/
Two days left.
Today, just like clockwork, I heard Evelina’s voice. However, there was a difference compared to yesterday. Evelina’s voice lacked its usual laughter. Moreover, there was a sense of restlessness in her tone. It seemed she couldn’t understand why I was behaving so nonchalantly, and there was a tinge of annoyance in her voice.
Thanks to that, my mood improved a bit. Perhaps tomorrow, I would have to use stronger words, so I needed to mentally prepare myself.
“But
 no mention of Carl.”
In the dream, she had clearly said she could see everything inside me. So, I thought she would say something about Carl, the person who had shown a strong physical reaction when he saw the name written on the document. I thought she would either ask me to bring him or tell me to remove his name from the list immediately. I didn’t know which one it was, but I expected some kind of reaction. However, Evelina didn’t say a word about it.
Doubt suddenly crept in.
“Could she really be seeing everything?”
If that were the case, she wouldn’t be so quiet about it.
After pondering for a moment, I rose from my seat. As I prepared and went out, many officials were waiting for me, just like every day. While looking at them, I realized that due to the busy day I had yesterday, I hadn’t even thought about the conditions Evelina mentioned until I fell asleep.
“It could happen again today.”
With so much work piled up, just handling it would consume another day. With that thought in mind, I looked at the numerous tasks on my desk. Among them, one caught my eye.
It was an exquisitely elegant envelope. It wasn’t merely its elegance that caught my attention. It had a large imperial seal stamped on it.
“This is
.”
Without realizing it, a muffled exclamation escaped my lips. When I turned the letter over, I saw the name I had been thinking about written on it.
Leon.
Just the name was written on the letter. In this world, it was written like this only when two people had an exceptionally close relationship. It could be family, an extremely close friend, or, even more so, a lover.
Of course, my relationship with Prince Leon did not fall into any of those categories.
As I examined the envelope, I found another strange thing. Compared to the other letter envelopes, it was noticeably thicker. I couldn’t help but be curious about what could be inside. Eventually, unable to resist my curiosity, I broke the wax seal.
“What is all this?”
First and foremost, I saw a thick letter. It seemed like something was tucked between the sheets of the letter, so I took it out of the envelope. To my surprise, it poured out like a stream of red, round objects. As I examined what they were, I sighed.
“Flower petals?”
If they were just flower petals, they would have had a faint scent of grass. But when I picked one up and held it to my nose, I could smell a rich fragrance. It seemed like these were specially treated flower petals for some particular purpose.
“This is chaos.”
Looking at my desk that had suddenly turned into a flower garden, I unfolded the thick piece of paper.
“
.”
And I was left speechless. The letter that began with “Dearest” went on for more than ten pages. I quickly flipped through and reached the end. As expected, there it was. The form of address that referred to me had changed from “Saint” to Evelina. I went back to the beginning of the letter and started reading it again. I just wanted to see what the prince had written.
After a while, I set down the last page of the letter.
“Interesting.”
It was unexpected. With the intention of seeing what nonsense was being spoken, I began reading, and before I knew it, I was engrossed in the letter. What had started as a simple greeting now filled the pages with humorous anecdotes about his recent visit and the mundane occurrences of my surroundings.
It felt as if I were reading an entertaining novel rather than a letter. So when I reached the final chapter, a sense of disappointment washed over me, as if it had already come to an end.
Having compiled the letter, I reflected upon Prince Leon.
“They say he possesses remarkable skills in dealing with people.”
There was quite a bit written about him in the book as well. Among the male protagonists, he was the one with the most captivating charm towards women. I remember finding it quite amusing to read about his infatuation and pitiful state when it came to Iris.
“Yet, it was the absence of a successor that terrified him more.”
Despite his numerous encounters and affairs with countless women, the prince had no legitimate or illegitimate child.
“He must have been quite a meticulous individual.”
Although briefly mentioned and swiftly dismissed, it seemed he was the type to ensure there were no rumors or ill words following any romantic involvements.
In that moment, a thought crossed my mind.
“What if I were to engage in a relationship with Prince Leon?”
If by doing so, I could fulfill Evelina’s conditions and continue to survive in this body, perhaps when Iris appeared and I eventually left the temple, he would be somewhat lenient. As long as I did not torment Iris and refrained from mentioning any previous liaisons with him, he wouldn’t resort to burning me at the stake.
Lost in such contemplation, I raised my head.
“Let us finish what we started.”
Once again, I placed the paper into the envelope and gathered all the petals that adorned the desk, tucking them away in the same envelope. Today, Prince Leon would receive a letter not so different from the one he received yesterday.
***
Leon was agitated. He had already inquired of his subordinates over ten times today, repeating the same question again.
“Has a response not arrived?” he asked once more.