TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 125
The Girls’ Dormitory.
In a place filled with dreams and hope, the sound of a Girl’s excited laughter echoed.
“Wow…”
Holding her trembling heart, the Girl lay on the bed.
The Girl with pink hair was the Heroine of ‘The Academy’s Strongest Like Me,’ Yuria.
Feeling good since morning, Yuria lay on the bed, staring at a sealed Letter.
[Sender: Ricardo]
Clutching the Letter with a Lilac Perfume Scent and a red seal to her chest, Yuria smiled a Pleasant Smile under the morning sunlight.
It was the first Letter she had ever received from Ricardo. Even during her time at the Academy, she had never received one.
She didn’t know what it contained, but Yuria thought it surely wouldn’t be something formal.
Today’s Letter marked the beginning from a different starting point.
Though things were still awkward, and there was residual bitterness in their hearts, the fact that they started from the point of ‘Friendship’ felt like a different kind of distance to Yuria.
How should she put it? Maybe it was a feeling of excitement.
Yuria was sensing emotions she had never felt with anyone else from just One Letter.
Though things were still awkward with Ricardo, Yuria held onto the Hope that one day, they could approach each other like before.
She didn’t want to keep bringing up the Accursed Karma of the past. It might take a lot of Time, but one day… wouldn’t the halted relationship with him also develop? Yuria shyly smiled and hugged the Letter tightly again.
“Haa… this is nice.”
What could be written in the Letter?
Surely, it would start with a greeting, worrying about her health in the cold weather. Something like, ‘The weather in Hamel is very cold. I hope you haven’t caught a Cold in this chilly winter.’
And the next line would likely begin with trivial stories.
Lighthearted daily stories.
Like what he ate today.
Or amusing things she didn’t know about, written lightly.
And perhaps something like how he missed her…
“What nonsense…”
Her face flushed at the ridiculous thoughts.
Like a sausage side dish she wanted to savor, she wanted to cherish and hold onto this feeling. Even though he was someone she used to dislike, she couldn’t stop feeling excited and smiling like a fool.
Yuria wanted to enjoy this feeling a little longer. Somehow… she liked this excited moment.
“I don’t know…”
Yuria liked Ricardo.
Though she was very shy and reserved, when it came to the field of love, she was quick to objectively assess herself.
Yuria admitted that she liked The Man with Red Hair, a cold appearance, and a fiery personality.
She couldn’t pinpoint the exact Time or date when she fell for him, but at some point, Ricardo started appearing in her dreams, and she liked how he would sit beside her when she ate alone in solitude.
No matter what others said.
Even if she heard sneers about how lowly people were associating, she liked Ricardo’s kind Smile.
After all.
There was no one else by her side.
Although Mikhail and Ruin, now her inseparable Friends, were by her side, they hadn’t been there during her difficult times, which made her rely on and like Ricardo even more.
Yuria smiled an excited Smile and slowly closed her eyes.
She kept thinking about it.
When she was crying at the Recycling Station, Ricardo calmly approached her and started talking to her, his composed figure lingering in her mind.
When she was being bullied, Ricardo quietly came to her and asked, ‘Why are you crying here?’ His composed Voice seemed to vividly echo whenever she closed her eyes.
Perhaps, she had slowly, little by little, opened her heart to Ricardo.
Of course, a big part of it was that Ricardo had a face that matched her ideal type, but she also felt a kind of masculinity in him that she couldn’t find in Ruin or Mikhail.
Though they were all Friends, the weight she felt from each of them was different. When they weren’t close, Ruin, Mikhail, and the Crown Prince were merely bystanders.
That’s why she had been so disappointed in Ricardo.
She had been even more devastated by Ricardo’s cold behavior when he suddenly turned distant.
And.
She felt an even greater sense of guilt for stabbing Ricardo with her own hands. He had been hated for something he hadn’t done and criticized for his courageous actions.
Yuria couldn’t find the Correct Answer to what she should say.
Exhaling, Yuria opened the envelope with trembling hands.
A Letter from Ricardo.
Yuria had no idea what Ricardo might have written.
That made her even more excited.
And nervous.
-Tear…
Sliding the Letter Paper out of the envelope, Yuria tightly closed her eyes with an excited heart.
She counted to three in her heart.
One.
Two.
Three.
What could it be…
What words might it contain?
With an excited heart, Yuria opened her eyes, and the first word that escaped her mouth was an exclamation filled with complicated Emotions.
“…Huh?”
Seeing the content of the Letter, Yuria blurted out in surprise.
After all.
“What is this supposed to say?”
She couldn’t read it.
Ricardo had warned her about his Terrible Handwriting, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
Yuria furrowed her brows, struggling to read the Letter.
“Ah… ny…o…ng… ha… se… yo.”
For the first time, Yuria was grateful for having taken that boring Ancient Language class. She had thought it was useless, but now it had come in handy.
Grateful that it was helping her read Ricardo’s Letter, Yuria praised her Past Self. ‘I’m glad I endured and learned it.’
Yuria furrowed her eyes, struggling and struggling again to read the Letter.
It was precious.
Even with such Terrible Handwriting.
Having grasped the thread of her First Love, Yuria was happy.
*
Morning at the Glorious Estate.
For the first time in a while, the Two Foolish Ones sat on the bed with the Young Lady, sipping warm Black Tea and enjoying the joy of Success.
“Slurp… Hmm… It has quite a heavy flavor.”
“Indeed… It’s bitter yet rich.”
The Young Lady, who always drank Cheap Green Tea, now spoke with sophisticated words as she sipped the expensive Black Tea. With her finger hooked on the teacup handle, she made a ‘slurp,’ feeling the Cold Breeze, and then another ‘slurp,’ looking every bit a Noble.
They say the environment shapes a person. Somehow, I feel like money is what shapes the Young Lady and me into people.
Sipping the Black Tea born from a Craftsman’s Touch, the Young Lady and I exchanged elegant smiles.
It felt like our minds were in sync.
What we both desired, that is.
“I can’t taste a thing.”
“Yeah. It used to be delicious, but now it feels bland and tasteless.”
Setting down the teacup, the Young Lady offered a wise conclusion. She said she wasn’t ready to enjoy such luxurious Black Tea because her palate was accustomed to Cheap food.
Of course, I felt the same.
It was certainly delicious, but something felt lacking. I wasn’t particularly interested in tea, so I couldn’t pinpoint it, but one thing was certain—it wasn’t to my liking.
The Young Lady, with a Truthful Brow furrowed, stuck out her tongue and said to me.
“I want Cocoa.”
“I’ll bring two cups, including mine.”
“Add Marshmallows to mine.”
“You can’t. It’ll make you gain weight.”
The Young Lady, sulking with her head down, nodded at the Butler’s firm words.
“Then Chocolate.”
“That’s even more unacceptable.”
“Boring.”
The Young Lady was someone whose whims outweighed her needs.
At that moment, as I was heading down with the teacup still holding some Black Tea.
The Young Lady, who had been staring blankly out the Window, suddenly shouted upon seeing Gomtangi roaming in the Yard.
-Gooooom!
“Be quiet!”
-Gooooom!
“I said be quiet!”
“Just leave it be. Isn’t it just excited?”
“But it’s still noisy.”
The Young Lady threw a piece of Jerky from her Treasure Pouch at Gomtangi, telling it to shut up. Perhaps because she came from a wealthy family, she made sure to reward it properly, and I nodded in agreement.
But.
Why is Gomtangi barking?
Gomtangi rarely barks.
When Gomtangi barks, it usually means there’s a Guest at the Estate. But in my understanding, there shouldn’t be any Guests coming to this Estate.
After all, all the debts have been paid off, so there’s no reason for a Debtor to come by.
Tilting my head in confusion, I walked toward the Young Lady.
“Didn’t you hear some kind of noise?”
Leaning her chin against the Window, the Young Lady replied with a nonchalant expression.
“No.”
“Really?”
At that moment, a Scream from The Man echoed from outside the Window.
-Let me go…!
That strangely familiar Voice of The Man made me raise a Question Mark on my head as I looked at the Young Lady.
“It doesn’t seem like nothing, though?”
-Let me go, Bear Cub!
-Gom.
-I said, let go!
-Gomgom!
-Let go before I Scorch you with Fire…!
-Gooooom!
“Young Lady?”
Even as The Man’s Scream came from Outside the Window, the Young Lady pretended not to notice. With a calm expression, she stared blankly.
The Young Lady, who seemed to find the scene outside curious, spoke to me as if nothing had happened.
“Gomtangi is playing with a plant.”
“A plant?”
“Yeah… A Toy Resembling Green Algae came by.”
I slowly looked out the Window.
And I saw Gomtangi dragging someone’s pants while wandering around the Yard.
“Ah.”
I turned and headed down to the Kitchen.
“It’s nothing.”
I was startled, thinking it might be a Guest, but thankfully, it wasn’t.
After all, that wasn’t a Guest.
I silently cheered for Gomtangi, hoping it would thoroughly clean up the Yard.