Episode 107 – Letter

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“That’s how it went.”

“…”

After returning to the mansion, I gathered everyone and briefly explained what happened at the social gathering, from my conversation with the Emperor to my battle of wills with Robin.

It was only an hour or two ago that I had burned all my patience at Robin’s unbearable behavior, unleashing scorn and fury. I was even a little surprised at how calmly and unemotionally I spoke about it.

Lily and Banata seemed taken aback by the passionate story, which didn’t match my calm tone, and my actions within it. But Lara and Mena nodded and accepted it more calmly than I expected.

After slowly finishing my explanation, I said to everyone.

“Since I practically antagonized Robin openly, the plan to torment that son of a bitch for a long time is pretty much out the window.”

“Ed, what are you planning to do from now on?”

Lily asked, unable to hide her bewildered expression.

Perhaps because of the sudden turn of events, or perhaps because of my cold tone, Mena looked noticeably nervous.

I crossed my arms and said.

“Well, I don’t know. I’ll have to see how things go.”

“See how things go…? What do you mean?”

“If Robin does something stupid, as the Emperor feared, or if the Emperor’s side makes excessive moves to stop my revenge, I’ll go see Robin right away. If not, I’ll torment him a little more, as originally planned.”

Mena questioned my words.

“What if His Majesty was right? What if Robin does something after being provoked?”

Perhaps because of her experience of losing Banata twice, Mena was extremely cautious even while understanding my words.

She seemed to be fed up with everything since getting Banata back.

While she wanted to take a miserable revenge on Robin, who had made her past dozen years terrible, after experiencing almost losing Banata twice, she now just wanted to live a peaceful life with her daughter, not wanting to see Robin’s face ever again.

As someone who was practically a criminal in front of Mena, I could fully understand her feelings.

I looked into Mena’s eyes and said.

“That won’t happen.”

“…How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ll kill him first.”

My tone sounded a little harsher and rougher than I intended.

The hatred and murderous intent towards Robin, so deeply ingrained that anyone could tell just from my voice, pierced the hearts of those who heard it.

Even Mena couldn’t say anything more and closed her mouth. I looked at her and slowly continued.

“If you’re worried about getting caught in the crossfire, you don’t have to stay by my side anymore.”

“…Ed?”

“I won’t cause any more harm to you guys.”

I meant to reassure Mena, but as soon as I finished speaking, the atmosphere quickly sank.

Lily looked worried and asked me cautiously.

“Ed, did something else happen in the Imperial City besides what you’ve told us?”

“Why do you think so?”

“…Look at your lips.”

Only after hearing Lily’s words did I feel a sharp pain filling my mouth.

It seemed I had unconsciously bitten and torn my lip.

Even though I should feel pain as a human, the fact that I didn’t notice it meant that I was definitely in a state of being out of my mind, unlike my tone suggested.

I healed the torn inside of my mouth with divine power and shook my head.

“…Nothing happened.”

Lara, who had approached me, wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth with a napkin and said.

“Shall I guess?”

“Guess what?”

“It’s because of Mela, isn’t it?”

“…”

“What happened?”

I slowly shook my head, pulling up only the corners of my lips into a cold smile.

“I just stopped having foolish thoughts.”

“…Huh.”

The smile on my face was an unnatural one, as if a fishing hook was caught in the corner of my mouth and forcibly pulled up.

From the moment I saw Mela looking like a loving wife with Robin, something inside me broke. I acted like someone who had forgotten how to smile naturally.

I had wanted Mela, who had been so distressed by the news of my death that she had even tried to take her own life, to be happy. But when I saw her happy in Robin’s arms, I felt like the most important gear in my body had rusted and stopped.

I was convinced that some part of me might never work again.

I forcibly pressed down on my stiff lips with my fingers and asked everyone.

“Well, any questions? If not, I’m going up to bed.”

“Are you going to sleep already?”

“Social gatherings are surprisingly draining.”

“That’s true.”

I tried to stand up, pushing the chair back.

At that moment, Banata raised one hand and said, looking straight at me.

“U-um, Ed. I have a question.”

I nodded and said.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Um, you haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“…?”

“That… you know. The, the date promise.”

“…What?”

I asked back with a dumbfounded expression.

Banata trembled at my gaze, but still held up her arm and said.

“Y-you promised.”

“…”

“…E-Ed promised…”

Banata shrank her body as much as possible, but carefully looked up at me with her big, round eyes.

Whether she was scared by my anger or anxious about being rejected, she was trembling like a small rabbit.

Seeing her finally close her eyes tightly, it seemed she realized how absurd what she was saying was.

I sighed and pressed my index and middle fingers against my temples and said.

“…Let’s talk about it after we see how things go. If I don’t have to go kill Robin right away, I’ll go out with you.”

“Yay!”

Banata raised her other arm, which she hadn’t raised before, and struck a victory pose.

Lily and Mena, seeing her innocent appearance that was so out of place with the situation, showed faint smiles, as if their tension had eased a little.

I got up from my chair before the others and headed to my room.

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After arriving in my room and collapsing on the bed to cool down, I slowly began to get up.

The sun was already high in the sky, filling the room with sunlight through the window. Considering the position of the sun, it didn’t seem like morning no matter how I thought about it.

In fact, even though I had gone to bed early, I was preoccupied with various thoughts and couldn’t fall asleep until late.

It could have been because I felt the end was approaching, or it could have been because of Mela, as Lara said.

Whether I admitted it or not.

I stretched out my stiff body, greedily absorbing the sunlight pouring in through the window, and reached out to pick up the music box on the bedside table.

It was the music box that served as a means of communication with Ellie.

I slowly opened the music box.

I hoped that Ellie, who would have cleaned up the mess I had made at the Imperial City’s banquet yesterday, would have some new information. But the music box didn’t make any sound, as if there was no particular news.

No, there’s no way there wouldn’t be any news.

Both Robin and Edward would be under investigation by the Inquisition, so there was a good chance that there would be something to tell me.

Perhaps she was too busy cleaning up after me to have time to contact me.

What I had done was unimaginable to the nobles who valued their reputation above all else, so it was probably an unprecedented event.

Seeing that I wasn’t being held responsible, I even wondered if the Emperor was really looking out for me.

I suddenly wondered what Ellie’s opinion was on my revenge.

Unlike the others, Ellie was the most active supporter of my revenge, but at the same time, she was also a princess who cherished the people of this empire very much.

I honestly doubted whether she would still support my revenge in the current situation.

Perhaps because they were father and daughter, Ellie seemed to have a similar way of thinking to the Emperor. There was a good chance that she would come to a similar conclusion and agree with his opinion.

I carefully closed the music box and slowly opened the door to go downstairs to the first floor.

Knock knock.

“Ed-nim. Are you awake?”

“What’s wrong, Mena?”

“It’s a letter.”

“A letter?”

I opened the door and greeted Mena, who was standing in front of it.

Mena handed me a luxurious white envelope.

After receiving the envelope and examining it, my face crumpled as soon as I saw the crest stamped on the sealing wax that sealed the envelope’s opening.

“It’s the Boldiras family crest.”

“Mela-nim personally sent this letter.”

“…”

There was no name written on the envelope.

I asked Mena.

“How did you know Mela sent it?”

“…”

“…Mena?”

“She came in person. A little while ago.”

“…She’s at this mansion right now?”

“No… Knowing that you wouldn’t meet her, she asked me to deliver the letter and left immediately.”

Mena spoke calmly, greeted me, and closed the door.

I silently tore open the envelope.

I didn’t intend to scold Mena for attending to Mela.

She knew about my relationship with Mela, but at the same time, she had been Mela’s maid until recently, so it would have been difficult for her to refuse her request.

In fact, I later heard that Mela had encouraged Mena, saying that she looked better than when she was at the Boldiras mansion.

I sighed and slowly took out the letter and read it.

It felt like it had been a long time since I had seen her familiar handwriting.

As I slowly traced the shapes with my eyes, I felt a new wave of longing rising up.

Of course, it wasn’t the same desperate longing as before, but rather a feeling closer to nostalgia.

Had I really lost all lingering feelings for her?

Or had some kind of filter formed in my heart to prevent me from being hurt so much anymore?

I read the letter while thinking about such things.

And soon, my face slowly became filled with shock.

I crumpled the letter in my hand and stomped towards the desk.

I grabbed an ink pen and scribbled words on any piece of paper I could see.

Calm down.

Calm down.

I was scribbling the words not only to write quickly, but also to disguise my handwriting.

Of course, there was a very low chance that Mela would remember my handwriting from 20 years ago, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

After finishing writing in an instant, I threw the pen down carelessly, grabbed the paper, and burst out of the door.

“Mena!”

Mena, who was going down the stairs, was startled by my shout and hurried up the stairs to approach me.

“Ed-nim! What’s wrong?”

“Mena, send this to Mela.”

“…Is it a reply?”

“Yes.”

Mena received the paper I had scribbled on and held it up.

Only one line was written on the paper.

However, what was written was not a reply to the letter, but an address.

Mena read the location written on it and looked at me in surprise.

“…Ed-nim. Are you serious?”

“…Yeah.”

“…”

Mena neatly folded the paper I had handed her in half twice and answered.

“I will send it right away.”

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