Chapter 39
A noble academy located in the royal capital. One afternoon.
"Huh? Is this...?"
Reina tilted her head.
After a class held in a different room, when she returned to her classroom, there was a white letterhead inside her desk.
It was a plain, unadorned letterhead.
"Oh my, is something the matter, Lady Reina?"
"Could that be... perhaps a love letter?"
A female student from the same class peeked curiously at Reina's hand.
"There's no name written on the letterhead, is there? I wonder who it's from?"
"Well... I'll read it later."
Reina gave a vague smile and tossed the letterhead into her desk.
These days, receiving love letters or summons wasn't all that rare.
While smiling, Reina sat in her chair with a somewhat weary expression.
(Honestly... doing something like this is pointless...)
Reina let out a quiet sigh so no one around her would notice.
Life at the academy was fairly fresh and stimulating. There was much to learn, and it was enjoyable.
She was happy to have made friends her own age.
Talking about her favorite poetry collections and novels while enjoying sweets and afternoon tea with friends had become one of Reina's new pleasures.
(But... it's still not enough.)
Even so... there was a hollow space in Reina's heart.
A sense of incompleteness. The feeling that something was missing always lingered.
She knew the reason. It was because he wasn't here.
(No matter how glamorous my life is, no matter how elegant the days may be... without him, I'm just not whole.)
It had been a while since she came to the royal capital, but she still hadn't gotten used to life without him.
It wasn't that she couldn't feel him.
Her eyes and limbs were right beside him.
Since she basically let them act autonomously, she didn't watch him constantly, but she could always feel his warmth and scent.
(The insects buzzing around him... excuse me, the women... seem to be there, so I have to become a proper lady worthy of him as soon as possible...)
Reina was attending the academy in the royal capital to become a woman worthy of the man she loved.
He had given her proper education... but whether it was academics, etiquette, or Holy Arts, there was much to learn in the royal capital.
(Besides... if I try to be with him, there are bound to be people who try to interfere...!)
She needed the power and status to silence such meddlers.
She had to keep building her network at the academy and solidify her position within the shrine.
There was a mountain of things to do... but she would finish every single one of them.
Within the three years until graduation, she would remove every obstacle lying in the path she would walk with him.
(For that, I need to deal with this letter first...)
Reina touched the letterhead in her desk with her fingertips and narrowed her eyes.
It was a hassle to respond to a summons she already knew she'd decline... but ignoring it would cause friction.
She had to turn it down as gently and peacefully as possible.
As expected, the letter was a summons.
The time was after school. The place, behind the school building where no one passed by. The sender's name wasn't written.
It wasn't anything unusual.
She had been summoned anonymously before, and in this academy, confessions of love typically happened behind the school building, on the rooftop, or in the garden.
Feeling fed up, Reina headed to the summoned location.
"............?"
However, the person who had summoned her was not there.
Usually, the one who called would arrive first and wait... was this perhaps a prank?
"............Maybe I should just go home."
The appointed time had already passed.
There was no need to entertain someone so rude as to summon her and then be late.
She decided to head home.
Reina started to leave the back of the school building... when something was tossed at her feet with a soft clink.
"............Huh?"
What had rolled onto the ground was a bottle about the size of her palm.
The glass bottle, with a black label, had its lid open, and from it, a pink liquid was spilling out...
"............!"
In the next instant, a cloud of pink vapor billowed into the air and enveloped Reina's body.