden have also noticed. They look up at the sky and try to catch some of the fluffy white beads, playfully jumping and stretching their small hands toward the sky.

It’s snowing.

Snow rarely falls in this warm region. And yet…

Snow’s currently falling.

“Lian-sama! That’s snow, right? How rare. It’s been a very long time since I last saw snow… Ah, it’s so fluffy and white and beautiful…”

“Right…”

I look away from the window so that the view is completely out of my sight.

So that day has finally arrived, huh?

“Hehe. The kids seem to be having a lot of fun. I’m glad, but… I hope the snow doesn’t pile up. Also, I get this weird feeling that the one who will come to help the church is about to arrive soon…”

With a worried expression, Marie looks out the window with her hand on her cheek and releases a sigh.

Seeing Marie in this state, I once again direct my gaze toward the window.

Bit by bit, snow drops to the ground, but I feel like the amount of snowfall is increasing. Not to mention, it doesn’t seem like it’ll stop snowing any time soon.

The number of orphans has increased so much that Marie is no longer able to handle everything by herself. Because of that, she wrote a letter to the branch of the Fortuna Church that is located in this country a month ago, explaining the church’s current tight situation with regards to the staff and requesting support. Their reply arrived five days ago.

In the letter, the branch acknowledges and addresses Marie’s concerns, stating that they will send someone to help ease her workload in the church as soon as possible and that in the meantime, they hope she can do her best to handle the church’s affairs on her own for just a little bit longer.

As I read the letter, I immediately catch onto something.

The helper is probably—no, definitely…

That girl with hair as gold as a wheat field on a sunny day and sky-blue eyes, just like Alfred.

“Lian-sama?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing… I hope they’ll arrive here safely.”

“Yes, I hope so too!”

As I chat with Marie, two girls with the same bob haircut jump into the dining room and rush toward us, out of breath.

They’re the twin sisters who recently came to the church. With fair skin, light brown hair, and yellow-green eyes, they appear to be two peas in a pod because they look exactly the same.

I only manage to distinguish them because their clothes are of different colors. The older sister is in red, while the little sister is in pink. But if they ever swap clothes, I’m sure I wouldn’t even notice a thing. Even now, I still wonder whether I actually know who is who.

“Marie-sama! Lian-sama!”

“Sama!”

“Oh my. Why are you running in such a hurry?”

“Uhh, there’s a visitor!”

“Yeah!”

“Visitor?”

“Yup! Brother Al and someone with the same yellow hair and blue eyes!”

“Yea!”

Upon hearing that, Marie places her hand on her mouth. Then she looks back at me.

It seems like she’s realized the significance of a blond blue-eyed visitor when both features are rarely found in this region.

I slowly nod and then gently push Marie’s back, flashing my usual smile so that Marie won’t worry.

Since Marie’s my only confidant in this world, I’ve talked with her about the Holy Maiden and about how she will come to the village someday. However, I never revealed when exactly the Holy Maiden will come.

But I did tell her that one vital part of this story: at some point in the future, a girl with the same hair and eye colors as Alfred will visit this church. I also told her that this girl is the chosen one. The ‘heroine.’

And that she will continue to support Alfred until the very end… as his most important person.

A worried expression crosses Marie’s face, and she comes to my side, staring at me. Afterward, she carefully places her hands in front of her chest and smiles. “Lian-sama.”

Out of reflex, I straighten my back. It’s the way she slowly calls my name. For some reason… I feel like she’s going to scold me.

“…Yes?”

“It’ll be alright. Everything will be fine. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

I tilt my head in puzzlement. “Huh?”

But Marie only grins before reaching out to gently pat my arms multiple times.

“You’re kind, always watching over us and helping us and sometimes even leading us forward by hand. You will surely have a kind and gentle future y as well. I told you this before, right?” says Marie in a slow voice, sounding like she’s trying to make me understand something.

Come to think of it, I remember her saying such a thing before. But in my memory, it feels like something that happened a very long time ago.

She moves her hands to grab mine and pull my hands. “Now then, let’s go. It’s alright.”

Even though her words have no basis to them, Marie sounds very confident. I’m confused.

With the nun tugging at my hand, I take a step forward.

For some reason, My legs feel kind of heavy and won’t leave the floor. I struggle to take the next step.

The sisters with bobbed hair spin around us, cheeks rosy and hopping all around.

“Oh yeah! There’s also a very beautiful ‘Sir Knight’ with him!”

“Very!”

“Huh?”

“Oh my.”

Sir Knight… Is it that ‘Sir Knight?’

At that instant, Marie and I stop in our tracks and exchange looks, puzzled.

This is an unknown element to me. Isn’t the scenario I’m familiar with.

The scenario that I know is… In the game’s story, the apprentice nun, also known as the Saint Maiden, comes to the village with an acolyte escorting her.

Why did it change?

I don’t know.

What happened here?

As I’m confused and shaken by this unexpected change, Marie flashes her usual smile and lightly grips my hands.

Looking at her smiling face and plump, rosy cheeks, I gradually regain my composure.

“I don’t really understand, but let’s go welcome them, Lian-sama,” she says.

“…Okay.”

That’s true. No matter how much I think about it, nothing will change.

I know that too.

I ready myself and nod in reply. Then with Marie still pulling my hands, I walk toward the church.