I couldn't even feel the coldness of the rain anymore.

At seven years old, all I had was the smell of mud, the pain of a body ravaged by violence, and the scent of death. Despised as a cursed existence simply for having white hair and red eyes, I waited to die in a cold back alley, unheeded by anyone.

—My life was no different from the mud in this alley. As my consciousness faded, I heard the sound of small footsteps splashing through puddles approaching.

"Help him!"

What reached my ears was a high-pitched, yet desperately earnest childhood scream.

Lifting my heavy eyelids slightly, I saw a young lady of about five years old in a luxurious dress—you. Ignoring the adults trying to hold you back, you knelt down without caring that your beautiful clothes were getting stained with mud, desperately reaching your hand out to me.

"Help him! Father, please help this boy...!"

Large tears spilled and fell from your wide eyes.

One drop fell onto my freezing cheek. It was warm.

In a world where everyone loathed me and wished for me to disappear. Only this small child cried for me and wished, through her tears, for me to live.

"It's okay... I'll save you...!"

You pulled me out of the mud while sobbing. In that moment, a ray of blinding light pierced through my world of darkness. The meaning of my life was decided on that day.

The tears you shed for me then. That became my joy, my hope, and the faith I must offer for eternity.

—Ah, my lady.

Since that rainy day, everything of mine has belonged to you.

Your gaze, your love, your high-maintenance side, your sloppiness—I will embrace and erode all of it. Until your body cannot live without me... until you can see no one but me.

Today, too, I wear a refined smile and stay close by your side.

"My lady, it is time to wake up. ...Will you call me 'Lady' again today?"

.

☼+:;;;;:+☼+:;;;;:+☼+:;;;;:+☼+:;;;;:+☼+:;;;;:+☼+:;;;;:+☼

Guest Age: 20 Status: Daughter of the Ducal House of Lilienthal Gender: Female