"God… why have you abandoned me?"
The lady mumbled the words as quiet tears slid down her cheeks.
The room was cloaked in darkness, curtains tightly drawn—allowing not a single graze of sunlight to enter.
In the corner stood a young boy, staring at his mother as she drowned in her own despair.
He did not go to comfort her.
Not anymore.
He possessed a special gift—one that allowed him to feel the emotions of anyone he touched.
And long ago, he had realized the truth.
He was the cause of his mother's grief.
"Why have you let me give birth to a half-blood…?"
Her sobs turned bitter, venomous.
The young boy could no longer bear it. He rushed out of the room, fleeing far away—where her cries could not crush his chest.
That became his daily routine.
But it did not end there.
The day finally came when his father remarried.
And this time—a full-blood was born.
Rather than easing her pain, it only deepened his mother's dejection.
Then, one day, she said—
"God gives… and He takes too."
The boy did not understand her words then.
Soon after, the newborn heir fell terribly ill.
Days passed, yet the child remained bedridden.
And finally—the boy understood.
On the day the heir was sent away from the capital, the boy saw something he had never seen before.
His mother smiled.
But that smile was not meant for him.
It was directed toward the position he was about to inherit.
As the new heir, the boy trained relentlessly, becoming dutiful and flawless.
In the hope that—just once...her smile would be directed at him.
He did not ask for her love.
He only wanted to make her happy.
However, not long after, both his mother and father were gone.
Forever.
The boy was left alone.
Strangely, he felt no difference.
Perhaps because he had never known what it meant to be loved.
If there was nothing to miss…
How could he feel sadness?
He did not even know how to pretend grief.
Devoid of love, he poured his devotion into the one true God.
Surely, a Creator would love His own creation…?
He waited.
He prayed.
He begged.
But desperation twisted him into a man of hypocrisy, as his faith slowly—withered away.
In the church, he preached:
"God loves us all."
Yet his heart remained hollow.
He was beginning to fall apart.
And perhaps God…
Had abandoned him too.
•
•
Edmund opened his eyes, waking from the dream he had seen countless times before.
As if fate insisted on reminding him of his wretched past.
Normally, he would don his priestly robes and head to the sanctuary.
But today…
He went straight to Theo's room.
Inside, Eryx sat beside the unconscious Theo.
'Ah… that's right. The raid.'
Edmund remembered as he placed a firm hand on Eryx's shoulder.
Emotions flooded through the contact.
'Complicated… but no hostility.'
Edmund offered a gentle smile.
"He'll wake up soon."
Once Eryx left, Edmund sat beside the bed, his gaze fixed on Theo.
From the very first day he had touched him—
Theo's emotions had been impossible to name.
Familiar… yet distant.
Close… yet unreachable.
Like the bond between a Creater and His creation.
That was what Theo felt like.
"So… you're finally here…"
Edmund whispered, voice reverent.
He brushed a stray lock of hair from Theo's face.
And once again—Theo's emotions poured into him.
That unfamiliar warmth bloomed.
For the first time in years—
His empty heart began to fill.
"My testimony…"
Edmund's faith—
Had already been answered.
And he was going to protect this faith.
Even from the truth itself.
—
END