69 – Early but belated confession
fade. fade.
There must have been three trowels, but Ariel stayed alone and watched the two of them digging up the dirt.
The other two didn’t think she would help anyway, so they continued their labor silently with a bitter smile on their faces.
Of course, the fact that Ariel’s outfit wasn’t suitable for digging down on the ground also played a part.
“If you had known it would be like this, would you have put it in a box?”
“Yeah.”
Edgar laughed and murmured, and Ariel vehemently agreed and stomped aside.
Perhaps the two of them could have passed by without noticing it, so it was their intention to lend them their eyes.
Seruk… Tick.
“Oh, here it is.”
“Are you there?”
While digging the ground for a while, I heard something catch on the end of the trowel.
When Edgar carefully dug up the pile of dirt where the sound came from, two round spheres finally appeared.
Even though it didn’t contain anything valuable, the two somehow felt mixed emotions.
“Is this what you two were talking about?”
“right. Originally, I was planning to open it next year, but the timing was a bit earlier.”
When Edgar glanced at Ariel and said, she approached without knowing and picked up a sphere.
“It’s just as it is, no damage whatsoever.”
“Yeah. The durability seems pretty good.”
“Is there any magical treatment on the outside?”
Even though it had already been 8 years, the sphere was intact, with only a little dirt on it, and no damage anywhere.
The three people who forgot the original purpose of taking out the sphere for a while and discussed the function contained in the sphere.
Realizing that there was work to be done belatedly, I decided to take out the contents inside.
“What are you going to do? Shall we read each other’s letters?”
“Can’t we see both? I mean, I’m curious.”
“It will work.”
Edgar had expected that her personality would not allow her to read only one letter.
He nodded lightly and handed over the red orb to Ariel first.
Conversely, what Edgar is holding is a black sphere.
Each of them put their letters in a ball that resembled the color of each other’s hair.
“Did you tell me to pour magic into this?”
“Yeah, would your mother have said that?”
“Okay, let’s open them at the same time.”
When Ariel expressed her affirmation, the two of them drew closer to each other, closed their eyes while holding the sphere, and channeled their mana.
Then, like that time eight years ago, small particles of light covered the sphere.
Eventually, the sphere lost its original form and disappeared into the air along with the group of lights, leaving only the tightly folded paper in the hands of the two.
“Do you remember what you wrote in the letter?”
“Can you do it? You?”
“Actually, me too.”
Ariel starts unfolding the folded paper carefully while showing off an uncharacteristically sloppy smile.
Of course, the two of them have been running pretty busy for the past 8 years.
It might be more accurate to say that it wasn’t because he didn’t particularly value the existence of this object, but because he didn’t have enough room for it.
Besides, I didn’t have to remember the contents of the letter that I was going to open someday.
Rather, if I had remembered, my expectations would have been somewhat halved at this moment.
The two of them hold the letter they sent eight years ago in their hands and read it slowly.
Shuri was busy peeking at the contents, only slightly turning her head from the side, so as not to get in the way of the two.
“Poop.”
“Why are you like that, Bocchan?”
In contrast to Ariel, who reads the letter with serious eyes, Edgar suddenly bursts into laughter and is busy giggling.
Shuri, who pulled out only her upper body and approached Edgar, expressed her curiosity.
“just. The content I wrote 8 years ago was so absurd. Do you want to see it too?”
“are you okay?”
“How are you? It’s not a letter sent to someone else, it’s a letter sent to me.”
If he had written a love letter to Ariel, he would have been a bit ashamed to show it to others, but Edgar at that time was still in a state of love.
Maybe I wasn’t aware of it exactly.
That’s why it wasn’t too difficult to show it to Shuri.
After reading the letter to the end, he stretched out his hand while holding the paper, and Shuri quickly took it and began to read it.
Meanwhile, Ariel was still perusing the letter, not talking to the two of them about what was so serious.
“Phehehe… … .”
“Isn’t it funny?”
“I see. It’s something like an old man’s letter.”
“I’ve heard a lot of things like that.”
Edgar, who playfully applauded the girl who answered the correct answer, returned the letter.
What was written there was really insignificant.
Asking her future self how she’s doing, asking if she’s in good health, asking if Ariel is still immature.
There was no such thing as something meaningful.
It’s a letter that’s really just about asking how you’re doing.
Shuri, on the contrary, considered it more like an old man.
Normally, if a 10-year-old sends a letter to her future self, there will be many more meaningful words she wants to write down.
For example, did you confess to someone you like?
You in the past had a dream like this, but now you have achieved that dream.
That’s because the younger you are, the more you look forward to your grown-up self and the future.
However, the contents written there were not the self 9 years later, but only everyday words that could have been written in a letter to a friend a little far away.
Rather than not having any expectations for the future, it would be more correct to say that he had aloof values to live as the water flows.
Shuri decided to call it Old Young.
“That guy has been like that since he was little.”
Ariel, who was listening to the two of them while reading her letter, belatedly intervened between the two and threw a word in a blunt tone.
“Well, since you said that you two always hung out, you should know that.”
“Yeah, he’s always busy teasing me, but he’s quiet and calm when it’s really important… He had a very strange personality.”
“Are you saying that to your boyfriend?”
“What is true?”
Just because they became lovers didn’t mean the two didn’t bicker, unlike eight years ago.
It’s just that we’ve become a little more honest about conveying our feelings to each other.
Shuri also had no doubts that even if the two of them spoke like this, when they were together, they would exude a heartfelt atmosphere.
Because she always felt the same way with her lover, Ronan.
“Come on, Ariel. Now exchange them and read them.”
Among the two bickering as usual, Edgar held out his letter first and recommended that they read it interchangeably.
But for some reason, Ariel’s reaction was rather light.
As if hesitating about something, she avoids her gaze and tries to hide the paper in her hand behind her back.
Seeing that, a large question mark appeared above Edgar and Shuri’s heads.
“Yes. It should be… … .”
“… … ?”
“I-over there… Can’t we just decide to look at ourselves… … ?”
Her uncharacteristically passive attitude.
Edgar, who had been watching her for about 18 years, realized that something smelled.
It also had a very strong smell of teasing.
Seeing him grinning and raising the corners of his mouth like a bad boy, Ariel flinched and began to step back.
“That’s what you said. Let’s exchange the letters.”
“Yeah, but… Just thinking about it, I wondered if there was no need to tarnish each other’s memories.”
“I’m sorry to say that you dirty it.”
“That’s not what I mean… … !”
When Edgar murmured, revealing that he was blatantly offended, Ariel hurriedly threw up her hands and denied it.
She ended up digging her own grave with her own hands.
I’d rather keep my mouth shut until I read the letter, and it wouldn’t be too late if I spoke up after reading the letter.
If this happened, it would be difficult to reverse it, so he was put in a situation where he had to show Edgar the letter in his hand without being able to take it out or beat it.
“Ugh… Instead, there are conditions.”
“It’s only a condition to read one letter… … .”
“Poem, if you don’t like it, won’t you show it!?”
“Okay. What are the conditions?”
Edgar couldn’t help but wonder how great the contents were written that caused such an uproar.
In the end, Edgar accepted it with the idea that all he had to do was read the letter, even if it was a somewhat unreasonable condition.
In response, Ariel covered the bottom of her nose with the letter and recited the conditions in a voice that ants crawled into.
“Read and don’t laugh… … .”
“… Is that a condition?”
“yes.”
Contrary to Edgar’s expectations, who thought he would put on quite grandiose conditions, the condition was so empty that it made me feel uneasy.
On the one hand, it would also mean that there is so much content that it is hard to hold back laughter.
Shuri couldn’t help but wonder, “Can I read it too?” I asked, but Ariel firmly shook her head, saying no.
Edgar quietly handed over the letter, leaving Shuri, who was a little sullen.
As soon as he opened the paper and began to read the written sentence, Ariel, who had been watching the scene, swallowed.
It was because I was very nervous.
“Fah… … .”
“Ooh, I told you not to laugh!”
“Oh, you didn’t laugh… Big!”
Did you read until halfway through?
In the end, when Edgar couldn’t hold back his laughter, something like a strange air escaping sounded from Edgar’s mouth, and Ariel became angry.
Edgar protested, saying that he didn’t laugh in the end, so it wasn’t okay, but the follow-up hit eventually broke him down.
“Hey, give it up! you idiot! I didn’t mean to show you!”
When the worse Ariel snatched the letter away, Edgar held back a laugh with one hand and held out the other hand to earnestly demand the letter back.
“Sorry. Please let me read to the end what I have already read.”
“… I knew it.”
After reading almost half of it anyway, Ariel realized that there was no point in stealing it.
She glared at him with disapproving eyes, then reached out and handed out the letter back.
Edgar, who accepted it again, expressed his gratitude and lowered his gaze to the last unread sentence, and a dark arc was drawn on his mouth again.
I’d say it’s cute rather than funny.
It was a letter from Ariel eight years ago to Ariel now, and it was a cheer, and in a sense, it was like a giant bomb.
“I’m an adult, I’m sorry. I guess I still lack the courage.
I wanted to tell Ed the story of the star, but I couldn’t tell him yesterday either.
So please! Nine years from now, you must tell Ed the story of the star!
And tell Ed! I love you a lot!
Ed is an idiot, so he may not believe it, but when he does, tell him a hundred times a thousand times!
Understand? I wish you well!
-Ariel from 9 years ago-”
“Ariel, did you hear? You want me to tell you a hundred or a thousand times?”
“Ooh, don’t be funny! I don’t even remember making a promise like that!?”
“Hey, is that too much? It’s not someone else, it’s a promise I made with you 8 years ago, did you forget that?”
“There must be something wrong with me then! If that’s not the case, such an embarrassing sound… … !
Ariel protested, shaking her head and breaking her neck, her face dyed red.
When Shuri, who belatedly glanced at the letter in Edgar’s hand, also burst into laughter, Ariel jumped up from her seat as if she couldn’t stand it any longer.
“Give it to me to tear it up right now!”
“Why tear it if it’s too bad? I will keep this.”
“Give it to me!”
In the end, because of herself 8 years ago, Ariel got into trouble with Edgar again today.
Why don’t you even take sides with yourself?
In this grievous reality, there was nothing she could do but let out her anger.