CHAPTER 37………………………………………….
Honestly, I don’t want to say I’m just someone who’s staying long-term at the Kereis estate.
But I also can’t say I’m your older brother Shebert’s fiancée.
While I was stuck thinking those thoughts, Kauts spoke up.
“Um, my lady.”
“Hm?”
Kauts silently mouthed words so the Duke wouldn’t hear.
“Boy. Disguise.”
“Oh!”
My memory snapped back into place.
The person Ron met in the cave that day wasn’t Marianne, but a handsome boy named Len.
Seeing Kauts and me whispering, the sharp Duke spoke in a low voice.
“Marianne.”
And with that one word, I had no choice but to confess.
That I had disguised myself as a boy and met Ron in the cave.
After thinking for a moment, the Duke said this was actually an even better idea.
If something ever went wrong, the disguise could serve as an escape route.
As expected—such Kereis-like thinking.
“Then let’s send the letter under the name of the boy Len who met Ron that day.”
The Duke stared down at the paper he had written on and slowly put it aside.
Almost embarrassed, his long fingers fidgeted with it.
Written on the paper were the letters: “Duke K.”
“……”
Like Drubel’s D—he must have meant K for Kereis.
“Um, Your Grace, that might not be the best.”
“Yes.”
The Duke then tore the paper exactly in half, then in half again, and tossed the pieces away.
Leaving the letter writing entirely to me, he quietly said:
“Ron was exceptionally bright from a young age.”
“Because he takes after the perfect Duke?”
“How did you know?”
“……”
He answered my joke with a completely straight face.
He meant it.
“If you taught him one letter, he understood two. Shebert also grasped things quickly at an early age, but Ron was on another level.”
“I see.”
Just imagining a small child learning letters warmed my heart.
“But before he could learn much more, Ron disappeared.”
“……”
I couldn’t find words for a moment.
The Duke placed the pen back in my hand.
“So don’t use any difficult vocabulary. He’s been wandering all over, unable to read or write consistently for a long time.”
“Yes.”
Since it was the first letter, I decided to keep it short.
I focused only on the fact that I was the boy he’d met that day—Len.
[Hi, it’s Len—the one you met in the cave.
I’m sorry about that day.
I wanted to come back, but circumstances didn’t let me.
So I’m sending you this letter to apologize.]
“Oh! I forgot this part.”
I added at the bottom:
That puppy we met in the cave—he followed me back and is doing well.
“How is it, Your Grace?”
After reading it, the Duke asked me to add one more sentence.
[I remember you.]
I wrote it at the end and folded the letter.
“Kauts, please make sure this gets delivered.”
“Of course. Don’t worry.”
“T-that…”
The Duke called Kauts over.
In his hands was a box filled with toys, books, and various things.
“What is all this?”
“They’re things I set aside for Ron—one each birthday.”
I never imagined such items were hidden in the very bottom drawer of the Duke’s desk.
And that the Duke himself had prepared them for his son.
Holding one toy, I wondered if I should send Ron a gift too.
Ron would look so good wearing purple…
“No. Absolutely not.”
Kauts crushed our hopes.
A crow the size of an adult’s palm couldn’t possibly carry that kind of weight.
“There’s no helping it.”
In the end, we promised to send gifts next time.
We tied only the letter to the crow’s leg and sent it off.
The Duke and I watched the crow disappear into the darkness.
Now all that was left was to wait.
Would it deliver the letter safely?
How would Ron react after reading it?
I was excited—yet terrified.
***
That afternoon, Shebert boarded the carriage amid a huge crowd sending him off.
Strangely, it wasn’t just the estate residents—another whole group seemingly appeared from nowhere.
Before I could ask, the butler Dubier approached and murmured:
“They are Young Master Shebert’s maternal relatives.”
“Oh, I see.”
Dubier had recently taken a liking to giving me bits of information—calling me “the sharp Miss Marianne.”
“Except for Lady Rose, everyone is here. After the Duke and Lady Rose divorced, they had little contact, but they all came upon hearing that Young Master Shebert is leaving for the Academy.”
“Because to them, he’s a ray of light,” Dubier added while adjusting his monocle.
“A light?”
Perhaps I spoke too loudly—Dubier quickly glanced around to ensure no one had heard.
Still staring at Shebert boarding the carriage, he replied vaguely:
“Well, he is the eldest son of House Kereis.”
Someone called for Dubier then, and he left with his signature refined smile.
Just as I was trying to decipher his cryptic answer, someone approached me.
“So you’re the girl.”
A woman with long silver-white hair.
Eyes lifted high with a noble, assessing gaze.
Her voluminous dress rustled as she looked me over.
She was definitely someone from Shebert’s maternal family.
I was just about to politely bow when—
“Grandmother!”
Thud-thud-thud—Shebert rushed over, having jumped off the carriage.
“What did you say to Marianne?”
The old woman’s eye corners rose sharply.
“I didn’t say anything. Didn’t I promise you? I’ll watch and judge for now.”
“Right. Then you should be seeing me off now.”
Shebert quickly signaled a maid to escort his grandmother back toward the carriage.
Once she was gone, he exhaled in relief, then looked at my bewildered face.
“As you know, we’re supposed to be engaged, so Grandma’s very interested in you.”
“Oh.”
“But don’t worry. Until things become official, I’ll block everything for you.”
Shebert wrinkled his nose with a grin.
He looked like a husband saying, Leave my family to me.
…It was a teeny, tiny bit reassuring.
Not that I’d ever actually get engaged or married to him.
I was about to give him a small compliment when—
A hand landed on my head.
“What are you doing?”
I frowned up at him.
Shebert answered with a bright smile:
“Kiddo, stay well. And don’t even think about running away.”
His hand ruffled my red hair until it was a mess.
He seemed extra cheerful since he was leaving.
And then the carriage carrying Shebert slowly disappeared from sight.
***
The messenger crow did not return that night.
Morning came before I knew it—I must have fallen asleep waiting.
“My lady, did you sleep on the sofa?”
Britta looked startled as she entered my room.
“Yeah… Where’s Kauts?”
“Kauts? Well…”
Britta walked toward the window, pulling open the curtains.
She glanced around the room and the terrace.
“Did he spend the night here? There’s no one.”
“Really?”
I lifted myself from the sofa and looked at the bright sunlight pouring in.
The crow had flown off last evening with my letter toward where Ron was.
It would take time due to the distance—but what if something happened along the way?
“My lady, your room is always full of crow feathers and dog fur, you know?”
Britta picked up a black feather near the window.
I quickly changed the subject before she got suspicious.
“Ahem. I’m hungry. What’s on the menu today?”
Morning passed. Then lunch.
The whole day faded into evening.
The Duke and I waited anxiously, but still no crow.
I tried to distract myself with a book, but I couldn’t focus at all.
What if Ron couldn’t be found?
Each time I spiraled, Kauts reassured me that the crow might be stupid—
but had never once failed a delivery.
Tap, tap.
A familiar sound.
“…The crow!”
Through the half-open terrace door, a silhouette as dark as night appeared.
Then it fluttered inside and stuck out the object tied to its leg.
“Oh my, it must’ve met him safely.”
Kauts picked up a small scrap of cloth that fell to the floor.
“Ron really sent a letter back?!”
My heart thumped wildly.
I desperately wanted to read it.
“Yes. The bird brought a reply, didn’t it?”
All the tension draining out felt dizzying.
Ron was alive.
And miraculously—he’d written back.
“But my lady, look at this.”
“Hm?”
What Kauts held didn’t look like a letter at all.
It was an old, grimy piece of cloth.
“It seems Young Master Ron didn’t have nice paper like what you use.”
“Oh…”
I should’ve thought of that.
I didn’t consider Ron’s situation at all.
I held the palm-sized scrap tightly and went straight to the Duke’s office.
[Hello. Len. I… remember… you… too.]
The Duke and I read the short greeting over and over again.
How long did he agonize over each letter?
I pictured a child striving with all his might to carve his existence into that cloth.
“Your Grace, next time let’s send extra paper too.”
“Let’s do that, Anne.”
With a heavy expression, the Duke gently patted my shoulder as if to comfort me.
