Love Letter From The Future

༺ The First Letter (57) ༻

The corridors of the temple were quiet. More often than not, those who sought God loved this silence.

This was because humans tended to forget how to use words as they became more desperate. A good example of this was the guttural cry of a parent who lost a child, which closely resembled the cry of an animal.

As the intensity of emotions increased, the residue of emotions that could not be put into words increased as well. The torrent of emotions that crossed the limit couldn’t be defined by one name, nor could it be classified as an individual emotions. Only the person themself could fully feel the desperation––no one else could fully fathom that sentiment.

For this reason, people went to the temple to find God. Because the only living being who could recognize and understand the pain caused by their burnt, tethered heart was God. It was for this reason that the home of the Heavenly God Arus was always open for the sick and needy.

I was there for the same reason. I solemnly contributed to the silence of the temple as I waited in their halls.

It wasn’t the overwhelming emotion that silenced me. I just didn’t want to utter a single word because I felt small and defeated.

Seria’s wound, from an objective point of view, was not that deep. ‘It must have been an accident,’ I thought. It seemed like Celine was also visibly taken aback.

On the way to the temple, Seria spoke to me hesitantly as I walked beside her while supporting her injured body.

“Se-Senior Ian?”

“Yes, Seria.”

Although I tried to speak to her kindly, my voice came out a bit colder than usual. It was because my anger hadn’t subsided yet.

At that time, I quickly ran towards the source of the uproar when I heard that Celine and Seria were fighting. I thought at first that it may have been an argument, but at some point I realized that their fight had caused some chaos.

I was informed that the fighting involved swords. When I arrived at the training field, I was only able to fixate on the scene in front of me.

A sword that dug into Seria’s forearm. Seria, on her knees, with moans spilling out from her lips. Celine grabbed onto the handle of said sword.

At that point, I was already anxious after hearing that Celine and Seria were fighting. Upon witnessing the horrid situation that fell before my eyes, I felt fury start to take over my body.

It wasn’t just for Seria. I had to be angry for Celine’s sake as well.

The fact that real swords were used, instead of wooden swords, was reason enough for disciplinary action. In the worst-case scenario, they could even be expelled from the school. What were they thinking when they drew their swords?

No matter how many times I recycled my thoughts about the situation, I couldn’t help but grind my teeth out of frustration. Seria seemed to catch onto my mood and cowered just a bit more before confessing to me.

“Se-Senior Ian, to tell you the truth, it wasn’t just Celine who drew her sword… I was actually dueling with her using my sword as well. When I heard your voice, I subconsciously put my sword down and it wasn’t only Celine’s fault. I’m so sorry Senior Ian, I wish I could have had better self-control……”

“Who drew their sword first?”

Instead of answering, Seria closed her mouth firmly. From the way she was looking at my face, it seemed like she was worried that her answer would put me in a worse mood.

I didn’t need an answer anyway. Her saying ‘I wish I could have had better self-control’ already implied her answer to that question anyway.

Celine drew her sword first. As I let out a frustrated sigh, Seria started to stutter something to try to console me.

“S, so, so Senior Ian? My communication skills are uh, n-not that great so there might have been a misunderstanding……”

“It’s fine, so let’s just go to the temple. Why are you talking so much when you’re injured like that?”

I ended up speaking my thoughts like that out of pity for Seria who was biting her tongue as she tried to make up an excuse. So I nudged her into the medical room and stood in the corridor of the temple.

I was sure the wound was shallow, but it took a long time for Seria to be healed than I thought it would take. It seemed like the fact that the wound was from a sword fight within the Academy symbolized a complicated problem. Probably because if disciplinary action needed to be taken, a statement from the temple about the extent of the injury would emerge as an issue.

I heaved a sigh and noticed that someone came closer to my side. It was a natural movement, as if the figure knew to come by my side, so I didn’t necessarily feel the need to reject it.

There was only one figure who could do that to me. It used to be two, but the other person was the one who created this mess and I had no idea where she currently was.

“…… Leto.”

“How is she?”

His voice seemed to imply that he didn’t care, but just the fact that he was at the temple meant that he clearly did.

I silently shook my head. Sighs kept seeping out of my mouth. I remembered my younger sister saying that sighing was bad luck, or something like that.

“I don’t know, I think Seria hopes not to make it a big deal…….”

“…..Tsk, she should have listened when I told her to fix her rambunctious personality.”

Leto clicked his tongue as he muttered. It meant his mood was not the best at the moment either. It was a natural reaction since his cousin, who grew up with him almost like a sibling, unexpectedly caused a big accident.

I felt a little dazed. I thought that by bringing Senior Elsie into our team I had solved a problem, but Celine and Seria fought with their swords.

My head throbbed. At this point, Celine and Seria could no longer be in a team together. How could I trust them to have my back after they fought each other.

Leto glanced at me. As if he knew what I was thinking about, he nonchalantly asked me a question.

“So, what are you planning to do about your Hunting Festival team?”

He beat around the bush by saying ‘Hunting Festival Team,’ but I wasn’t dumb enough to miss that he was asking about what I was going to do with Celine.

I thought about it for a moment and answered as I rubbed my face with both my hands.

“……..Celine can’t be in the team if things stay like this.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Should I bring Thean? With my hatchet in hand.”

Thean of Count Eitri, the prestigious family of the ten Southern Kingdoms.

He was a person who had led Seria’s bullying and I had a bad relationship with, but my point was to make a joke by saying I would bring my hatchet with me as a tactic like I did with Senior Elsie.

But Leto seemed like he took my light-hearted joke seriously. He rubbed his chin as he muttered.

“Hmm, not bad? He’s known to have a strong body so he could play an active role in the front and the Southern Kingdoms take loyalty very seriously.”

“……No, Seria won’t really like that.”

Celine didn’t start Seria’s bullying. She did talk behind her back and ruined her image amongst the students, but if she apologized for the most recent situation at hand, there was still a possibility for forgiveness.

If Seria and Celine reconciled after this accident, my relationships would improve, and it was for those reasons I tried to recruit Celine but Thean was different.

Thean was someone who constantly bullied Seria from before. Recently he hadn’t gone near Seria, but the present couldn’t change the past.

Could he be forgiven after an apology? Seria might let it go without too much thought, but I was skeptical.

His skill was indeed great. If Thean joined our team, with Seria and Senior Elsie, we would have quite a splendid team.

‘Except my name,’ I thought as I shook my head to get out of my thoughts. A frustrated mutter came out of my mouth.

“So why did she start the fight……..”

The subject of the sentence was withheld, but I didn’t need to say who it was. It was about Celine. Leto maintained the silence with a slight “hm” and then passed along the information that he heard.

“People said that Seria was a little harsh.”

“Even so, how could she draw her sword first?”

I reacted rather sharply, all riled up, but lowered my eyes because I was sorry.

Leto seemed like he didn’t really care. He glanced at me and spoke softly.

“She probably couldn’t control herself since Seria is from high nobility and hurt her pride. You know what happened to Baron Haster.”

‘Baron Haster,’ I closed my mouth after hearing that name.

Celine’s father was bedridden after becoming weak. That process was caused by high-ranking nobles, and Celine had a strong enmity towards high-ranking nobles since then.

Even so, I couldn’t erase the heaviness in my heart. A heated voice came from my mouth.

“……. Alpenhauser is different from Yurdina.”

“Do you think Alpenhauser was the only high-ranking aristocrat involved in the conflict? At least six families came in and messed up the Haster estate.”

“So even more so!”

I involuntarily burst out screaming. I flinched for a moment, but Leto just stared at me silently.

A sigh escaped my mouth. A weak voice spilled out from my lips again.

“Celine is the only person left in the Haster family. She needs to get her diploma from the Academy and find a good husband… She needs to revive the Haster name again.”

That was the reason why I was so more angry for Celine. She shouldn’t be like this.

I couldn’t understand why she would do such an idiotic thing.

I could understand why she managed her personal connections and gathered people to avoid getting beaten by those proud high-ranking aristocrats, but it would all be for nothing if she was expelled from the Academy.

Maybe I was this angry not because Seria was hurt but because I was worried about Celine.

Since she was my precious friend of more than 10 years.

An exhausted voice came out of my mouth.

“…… Is it my fault?”

If I didn’t get close to Seria, Celine and Seria would never have had a confrontation. It was an exasperated lamentation. Leto tapped my shoulder as if he was trying to console me.

“Yes, of course. Now do you know?”

Those words were the furthest thing from consolation. When I turned my annoyed gaze toward Leto, he had a surprisingly serious face.

“Human relationships are just like that, it fucks with you. There are some people who won’t like you for no reason and other situations where it gets worse as you try to make it better… Other times you might think you know someone and also feel like you don’t know them at all, it’s a real mess.”

“……… Then what should I do?”

Upon hearing my question, Leto shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

“How should I know? Do whatever you want to do, you won’t be able to do anything otherwise.”

And then he tapped my shoulder. As if he was telling me not to think too much into it.

“If you’re really upset, maybe chug a whole bottle of whiskey before you sleep.”

“…… Do you think my problems can be solved like that?”

“It’s not like it will be solved by not drinking? Might as well try to forget it for a moment by drinking.”

He was really great with words. I swallowed my scoff with a “huh,” but it was kind of true.

If I had his skill with words, maybe I could have calmed down the conflict between Celine and Seria. Of course, it was a vain thought.

Maybe I should drink whiskey tonight, I thought and it was at that moment.

The door to the room opened, and Seria carefully peeked her head out. Leto’s and my eyes went straight to her face.

Seria shyly lowered her eyes and talked to me.

“Uh, Senior Ian? The Saintess told you to come in…….”

“….. Me?”

That was an unexpected request.

* * * *

The clear sunlight passed through the stained glass and dyed it into natural colors. The scenery of the treatment room looked desolate, but it was organized.

The temple was always like that. At least on the outside, they struggled to maintain frugality. As if the magnificent buildings and works of art painted by prominent figures of the time had no meaning in front of the essential, pure, white color.

The fact that such a place had to drive out the sick if there were no donations showed the gap between religion and reality. It was because otherwise, the operating funds required to maintain the temple could not be covered.

But today, there was a focus on the pure whiteness of the temple. Pale pink eyes that attracted all attention, and the feminine curves drawn beneath them.

She looked as beautiful as a work of art, but surprisingly she was a living and breathing human being.

Even though she was born in an orphanage, she was named ‘Saintess,’ and she was said to have been favored by the gods for her innate divine power and benevolent personality.

Regardless of whether it was an empire or a holy country, where you came from was of importance. Still, the fact someone from an orphanage rose to the top as a Saintess meant that much of her skills that she possessed was outstanding.

I sat down in front of the remarkable person with a slight glance.

It was after Seria was given the sign to leave. That meant the Saintess wanted to speak with me alone, but I couldn’t fathom what she wanted to talk about.

The moment I sat across from her, the Saintess softly spoke.

“Brother Ian, I heard the news. Your close friends Ms. Celine Haster and Ms. Seria Yurdina had a quarrel.”

“Yes ma’am…….”

It was a very quick summary of the situation, but I couldn’t put my finger on the reason why she called me here. So I carefully looked at her face and spoke.

The Sainess closed her eyes in the quietness. A clear and serene voice came out from her mouth.

“The two seemed to have fought over Brother Ian.”

“D-Did they? I’m not too sure about that……”

As I put an awkward smile on my face, a benevolent smile formed on her lips as well.

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

“Did you enjoy it?”

“……..Sorry?”

I was a bit taken aback and stood there speechless. Even then, the Saintess didn’t lose her smile. She just asked again in a more stern tone of voice.

“I asked if you enjoyed it, Brother Ian.”

At that moment, my tongue just froze in place.