TLed by NolepGuy
Chapter 72
It had already been a month since Hanna left the estate.
Hanna had adjusted to life at the Academy.
She even sent a letter saying she wouldn’t return to the household anymore.
-It’s already December.
-It feels like I met the Butler just yesterday, but the year’s end is already approaching.
-The weather has gotten chilly. Have you taken out your winter clothes? I’m fine since I have a school uniform. The school uniform made by the Imperial Family is warmer than I thought… Have you tried wearing it? Haha…
-I don’t think I’ll be able to visit during this winter vacation. I have personal matters to attend to.
-It’s not dangerous work, so don’t worry!
-I’ll write you another letter next time.
-Always… thank you, Butler.
-Oh, and! Please send my regards to the Young Lady!
───────────
Hanna sent a handwritten letter full of sincerity, saying it would be hard to show her face during this winter vacation.
-‘She has things to do….’
Although I didn’t know what it was, it didn’t seem like she was returning to the household. Last time and this time as well, Hanna hadn’t mentioned the household at all.
Besides.
Malik had said so directly.
-I apologize for my disgraceful behavior.
-It’s fine. I also had something unpleasant going on…
-Good to know.
-Do I look like such an unreasonable person?
-That’s how you appear.
-…
-Anyway, I’ve spoken to Father about the ownership of Tirbing. I roughly explained it as owing my life to capturing Pascal, so there shouldn’t be any issues with using it freely. And as for Hanna… she’s decided to leave the household.
-…I see.
-I plan to leave her on the family register. It’s Father’s will, and also mine. You never know when Histania’s name might be necessary.
-Well, that’s something Miss Hanna decided on her own.
About a week after Hanna left for the Academy, Malik visited the estate in person.
He came holding a pouch filled with gold coins.
It was about Hanna.
And the story of the Tirbing I had stolen.
It was a rather enriching tale.
Rowen seemed to be deeply shocked. Though it wasn’t something I was particularly concerned with, I found it quite satisfying that Rowen, who had once tormented Hanna, was struggling.
Before Malik left, he gave me a small piece of advice.
-But why Tirbing, of all things? There must have been plenty of other good swords.
-Because it looked irresistible to touch.
-Crazy bastard. Anyway, be careful not to lose your mind. Tirbing is a cursed sword.
He was a chic patron who worried for me to the end. Although he claimed he was only concerned because it would be troublesome for him if I were possessed by the cursed sword, I could faintly sense there was genuine concern in his words.
As expected of a patron.
I’ll serve him as my Brother for the rest of my life.
The matters of Hanna and Tirbing came to a close like this. Now, all I could do was cheer for Hanna’s wallet to grow thick.
Thinking of the wallet that would one day belong to Patron Hanna, I spread letter paper on the desk.
-“I wish you success in your future endeavors.”
I quietly said this to the Young Lady sitting at the desk.
-“I. Wish. You. Success. In. Your. Future.”
The Young Lady, holding a pen, repeated my words as she wrote, then raised her head with a sullen expression.
Putting down her pen, she wore a sullen expression as if something didn’t sit well with her.
-“Hey Ricardo. The phrase is too boring. Don’t you have something more stimulating?”
The Young Lady, working for the fair payment of chocolate, retorted sharply against her employer’s opinion.
-“The phrase feels outdated. Don’t you have anything more refined?”
Hurt, I gave her a straightforward answer.
-“There’s no helping it. Sometimes, the simplest phrases are the best.”
-“Boring. What if the recipient falls asleep while reading the letter?”
-“Letters are not meant to be read for entertainment.”
-“Boring.”
The Young Lady yawned long and stretched her stiff shoulders. Having written for the first time in a while, her body must have been stiff. I carefully approached her from behind and massaged her shoulders.
-“If you write it well, I’ll give you one more chocolate.”
-“…Two.”
-“Fine, two.”
With a chuckle, the Young Lady smiled pleasantly.
-“The content of the letter is interesting. It uses words that kids these days wouldn’t use, making it sound like an old fogey…”
-“It’s already too late.”
-“…Tch.”
She wasn’t gifted in flattery.
The Young Lady was writing the letter to Hanna on my behalf, as my handwriting was hopelessly bad.
I thought my handwriting might improve once my hand healed, but my hopelessly bad handwriting remained consistently terrible.
It was still abysmal, to the point where, as Malik mentioned, I would need an Ancient Language Interpreter to barely make sense of it.
After a fleeting moment, the Young Lady, who had been passionately writing as if she would tear holes into the letter paper, stretched her stiff body and said,
-“It’s done.”
-“Oh…”
Neat handwriting caught my eye.
Writing so uniform it looked as if it had been typed on a keyboard.
I couldn’t help but admire the Young Lady’s handwriting, which seemed to transcend the domain of talent and reach the realm of machines.
-“Are all nobles like this?”
-“No. I’m special.”
-“As expected…!”
-“It also helps that Ricardo’s handwriting is filthily bad.”
-“…I’ll settle for one chocolate.”
-“Why??”
The Young Lady pressed her chest together and spoke. I couldn’t help but hold a reasonable suspicion that her handwriting talent might be proportional to the size of her assets.
Satisfied with the view, I took out two chocolates from my pocket and placed them on the desk.
-“Here’s your payment.”
-“Hehe!”
Oblivious to my irreverent gaze, the Young Lady placed the chocolates on the desk into her chest pocket.
Having enjoyed today’s pleasant spectacle, I smiled contentedly and sat across from the Young Lady.
The weather had grown quite cold.
The fur clothes stored in the wardrobe were finally seeing the light of day after a year, as the biting cold enveloped the estate.
The wooden brazier in the room diligently fulfilled its duty, filling the room with a cozy warmth.
I didn’t want to leave.
Neither did the Young Lady.
Nor did the furry Gomtangi.
It seemed that both animals and people shared a similar laziness when faced with the cold.
What could I do at home?
I didn’t want to go out.
I didn’t want to idle my time away aimlessly.
I wanted to do something, but I’d already made bath bombs last time, so that was off the list…
Should I make a doll out of straw?
I briefly thought it might be fun to make a cursed doll and torment someone I disliked with voodoo magic, but I decided to give up, as it seemed like a rather difficult task for someone like me, who had no talent for magic, and the Young Lady, who had once failed at dark magic.
-‘Hmm…’
I had been sitting idly at the desk and pondering for about ten minutes.
I came up with a good idea and brought out a cardboard box from the estate’s storage.
A box covered in a thick layer of dust.
On the surface of the box, there was a drawing made by the Young Lady during her innocent days.
A Young Lady stepping on the head of the Red-Haired Boy. It was a drawing that held the subtle revenge of the Young Lady, who always lost in fistfights with me in the past.
The Young Lady widened her eyes when she saw the box.
“Oh… an ancient relic!”
“It’s from ten years ago.”
“That’s what makes it an ancient relic.”
The Young Lady gave a harsh critique about the memory.
Smiling lightly, I opened the box.
Though it emitted a musty smell, the contents of the box had retained their original form.
Toys I used to play with as a child.
A photo album filled with photographs from the past.
And.
“Found you.”
There were sheets of origami paper.
The Young Lady looked at me pulling out the paper from the box with curious eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to do some paper folding.”
“That sounds boring.”
The Young Lady quickly lost interest.
With a smile full of memories, I held out a white origami paper to the Young Lady.
“It’ll be fun to do it after so long.”
“It doesn’t seem fun.”
“If you make it fun, I’ll give you a chocolate.”
“That sounds fun!”
She was quick to calculate.
Placing a cup of black tea on the desk, the Young Lady and I began folding the paper.
The Young Lady crafted strange shapes, while I carefully folded the paper with memories of my previous life.
A serene atmosphere settled between us.
Crackling of firewood could be heard as we each focused on our tasks.
*
There’s a famous story from my previous life.
If you fold a thousand paper cranes, your wish will come true…
With plenty of time on my hands, I was folding what’s called paper cranes to enjoy my splendid unemployed life.
It could also serve as interior decoration.
A simple pastime to make a small wish.
When I saw the paper, now shaped like a crane, the Young Lady showed an intrigued expression.
“How is it?”
The Young Lady furrowed her brows.
“What is that supposed to be?”
“A paper crane.”
“…That?”
The crumpled paper crane.
Perhaps because it had been a while since I last folded one. Its shape was a bit too awkward to call it a crane.
The Young Lady spoke earnestly.
“It looks like an orc.”
“It’s not. It’s a crane.”
“Firewood?”
“Don’t disregard my artistic soul.”
“Hmm… No matter how I look at it, it’s not a crane.”
The Young Lady trampled on the dream of a paper crane I had focused on for 30 minutes as she said,
“It looks like half-chewed gum.”
“Even gum can become a crane if you chew it enough.”
“That’s impossible.”
“…”
In addition to handwriting, I was also lacking talent in paper folding.
The Young Lady picked up a red origami paper from the desk and furrowed her brows in concentration.
“Let me show you how it’s done.”
The Young Lady confidently began folding the red origami paper.
“Eeeek…”
She folded it in half.
“Eeeeeeek!!!”
She folded it in half again.
“Eeeeeeeeek!!!!!”
And folded it in half once more.
Watching her furrowed brows in intense focus, I asked what exactly she was making.
“What are you making?”
“A paper crane.”
“…?”
“I made it well, didn’t I?”
“…..?”
The Young Lady insisted that the rectangularly folded paper was a crane.
It was laughable.
I scrutinized the creation, which looked more like a shrimp toast than a crane, and asked,
“Are you hungry?”
“…Yes.”
The Young Lady was honest about her emotions.
“Is there anything you’d like to have for dinner?”
“Meat.”
“Dismissed.”
“Then why did you ask?”
“…..”
It was my fault for asking when I already knew she would say meat.
A thousand paper cranes.
A warm legend that they could make your first love come true.
What nonsense.
How childish.
I didn’t live my life so luxuriously as to believe in such superstitions. If I spent the time folding a thousand cranes earning money and succeeding, that would be far more valuable than a thousand cranes.
It could be a way to appeal to a woman I had feelings for…
“Ricardo, you’re folding so diligently.”
The Young Lady, who had her head down on the desk, spoke as she watched me focused on paper folding.
I smiled at the Young Lady and said,
“They say if you fold a thousand paper cranes, your wish will come true.”
“A wish?”
“Yes. If you fold them neatly and beautifully, they’ll fly up to the sky and deliver your wish.”
“Who grants the wish?”
“Hmm… the Goddess, perhaps?”
“…”
Lost in thought for a moment, the Young Lady nodded and picked up a new red origami paper from the desk.
“If it’s the Goddess, I can trust that.”
The Young Lady had a generous opinion of the Goddess. As expected of the Empire’s state religion. It possessed a holiness capable of opening the irreverent heart of the faithless Young Lady.
Placing the folded paper crane into the glass jar, I asked the Young Lady,
“What kind of wish do you want to make, Young Lady?”
“A Chocolate Palace.”
“That’s a wish I can fulfill.”
I resolved to earn a lot of money.
The Young Lady also placed her crumpled paper crane into the glass jar and asked,
“What about you, Ricardo?”
“Me?”
Indeed.
What kind of wish should I make?
With a foolish smile, I folded the white origami paper.
“It’s a secret.”
It was a wish too embarrassing to say aloud.