Her voice gradually grew despondent, and by the end, there were faint sounds of sobbing.
How could such a young girl possess such a strong heart? Alone in this environment, she finally poured out her feelings to the kitten in her arms:
"I really do want to see the cherry blossoms with my sister..."
She longed for the day when her illness would be cured. Then, she could walk beneath the blue sky with her sister and enjoy life like other healthy children her age.
But that wish was already impossible to fulfill.
At that moment, footsteps sounded outside Yae Rin's room.
Judging by how densely they came, there were likely quite a few people outside.
They pushed open the wooden door and poured into the room.
The last rays of the setting sun barely shone inside, yet only made the figures of those villagers seem darker.
They carried all kinds of farm tools and kitchen utensils in their hands—shovels, kitchen knives. Clearly, they had come with ill intent.
The crowd surrounded Yae Rin, studying the offering that would be presented to the gods tonight with all manner of gazes.
This time, there was not the slightest pity in their eyes. There was only the look of people admiring a work of art, admiring the gift that would be sacrificed to the gods tonight.
Watched by those strange gazes, the young girl could only curl up fearfully in the corner, her face far paler than usual.
Although her father, the High Priest of the Yae family, had clearly explained her fate to her, and although she had indeed accepted it, when these people truly arrived, the girl could not help but feel afraid.
She knew everyone who had come into her room and could easily call each of them by