Before the letter was ever sent, Sapphire saw it by accident. He had always adored his mother, so learning it wasn't a virgin birth shook him to his core. The letter didn't name the father—only a time and place for a secret meeting.
Sapphire carefully put the letter back where it belonged. He decided then that he would follow her quietly when the meeting happened.
A few days later, a messenger from the Grand Convent arrived, inviting the girl on a pilgrimage. The old nun, worried, asked her quietly, "You haven't contacted that man all these years, have you?"
The maiden answered firmly, "No. I haven't."
But fate had other plans.
The day the Grand Monastery came to escort her was the very day and hour of the secret meeting. The maiden said she'd forgotten something at home and needed to return alone.
The old nun offered to send someone with her, but the maiden smiled gently and refused. "Everyone in town knows me. I'll be fine."
She slipped away, taking a detour through the woods toward the meeting spot.
From the edge of the trees, a man appeared.
"Ryo? Are you walking me home?" she asked, recognizing him and thinking it was just a coincidence.
Ryo nodded. "Yeah. I saw you walking alone, so I thought I'd keep you company."
He approached quickly, eyes fixed, like he was just concerned.
The girl let her guard down and hummed softly. She thought the man she was supposed to meet wouldn't show.
But when Ryo got close—
He pulled a dagger and plunged it into her stomach.
The man who sent the letter had told Ryo everything. But Ryo was a religious zealot. To him, a nun had to be pure. The idea of secret meetings and hidden children was blasphemy.
"You deceived us all!" Ryo shouted, wild-eyed. "You're no saint! You betrayed God. You betrayed the people!"
Blood stained her hands. The girl clutched her wound weakly and whispered, "I'm not a demon… not some corrupt nun... I was just... taken in by the old nun..."
Sapphire had followed her and saw everything—the knife, the blood, his mother's life fading.
He'd been taught never to reveal their secret. If outsiders found out who they were, even the old nun would be executed.
But now, shaking with rage, he shouted the emergency phrase he'd been told to say in danger.
"Today... I'm here to... save the lost lamb!"
The girl staggered forward, blood pouring from her side. She raised a trembling hand to stop Sapphire from doing anything reckless.
Ryo flinched.
He looked at her again—at the blood on his hands, at the face that had always been kind.
His rage faltered. The knife clattered to the ground.
"I'm sorry!" he cried, then fled into the woods.
Relief was short-lived.
Blood surged up her throat. Her knees buckled.
She leaned against a tree, breath shallow.
Sapphire ran to her side, shouting her name. But she couldn't hear him clearly anymore.
Her strength was fading. She was dying.
"I'm so tired... so sleepy... everything aches..."
Darkness pulled at her consciousness like a lullaby.
But she couldn't go—not yet.
Sapphire was still here.
She had to leave him something... anything...
Summoning every last bit of will, she whispered, "I wanted to stay... watch you grow up... I wasn't a good mom... I couldn't give you a normal life... but if someone... if someone was there to call me 'Mother'... then I'm still... so glad... I had you..."
"Blue... Red... Mama loves you... and I'm sorry... Mama can't... grow up with you..."
Her voice faded into silence.
The classroom was quiet.
Hiro Saitou blinked and looked around.
He hadn't realized he'd been retelling the story aloud until he heard soft sobbing.
Girls wiped tears from their faces. Even Ai's eyes were misty.
"What happened next?" she asked softly.
Some students leaned closer, tissues in hand.
Hiro felt embarrassed.
The teacher stood at the front, arms crossed.
"You see, everyone?" the teacher said. "That's the power of storytelling. Words can move hearts."
"But next time, Hiro Saitou, don't disrupt class like this. High grades don't mean you can treat lessons like a stage. No storytelling during lessons."
With that, the teacher left.
Still, students crowded around him, asking for the rest of the story.
"There's no continuation yet," Hiro said quietly. "I haven't written it."
He glanced at Ai. She looked at him seriously.
"This isn't that boring revenge story you mentioned before, is it?"
"No," Hiro replied softly.
He still remembered Sapphire reading the letter... the hidden meeting place... the blood...