“Did Ian send a letter?”
I raised my eyebrows in surprise at the unexpected news. It was because, while it would be understandable if it were Helen, I couldn’t quite grasp why Ian would send me a letter.
It couldn’t possibly be that he found the sword I mentioned last time already… Is something going on?
With that thought, a slight worry formed, but even if something had happened, it would be okay since my mother and Ian were at the Obelton residence. Definitely.
I examined the letter back and front as I slowly entered my bedroom, and Isabella hurried after me.
Firstly, since it was uncomfortable to read the letter in my current attire, I changed into my indoor clothes with Isabella’s help and then nestled into the armchair near the window.
A smile grew on my lips at the comforting sensation of the plush cushion hugging me without a hint of movement.
And when I carefully took out the letter, the heavy scent of the perfume Ian often wore tickled my nose. The fragrance was subtle and not too overwhelming.
[To my dearest sister, more than anyone.
The weather has become much nicer, signaling the arrival of spring.
Everyone seems excited about going to see the Phil flowers soon, but I don’t really understand.
Flowers will eventually fade, and I don’t quite get the psychology of people who look forward to such fleeting beauty.
Anyway, I heard you went out with His Majesty for two days. Did you have a good time? I hope you didn’t get hurt anywhere.
If so, I’m glad.
The reason I am writing this letter is because I have found the sword you asked for last time. It turns out to be located in a broken cave at the western end of the Sartan Empire. It seems that the ‘cave incident’ happened there.
I can go to the imperial palace whenever it is convenient for you, so please let me know your available time, and I will try my best to accommodate.
…And, I would like to apologize for overstepping my boundaries in regards to the matter with your sister last time. Although I apologized then, the more I think about it, the more I realize I went too far.
I am willing to help you with anything you want to do. If you wish to taste the exotic delicacies not found in the Iker Empire, I will do my best to procure them for you, and if you wish to leave secretly without anyone knowing, I will also do my best to help you.
So, my sister.
Please do not hate me.
Yours, standing and staring at a wall, Ian Obelton]
I was surprised at the part where it was mentioned that the sword had already been found, and after reading the letter to the end, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
It seemed like I could see Ian’s expression as he wrote the part at the end, “From Ian Obelton, standing and facing the wall.”
He must have written it while biting his lower lip, his eyes slightly drooping. Wondering whether or not to send it as is, after much deliberation.
I asserted to myself, and turned to look at Isabella, who was looking at me wonderingly as I suddenly laughed.
“Isabella, could you bring me some stationery? I need to write a reply to Ian.”
“Yes. Would one sheet be enough?”
“More than enough.”
I was about to move immediately but stopped to nod at Isabella, who asked again.
My nod, filled with affirmation, made her smile brightly, and without delay, she left the bedroom and soon came back with a sheet of stationery.
“Here’s the stationery.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem at all.”
I smiled with my eyes at her as she handed me the stationery, and Isabella’s eyes sparkled.
I slowly shifted my gaze from her, who looked like a dog basking in its owner’s praise, and picked up a quill. Dipping the tip of the pen into ink, I pondered over what to write in my reply.
First off, write that I wasn’t as angry as Ian worried about, and that it would be nice if he could come in about three days.
The beginning should be about the story of spring… No. Let’s start by talking about how the outing with Ruth was.
Once I had roughly decided what to write in the letter, filling the blank sheet of paper was easy.
After quickly filling the paper, I reviewed the letter one last time, then folded it precisely. Because there was no special perfume to spray, I did not spritz any on it.
Then, after ensuring there were no issues with the neatly folded letter, I was about to seal it in the envelope. That’s when it happened.
“!”
Suddenly, a sharp pain emerged around my chest area. The pain, like being stabbed with a well-sharpened weapon, was not at all unfamiliar.
In fact, it was so familiar that it made it even harder to breathe.
This is definitely…
I muttered softly and hurriedly looked down at the ends of my hair.
Sure enough, just as I suspected, the tips of my hair had already changed from a deep brown to a lighter brown. This meant that the potion I had taken had run its course.
Knowing that it was nearly a month since I took it, I knew this would happen soon, but I never expected it to be now.
Clenching my empty hand so tightly that my fingernails slightly dug into the soft flesh of my palm, I felt no pain, inexplicably.
I gulped down something that was surging back up inside me and turned to look at Isabella. I had to hurry and send her out of the bedroom before she noticed the strange phenomena happening to my body.
Isabella looked pale, her face turning ashen at the sight of me suddenly breaking out in a cold sweat, seemingly shocked at how a person could change so drastically in an instant.
“Is, Isabella.”
“Yes, yes! Did you call me?”
When I called her with all the strength I could muster, Isabella responded with a trembling voice.
To ease her worry even slightly, I twisted the corners of my lips awkwardly like a broken toy.
“I… would like some water.”
“I’ll bring it to you. Just wait a bit,” she said.
Believing my deliberate lie wholeheartedly, Isabella’s face almost crumbled into tears, looking as if she was about to cry. To anyone passing by, it might have looked as though I was leaving my last words to Isabella, so poignant was her expression.
This made me feel as though I was doing something wrong.
Driven by guilt over her pure, innocent eyes, I bit the inside of my cheek. Even as I did so, the pain assaulting my body only intensified.
A month ago, I remember it getting better shortly after, but now I wondered why it still hurt even after a few minutes had passed.
As the pain grew stronger, eventually leading to a state of delirium, I couldn’t bear it any longer and cried out loud.
“Hurry up!”
“Gasp, yes!”
Only then did Isabella stop hesitating and quickly left the bedroom.
I watched her until she disappeared out of my sight and only after the bedroom door closed with a thud did I come down from the armchair as if collapsing. It had been a limit holding my stomach in while Isabella was here.
“Haah, haah…”
I swallowed my increasingly rough breaths and struggled to open and close my eyelids to prevent my vision from blurring. Then, feeling my legs about to give way, I propped myself up and looked around.
The potion… where did I put it?
It seemed that when one’s pain was enough to lose reason, their mind also turned blank, as I couldn’t remember where I had put the potion last time.
Please, please, please. Let me find it.
To avoid staggering pathetically, I gritted my teeth and furrowed my brows. If I didn’t take the potion soon, it felt like my chest would burst open.
How long had it been?
Suddenly, the air around me felt cooler. Precisely, the sharp, chilling breeze calmed down in an instant.
“……?”
Thanks to that, as the pain noticeably eased off, I wiped away the tears that flowed physiologically and harbored doubts. It was fortunate yet strange that my condition improved rapidly without having taken any potion.
I was in the midst of taking a deep breath and scanning the bedroom when a familiar voice came from the window, which I didn’t know when it had opened.
“Little Miss.”
“…Tommy.”
Following the sound, my gaze shifted to Tommy, who was sitting on the window sill.
He was wearing a plain uniform under a pitch-black robe, seemingly having come straight from work, judging by the round glasses he had on.
Seeing Tommy, who had appeared without a sound, I chewed over my unresolved doubts for a few seconds and then broke into a wide smile, realizing that it was Tommy who had instantly subdued the pain bothering me.
“Thank you.”
“……”
Tommy, silent to my thanks, just looked at me quietly and then soon revealed a gaze as heavy as a sky filled with storm clouds. His eyes, which seemed like they would produce tears if touched lightly, were unmatched in their desolation.
“Why does the little miss…”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“It was both a question and a reproach.”
Tommy, who didn’t overlook my silence about what he wanted, continued, “That’s enough. No one cares.”
“…”
“What does the little lady want that she’s desperately enduring like this? Just be honest and say it hurts, that it feels like you’re going crazy from the pain. If you can’t do that, then act like a child and throw a tantrum at me like you did when you were young. Then I, I…”
Tommy, whose words trailed off, stepped closer to me, lips tightly pursed.
“Shall I kill them?”
“What?”
“Shall I kill everything that’s making the little lady suffer like this? Would you stop then?”
“Tommy, don’t cross the line.”
“You only think about the little lady. Not the big lady who only cares about her own path regardless of what happens to the little lady, not the emperor who doesn’t even know what the little lady is sacrificing for herself, only the little lady!”
Tommy, who had suddenly come close to my face, breathed heavily, seeming to try to calm down the heightened emotions.
With a defeated expression as if something had failed, he buried his face in his hands and muttered.
“Why must only my lady endure so much hardship, why.”
“Tommy.”
“Would you rather throw everything away and run away?”
“What?”
His unexpected suggestion took me by surprise, causing me to step back. Then, Tommy, lowering his hand from his face, faintly smiled with his eyes and repeated the suggestion.
“Let’s run away, little lady. To a place where no one knows. Just the two of us.”
