«When Dad cries... Everyone will pay for Dad's tears.»

When everything seemed to stop. When everything seemed so boring and at the same time, so good, yet so fleeting, those moments. Everything was like that until she arrived. She had been abandoned in front of the place of worship; it seemed easier to leave her in a place where she wouldn't even understand the chants than a safe orphanage. That's when Azure offered to take care of her for a few days, until they could figure out what to do with her.

When he held her in his arms, he felt that innocent warmth of a child's body. The kind of warmth where you don't want to leave and still appreciate that warmth, similar to that of dry clothes after being taken down from the line on a sunny day. The scent of lavender from her soft hair filled his nostrils as he rocked her gently, surprised by how light she felt in his arms.

Azure took care of the girl for the next few days, days where it seemed like his thoughts were imprisoning him in his dazed mind. When he bathed her, he felt like a lord attending to a precious jewel. The warm water splashed gently against her tiny limbs as she giggled, sending ripples of joy through his weary heart. When he played with her, he felt like a child again, chasing her through the flower fields behind his cottage as her laughter mingled with the buzzing of bees.

When he ate and helped her clean sticky fingers after meals, he felt like something more... And when he helped her with her chores, he felt like a father. And that's how the weeks turned into months, and then, a year. He loved caring for her, loving her, offering her all the love he could give. That she would never have to beg or scream for what she needed ever again.

When the nights grew darker, more terrifying with nightmares, he was there to hold her, to comfort her, to wipe the tears from her childlike face with the edge of his sleeve. The faint glow of the nightlight cast shadows on the walls as he hummed old lullabies, his voice rough but comforting as he stroked her hair until her breathing steadied into peaceful slumber. He was always in every aspect of her life, and when he wasn't, he made sure to return as quickly as possible.

As if being away from his little girl were an ordeal. As if keeping her away were a torture. As if leaving her alone were a danger.

And so it was...

One night, when the darkness was thicker and purer than usual, she and Azure were sleeping in that four-poster bed with curtains that fluttered slightly as the wind blew through the bedroom window. The scent of rain filled the air as distant thunder rumbled. Azure slept soundly, but his hand rested protectively on his princess's round belly. He needed to feel close, that he was there. While she was sleeping on her back with her arms and legs stretched out at her sides, her chest rising and falling gently with each breath.

The scene was warm and loving, like that of a real father and daughter. But something interrupted the delicate and loving scene. The creaking of the door came from the other side of the room. Azure didn't hear it because his sleep was so deep he barely recognized his surroundings. But something woke him up, not completely, but he was drowsy; she had gotten out of bed, massaging her eyes. He just thought she was going to the bathroom; he already knew what a child her age was like at midnight. What he didn't know was that it would be the last image he would have of his little girl alive.