Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 54

His order was processed with the highest priority. The items were beautifully packaged in gift boxes and swiftly delivered to the castle.

Perez, the castle manager, was puzzled. He inquired about the contents, but Gideon simply shook his head.

Gideon worried Vanessa might be confused, so he only signed the packaging with ‘Teacher’.

The last box held the scarf he liked most.

Gideon paused before signing. After a long deliberation, he switched the pen to his other hand.

“Happy Birthday, Castle Barando.

-From Gide.”

Gideon frowned, unaware he was doing so, as he looked at the note.

He didn’t want to be discovered, so why had he written his name?

Yet, for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to tear up the note, despite his logical and rational judgment.

So, he added an excuse.

Vanessa is friends with ‘Gide,’ so it’s not strange for him to send a gift.

No, it’s only natural. Vanessa mentioned him as a friend in her letter, and they had met several times.

Gideon ignored the fact that despite his decade-long friendship with Jonah Hill, they had never exchanged gifts.

He thought that was the end of it, but an unexpected gift arrived.

In the early hours of Castle Barando’s birthday, a soft yellow light flickered inside Gideon’s Hornir [a magical device for sending and receiving letters].

Gideon waited for a letter to fall, but the Hornir’s light faded without anything appearing.

Was something stuck?

Puzzled, Gideon pulled the Hornir closer. He saw something lodged inside and carefully extracted it.

A crumpled piece of paper with fine wrinkles fluttered weakly in his hand before unfolding.

Inside the paper was a pair of black leather gloves.

The leather was of very high quality. He heard a rustling sound and found Vanessa’s note inside.

“Happy Castle Barando Birthday!

With love from Vanessa Rose, who respects you so-o-o much, Teacher.”

He placed the note on the desk and stroked the leather texture, smiling without realizing it. His heart felt warm.

After that, the leather gloves were never off his hands all winter. Sometimes, even with outfits better suited to thin silk gloves, he insisted on wearing only the black leather gloves.

Everyone was puzzled and suggested other gloves, but Gideon picked up those gloves without a word.

However, he had no idea these gloves would lead to a disagreement with Vanessa.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

She said she had drawn the magic circle herself. It couldn’t have been a time when she had properly learned about magic circles, so she must have studied on her own. That’s why it was an even more precious gift.

But he hardened his expression at the following phrase: a part-time job.

He was very happy to receive the gloves and even more grateful for Vanessa’s consideration for her patron [a wealthy benefactor who provides financial support].

But Vanessa working was absolutely absurd.

The reason Bamberg Academy maintained its reputation as the best wasn’t just because of its founder’s greatness.

The academy had to constantly produce talented individuals to maintain its reputation—not just any talents, but exceptional ones to support Friba [presumably a powerful magical organization or entity].

To that end, notorious classes and assignments were relentlessly assigned. Sometimes, even meal times had to be adjusted. She was already pushing herself too hard…

Was the sponsorship amount insufficient? If so, he could increase it immediately.

Perhaps she was being compared to her friends, who happened to be from well-off families. Yes, that must be it.

Gideon immediately called Miguel.

“I’m going to increase the sponsorship amount for Vanessa Rose.”

“Excuse me? Vanessa Rose? Who is that…?”

Miquel mulled over the name several times and then slapped his forehead.

“Are you talking about a sponsored student? Uh… I’ll check for a moment. There are standards, so if you want to change it, I’ll have to make some adjustments.”

“I don’t care.”

Miquel nodded and returned shortly with several documents.

“Are you talking about Vanessa Rose of Bamberg Academy? She’s not even using a third of her sponsorship amount right now. Last month, she didn’t even use a quarter of it. There’s no need to increase it.”

Gideon frowned slightly. The tip of the pen in his large hand drooped.

“Increase it anyway.”

Miquel nodded with a puzzled look and went outside.

Soon, documents related to the sponsorship limit were placed on the desk. He calmly stamped them with his seal.

However, contrary to his expectations, the next letter requested the increased sponsorship amount be canceled.

Vanessa said it was already enough and tried to make him understand her sense of indebtedness.

But Gideon wasn’t simply failing to understand. He was concerned about Vanessa’s well-being.

After several letters went back and forth, as if they were arguing, Vanessa didn’t contact him for a while.

Gideon silently did his job, but he visited the Hornir’s room more often than usual. He couldn’t help but wonder if Vanessa had collapsed from overworking…

In fact, it was only natural. He couldn’t know anything about Vanessa Rose except for the contents of her letters.

While the moon set and the sun rose, several sighs echoed in the lonely space.

The next day, Gideon, seeing the Hornir still empty, finally decided to gather the fragmented time. His tight schedule couldn’t give him time all at once, so he had to piece it together.

After several days, he finally had about half a day.

As the sun was setting, he headed to Seogote without even changing out of his uniform. The cafe where she might work part-time would naturally be in Seogote.

He would feel much relieved just to confirm Vanessa was healthy. It would be even better if he could casually mention that working was too much for her.

Unable to find out which cafe Vanessa was working at, he decided to take a tour of Seogote. It was a little annoying because people kept sticking to him even while he was walking quickly.

The sun was setting against the backdrop of picturesque mountains and houses with pointed roofs.

The sky was burning red, occasionally mixed with pale purple or yellow.

Under such light, it was difficult to recognize even people you meet every day.

Nevertheless, there was a color that caught his eye at once. Brown was not all the same brown. Something was definitely different.

Gideon took a long breath and strode closer. Vanessa, looking down at the ground, didn’t notice him.

Only when the distance between them was one step away did Vanessa notice his presence. She raised her head sharply.

Their eyes met.

Gideon thought he saw something flickering in Vanessa’s bright blue eyes. Something shimmering was reflected in the setting sun and sparkled…

And before that thought was over, Vanessa burst into tears.

Gideon’s heart sank. Why is she crying?

Vanessa cried like a child. She didn’t feel ashamed, nor did she try to hide it by wiping away her tears.

She gasped for breath with every sob, and her face turned red. She rubbed her wet cheeks roughly, making her face even more of a mess.

Seeing that, he was speechless.

Was he a young boy seeing someone cry for the first time? He stammered, telling her not to cry, and then patted her anxiously as tears streamed down her cheeks.

He didn’t know what to do. How on earth could he make her stop crying?

Everything he had learned so far was useless in this situation. He was utterly incompetent in this moment…

He came to his senses only when Vanessa stopped crying and sniffled. He quickly led her inside, worried her body would get cold in the wind.

As she sat down, the warmth relaxed her. As he had Vanessa drink warm tea, the tears that had welled up in her eyes melted and fell.

Her hands were so rough as she wiped them away that he snatched the handkerchief and pressed it to her face himself.

Her eyes were already red and swollen, so he could only sigh. They will definitely be swollen tomorrow.

However, Gideon burst out laughing at what Vanessa confessed while sobbing.

He didn’t care that Vanessa was glaring at him. Dislike him? That couldn’t be.

“Vanet.”

He smiled and told her the answer.

“Write a letter soon.”

All she had to do was write a letter.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Vanessa lost consciousness in the cave where they fell. Spatial movement magic was very painful when experienced for the first time.

Gideon, who barely managed to hold onto Vanessa, was in trouble. The floor was damp, so there was nowhere to lay her down.

In the end, Gideon lifted Vanessa as much as possible without touching her body and started walking while holding her in his arms.

He sighed at how light she was. Was she eating well with her busy schedule?

Come to think of it, the internship was with the Special Forces, which was not peaceful, so there was no time to feed her well.

He tried to pay attention, but he didn’t have enough time along the way.

Vanessa and the other students were all busy helping deal with the monsters…

In the end, they only had one day to rest properly: Castle Barando’s birthday.

Gideon regretted it greatly and repeated it several times in his mind.

Next time I see her, I have to feed her a lot of good things. I have to let her experience only pleasant things, not these bloody scenes, not surprising things.

Fortunately, Vanessa woke up before he could make concrete plans.

“Did we fall together?”

He spoke to reassure Vanessa, who was trembling with guilt and anxiety.

That was definitely his first intention. However, he forgot he was walking in the cave as he unknowingly immersed himself in the conversation.

As always, the conversation with Vanessa was enjoyable regardless of the situation.

When he talked to her, he sometimes felt that the things he was carrying were blurred. He threw away all kinds of modifiers, and only his name ‘Gideon’ remained.

That wasn’t bad. No, in fact, it was comfortable and satisfying.

Thanks to that, the story flowed naturally like water, and they carefully shared each other’s unhappy pasts.

However, he was surprised that he was the first to speak.

The backstories that gossips were talking about were famous, but it was a story he had never told anyone directly: the sudden death of his parents.

It wasn’t a weakness, but it was definitely a sensitive area.

He was also bewildered. Had the emotional distance become so close? When?

Gideon swept the back of his neck with a slightly embarrassed look. Fortunately, the darkness in the cave hid his confused feelings.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

After passing through the two trials of the lake and the dragon, they came out of the cave. Vanessa immediately returned to the academy.

He wished the last greeting could have been a little longer, but the situation had grown, and many people were overflowing around them.

Gideon had no intention of exposing Vanessa at all, so he led her to the academy without any regrets. He would take care of the aftermath.

He was very disappointed, but he was okay because he thought it was a relationship that would meet again.

As soon as he returned to Valder Castle, he tried to report to the king about Bam Bandalu’s magic circle, but unexpectedly, something else took precedence.

It was unexpected, but as soon as he sat down in front of the large desk, he picked up a pen and did it.

Writing a letter to Vanessa.

Gideon sent a letter in his own name. There was no need to borrow the name of ‘Teacher’ for this.

It was the first time he had written ‘Gideon Sol Valder’ on the envelope. Now there was no need to hide everything from his name to his castle…

That was a very strange feeling, so he laughed for some reason. The tip of the pen spun clumsily.

As he put in the sealed letter, a soft light swirled inside the Hornir. After staring at him blankly for a while, he proceeded with his duties as the captain of the Special Forces and as a duke.

The work was always tiring and boring, but it was good for killing time while waiting for a reply.

But a day, two days, three days.

No matter how much time passed, the reply did not come back.

Gideon suspected she might not have received the letter.

Could it be that her body hadn’t recovered even after returning to the academy? Somehow, her cheeks seemed red as if she had a fever at that time. Should he have sent it after taking some other measures?

Dozens of different thoughts spread out every day. He was anxious about the reply that didn’t come back, and his mouth was dry.

Every time he barely turned over a document, he raised his head and checked the Hornir.

“Duke, do you have a place to be contacted?”

His aide Ronan asked carefully as he couldn’t concentrate at all. Gideon just shook his head. It wasn’t a story to tell his aides…

Contrary to that thought, Gideon gave up waiting less than a week after sending the letter.

He threw away his work, whether it was piled up or not, and went to Nimrod’s cafe: , where he first met Vanessa.

He chose several kinds of cakes there, including lemon meringue tart.

The cafe owner still froze when he saw his face and stammered to explain the desserts.

The neatly packaged box was sent to the dormitory of Bamberg Academy.

That’s what he promised in the cave.

Even though there was no reply, it was right to send it…

Deep down, he was sure he would receive a thank you, but he pretended not to know.