Chapter 122
“A Letter from Years Ago”
There was no time to hesitate.
I struck the masked man’s neck and knocked him unconscious.
At the same time, I ran after the shadow.
I ran, ran, and ran.
The white robe slipped behind a wall.
I swung my sword, eyes wide open.
The wall touched by my blade began to change, glowing gold, then broke apart into fragments and vanished.
And beyond it—I saw the back of the white robe.
I reached out.
My hand caught the end of the shadow, caught its owner.
But in that moment, with a strange flash, the robed figure vanished.
“…Haa, haa…”
I missed them.
All I could see was empty air.
But not completely empty.
“…”
I swallowed dryly and looked at my hand.
Between my fingers was a lock of hair.
Golden hair—cut from the one in the white robe.
I left Mansion Eona and handed the hair over to the Central Investigation Bureau.
By the time I returned after losing the robed figure, the masked man had already fled.
His face seemed familiar, but I had seen too many during knightly duties. I couldn’t remember.
Still, there were clues: a shallow cut on his neck, and a large mole.
Checking that Roitz’s office was empty, I went straight to the temple.
‘Roitz should still be here… but where?’
Maybe with Lusike.
After a moment’s thought, I stood in the central garden, visible from every room, and sent a message with the portable telegraph.
「Outside the window」
Just one simple word. But Roitz would understand.
I waited.
Soon, a curtain on the temple’s third floor pulled back.
The window opened.
Roitz.
He spotted me and lifted his telegraph, writing something.
‘What’s he trying to say?’
He erased and rewrote several times. Short words seemed hard to choose.
Then he lifted his head.
“Serdin!”
He shouted my name, loud enough to reach me across the garden.
And the moment his voice hit my ears—
My heart, hardened like stone since the Eona mansion, since reporting to the Bureau, since filing those endless papers—suddenly melted into the wind.
“Wait for me in the office! I’ll come soon!”
His voice carried to me.
“…Yes. I’ll wait.”
I whispered back, though he probably couldn’t hear.
I nodded and turned—then stopped after three steps.
I spun back toward the window. Roitz was still there.
“I’ll wait until you come!”
I shouted loudly.
I couldn’t control Roitz’s heart.
But my heart—if I had no choice but to follow it—then I had to give it my best.
“If you don’t come, I’ll come find you again! Don’t you dare forget!”
Far away, I saw Roitz burst into laughter.
‘It’s not funny at all.’
And yet, I found myself smiling too.
Still smiling, I turned back toward the Order’s quarters.
In Roitz’s empty office, I buried myself in work.
Work was the best way to make time pass quickly.
‘Work is the best! Mondays are the best~’
Like a workaholic, I handled papers nonstop.
‘These ones need Roitz’s review.’
I set aside the cases that needed his approval.
When I finally sorted the huge pile of documents, I gathered them up.
‘Here should be fine.’
But his desk was already covered in papers. They’d be lost among them.
I searched for a better spot.
That’s when—
“…It’s open?”
The third drawer on the left side of his desk.
It was always closed.
Every other drawer was accessible to his aides, but this one—always locked.
Yet now, a gap showed. He must have forgotten to lock it.
“…Hmm.”
The drawer Roitz never let anyone see.
What could be inside?
‘No. Don’t get curious.’
But curiosity was there. Pandora’s box, waiting.
And wasn’t that the point of Pandora’s story? People open it, regret, learn.
‘It’s not like I opened it myself—it was already open.’
I surrendered to human nature and peeked inside.
“…This is…”
My eyes widened.
“Sir Velkirente? What’s wrong?”
Roitz suddenly felt a chill and lifted his head.
Wait—did he close the drawer earlier?
The third drawer on the left. The one always locked.
The one Serdin must never see.
“…It’s nothing. How much work is left?”
“Sir, thank you as always,” said Sharetan, one of the priests.
“The urgent matters are done. The rest we can handle. Please go.”
“That’s right, Sir Velkirente,” Lusike added softly.
“There’s someone waiting for you, isn’t there?”
Her voice was small, but the thirty people in the room heard.
“Yes, yes!”
“Go quickly, Sir Velkirente!”
“We support you!”
The priests, temple staff, and Imperial Knights clapped together, blessing him.
Roitz hid his awkward smile under his handsome face and hurried toward the Order’s quarters.
Inside the drawer was a letter.
Normally, I would’ve closed it quietly.
But on the envelope was written—
「To Serdin.」
I couldn’t ignore it.
The navy envelope had my name, and a date.
‘From the time he went on expedition.’
So he wrote to me back then?
I remembered—I had written him letters almost every day. Not once had he replied.
I thought he had erased me from his life.
‘So he did write.’
Then why didn’t he send it?
Too carelessly written? Embarrassed?
But back then, even the briefest note from him would’ve made me happy.
I opened the envelope.
And froze.
The letter was long.
‘So much effort. He could’ve sent this.’
But as I read—
I realized the length wasn’t the point at all.
「Even knowing I cannot send it, even without a vessel to hold these words, I write again and again, Serdin Vivi.」
I glanced back into the drawer.
There wasn’t just one letter.
And the words continued:
「I miss you every day.
I miss your bright smile. I miss the clear eyes that look at me.
I want to return immediately and tell you everything honestly.」
“….”
My eyes kept reading.
「But all of that would only burden you.
To avoid burdening you, I had to separate myself—from our time together, from staying by your side.
But even at this distance, even over all this time, one thing I cannot do…
I cannot forget you.」
I froze.
I pulled out the second letter. Then the third. The thirteenth.
All the same.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Was this a fantasy born of my own feelings?
Smack!
I slapped both cheeks. The pain was real.
‘Not a fantasy.’
Then Roitz really wrote these?
Which meant—
Even I, inexperienced in love, knew what this was.
These were love letters.
Not my imagination. Not my interpretation. But plain, undeniable.
Letters written to me.
‘So… all this time…?’
My heart pounded violently, dizzying me.
I needed time to process it.
Memories of Roitz swirled through my mind.
‘Because you’re special.’
‘I want to give you everything, Serdin.’
‘You really don’t like me, do you? Really… not at all?’
“….”
I realized—those moments meant something else entirely.
Things I had misunderstood back then… I could now see their real meaning.
After it all, a bitter smile escaped me.
Even seeing so many confessions written to me, the feeling inside was clear:
‘Too much time has already passed.’
Back then, I knew nothing.
Roitz must have suffered alone.
And all those years slipped by.
But still—
“….”
Right now, I wanted to see him.
Without even organizing the letters, I ran outside.
