Ch.369369 – Letters from the Ladies of the Past

<369 – Letters from the Previous Young Ladies>

After leaving the laboratory, Zhang headed to his personal dormitory with a pounding heart.

“Zhang. The professor said he’d give points if we carry these belongings to the personal quarters. Want to do it together?”

“No thanks. You take the good stuff, Tito.”

Easily resisting Titosoga’s temptation.

“Hey freshman, sorry but this path is off-limits. The Production Department messed up their slime production material mixing, so the entire pathway is covered in slime… Huh?”

“Who are you talking to? Are you so overworked you’re seeing things?”

“No, really. There was a short-haired female student who looked like a doll with scary eyes at night…”

“No matter how you describe it, that’s a ghost, you know? Get a grip.”

Easily leaping over the slime-covered street with advanced stealth techniques and flash steps, just as the sophomores had warned.

“Run away!! A senior appeared who curses passing students, forcing them to run at his pace for ‘physical training’ until they collapse from exhaustion!! Everyone needs to take shelter indoors!!”

“Wait, how do you know that in such detail?”

“Kuk kuk. This is why perceptive underclassmen are troublesome. You escaped my mana-draining trap that wouldn’t let you go until all your mana was drained. Consider yourself lucky…”

He passed by a group of classmates who were applauding Irene for skillfully avoiding the senior’s trap.

“Isabelle developed a new dish in the kitchen and made too much, so she’s giving away the leftovers!”

“Wow! How many people can get it?”

“Ten people. If you run now, you might not be too late!”

It was quite torturous to resist turning back toward the kitchen, but he endured by reminding himself of his goal.

Creak. Thud.

Zhang returned to his dormitory without taking any shortcuts, driven by his single-minded desire to examine the contents as soon as possible!

“This better be worth it.”

The letters he read in exchange for missing Isabelle’s new dish were diary-like letters from a young lady to Jona.

━━━

To my dear butler whom I miss.

It’s already been two weeks since I entered the Academy.

You might think I’m lying if I say I miss the days when we trained together, but surprisingly, I truly do miss those times.

Compared to the Academy’s training intensity, those days were much easier and my mind was more at peace.

Why didn’t I realize it before?

That even those difficult training sessions were merely to ‘enter’ the Academy, and naturally couldn’t compare to the training required to ‘advance’ within the Academy.

I want to go back to those days.

I want to eat the training diet instead of the black bread harder than bricks that need to be dissolved with 1-point needles.

Jona, if I can return to the mansion during vacation, could you cook for me again?

I miss your stew, even with its mediocre seasoning and soggy vegetables, but filled with sincerity.

Still, your existence must remain hidden from the Academy, right?

I’ll cherish these letters and give them all to you when we meet again.

From your brilliant young lady.

━━━

Was this young lady truly a noble?

From her polite tone to her neat handwriting, she exuded the air of someone well-educated.

A model noble lady who remained charming even when spoiled, maintaining her ladylike demeanor even when relaxed.

This was Zhang’s first impression.

The assignments are difficult.

My peers are too talented.

The professors think we only take their classes.

The young lady wrote weekly letters filled with relatable complaints and longing for Jona.

Starting from the May letter after midterms, her emotions seemed to intensify, as her once-neat handwriting began to waver.

━━━

To my sometimes-resented butler.

I thought I was prepared, but receiving direct orders like this reveals my true feelings.

Have I truly become a discarded card?

To deliberately lose in the competition assignment against Charlotte.

Having to intentionally negate all my efforts so far truly pains my heart.

Does that child have a butler too?

Did she receive the Foundation’s selection and have time and opportunities to hone her talents like me?

The reason she benefits from the directives while I must endure the losses must be due to differences in effort, right?

I know I can’t say it’s unfair.

But thinking this is just the beginning brings tears to my eyes.

Please answer me.

Tell me that even if the Foundation has lost faith in me, you as my butler haven’t abandoned your expectations.

From your young lady who needs your comfort.

━━━

Trouble befell the young lady who had been working hard despite difficulties.

She couldn’t achieve good grades.

She was branded as the Foundation’s “discarded card.”

The “young lady” who had received education from a personal butler due to her special talents fell to the same status as an ordinary “lower scholarship student.”

The directive saw the limit of her growth value and forced her to sacrifice for a more talented scholarship student.

Yet the young lady silently endured the sacrifice.

Though shaken, saddened, and anguished.

She silently continued her studies.

━━━

To my butler.

I realized only when vacation came.

The Foundation didn’t permit me to return home or meet with you, my butler.

Since I failed to achieve my target grades in the first semester finals, I shouldn’t complain.

But feelings of resentment keep growing.

If only Charlotte wasn’t there.

If not for the points taken by that child, I could have reunited with you.

I would have had a place to return to, a butler to meet.

Please tell me.

Is this as far as I go?

If so… what was all my effort for?

If I can’t meet my butler, can’t return to the mansion, and just live a life to help Charlotte advance to the upper class…

What meaning does it have?

I’ve decided.

I’ll escape the Academy during this practical training.

Then I’ll know the Foundation’s true intentions.

If I still have value as a young lady, I’ll be forgiven, and if not, perhaps I can meet you again this way.

I’ll come see you soon.

From your young lady who longs to see you.

━━━

The first young lady’s letters ended here.

A young lady who never wrote her name or Jona’s name, fearing it might harm him.

With that thoughtful heart, she couldn’t bring herself to harm Charlotte, yet foolishly risked her own life in a gamble.

Jona had said that all the young ladies before Oknodie couldn’t endure life at Gift Academy.

It was different.

This was the struggle of a human who had become a sacrificial lamb of the directive, trying to reaffirm her own worth.

She became the master of her own life, and now only undelivered letters remained here, being read by his hands.

Zhang gently caressed the blank spaces as if trying to understand the hidden meanings, then folded the letter.

* * *

After a brief rest.

Zhang opened the letter box again.

‘The next young lady.’

The quality of the stationery was different from the start.

The first young lady’s letters were proper enough to be placed in a mailbox.

Though they would reach no one and couldn’t be returned without names or addresses.

Unlike those neat letters carefully placed in envelopes, the second young lady’s letters were a complete mess.

Roughly torn notebook pages.

Handwriting as messy as crawling worms.

The content was quite confrontational too.

━━━

You’re such a bastard.

I knew I wasn’t the first, but did you let the previous young lady die so miserably?

You scumbag.

I shouldn’t have fallen for your food bribes.

Ugh.

Next time we meet, I’m going to kick you right in the groin.

━━━

“…”

Her personality was quite… free-spirited.

The torn notebook scraps of various sizes continued to contain explicit curses and clear violent intentions toward Jona.

Assignments are tough? Want to hit Jona.

Classmates are annoying? Want to beat Jona up badly.

Her writing schedule was also erratic.

Some weeks she’d leave twenty scribbled scraps, while other times she wouldn’t write for three weeks because she “couldn’t be bothered.”

Unlike the first young lady raised with affection, there were clear signs that Jona hadn’t formed an attachment to this one.

However, there was a difference in the second young lady’s letters.

━━━

You come all the way here in disguise for a visit and just say what you want to say before leaving? You could at least give me some money. Stingy jerk.

━━━

He had visited her.

Taking a risk.

This passage showed that the loss of the first young lady had clearly affected the Foundation butler’s heart.

Zhang couldn’t help but smile, imagining the second young lady grumbling but smiling with her mouth.

But waiting at the end was a tragedy that would be summarized as “failure to adapt.”

The tomboy young lady’s tragedy came in a way similar to but different from the first young lady’s.

━━━

Are you insane?

Threatening to dispose of perfectly normal kids if they don’t cause a rampage with dark mana? Is that something humans do?

Cassia might be less capable than me, but she doesn’t deserve such a miserable death.

Was it the same with your first young lady?

Asking if her existence was merely fertilizer for Charlotte’s advancement?

I can answer that.

Cassia is not fertilizer for my advancement.

If you’re going to kill Cassia, I’ll hide her.

━━━

Unlike the first who was marked as a sacrificial lamb for advancement, the second was selected as a flower to grow from the fertilizer.

This tomboy young lady couldn’t contain her overflowing sense of justice and took action, and no more notebook scraps could be found in the letter box.

‘They selected the second to overcome the first’s timid heart, but kindness led to the young lady’s death all the same.’

Zhang wasn’t sure whether to say Jona had good judgment or not.

The thought that Jona might be the culprit who kidnapped the missing Dobby had now vanished from his mind.

Even if he were a villain, Zhang had a strong conviction that his method of committing crimes wouldn’t involve kidnapping students.

‘But this is too much.’

There were still letters from the third young lady in the box.

The third young lady who was raised right before Oknodie.

What kind of person would she be?

As he read the letter he’d opened with curiosity, his eyes turned cold.

This young lady was different from the previous ones.