9 — The Reply

9 — The Reply

I found out that the lady with blonde hair was named Chamomile. The one with silvery hair was Angelica, and the bronze-haired one was Alkanna.

Mr. Fisalis’ letter almost raised more questions than it answered, but at the very least I knew he was safe. What a relief that was. In fact, he seemed to be in such high spirits that he was terrorizing his subordinates! I really felt like I needed to go and apologize to them for his behavior.

As I sat there racking my brain over how I might accomplish such an apology, Chamomile urged me, “Madam, your response, please!” with a smile.

“Oh, yes, you’re right.” Stay on task, stay on task. I read the letter specifically so I could write a reply.

“I can’t go back until I have your reply, Madam. Ha ha... not that I particularly want to go back✰” she said with an appropriately cute shrug. Chamomile! Please take your job more seriously!

“Nooo, you can’t do that!”

“Oh, I can’t?” Chamomile responded with a laugh and no trace of guilt.

Well, at least I get that she’s joking now, even if I couldn’t understand some of the other things she told me earlier. Unless she’s not joking now? Oh well, I’ll just pretend she didn’t say that, either.

Once I had carefully put Mr. Fisalis’ letter back into the envelope, I said, “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll write my reply in my room.” I then apologized to Chamomile as I rose from my seat. “I don’t have anything here to write with. Rohtas, Mimosa. Wait here while I’m gone.”

I didn’t have a writing desk or any stationery in the salon anyway, so I would have to go back to my room for a while to bang out the letter. It wasn’t as if I was going to write a whole report or something, but I didn’t want people just staring at me as I worked!

Oh, wait, forgot about the inspector. Hmm, the only way this letter’s going to make it to Mr. Fisalis is if an inspector looks it over for information leaks. In that case, I should write my reply so it’s easy for the inspectors to do their job! I’ll make the whole thing nice and clear!

I left the salon with just Dahlia, leaving Mimosa and Rohtas to wait with Chamomile.

“It sure sounds like they’re working very hard down there,” I said, my shoulders relaxing once the door to the salon was closed, and we were out of sight.

I can’t catch a break. All I did was read a simple letter, but it left me feeling completely worn out.

“It certainly seems that way,” Dahlia said back with a grim smile, watching me crack my neck.

“Can you gather up the rest of the sweets we have? The same ones we gave Chamomile. I want to be able to send some to Mr. Fisalis and the other knights.” Tea cakes were probably in short supply on the front lines. I wanted to send them some small presents in thanks for all their hard work. I owed it to Mr. Fisalis, at the very least! That is, a rather large part of me felt terrible for making him worry✰ Sweets perk you right up when you’re feeling tired, so hopefully they could cheer him up, too.

“We knew a knight would be coming today, so I believe we already have some prepared. I will go check,” Dahlia said casually. Ahh, I shouldn’t have expected anything less from my A-team of servants! I can’t believe they thought that far ahead! Seriously, I should ask for all of them to get raises on payday! Who should I ask, though? Oh, duh, Rohtas!

“Thank you. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

“Understood, Madam.”

I parted ways with Dahlia just outside the salon—she off to the kitchen, and me hurrying towards my room. It would be terrible manners to leave my guest waiting for too long!

Once I returned to my room, I took a stationery set (specially made for the Fisalis family... and left untouched for who knows how long) out of my writing desk and embarked upon my mission of writing an acceptable letter without delay.

Oh, well, hmm. What to write. As it turns out, my mind was utterly blank.

‘We’ve been having lovely weather here in the capital.’ ...Do I need to tell him that?

‘I am well. Keep your spirits up and work hard.’ ...I just started the letter, but that sounds like it just ended.

‘Everyone else at the manor is doing well, too.’ ...That sounds like something you’d put at the end, too.

Minutes passed. I was making Chamomile wait.

If I take too long, I’ll only make her job more difficult, so I’d better hurry.

...How the heck does one reply to a sappy travel brochure-slash-humble brag letter, though?

Argh, now’s not the time to nitpick his letter. Just write something. This piece of paper is still completely blank.

I took my pen from where I’d been balancing it on my upper lip and dipped it in the jar of ink before me, positioning the nib against the spotless white paper.

‘Mr. Fisalis,’ I’m just gonna skip ‘My dearest’ or ‘My beloved.’ Like I’d waste ink on pointless sugarcoating!

‘I read your letter. Everyone is relieved to hear that you are well.’ Well, I mean, it’s true.

‘I did not know anything of your duchy near the border, only of my own family’s land near the capital, and so found your explanation very informative. If given the chance, I would like to go and see it.’ It’s not like he could have expected me to know about it—we didn’t have the money for parties, much less travel. Mother and Father would have laughed if I mentioned traveling to someone else’s territory! I don’t actually care if I ever see this other territory, but it sounds polite to say I’d like to.

‘I would also like to try the fruit you mentioned, if only to see what it is like. I’ll have to ask Rohtas and Cartham to order some!’ There’s nothing those two can’t do if I ask! I’d probably be able to taste them if they can order some to the manor. But, argh, what a waste of money that would be...

Oh.

I stopped writing. I had been writing at a steady pace, line after line, but I was still only on the first page. And I had barely filled half of it, at that. There’s no way I can fill three whole pages like Mr. Fisalis!

Can I just... stop here? No, this is way too short, I told myself, conveniently answering my own question, when there was a knock on my door. Dahlia came in, back from inquiring in the kitchen.

“Pardon my intrusion. It seems we do have plenty of sweets. I have packed some for the knight to take with her,” she informed me.

“I knew I could count on you. Thank you! Oh, I can add that to my letter.”

‘I suppose you probably do not have many sweets down there, so I am sending you some with your messenger. I hope you all enjoy them. Cartham made them with love, as he always does, so I am sure they will be delicious! I hope they can make everyone’s day a little bit brighter.’ Oooh, yeah, that added a lot! It’s satisfying to see the page start to fill up! Even if the words are mostly empty.

‘Please make sure to take good care of yourself! I will be praying for your safe return from here in the capital. Regards, Viola.’ Yes! Done! This ought to be nice and easy for the inspectors✰

Since the single piece of paper was awfully flimsy, I added a blank second piece. Technically, the single page that the letter was on would have been fine as-is, but I was feeling extra fancy that day! I didn’t often have the occasion to use stationery, so that was the excuse I gave myself.

I folded my letter neatly and put it in an envelope, added Mr. Fisalis’s name and address as well as a return address, and finished it all off by lightly sealing the envelope with sealing wax. Phew, done and done. I managed to finish it, somehow.

“This took longer than I’d expected, so let’s not keep Chamomile waiting any longer!”

“Indeed.”

Dahlia and I hurried back to the salon.

A beautifully wrapped package of sweets was waiting for us in front of the salon door. They were baked goods, so while it seemed unlikely that they would be crushed, they were packed tightly into boxes; the boxes were then wrapped in cloth to keep them from jostling around or coming open during the ride.

The two boxes seemed like plenty, but I still asked, “I don’t know how many knights Mr. Fisalis has with him; do you think this will be enough?” I’d hate to send these and then not have enough for everyone in the division.

But Dahlia just smiled reassuringly and said, “It was Rohtas giving the directions, so I am sure it will be plenty.” I was satisfied hearing that.

“I’ve got nothing to worry about, then!” And with that, I opened the door to the salon.

Chamomile took the letter from me with a broad smile.

“Until next time, then! My apologies for barging in on you, Madam,” she said as she laid her hand on her chest in the knights’ salute. Outside, she nimbly mounted her white horse with the boxes of cakes secured to the saddle and, tapping her steed with her crop, took off at an impressive gallop, the crisp sound of the horse’s hooves fading into the distance.

Wooow. A real prince on a white horse. She’s too cool. I’m totally spellbound again✰

The pressure on me to quickly write a reply to that slightly—no, very mentally taxing letter I had to read, on top of receiving a guest for the first time in so long left me feeling a bit drained. As far as I knew, my work (of being the lady of the house) for the day was done, as per what Rohtas had told me that morning. Alright, siesta time, I thought, returning to my room.

Just as I was getting comfortable on my much-loved sofa, however, my in-laws’ maid came to fetch me.

“Madam. If it pleases you, my master and mistress have informed me that they would like to see you.”

“Oh? My father- and mother-in-law?”

“Yes. They are waiting in the salon.”

Although we were all living together on the manor grounds, I had not seen my in-laws since the day prior in the garden. From the very beginning they had told the servants and I to go about our days as usual and not to mind them, so aside from my run-in with them in the garden, they seemed to have been doing fine on their own. Since I wasn’t doing anything important, I got up from the sofa and told the maid I would head down to the salon.

It must have something to do with Mr. Fisalis’ letter. He is their son, after all, for better or for worse. ...And it really did seem like ‘worse,’ for a while. I couldn’t help but find it sort of charming how they still cared for him so much, even while he was in his lousy son phase. I guess they want to know how their darling boy is doing, I suddenly thought, when I realized I was still holding the letter he’d sent me. I snapped back to reality.

Now wait just a second. Was I going to show them this letter?! Was I seriously about to be like, ‘Here you go, Father, Mother Fisalis... Feast your eyes on this jaw-droppingly sappy letter that some poor inspector was forced to read’? I would literally die of embarrassment! ...Ahem.

Phew, I was really starting to lose it there... even though I was the one who had the embarrassing thought in the first place. A-Anyway, even if I was going to show the letter to them, it’s not like I was the one who wrote it, right? Mr. Fisalis is the one who should be embarrassed—he wrote the letter! ...Heck, who am I trying to convince?

I could not keep them waiting forever, though (oh no, not more deja vu!), so I frantically straightened my clothes, fixed my hair, and raced down to the salon, the letter still clutched in my hand.

I really, really can’t catch a break today.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Father, Mother Fisalis. You both look well!” I greeted them.

“Oh, no need to be so stiff and formal. Have a seat,” my father-in-law urged me, so I daintily sat down in a chair.

No surprise that the two of them are snuggled together on the settee! Time to ignore their PDA just as well as the servants do.

“We heard that an envoy from the military came to see you,” Lord Fisalis said once I had sat down.

“Yes, one of Mr. Fisalis’ knights came.”

“I see! So, what did the letter say?” he asked, excitement written clearly across his face.

“It was mostly about how Mr. Fisalis and his subordinates are faring. I’m relieved to report that they are all doing well,” I replied, casually leaving out the... crazier parts.

“I see, then,” Lord Fisalis continued. “We received a report from Cercis, as well. You can take a look at it, too.” A report? Do they mean something different than the letter I got? I cocked my head in confusion as I took the envelope from Lord Fisalis and read the contents.

It was a surprisingly normal—even straight-laced, you might say—report. Today, the battle went like this; now, the enemy is doing that. It wasn’t as if the report was terribly in-depth, but it was still specific enough to be informative, perhaps because it was intended for my father-in-law. Indeed, it was definitely more of a report and less of a letter, per se. And a very fine report at that!

It was written in densely-packed, precise handwriting and spanned exactly one page.

...What, only one page? But mine was three. And it was just bragging and local attractions! Oh, whatever.

I was more staring at the report than reading it at that point; it definitely clearly communicated that Mr. Fisalis and his subordinates were still in good health. The contents were so different that I almost wondered if two different people had written my letter and this report, but the report was written on the same stationery as the letter that had been addressed to me.

There’s no doubt about it, both were written by Mr. Fisalis. But then again, I’m not very familiar with his handwriting. And it’s... unlikely that he had someone else write my letter for him. So it was almost definitely he who wrote my letter. No, I’m sure of it, Lord Fisalis said it was his from the start.

When I finished reading the report, I handed it back to Lord Fisalis.

“A letter from Cercis came for you too, right, Vi?” Lady Fisalis asked me, her star sapphire eyes shining even more radiantly than usual. Look at her, pretending she doesn’t know!

I froze under her arrow-like gaze. Without meaning to, I suddenly remembered what my letter had said and blushed.

This is why I put on a brave face and brought the letter down with me, right? Because I was willing to show it to them, right?

...Well it turns out, I’m still suuuper embarrassed!

My eagle-eyed mother-in-law must have noticed how I was squirming under her gaze, because she then said, “Gracious, Vi, you’ve turned bright red! That must have been quite the juicy letter! Oh ho ho ho! It’s alright, dear, you don’t have to show it to us. Just make sure you keep it in a safe place!”

What does she mean by that?! And what woman her age says ‘juicy’?! Just a second ago you were acting like you wanted to see it!

Still, I guess I should be glad that I no longer have to show them the letter, thanks to my mother-in-law’s offhand remark (made even scarier by the fact that she wasn’t very far from the truth).

They were still looking at me like I had a screw loose, though. But if I no longer had to let them read the letter, why did I still feel like I couldn’t bear to be in the same room as them a minute longer?