I walked far enough to disappear from my sisters sight and headed toward a certain place.

There,…

「Mom, I’m coming in!」

And with a knock on the door, I entered the house.

Inside was a modest room with only a bed, a desk, and chair.

There was a vase with a single flower in it near the window.

She was originally the eldest daughter of Baron Arnold, but their family collapsed due to a business failure.

I heard that everyone ended up scattering and looking for jobs at various n.o.ble households afterward, and my mother became a maid at Baron Glemond’s house.

She was a blonde beauty with a gentle smile.

Gelman was probably attracted to that appearance of her.

Standing beside her bed was the girl who’d been nursing her, Mia.

Mia was 14 years old. Originally, she was an orphan, but my mother took her in as a maid four years ago.

I don’t remember much about that, since I was only three at the time.

Back then,, madam Kelly was really angry about the appearance of a little girl whose background was unknown, but it appeared that Gelman allowed it.

Since then, she’d been my mother’s daughter, and my big sister; we were pretty close.

「……Ara, Redius, what’s wrong?」

As soon as I had entered the room, my mother rose from the bed, even though she looked to be in pain. A few years ago, she caught an incurable illness.

We didn’t know the cause, but the doctor said that it would eat away at her muscles little by little.

At first, it only made her trip and fall as she walked, but, day by day, it kept getting worse, rendering her unable to move; right now, she couldn’t even walk. Sitting up should be really painful for her.

「Mom, please don’t push yourself. I’ll come to your side」

I rushed over to support her. The maid, Mia, also lent a hand, so she was somehow able to sit upright.

Even though my mother was tired, she maintained a smile.

I’ve always loved that smile. Every time I saw it, I could forget about the pain.

「Thank you, Redius, Mia. Fufu, I’ve probably gotten a bit healthier thanks to you two.」she said, a smile still upon her lips.

As I was about to say something…

「That’s right, Mia. Please bring ‘that’ thing to Redius」

「Yes, Mary-sama」

…my mother suddenly spoke again. Mia then brought back a box from a corner of the room.

It was sitting atop the desk, one of the few pieces of furniture there was in here.

When I opened it…

「Th-This is?」

「I bought it using the money that I’d saved up since before becoming a maid.

This is your sword. I bought a fairly large one for you to use until you’ve grown up, but I wonder if it’s too big?」

Saying so, she smiled again. Mia was also smiling. Inside the box was a sword as tall as myself.

Thinking of my height as 100, then the blade alone was around 80 in length.

I didn’t know much about swords, so I couldn’t really comment on it.

I wondered, “Why so sudden?” and looked at my mother.

「You’ve gone through terrible things because of me, so I figured that I should do something mother-like one last time」

I was struck speechless by her words. What do you mean by “one last time”! Why are you suddenly saying that? I still have a lot of things I want to talk, and a lot of things I want to do, with you.

Saying so, my mother hugged me tightly.

She didn’t have nearly as much strength as she used to.

But, even so, her motherly warmth made me happy.

Before I knew it, tears had already streamed down my face.

「Geez, Redius is such a crybaby. At this rate, you’ll be hated by your future girlfriend, you know?」

She wiped away my tears while saying that. I rubbed my eyes and got rid of the tears.

「I’m not going to cry anymore! I’ll do my best so you can be at ease!」

I can’t stop the tears now, but this is only today.

I’ll try my best starting tomorrow.

Even Mia standing on the side couldn’t fight back the tears.

I was aware that my mother was also crying while holding me.

Everyone was weeping, but, at the end, we were smiling while hugging each other.

And then, one month later. My mother’s condition took a sudden turn for the worse, and that night heaven took her.

As I recall it, she had clearly guessed the time of her death back then.

That’s why she gave me that sword.

As for Mia, she gave her a cute necklace.

Even now, she was grasping it tightly.

Gelman couldn’t put her in the same gravesite as those of the Glemond household, but he prepared for her a simple tomb at the corner of the cemetery.

He was paying a tribute to my mother.

I stood before her grave. Beside me, Mia was crying out loud. She’d always thought of my mother as her own since the day she was picked up, so it was really painful for her when our mother left us.

Moreover, I think she was crying for my part as well. After all, I’d already decided that I wouldn’t cry anymore.

「Mia. Let’s go back」

「……*sniffles*, y-yes……」

I recalled my mother’s last words.

『You may think that there’s too much pain and sorrow, but there’s just as much happiness.

Right now, you think that your life is painful because of your hair color, but I’m sure that you’ll be able to smile eventually』

She told me that it was a bliss to have given birth to me, and that she was happy.

That’s why, Mom, I’ll keep on living happily just like you did, even though there’s so much pain awaiting me.

I want you to watch me from heaven.

I’ll give it my best shot.

Mom, thank you for giving birth to me.