Love Letter From The Future

The corridor of the temple was quiet. Those who sought the deity generally loved silence.

The more desperate a person became, the more they forgot their words. It was akin to the cries of a parent who had lost a child being more like the howls of a beast.

As the intensity of one’s emotions grew, so did the remnants that could not be translated into words. The torrent of emotions that exceeded the norm could not be defined by a single name, nor could it be classified by individual feelings. Only the person themselves could feel it deeply, and no one could fully understand that emotion.

Thus, humans head to the temple in search of the divine. The only one capable of understanding and acknowledging their burning and wounded hearts was the deity. This was also why the home of the Heavenly Deity Arus had to be always open for the hurt and struggling.

I, waiting in the corridor, felt the same. I was quietly contributing to the silence of the temple.

It was not that the overwhelming emotions had silenced my mouth. I simply did not want to speak due to the miserable and frustrating feeling.

Although the wound that Ceria had received was not particularly deep when viewed objectively. It must have been a mistake; Selin also appeared quite flustered.

On the way to the temple, Ceria, supported by me, hesitantly spoke to me.

“Uh, um… Senior?”

“Yes, Ceria.”

I tried to return my voice as kindly as possible, but it came out a bit colder than usual. My anger had not yet subsided.

At that moment, I heard news that Selin and Ceria were fighting and quickly headed to the scene. Initially, I thought it was just a verbal argument, but I soon realized that chaos was occurring around them.

It was news that a knife fight had broken out. When I rushed to the training ground, there was only one scene that caught my eye.

A blade had sunk into Ceria’s arm, and she was kneeling while groaning in pain. Selin was holding the hilt of the knife.

I had been anxious upon hearing that Selin and Ceria were fighting. Seeing that scene made my anger spike.

It was not solely for Ceria. I had to be angry for Selin too.

Drawing blood with a real sword instead of a wooden one was grounds for punishment. In the worst case, expulsion could follow. What on earth was she thinking when she drew her sword?

Even after rethinking, my frustration made me grind my teeth. Noticing that my mood was strange, Ceria became more subdued and confessed to me.

“Um, actually, it wasn’t just her who drew a sword… I was also drawing my sword in response. I heard your voice and reflexively sheathed my sword, so Selin isn’t solely to blame. I’m sorry, Senior. If I had just held back a little more…”

“…Who drew their sword first?”

Ceria sealed her lips instead of answering. She appeared anxious, worried that her reply might worsen my mood.

In any case, an answer was unnecessary. The phrase “if I had held back a little more” already hinted at the answer.

Selin had drawn her sword first. As I let out an irritated sigh, Ceria, perhaps wanting to console me, stammered to speak.

“W-well, I-an Senior? I’m not very good with words, um… so there might have been a misunderstanding…”

“Never mind that, let’s go to the temple. Why is the wounded one talking so much?”

I felt sorry for Ceria, who was making excuses while chewing her tongue, and said that. I pushed her into the clinic, the corridor of the temple.

The shallow wound was indeed clear, but it took more time for treatment than expected. Perhaps the symbolism of a knife fight occurring within the academy complicated the issue. If a disciplinary committee were to convene, the statements secured in the temple and the extent of the injuries would be the focus of contention.

As I sighed deeply, someone approached me. The natural movement as if they had to come to my side made me feel no particular discomfort.

There was only one person who could be that way. Originally two, but one was the very cause of this chaos, and I had no idea where they were.

“…Reto.”

“How’s it going?”

His voice seemed nonchalant, but the fact that he had deliberately come to the temple made it clear that he was quite concerned about the situation.

I shook my head without saying anything. Sighs kept escaping me. My sister had once warned me that if I kept this up, my luck would run dry.

“I don’t know; for now, it seems Ceria doesn’t want to make a big deal out of this…”

“…Tch, that hot-headed personality of hers never listens to reason.”

Reto clicked his tongue and grumbled so. It meant that he wasn’t feeling very good either. From his perspective, a cousin who had grown up like a brother had suddenly caused an accident, so it was natural he wouldn’t feel good.

I felt a bit dazed. I thought we had finally gotten past one hurdle with Elsi’s joining, but now Selin and Ceria were fighting.

My head throbbed. At this point, Selin and Ceria could not be together. After a knife fight, how could I trust my back to her?

Reto glanced at me, seemingly aware of the concern I had. He quickly put on a facade of indifference and asked.

“So, what do you think about the Hunting Festival group?”

While he spoke broadly of the “Hunting Festival group,” I was not oblivious to the fact that his true intention was to ask what we would do about Selin.

After a moment of contemplation, I washed my face, then replied.

“…Selin can’t join, not like this.”

“What are you going to do then?”

“Should I bring Tean? I’ll go find him, axe in hand.”

Tean from the prestigious Aitry family in the Southern Kingdom.

He was the one who had once caused a conflict with me while leading the ostracism of Ceria and had struck with an axe like Elsi, so it was just a joke that if I brought an axe, it wouldn’t be a problem.

However, Reto seemed to take my air-clearing joke quite seriously. He stroked his chin and muttered.

“Hmm, not a bad idea. He is known for his strength, so he could play a significant role in the front lines, and those from the Southern Kingdom value loyalty.”

“…No, Ceria wouldn’t like that.”

Selin had not led the ostracism. She had indeed spoken behind Ceria’s back and tarnished her image, but that was a recent issue, and it was something that could be smoothed over with an apology.

If, due to this incident, Ceria and Selin reconciled, my relationships would improve as well, and for various reasons, I had tried to recruit Selin, but Tean was different.

Tean had consistently picked on and tormented Ceria before. While he might not target her anymore recently, that past did not change.

Could an apology earn forgiveness? While Ceria might brush it off surprisingly easily, I was skeptical.

His skills were indeed excellent. If Tean were to come, we would form a party of four with Ceria, Elsi, and me, which would be quite a dazzling lineup.

Except for my name, of course; I briefly sunk into that fantasy before shaking my head again. Irritated murmurs escaped my lips.

“Why provoke her…?”

The subject was omitted, but there was no need to specify whose story it was. It was Selin. Reto paused for a moment in silence before summarizing the information he had heard about me.

“From what the kids say, it seems Ceria went a little too far.”

“No matter what, she drew her sword first?”

I flared up and showed a somewhat sharp reaction, then realized it and looked down again.

Reto didn’t seem too concerned. He gazed at me and then quietly said.

“Ceria is from a high-ranking noble family, so when her pride was hurt, she couldn’t take it. You know how the Haster Baron has been treated.”

“The Haster Baron,” I fell silent for a moment upon hearing that.

Selin’s father, who I had heard had become weakened and could not leave his bed. I had learned that many high-ranking nobles had intervened in that process, causing Selin to harbor a strong hostility towards high-ranking nobles.

Even so, I could not dispel my feeling of frustration. My voice came out in a heated tone.

“…Alphenhausen and Yuridina are different.”

“Do you think the only high-ranking noble who interfered in that land dispute was Alphenhausen? At least six families came in and made a mess of the Haster Territory.”

“That’s exactly why this should not happen!”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice. I flinched momentarily, yet Reto only continued to watch me without saying anything.

Eventually, a sigh escaped my lips. A weak voice flowed from me.

“There’s no one left in the Haster family but Selin now. She needs to graduate from the academy and find a suitable marriage partner… She needs to restore the Haster family.”

This was why I was even more angry. For Selin, because she cannot afford to be like this.

I could not understand why she had done something so foolish.

I could comprehend her desperation to manage her connections and gather people so she would not be preyed upon by those noble families, but it all became meaningless if she got expelled from the academy.

Perhaps the reason I was this angry was not because Ceria was injured but because I was worried about Selin.

She was a precious friend whom I had known for over ten years.

A weary voice escaped my lips.

“…Is it my fault?”

If I hadn’t gotten closer to Ceria, Selin and Ceria would never have come to a knife fight. It was a lament imbued with my frustrations. At that moment, Reto gently patted my shoulder. As if to comfort me.

“Yeah, of course. Have you realized now?”

That comment was far from a consolation. When I turned my irritated gaze to Reto, I found him wearing a surprisingly serious expression.

“Human relationships are like that; they’re a bit troublesome. Sometimes there are people who just dislike you for no reason, and even when you try to smooth things over, it can twist. Sometimes someone you thought you knew well feels unfamiliar, it’s all a mess.”

“…So what should I do?”

To my question, Reto shrugged and simply chuckled.

“What can we do? Just do as you please, since you can’t do anything else.”

Then he playfully tapped my shoulder as if to say not to think too seriously.

“If it’s really distressing, drink a bottle of whiskey in one go at night and sleep it off.”

“…Does that solve anything?”

“Not drinking won’t solve it either, right? Just forget it for a while, if you can.”

In any case, he was excellent with words. I stifled a laugh, but upon reflection, it made sense.

If I had such eloquence, perhaps I could have made the relationship between Selin and Ceria smoother. Of course, it was a vain thought.

Tonight, I decided I would drink some whiskey; just as I resolved that in my heart…

The door to the clinic opened, and Ceria carefully poked her head out. The gazes of Reto and me turned towards her at once.

Ceria, with a hint of embarrassment, lowered her gaze slightly and spoke to me.

“Um, I-an Senior? The Lady Virgin Saint has asked you to come in…”

“…Me?”

It was indeed an unexpected summons.

Bright sunlight filtered through the colored glass, bathing the clinic in a spectrum of colors. The scenery of the clinic looked bleak yet tidy.

The temple had always been like this. At least on the surface, it seemed to strive to maintain simplicity. Even the grand buildings and artworks painted by eminent figures of the time seemed to lose meaning beside the fundamental pure white.

Yet the fact that such a place would have to expel patients without donations showed the gap between religion and reality. Otherwise, there would be no operational funds to maintain the temple.

However, today, there was a single focal point on that canvas of pure white. A gaze-catching pink pair of eyes and the feminine curves drawn beneath them.

Beautiful as a work of art, she was, surprisingly, a living human.

Revered as the “Lady Virgin Saint,” she was said to have been favored by the deity due to her innate divine power and benevolent nature, despite being from an orphanage.

It didn’t matter whether it was in the Empire or the Holy Kingdom; one’s background was scrutinized. Yet the fact that someone from an orphanage rose to the level of a saint implied her exceptional talent.

In the presence of such an influential figure, I cautiously sat down in front of her.

Ceria had already received the signal that it was okay to leave. That meant the Lady Virgin Saint wished to speak with me privately, which was something I had no inkling about.

As soon as I sat opposite her, the Lady Virgin Saint began to speak softly.

“Ian, I’ve heard the news. I understand that your close friends, Selin Haster and Ceria Yuridina, have had a dispute.”

“Yes, that is correct…”

While it was a brief overview of the incident, it did nothing to help me guess the Lady Virgin Saint’s intentions for calling me. So, I began to cautiously read her expression as I spoke.

The Lady Virgin Saint closed her eyes without saying a word. Her clear, melodious voice soon flowed from her lips.

“It seems those two have been in conflict over you, Ian.”

“W-was that so? I didn’t know that part…”

As I forced an awkward smile, a benevolent smile formed on the Lady Virgin’s lips.

Her pink eyes opened. She smiled sweetly and asked me.

“Were you pleased?”

“…Huh?”

I was somewhat bewildered, and my words stumbled. Nevertheless, the Lady Virgin Saint did not wipe her smile away. She merely asked in a slightly more serious tone.

“I asked if you were pleased, Ian.”

At that moment, my tongue felt as if it had frozen.

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