1. The First Letter (39)
In the end, Seria came into my arms. It was unavoidable for me.
To be honest, a woman as beautiful as Seria asks for a hug, but is there a man who refuses?
Of course it could have been. One of them could have been me.
However, after a long time, no answer came back from me, so if Seria looked sullen again, everyone would have no choice but to hug her.
Also, the anxiety that she might cry played a part. Right now, Seria looked unstable to anyone’s eyes.
With her face buried in my chest, she rubbed a few times and seemed to feel the touch. I felt ashamed to death, but Seria didn’t react much, probably because she was still drunk with relief.
When she came to her senses from a frenzy, a little more time had passed. She opened her eyes wide, as if she had suddenly realized something, and looked up at me.
My face was as red as it was about to turn red, and it had been a long time since I had avoided Seria’s gaze. It meant that it was such an embarrassing situation.
And seeing my reaction, Seria seemed to finally realize what the current situation was like.
The junior is in the arms of a senior of the opposite s*x, rubbing his face against his chest as if relieved. That alone was enough room for her to be misunderstood as a lover.
In an instant, Sarah’s face lit up. As she stumbled, she slipped out of my arms. Her eyes spun around.
“That, that, that… Hey, senior Ian? this, this… … .”
“No, just calm down… … .”
In fact, Seria, far from calming down, looked like she was in a bigger panic, but she didn’t point it out on purpose.
I just hoped that lending my arms would help. Seria desperately dissuaded me from trying to cover it up like that.
“De, de, please listen! That, so this is because of my mother!”
“… … mother?”
That’s how Seria’s story began. Memories of Seria’s mother that I’ve been hearing a few times lately.
However, the story we are sharing today is not about the nightmare memories we have shared so far. Or rather, the happy memories that lingered in the blur before then.
Seria and I were walking along a quiet promenade. I had to go to the lecture soon, so it was inevitable.
It was a path through the woods, so there were flowers and grass growing here and there. It was the right atmosphere for a conversation between the two of them.
“When I was little, my mother used to hug me when I cried.”
“I guess there were a lot of tears then too.”
Seria lowered her head with her cheeks slightly reddened, as if she recalled the memory of crying profusely right before my words. Her voice trembled with shame.
“Uh, anyway, my mother used to be a maid, so she was often away. It was to the point that even after giving birth to me, he was called to me.”
“… … Anyway, is that even possible?”
It was a woman who became pregnant with the head of the household and gave birth to her. No matter how pure-blooded the Yurdina family was, that was too much. You call me like a servant.
Then Seria’s voice sank even more. She couldn’t even put a bitter smile on her lips. As always, an expressionless face.
Knowing that it was a mask to hide her feelings, I said nothing.
“I didn’t really make you work like a servant. However, among the adults in the family, there are people who don’t like it, so I call them out for no reason… It was like that.”
But no matter how young she was, Seria couldn’t be unaware that her mother was despised.
Rather, the younger the child, the more sensitive they are to the emotions of adults. Ordinary children use such keen attention to swarm. to get what i want
Seria wouldn’t have been able to do that. It must have been around that time that she talked less and her expression became more and more expressionless.
As if to prove my reasoning, Seria’s confession continued.
“Actually, it’s not something to be so anxious about, but even then I vaguely knew. That the atmosphere in the family is vicious over the mother.”
“That’s why you cried, afraid your mother would leave.”
“… … yes.”
Seria lowered her head slightly. The blush that appeared on her cheeks was still there. She glanced into my eyes.
Come to think of it, doesn’t that mean that I remind her of her mother?
You wouldn’t actually consider her like a mother, but it meant that she was just as precious. It’s something to be thankful for, I thought.
Maybe it’s because it’s the first friend I’ve ever made. She, too, will find out as her relationships become more and more extensive.
In fact, there are no friends who break off friendship with just a few words, and moreover, there is no need to treat only me specially.
At that time, my heart would be a bit lonely, but since it meant that Seria had grown beyond that, I had to accept it humbly.
Still, I was in the mood for something, so I said something mean to Seria.
“Am I that precious? Enough to be compared to your mother?”
“That, that, that… … .”
Seria immediately panicked and tried to make an excuse, but her blushing face already showed her true intentions.
I giggled and burst into laughter. My two hands naturally grabbed Seria’s hand. Surprised Seria’s gaze met mine. I said with serious eyes.
“Don’t worry, I won’t go away just like that.”
It meant not to be anxious in the future.
According to Leto’s advice, I’ve heard that with a woman, holding your hand and speaking in an assertive tone will give you more confidence. Of course, we had to make eye contact.
Seeing if Leto’s words had any effect, Seria’s face heated up again. Then, lowering his gaze slightly, he spoke in a voice filled with strange emotions.
“… … yes.”
I won’t do that from now on, I let go of Seria’s hand, satisfied only then. Seria made a sad sound for a moment, but then quietly held her hand in her arms.
I feel like I want to feel the remaining warmth. He was such a lonely child.
I will have to pay more attention in the future. At least until Seria has a few more friends.
While walking along with Seria with such thoughts in mind, the moment I came to a halt was when I spotted a flower blooming on the street.
Petals of azure color stood out. The six petals were wide open, showing off their beauty. I had seen the name of that flower somewhere.
When I stopped, Seria followed my gaze with a curious look. And soon he let out a small exclamation.
There was a hint of subtle delight in his voice.
“Ah, it’s a sepia flower.”
“… … I know?”
I asked so inadvertently. It was a somewhat subdued voice, but Seria was gazing at the sepia flower, so she didn’t notice it.
She said in her usual tone.
“Yes, it is my mother’s favorite flower. When I was young, my mother would pick flowers and put them in my ears.”
And a soft smile appeared on Seria’s lips. It was a rare sight. Seria rarely smiled, but it seemed like she had a lot of memories related to sepia flowers.
So, I didn’t say anything.
A name written at the end of the letter.
The stage name ‘Sepia’ suddenly crossed my mind. Even the monster attack during the swordsmanship training lecture, and the upcoming hunting festival.
My eyes turned to the woman standing next to me quietly. Always like an ice craft, she was looking down at the flowers with warm eyes. The gap was significant.
To the extent that my heart fluttered for a moment.
“I still get a warm feeling when I see sepia flowers. These are the few memories my mother left for me… … .”
Could she be ‘sepia’?
It was the moment when those questions that had been buried in my heart for a while came back to life.
**
That afternoon, I was walking down the academy without a word.
My head was complicated. Memories of today with Seria were running through my head at random, like young fish released into the water.
‘Sepia’, is Seria really her?
Based on the love letters sent from the future and the scrawled warnings, she and I should have been lovers.
Only then could the destruction of the world be prevented. To be honest, it was a story that didn’t make the slightest sense to me, but even so, the phrase was always embedded in my heart like a pointed stone.
Then, will I become a lover in the future with Seria? It was a great success for the second son of a rural viscount. No matter how young she is, Seria has the surname of Yurdina.
It meant that he could be tied to the 5 most prestigious families of the empire by blood. In addition, Seria was not lacking in not only her skills but also her beauty, and she welcomed her with double arms.
But on the contrary, because of that, I felt very doubtful.
Seriously, am I? Are you going to be in love with her?
Compared to Seria, isn’t it an opponent that is too low in class? Maybe I didn’t even know what I was thinking. That’s because I couldn’t be sure that Seria was ‘sepia’.
It was when I was walking while thinking about this and that. At one point, a soft jolt was transmitted to my arm. Surprised, I turned my gaze to the person presumed to be the cause of shock.
Dark hair, tan eyes. The lovely-looking girl was someone I knew all too well.
Celine Haster, she clung to my arm with an uncharacteristically awkward smile.
“Ooh, ooh, what a coincidence! Brother Ian, no… Brother? How have you been?”
“… … ?”
I looked at her with the expression, “Why is this girl like this?” but Celine was still looking at me. Only then did I recall the conversation I had with Leto this morning.
Come to think of it, he assumed that Celine would soon come to relieve my anger. It seems that his prediction was right, as they had grown up like siblings. The unfortunate thing is that Leto, who wanted to see Celine like this so much, is not here.
I was about to tell her that I was already relieved of my anger, but my curiosity soared and I looked down at her without saying a word.
I wanted to see how Celine came out. Then, Celine’s eyes became even more impatient.
She soon started pretending to cry by slicing my eyes with her sleeve.
“This Celine, thinking of her older brother, made me feel uncomfortable all day… Back then, angry, that cold back… … .”
“It hasn’t even been a day yet, and of course not even a day has passed.”
“Ah, anyway!”
Celine, who was annoyed as usual at my point, started to look at me again, as if she had been stinging. She smiled again and clung to my arm.
“Girl, I deeply regret… At that time, the thing that made Ian’s older brother uncomfortable, Celine, was a bit harsh. So, would you please let go of your anger?”
“Nope.”
“Oh why!”
Celine started stomping her feet, crying at my firm refusal. She clung to me with a plaintive voice. It was a voice mixed with charm.
“Relieve your anger, huh? huh? I was wrong… I will not fight like that in front of Ian oppa from now on.”
“If not in front of me, are you going to do that in the future?”
“No, but that old-fashioned bitch keeps getting on my nerves… Ahhh! No, no! Celine completely surrenders! I will listen carefully to Ian oppa!”
Celine tried to tell me her true feelings in a voice annoyed by my questioning, but soon after I tried to shake her off, she immediately declared surrender.
A chuckle of laughter escaped from my mouth. It was because Celine’s appearance was quite cute.
Upon hearing my laughter, Celine’s face instantly turned bright. she asked me excitedly.
“Ooh, did you laugh? Brother, did you laugh? Are you offended?”
“Well, look at what you do.”
“Ah, I felt relieved~”
Then she stabbed me in the side. Even so, it looked like she wanted to make sure that my anger was really relieved by secretly checking my eyes.
Of course, my anger had long since waned, so there was no need for that. I shook my head as if I couldn’t stop.
Celine did not hide her delight. She immediately felt better and whispered in my ear in a coy voice.
“If Jung Hwa doesn’t work out… Do you want to touch my chest?”
A seductive, sweet voice. Her breath tickled his ears and a tingling sensation ran up his spine.
But my response was only one. My fist hit Celine’s forehead.
“Ah!”
“It’s black, again.”
“Oh, it hurts!”
Celine screamed like that, and soon began to mumble something next to her.
That he wasn’t even a man, that he was committing a sin against history by rejecting a pretty woman like him, all of them said too much.
Of course, I didn’t even pretend to hear. If you go along with Celine’s pranks one by one, there will be no end. I just felt satisfied that my relationship with her had gone back to normal.
Celine and I soon became friends, flirting and flirting as usual. That was when she and I were walking alone.
Chin, I felt someone blocking my way.
My puzzled gaze was in front of my eyes. There, a girl wearing a conical hat worn by wizards was standing there.
Beautiful brown hair and mysterious blue eyes. She was shorter than Celine, but the cone-shaped hat made her look taller. Yes, even though he looked like a child.
I immediately recognized her identity. It was because the man who followed her with a tear-stained face on her side was a familiar face.
lupine rhinella. He was a man who had been beaten by me before. I think I warned that there would be no next time, but fortunately, it appeared in front of me again.
No, maybe even he wasn’t brought there voluntarily. As soon as he saw me he started to tremble like an aspen tree. My eyes quietly turned to the girl.
Looking back, it wasn’t a girl. The black cloak on her shoulder was symbolic of her school year.
4th grade, the highest grade. Come to think of it, I heard that they were returning one by one for the hunting festival, but it seems she was like that too.
‘Elsie Rainella’, was one of the talented people of the magical Rainella family. Of course, he was a senior who belonged to the talented group among the 4th graders.
And starting with her, some big 4th grade seniors began to gather around me. It must be the gang driven by Elsie Rainella.
I’ve heard rumors that it looks like a doll, and what it does is no different from a criminal organization.
A groan escaped from my mouth.
I seemed to know what the business was, but I decided to ask a question to keep the minimum courtesy toward my senior.
“Elsie-senpai, what’s going on?”
“I heard you beat my brother?”
It was a straightforward statement. My eyes glanced at Lupine, who was standing behind Elsie-senpai. Contrary to his cute appearance, he let out a shrill scream and clung to senior Elsie.
“Nu, nuh, nuna… Because let’s stop! This is not normal! He’s a complete madman!”
However, Elsie-senpai frowned slightly and spat out cold words.
“Aren’t you quiet? That’s why I can’t hear good things from my family… Does it make sense that the Prince of the Rainella family is beaten up by the second son of a country viscount and is unable to say anything?”
At those words, Lupine shut his mouth as if he had become a mute who had eaten honey. However, the way he glanced at me, it seemed that I was still afraid.
Celine gave strength to the hand that was holding my arm. I glanced around and saw that she was looking around with rather fearful eyes.
Opponents were seniors. and high-ranking nobles. She couldn’t help but be afraid.
Originally, I should have done the same, but after losing my memory, I became unusually bold and just asked Elsie-senpai in a dumbfounded voice.
“Are you okay with this? This is the middle of the academy.”
“Yeah, no. So let’s go to a quiet place by ourselves.”
Meanwhile, Elsie-senpai pointed somewhere with her chin. I don’t know the exact location, but it must have meant going to an empty lot with few people.
The students who were passing by gathered one by one and started whispering. No one would be so stupid as not to guess what the situation was, but none of them stepped forward.
The Rainella family was a prestigious family, and Elsie’s reputation was also outstanding. The gang she brings are also not average, but they were the ones who endured until the 4th year at the academy one way or another.
If you don’t want to use dumping, it’s better to keep quiet. Celine tugged at the hem of my dress.
“I-Ian brother… … .”
I looked at Celine for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.
I couldn’t help it. I spoke to Elsie in a plain tone.
“Let Celine go, am I the one with the business anyway?”
At those words, Elsie-senpai looked at me without saying anything for a while, then smiled.
“Are you a man? Okay, I don’t want to work any more than necessary.”
Looking back, she was a cute and lovely girl. It’s a problem because what you’re doing isn’t like that at all.
Elsie-senpai gave a slight wink, and several rice cake stands moved away.
I pushed Celine towards it. She hesitated and looked at me with worried eyes.
Things were different from last time. It is impossible to take a surprise attack, and the opponents are the 4th graders who rushed and rushed. Even a skilled wizard named Elsie Rainella.
It seemed that I would have to go to the intensive care unit one more time, but I felt like I would have to be scolded by the saintess again.
That moment when I sighed and Celine, who was looking at me with trembling eyes, chewed her lips as if she had made up her mind.
Kkap, do it.
A sharp sound rang out. And the body of a rice cake stand surrounding me leaned forward.
The sound of a giant collapsing.
Silence fell. It was something that no one standing here expected. Everyone’s stupid eyes were on the back of the fallen man’s head.
There was a small notebook in it. Maybe it was stamped on the corner, but no matter how heavy the notebook was, it couldn’t knock out the 4th year of the academy with a single blow.
Then there was only one answer. That the person who threw that notebook was more powerful than that.
Eyes moved slowly. Everyone’s eyes were focused on the direction where the notebook was presumed to have flown.
As if splitting, the crowd retreats. It was only for one person. A woman receiving such treatment seemed to take it for granted.
Brilliant golden hair caught my eye. Then crimson eyes, pure white skin, and even a slender body.
It was a northern beauty, as if drawn in a painting. She walked confidently, wearing a jet-black cloak. A few people followed as if they were following him.
I had heard of a woman who boasted beauty like the sun, who gathered people like a worm drawn by fire.
The golden lion guarding the north, the enemy of the Yurdina family.
“… … Delphine, Yurdina.”
As if chewing and spitting out, that name spat out of Elsie-senpai’s mouth. There was already blatant hostility in her blue eyes.
Regardless, Delphine Yurdina smiled.
Her attitude was so confident, as if senior Elsie and her gang were nothing compared to her.
“Some cats were bothering the kittens, so it was a bit annoying… Did you say ‘Anjungjijeong (眼中之釘)’ in the old words?”
She was the biggest wall Seria had to overcome.