8 — Correspondence
8 — Correspondence
Almost a week had gone by since Mr. Fisalis had left for his campaign. His absence had come up relatively frequently in conversation, but it was most noticeable when I ate my meals alone every day. I couldn’t help but remember how he always had something interesting to talk about. As a result, Mr. Fisalis’ very existence was reduced to mere memory, much as it was when I had first moved to the manor so long ago.
Yet, it felt as if he was still there. He had changed so much from the man I’d first met!
“An envoy from the Royal Palace is expected to come today,” Rohtas mentioned as he told me the day’s schedule over my after-breakfast tea. Hm? Why would a messenger from the palace be coming here?
“What business does someone from the palace have here? Is it with my father-in-law?”
“No, it will be with you, Madam. Er, I suppose it is also of interest to the former duke and duchess, as well. The messenger is to bring a letter from the front lines.”
“The front lines?”
“Reports and directives are passed between the palace and the front lines on a nearly daily basis. Letters home are occasionally among them.”
Oh ho. So this messenger is just like a mailman!
“I understand now.”
“One with a social standing as high as Master’s can receive envoys from the palace. Otherwise, it will be a postman from the military.”
Wow! I mean, what a striking example of class difference, but, wow! Mr. Fisalis gets letters from the palace! Everywhere I go, anything I do, I’m reminded of how he’s basically a huge celebrity.
“So which will be coming today?”
“I am not certain of that myself... But, at any rate, we will have a visitor, so please be present to receive him.”
“I will!”
We don’t know when our guest is coming, so I’ll have to be patient! Roger that, Rohtas!
Said envoy arrived just as Rohtas was explaining everything to me, so Rohtas left to meet him. When I went to see who it was, I stiffened and clenched my jaw.
“Good day, Madam! I’ve come with a letter from the Commander!”
The person Rohtas led inside was not only one of Mr. Fisalis’ subordinates, but one-third of the Bombshell Trio: the blonde-haired lady knight. The sight of her backlit by the sun outside took my breath away. Her beautiful golden hair was neatly tied back in a high ponytail and she was impeccably dressed in a dashing knight’s uniform. In a word, she was awe-inspiring. Her appearance conveyed such strength that I bet doors just flew open on their own wherever she went!
“Ahem.” Rohtas cleared his throat, jerking me back to reality after I’d been enchanted by the lady knight’s overwhelming beauty. Oops, I was drooling.
Oh, if the envoy is one of the knights, does that mean the message is a letter from Mr. Fisalis?
She smiled gently at me and handed me the letter from Mr. Fisalis. This was no time for me to let myself be enchanted by her smile that was currently ever-so-close to my own face. She was only delivering a message on behalf of Mr. Fisalis, after all.
“Thank you so, so much for coming all the way here. Did you have a report to deliver to the Royal Palace?” Based on what Rohtas told me, that would probably be her main job, but she doesn’t appear to be carrying anything other than the letter from Mr. Fisalis.
“Yep! Got it taken care of real fast!” she replied with a lovely grin. Reporting to the palace was the main reason she came to the capital, so acting like it wasn’t that big a deal is...
“Are you sure you didn’t need to take your time?”
“Well, the war hasn’t started yet and the situation down there hasn’t changed much. Besides, presenting the report at a formal meeting with His Majesty and a bunch of old rich guys is a real pain; it just drags on and on. Someone more disciplined than me would be better suited to attend meetings. So when the opportunity came up to be an envoy, I snatched it up!”
Did she just ‘tee hee’ when she said that? I get the feeling she’s being a little too forthright. She kind of does come off as someone who speaks without thinking.
“Ohh, oh, I see. Do you happen to have time for a cup of tea as thanks for bringing me the letter?” I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear her say all that stuff about the report. She came all this way from the campaign site to deliver Mr. Fisalis’ correspondence to me, after all, so I ought to treat her properly and offer her some tea and sweets.
The lady knight was technically on duty, so the possibility that she might turn me down crossed my mind, but:
“Of course! That’s why I was in such a rush to get here from the palace! I wanted to spend some time and chat with you! This messenger business usually means you’re riding a horse all night, so it’s certainly not the easiest job in the world, and then everyone just hands their problems off to someone else. It’s like they just accepted anyone who signed up for this campaign!” came her immediate reply.
Why did she feel the need to tell me all that? Did Mr. Fisalis’ subordinates get in an argument over who would be the messenger? They’d argue with their fists in a situation like that, I bet. Either way, I bet they’d cause a big uproar over it. Not to mention I can practically see Mr. Fisalis and Corydalis’ shocked faces.
So things are peaceful down there now... Wait, no, aren’t they supposed to be assigned to the dangerous front lines right now? I feel kinda like my head is spinning.
“Dahlia, have some tea brought to the salon.” I pulled myself out of my own head, having determined that I would ignore that comment, too, and asked Dahlia to prepare some tea.
“As you wish.”
“Is everything going well down there? How are you all faring?”
“Er, well, the Commander is doing very well. He’s been working incredibly hard because he wants to come home as soon as possible.”
“Oh, that’s good to hear! How do things look in terms of the war?”
“We’re tracking their movements at present, so it’s a wait-and-see situation. The commander has instructed us to consider several different strategies.”
“O-Oh! Alright, now I understand! So it’s not at the point of outright war yet?”
“Correct.”
The lady knight and I made conversation in the salon over some of Cartham’s signature sweets and the delicious tea Mimosa brewed. The focus was Mr. Fisalis’ status update, but... she couldn’t go into too much detail about the work they were doing, and I didn’t understand a lot of what she told me anyway, so the conversation didn’t really go anywhere. Still, though... it was a relief to know that we weren’t at open war yet.
“Oh, that reminds me. The commander ordered me to bring back a reply,” she said offhandedly after she placed her cup on her saucer.
“Hm?” She had said so much that I thought I might have misheard her. So, I’m to write a letter even though I’ve only just received this one now? I haven’t even opened the envelope yet.
“You can write it here after you read his letter, or you can just write about how you are doing before reading his. Either one is fine, so long as I have something to take back,” the lady knight pressed when I froze.
“Right here?”
“Yup, right here!” she said with a half-hearted smile that rather failed to encourage me.
Should I really open his letter right here? I wondered. But when I looked into the lady knight’s eyes, I could practically hear her thinking ‘Yes! Right now! Read it right now!’
“Oh, the letter has already been approved by the inspector over there, so you’re free to read it!”
“Huh?”
“All letters exchanged have to be inspected.”
...I guess that makes sense. You wouldn’t want important information to be leaked. It’s pretty common knowledge that mail associated with the Royal Palace or the government (including the military) is subject to strict regulation. So even though he’s the commander of a special division, Mr. Fisalis’ letters have to be inspected, too, to make sure they don’t contain any classified information.
Despite the inspection of mail being pretty common knowledge, I hadn’t personally known anyone who was subject to it until just now, so it had completely slipped my mind. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought I’d get a piece of mail that had been officially inspected.
...Well, if someone else had already looked over it, that must mean it doesn’t contain anything suspicious. And now that she’s brought it here, and I get the sense she can’t go back unless I open it, I basically have no choice but to open it now.
“...Alright, then. I’ll read it now, if you’ll excuse me. Dahlia, the letter opener, please.”
“Yes.”
I still don’t understand why, but if I have to read this here and now, I suppose I don’t have any objections.
I took the letter opener from Dahlia and neatly opened the envelope.
❧
My beloved Viola,
It will soon be one week that I have been apart from you. I desperately hope you are well...
❧
What.
My eyes drifted away from the letter.
What... is this? It’s all lovey-dovey from the get-go. What’s with the ‘beloved’?! Nope, nope, not gonna go there.
I found myself suddenly nervous.
You’ve only just started. Pull yourself together, Vi.
❧
You need not worry about my condition, dear Viola, just know that being away from you thus has left me terribly sick—but only in my heart. For the briefest of moments, I glimpsed upon your smiling face just before I awoke this morning, only to feel a terrible pain in my soul when I opened my eyes. I write ‘beloved’ and yet all I feel, throughout my entire being, is ‘sorrow.’
❧
I barely contained a gag.
Oh no. It’s so sappy I can practically taste sugar in my mouth. This is a little out of character, even for him. I mean, he’s already pretty sappy normally, but this letter has fifty percent higher sugar content.
❧
I am stationed near the border of the kingdom to the south and, as I feared, the heat here is dreadful. It is hot and dry, with miles upon miles of sand and barren land being its most distinguishing features. There is, however, a place something like an oasis on my family’s land nearby that provides a large quantity of fruit and minerals. But, O, my sweet Viola, you are the only oasis for me!
❧
I do declare, Mr. Fisalis. You are my— Oh no, now I’m out of character! Ha ha. I would never think that.
That place on the border sounds like a lovely duchy! Even with that awful climate, it certainly seems like they have abundant natural resources! Life sure is different when you’re a high-ranking aristocrat... You get actually nice territories and whatnot. Nothing like my family’s territory. Ours lies north of the capital, so our crops often freeze. It’s cold and dry, so barely anything will grow anyway. Oh, the two territories are similar in that they’re both dry, though✰ ...Not that that makes me happy or anything, I unconsciously corrected myself.
Huh, I never thought I’d be proud of my territory, but now ‘my’ territory is the duchy.
❧
The kingdom just to the south of the duchy, Aurantia, is so arid that only the most drought-tolerant fauna can survive there. Furthermore, the aforementioned underground vein of mineral deposits runs along our border and Aurantia is forbidden to mine there, as per Flür law.
❧
I felt ever-so-slightly bad for our southern neighbor, between their arid climate and being forbidden to mine for minerals.
❧
Thus, Aurantia frequently invades our kingdom for its natural resources and, in the case of a small-scale skirmish, they can usually be driven back by the company stationed at the border and the duchy knights under my father’s command. Based on our investigations, however, it appears they are now capable of a large-scale invasion, completely unlike those earlier skirmishes.
❧
Just as I thought, they are the bad guys! I’ve made up my mind on that. And wow, for someone who seems as easy-going and carefree as my father-in-law, it turns out he has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders.
❧
It is proof of what a blessed, wealthy kingdom we are that Aurantia is ever after our bounty. The fruit from our duchy is especially well-known, and distributed around our kingdom, naturally, as well as exported abroad for a high price. We produce an abundant volume of that specific variety....
❧
After that, he rambled on and on about what an extraordinarily wonderful place the duchy was and how it was such an important region, but we’ll leave all that out. I guess bragging about his territory comes more naturally to him. Typical.
There were three full pages remaining.
What is this, some sort of punishment? This is more like a travel brochure than a simple letter home. What the heck, Mr. Fisalis? Oh well, I’ll just skim it until the end.
❧
...I endeavor to finish my work here as fast as I can so that I may come home to you soon... so take care of yourself, my lovely Viola. Of course, I will write to you regularly, but if you still feel lonely, just look to the south and think of me. I, in turn, will look toward the capital and think of my dearest Viola! Although we may be apart, my heart remains always with you. If nothing else, please remember that.
Farewell for now.
Yours Always, Cercis
❧
‘Yours Always’?! Who does he think he’s writing to?!
I was so embarrassed, I think my nose started bleeding!
Why is he trying to act like some kind of Casanova? ‘My heart remains always with you’ sounds so creepy! Like I have it in a jar or something! And stop writing my name over and over like it’s pillow talk!
Mr. Fisalis’ letter sent me into such a mental tailspin that I needed a moment to collect myself.
At least he’s keeping his spirits up, according to his letter. That part came across loud and clear. I have so, so many questions, though.
Despite my frayed nerves, I somehow managed to finish reading his letter. By the time I was done, I was actually feeling dizzy. Never before had I been handed a piece of mail with such destructive power.
“You said this letter was inspected, right?”
“Yes, the inspectors look them over according to military protocol.”
I’m well aware of that, so what’s making me feel like I can’t... The inspectors. The inspectors read his letter...
“...Did they say... anything when they read it?” I asked the lady knight nervously.
“They looked a little surprised, but no, they didn’t say anything! I mean, it’s their job,” she explained, staring off into space.
Although I understood why it had to be done, just thinking about someone else reading that letter made me dizzy again. I shut my eyes tight and tried to calm myself down.
“Er, may I ask you something?” I asked her. She had not stopped watching me with a lukewarm, critical gaze the whole time.
“What is it?”
“Is Mr. Fisalis actually working all that hard?”
“Y-Yes?!”
“It’s just... all he wrote about was how wonderful and tranquil his duchy is down there...” And the mushy stuff. So much mushy stuff.
The mood in the room completely changed the moment I asked.
“He’s working extremely hard! He’s driving us mad! I shudder at the thought!” she cried, her eyes wide.
“Eeep!” I was so startled by her sudden change in attitude that I let out a little scream as my knees gave out, and I collapsed onto the sofa! You... you didn’t need to scare me like that!
Mr. Fisalis, what in the world are you doing to your subordinates?!
“Are all you knights okay?”
“More or less. But he just comes up with these brutal plans and then makes us run through them to see if they’ll actually work in practice! We’re like his guinea pigs!
“Mr. Fisalis...”
“And he’s all like ‘you guys want to go home sooner rather than later, too, don’t you?’”
That’s definitely something he would say. For sure.
“Which is why everyone wanted to be the messenger. Usually no one wants that job! Riding non-stop overnight is like child’s play compared to having to put his strategies into action!”
“But isn’t that brutal, too? Having to ride all night at such a fast pace?” I could relate, if only slightly, following my own brutal midnight ride back when we suspected Mr. Fisalis of keeping a secret mistress. I couldn’t imagine having to ride at a gallop for longer than that and without stopping to sleep. And yet, she said that was the easier option!
“Not in the slightest! It was my absolute pleasure to ride all night just to have tea with you! This is like heaven! Paradise! An oasis! And while I’m on the topic, the other two lady knights also got themselves messenger jobs, so you’ll probably be seeing them, too.”
“Huh? You all aren’t arguing about it anymore?”
“That’s right! Commander said that he’d ‘never let another man visit Viola while he is away’ and what he says goes! Granted, even if he hadn’t decided that, we’d still make sure we got the job, one way or another!” she said with a wink.
That certainly does sound like something he would say, and I don’t doubt the lady knights could easily get what they wanted from the guys. In any case, everyone is still okay out there on the front lines. Mr. Fisalis, very much so. It is clear to me, then, that the knights have a rough road ahead of them.