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***
“Rapiden is on a business trip to Bastion territory. It’s a time when Young Master Franz is growing day by day…”
“Unlike a certain someone.”
Wolfgang, who seemed to be concentrating on documents, added.
Oh, my. Did he have to say something to feel better?
As I stared at him, who was being mean, I crossed my arms. Right now I was more concerned about something other than clothes or boutiques.
“Come to think of it, we didn’t even have a meeting between the two families.”
“What?”
“With my brother-in-law.”
Franz, who was the same age as me. I was familiar with his reputation.
He’s definitely a member of Bastion, and he’s like his brother, Levi.
I was half worried, and half anxious, about how to break down this last gate.
“Excuse me.”
Hugo appeared with a polite knock. There was always a letter in his white gloved hands.
“This is a letter from the Duke of Campbell.”
‘If it was Duke Campbell…’
The Duke of Campbell, who made his fortune from the never-ending emerald mine?
Campbell, who was originally a count, was able to climb two notches because of his enormous wealth.
A bribe under the guise of good intentions. An offering in the name of a donation. Presenting a full set of high-end accessories every quarter to the previous empress, who was famous for her strong connections.
They’d managed to win the fifth duchy in the Empire after a lot of hard work, but he wasn’t in a very respectable position.
It was the exact opposite position to the Bastion’s, which was heavy with a mixture of fear and jealousy, but also a touch of longing.
‘To put it politely, they were nouveau riche, but to put it bluntly, they are from a family of commoners.’
That Campbell was corresponding with the Bastions?
If we were in the same class, what happened when they didn’t say a word to each other until graduation?
As I snooped out of curiosity, Wolfgang beckoned me when he received the letter.
Come here? Why?
As I approached, the letter fell into my hands.
“Read it.”
“…Are you sure?”
“It’s okay.”
I was a member of Bastion.
The tip of my nose was ticklish again for reasons I didn’t dare mention.
I guess I was allergic to spring pollen.
While my shoulders were tense, Hugo ripped open the envelope with a paper knife.
I took a deep breath, and pulled out the yellowish letter paper inside.
“Oh, my…!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t even read half of it.”
Difficult, Imperial language. Words that were pretending to be aristocratic were difficult to read.
I, who was holding the letter for a long time, spoke without confidence.
“I think it’s a rough greeting. ‘How are you…?’”
“Ah, is that so?”
Benjamin clicked his tongue.
It looked like mediocre content, so what was the problem?
He took the letter from me, as I tilted my head. He looked it over, then made a face that said he knew it.
“The timing is very good.”
“Why?”
“Exquisite, isn’t it?”
Ah, I understood. He suspected that the letter saying hello was sent on the morning breeze because he knew what happened last night.
Which meant…
‘Assassin Candidate #1!’
Benjamin and I stared reluctantly at the letter. Rip it, or burn it?
We decided at the end of the discussion that it was a good idea to tear it apart and scatter it in the air.
In the midst of all this, the person whose house and life were threatened did not even show a shred of interest.
‘Didn’t you want to get angry or try to deduce the culprit?’
How could he do that? If I were him, I’d be suspecting even the fallen leaves by the end of the day.
My gaze met Hugo’s as he glanced at Wolfgang, who was completely incomprehensible.
Come to think of it, he hasn’t left yet.
As soon as I was about to ask if there was anything else he needed, Wolfgang spoke up first.
“Follow Hugo.”
To where?
I quickly ran after Hugo, who was leading the way without divulging anything.
“Hey, Grandpa Hugo.”
“Wrong.”
“…Hugo.”
When I corrected myself right away, he smiled as if I’d done well.
Yeah, it was awkward, but I would get used to it. I was going to be the Duchess of Bastion.
I cleared my throat and put the previous girl inside me to sleep. I spoke up with some difficulty.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m showing you to your new room.”
“Oh, really?”
A grin escaped me.
The maid’s accommodations weren’t bad, but this feeling of acceptance was different.
A room. My room. I was so excited.
It wasn’t an underground living space that was collapsing, or a dormitory where you slept in a crowd like a chicken farm, but it was only…
“You said it was a room.”
“There’s a bedroom connected over there.”
Hugo pointed nonchalantly towards a corner.
I had no choice but to tremble at the feeling of being cheated.
So would he, this place was.
“It’s a library!”
It was a coffin!
It was a coffin!
The only thing that came back was an ominous echo.
Come on, that’s it. You dirty world.
There was no way that a commoner daughter-in-law would be accepted by a great Duke.
“Oh, this flimsy persecution. The only rooms left are empty. You’re mean. So mean. Welcome to the Seaworld. Yes, it’s Seaworld.”
Hugo burst into smile as he sat down and murmured.
“Like this, the books are a consideration for you.”
“Hmm, what consideration? Care to explain what you mean?”
“You will soon understand.”
With a benevolent face, he led me personally.
Library, no, into the coffin…
***
Rev Academy, the sophomore boys dormitory.
It was always a quiet place, unlike the gathering places of reckless younger students.
Last year, the 1st year dormitory that he’d entered was like that. Maybe it’ll be the 3rd year dormitory’s turn next year.
The dorm residents, accustomed to living like monks from start to finish for the crime of being the same age as someone else, stood on tiptoe and gathered in the hallway.
Before they all went to bed, it was time for the dorm supervisor to do a roll call.
There was no official status within the Imperial Academy.
Moreover, even if a member of the royal family entered the school, it was the creed of all academies to treat them as ordinary students.
Therefore, from the royal family to the scholarship-winning commoners, they all had to follow the fixed school rules and timetables without descrimination.
“Please, Master Bastion is exempt from roll call!”
…Even if that was the case, the students were frank in their feelings.
He was going to cut your hand, he’d cut you.
A handsome face with no expression at all. Slanted and bright red eyes. Hair that fell at the perfect angle.
It was already the new semester of the second year, but it was hard to get familiar with him.
A dormitory teacher walked between the students, who quietly swallowed their saliva.
In the middle of the calling and answering of names, the dorm supervisor handed something from the large basket he was holding.
“Will. There’s a letter from home.”
“Thank you.”
“Charles Fisher, you too. It looks like your grandmother sent it.”
He was speaking affectionately, but he was a little nervous when he called the next student’s name.
“Levi Bastion.”
“Yeah.”
“There’s… mail?”
Why was that here? Of course it shouldn’t be here.
For the first time in his life, he read words on an envelope in wonder as a letter was addressed to Levi.
‘What did they write?’
The handwriting was terrible.That meant, the sender…
“Aisha?”
Tak
It was that instant that Levi stole the letter.
A teacher, who’d never seen such a reaction, asked without thinking.
“Uh, who’s the letter from…?”
He didn’t ask in the hopes of getting an answer. It wasn’t easy getting a response from Levi in the first place.
However, Levi, who was staring at the letter in his hand, answered with unexpected pleasure.
“My fiancée.”
It was a problem because the reply was so shocking.
Even though the mouths of the dorm supervisor and his eavesdropping classmates were wide open, Levi bowed and went straight to his room.
It wasn’t important to him, or anyone else, that the roll call wasn’t over yet.
Levi, who slammed the door shut, kept his eyes on the letter and sat down on the bed.
[To Levi. Aisha.]
It was a real letter from Aisha.
Levi, who pondered the names on the outside of the envelope for a long time, opened it gently without tearing it apart.
The content of the letter was only one word.
[Help!]
He didn’t know what she was saying, but he felt like he knew what it meant.
Levi stared all night at the writing that flew like a soul.
Anyway, it was the first letter from his fiancée.
***
I didn’t want to understand. If this was caring, I never wanted to understand.
The reason I was given a bedroom that was connected to the library was…
‘I can’t believe he meant for me to study so much that I’d pass out!’
I banged my head on the desk full of homework.
It was hell. A boring type of hell.
As I turned my head to the side on the desk, I could see a small bedroom through the half-open door.
I hated to admit it, but it was in an excellent position.
It was my job to crawl to study as soon as I woke up, and it was my job to crawl in exhaustion to close my eyes.
“Haaaa… Study like a beggar.”
Studying a foreign language that wasn’t even a part of my life.
After I whined for a while, I sat up and began to write again and again.
I just want to live in a happy, ignorant way, but I at least knew that this was still an essential process.
It was comforting to be able to write quite simple sentences through words such as ‘apple’ or ‘bag’.
‘Oh, is that enough that I can let it fly now?’
A sudden thought led me to finish what I had been putting off.
The content was carefully prepared on a fine piece of parchment, with my name neatly written in place of signature.
It was the first official document to be born from my hands.
I sent the document to Hugo, the butler.
“…What do you mean dismissal?!”
The response came straight back.
Vivi, who burst through the library doors, jumped like a thorny bear.
“How can you do this all of a sudden!”
“I said I would.”
“I thought it was a joke!”
“Well, why not. I’m a serious person who doesn’t know anything about jokes.”
Ignoring Vivi’s crazy glare, I continued to say.
“Vivi, are you satisfied?”
“…What?”
“Your job as a maid.”
Vivi couldn’t answer easily.
It was said that there was no high or low level of occupation, but if the person themself wasn’t satisfied, then the job just wasn’t the same.
Bang, I stood up, hit the desk, and shouted firmly.
“I don’t need a maid who’s lost pride in this Bastion!”
“What are you saying?”
“Honestly, your affection is waning these days!”
“That’s…!”
A look of recognition.
I thought so!
***
Note from Baset: I just wanted to apologize for the late updates. I took a week off because I was having migraines. (m;_ _)m