---

* * *

The day of leaving for the academy had arrived.

Today was the anniversary of my father’s death.

My father was an old man with no estate and illiterate.

The only work he could find was cutting down surrounding trees to sell where needed or helping to move heavy things.

With a meager wage, whenever he brought home potatoes, he always gave me one extra.

It wasn’t just potatoes. Be it carrots, turnips, or eggs, he made sure to bring home three of each, giving me two.

It would be later that I realized he was getting three for the price of two.

“Father, please have two potatoes. I’m not hungry.”

“No, Luka. The younger you are, the more you need to eat. This father already ate outside while working.”

If I had any sense of shame, I would have stubbornly refused, but I was just a seven-year-old at the time.

Believing “Father said he ate outside” was easier and simpler than giving him my food.

He was always kind to me, but there was one time I was scolded so harshly it felt like the sky was falling.

It was the day I stole bread because I was hungry, and my father couldn’t bring home food.

After hitting me a few times, he sat down and cried like a child.

Then, wiping his tears, he took my hand and went to the beautiful waterfront where the evening sun set.

—”Someone is always watching over us from above.”

“Who?” —”God.”

My father, who didn’t even know the name of God, said it with conviction over and over.

“Someone is watching over everything. Always, all the time. Day or night, they are watching us. That’s why there can be no evil deeds hidden from anyone. And there are no good deeds that go unnoticed. Do you understand, Luka?”

Someone is watching over everything from above, God. So is that why my father didn’t receive his wage when he worked at the orphanage?

I wanted to ask that question, but as a child, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the look in my father’s eyes.

Bright and clear, his eyes looked like that of a cat’s, pure enough to burst at a touch.

From that day on, I ceased to do bad things, including stealing.

I avoided even the smallest transgressions. Since God is always watching from above.

Eventually, I could help my father at the orphanage, and in return, I was educated by the sister there.

I started studying letters, but it wasn’t an easy task for an ordinary child.

I could manage to read but my body naturally wanted to run and play.

One day, when I threw myself into a fight to stop the boys in the orphanage from bickering, the sister said seriously,

“Luka, how about learning weapon skills instead?”

It seemed that learning how to use a weapon, be it a sword or anything else, might provide some means of livelihood.

Even then, it wasn’t an easy decision. Though it had been a long time since wars erupted, becoming a soldier was a difficult decision not even to imagine in those times.

If I had my way, I would have preferred to become a mage. A mage who was treated well and earned a lot of money, so I could buy tons of potatoes and eggs to share with my father.

But then my father had a serious accident.

It happened when I was thirteen.

It was an accident. I think it was a landslide. It seemed he was injured while cutting down trees.

I heard soothing words of “It’s unfortunate,” but I couldn’t understand. —”Isn’t someone watching over everything from above?”

My father always shared his food with me.

He also volunteered for the orphanage. Then why?

Dragged into the hospital attached to the church that ran the orphanage, it seemed a few priests were there, but… they said the wounds were too deep and told me to prepare my heart.

“Say your goodbyes,” I heard when I visited the room, where my father lay in a terrible state, barely breathing.

“Father, it’s me. It’s Luka. Can you hear me?”

I asked several times, but there was no answer.

I could only hear a response when I exhausted myself crying and fell asleep beside him.

“Luka, in truth, I am not your real father.”

Was it a dream, or did I wake up and talk with my father?

In any case, in the dream, my father was saying something quite shocking to me.

“I found you abandoned in front of the orphanage that day. I had this strange feeling and decided to take you in. I tried to ignore it, but it couldn’t be. God is always watching over us… Sometimes, there are things you must do simply because they are right…”

“I felt that raising you was the right thing to do. So don’t worry, pursue your dreams to the fullest. You don’t share my blood, so you can become someone far greater than I.”

Even while I cried, somehow, I instinctively understood that this was my last chance to speak to my father.

“Father, no matter what anyone says, you are my father.”

I held tightly to my father’s hand in the dream.

It was warm. Even though it was a dream.

“I…”

I might not have his blood flowing through me.

But I have his noble spirit within me. A life lived without shame before God, a spirit passed down from my father.

Father. I will never forget that I carry your soul within me.

I will never forget that God is always watching over us…

I should have conveyed that message.

As a child, I was too immature to think of such words.

“I will definitely become a wonderful person like you, Father.”

And with that last word—

—”Never forget that someone is always watching over you.

Even when there are injustices or hardships… always, God is watching over your decisions.”

‘…!’

When I woke from the dream, what entered my eyes was— a hand.

My father’s hand.

He was pointing to the sky with his finger, eyes still closed.

And soon after… it fell limp, dropping from its stretched position onto the bed.

Even in this moment, do not forget that God is watching over us—

That was my father’s last words that echoed in my heart, not in my ears.

* * *

After learning letters, Luka finally learned the name of the orphanage she frequented.

Hebnisian Adelia.

After making a grave for her father and becoming alone, Luka was adopted by the director of the orphanage, gaining the name ‘Luka Hebnisian’.

It was said to be the surname given to all the orphanage children.

“Sister, I want to learn how to use a sword.”

Fortunately, Luka turned out to have quite a talent for swordsmanship.

Being five years older than the other orphan children, she naturally took on the role of an older sister and began to guide the younger ones.

It wasn’t too hard. The fact that they were like family, and ultimately, someone was watching over them from above.

Unconsciously, Luka was passing on the lessons she learned from her father to the orphan children.

“Stealing is not allowed. God is always watching over us.”

“God? Was it Igguoqueden?”

“That’s right. So always live righteously, okay?”

“How can you forget the name of God? Uncle Repiton said it! Something about a bland fact?”

“I don’t know about bland facts! I just like bread I can eat more!”

The children listened to Luka well, and her swordsmanship was improving day by day.

Then one day,

When she turned eighteen, great news reached Luka’s ears.

“Free admission… really?”

“I mentioned you to the academy, and they said if you have enough talent to pass the exam, they want to nurture you. Isn’t that wonderful, Luka?”

It wasn’t a prestigious academy, but it was quite well-known for its swordsmanship.

Even if it wasn’t famous, who could refuse free admission?

‘So… you really were watching over me!’

Yes.

God had indeed been watching over me. How I worked hard and didn’t lose hope even in such circumstances!

“Luka onee-chan! You have to go well! This is a present!”

“This is…?”

A pure white ribbon.

It looked a bit rustic, but it still seemed sturdy.

Something stirred in the corner of my heart. What was this feeling?

Family?

The children who had grown up too fast rubbed their noses and said.

“You can’t let your hair get in the way when using a sword!”

“It’s not stolen, sister! I saved my pocket money to buy it! Hehe.”

“Thank you, Amon. Freya. I’ll cherish it.”

Thus, with the ribbon tightly wrapped in her hair, Luka visited her father’s grave and spoke.

Father, I think you were right about God watching over us.

I lived kindly and rightly, and really, an opportunity came.

I will never let myself become conceited. I won’t forget that God is always watching…

Like when I was a young girl, I rambled on to my father.

And today is the day she’s off to enter the academy.

That day was also the anniversary of Luka’s father’s death.

* * *

Rufrantia Academy.

Fortunately, Luka managed to pass the entrance exam, which was set by a reputable institution that had produced notable knights.

There she met her roommate, Irina.

“Luka! Let’s get along from now on!”

She was quite different from Luka in many aspects.

A lovely blonde girl with a bright smile.

Having grown up in a happy family, she often whispered about her dream of joining the Royal Knight Order and becoming the commander in a cheerful way.

Luka thought it might be luck to have her as a roommate. Irina knew a lot about the world that Luka, who only lived in a rural orphanage, was unaware of.

From what she heard, she said that joining the Royal Knight Order could earn you a lot of money and honor.

And if you had talent, you could even be hired as a royal guard, regardless of status, which meant grabbing nearly every wealth and honor achievable as a knight.

Money.

Surviving was a problem, but she wanted to give something back to the orphanage that raised her…

“Then shall we both join the Royal Knight Order?”

“Great!”

Talking with Irina was a learning experience for Luka. She needed to know a lot to live a life without shame before heaven.

Because God is always watching over her from the sky.

* * *

Time really flew by.

What Luka felt over the three years was— she was living a very unfortunate life and it was an ongoing situation.

This realization came from her widened perspective after entering the academy.

Throughout those three years, hardly anything had gone her way, whether trivial or somewhat important.

But Luka did not despair.

After all, someone is always watching over everything from God.

So, perhaps that’s why? Inevitably, Luka became a promising talent within the academy, taking the position of top of her grade.

Except for anything else, her talent in swordsmanship was genuine. It was the moment when the nun, who once suggested she wield a sword, was proven right.

Her roommate, Irina, alongside her, transformed into a gifted knight who was also recognized among the academy’s top talents.

It was no surprise that news about two female knights spread across the academy.

On a day when she was walking the path to success, at the age of twenty, nearing graduation in her third year…

“Is that really true…?”

Even as her unfortunate life continued, it seemed like God aimed to prove once more that he was truly watching over her—

Just at the right moment, a message from the kingdom arrived.