Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 109

To Teacher, From Vanessa 109

“It’s not that… I don’t really know. I think I was just tired of so many people wanting me to fail.”

Vanessa recalled the small commotion at the academy. Some students from the orphanage hoped she would fail. When she did well, they even started spreading rumors.

Gideon must have had it even harder. No one expected anything from her, but Gideon must have been under immense pressure.

“It must have been tough. Gid doesn’t talk about hard things! Though I don’t really know.”

At Vanessa’s remark, he subtly averted his gaze. Vanessa poked him in the waist, but his solid body didn’t even feel like anything was going in.

“Actually, it still feels awkward to say these things. There was no one to talk to, and as my position is what it is, it became a habit not to say anything…”

As Gideon spoke in an ambiguous tone, Vanessa grumbled.

“You always tell me off for not telling you things!”

“Vanessa has to. I’m the captain, so it’s my job to protect my team members.”

“After going through all that trouble to keep me out of the Special Forces, now you’re saying this?”

Vanessa and Gideon argued for a while about who was right, but they couldn’t easily reach a conclusion.

“Come to think of it, Jenian said that Gid ‘used to have a terrible temper.’ Was it because he was having a hard time back then?”

Vanessa watched with amusement as Gideon crookedly raised his lips.

“Jenian said it, so it must be very credible. Yes, I was as fierce as Jenian.”

Vanessa chuckled, and Gideon smiled before returning the question.

“What was Vanessa like before entering the academy?”

“Hmm, I think I was very anxious. It was almost time for me to leave the orphanage, and I had nowhere to go and not much money.”

Vanessa confessed honestly. Gideon listened intently, watching Vanessa’s fluttering eyelashes.

“Most of the jobs nearby that provided room and board were dangerous, so I was hesitant… So I was preparing to go to another city. There were many other children in the orphanage, so when you became an adult like me, you had to leave…”

Now, even talking about the past wasn’t difficult. Because things had clearly changed.

Vanessa had a small room with a green door that she had to pay rent for, but she had a job and was surrounded by people who loved her.

“The orphanage director gave me a three-month grace period. Originally, I had to leave in January, but she said it would be better to leave when it was a bit warmer. And I sent my first letter to my patron in January.”

Vanessa smiled faintly. The moment everything changed.

“It was the first stroke of luck in my life.”

“But you adapted to the academy very well. Did you receive any other education?”

At Gideon’s question, Vanessa rolled her eyes for a moment.

“I originally went to a small school in a nearby city. They said they would provide free education… but after a year, their finances worsened, and they said they couldn’t afford to support me anymore.”

As Vanessa spoke, looking at the 풀꽃 [wildflower] ring on her finger, Gideon sighed softly.

“After that, I just studied on my own. I wanted to try other studies too, but it didn’t work out as I wanted. Well, I’m an academy graduate now, though.”

Vanessa spoke cheerfully, but he had a strange look in his eyes. In his affectionate gaze, there was a hint of pity. Vanessa keenly noticed that look.

“Don’t look at me with pity. I wasn’t that hurt.”

Vanessa grumbled, and Gideon quietly shook his head.

“I thought you were amazing. And I’m sorry, but I thought it was fortunate.”

“What?”

As Vanessa looked puzzled, he quietly met her eyes.

“That you didn’t go to another city. If you had gone to another city back then, I wouldn’t have met you.”

Clearly, if the teacher hadn’t found Vanessa at the Louis Orphanage, Gideon would never have met Vanessa.

The only duke of Priba would never have visited the orphanage in that small town, and he would never have fallen in love at first sight with a shabby woman with carelessly braided brown hair.

“I guess so. Always be grateful to my patron.”

Vanessa said playfully, but the answer didn’t come back quickly.

“…Yes. I think about it every day. About that day.”

Was he talking about meeting in Nimrod?

As Vanessa raised her eyes to look at him at his ambiguous words, Gideon suddenly pulled Vanessa’s waist and bit her soft cheek.

“What…!”

The lips that were about to lash out in surprise were blocked. They were pressed together without a gap, and she was short of breath.

He twisted his head and delved deeper. Red things [tongues] tangled between the gaps. Vanessa gasped softly, but he swallowed even that.

After he lightly bit her lip and pulled away, she was somehow panting.

“I, I was going to do it first?”

“Is that so? Then I’ll stay still.”

Vanessa averted her gaze from his expectant eyes after some thought.

There was no end to the stories they could share. Vanessa was curious about Gideon’s eighteen-year-old self, and Gideon was curious about Vanessa’s eighteen-year-old self. There was still a long time to go back.

They spent at least half the day chatting and playing in the shade. Sometimes, when a gentle breeze shook their clothes, they would doze off because they were so comfortable. When they woke up in surprise, his smiling eyes were still watching over her. At times like that, her insides tickled.

“Gid should be more tired, but why do I keep dozing off?”

“You can be tired. I just can’t because I don’t want to waste time watching you.”

Vanessa was taken aback and widened her eyes, but Gid smiled playfully and patted her a few more times. He whispered for her to sleep a little more. Vanessa sighed contentedly in his large arms.

The sun had half set, and the sparkling sunlight had subsided a little. After resting well, the two decided to take a long ride around the lake.

“It’s been a while, are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Ah, of course! Trust me.”

Vanessa insisted on riding alone until the end, despite his worried eyes. Instead, she decided to ride a smaller horse.

The small, gentle mare was very lovely. Whether she liked Vanessa at first sight, she followed her around for a piece of rock candy and stood docilely even when she climbed on her back.

“So pretty…”

Vanessa was deeply moved by the lovely creature. Gideon smiled as he firmly secured the saddle.

“She’s new here, so she probably doesn’t have a name yet. Let’s call her Rose from now on.”

Vanessa stroked the mare’s mane with satisfaction. It wasn’t a bad idea.

Vanessa started running at a decent speed, but she was quickly overtaken. His horse was much bigger, and unlike Vanessa, who kept missing the beat and bumping around, Gideon moved as if he were one with the horse, so she couldn’t compete.

The lake was truly, astonishingly beautiful. Looking at the sky reflected in the clear water, the stories of poets praising how beautiful the world is seemed quite plausible.

Or maybe it was because of the happy person she was with.

Near the lake, there were still lush reeds that hadn’t changed color. When they ran slowly, they could sometimes see something sparkling between them, which Vanessa initially thought was sunlight reflecting off the water.

But Gideon noticed the light and said in an interesting voice.

“It’s a fairy.”

“Wh-what?”

“They seem to live in the bushes. It’s my first time seeing them here.”

“No way! Will they run away if we get close?”

Gideon chuckled softly at her trembling voice, unable to hide her excitement.

“They’ll probably run away. Let’s come back and see later. There might be some fairy wing dust on the leaves.”

“Fairy dust…?!”

Then Vanessa forgot her purpose of taking a leisurely walk and started running the horse as best she could. She just seemed out of her mind, wanting to complete the lap around the lake she had aimed for and come back quickly to see them. Gideon eventually burst into laughter.

Vanessa and Gideon, who had taken a big lap and returned to the place where the fairies were, gathered the sparkling dust that remained in the bushes. But the amount was very small, looking almost like dust.

“That’s a great amount.”

“I was going to give you a gift by drawing a magic circle with it. Say it again.”

“Ah, it’s really a valuable amount. You can draw five magic circles.”

Vanessa, who was annoyed, pounced on Gideon and pressed him down. Gideon accepted it without a word, smiled, and kissed her forehead.

As the temperature dropped in the evening, the two returned to the small house. Gideon roughly looked around the food storage and made a simple meal.

Vanessa was very curious about Gid cooking. It was a sight she had seen at Jenian’s house, but knowing his position, she couldn’t help but be even more amazed that someone who seemed to have always been above someone else his entire life was cutting butter and chopping vegetables himself.

Vanessa took a spoonful and exclaimed as soon as she put it in her mouth.

“Wow.”

Gideon, who was propping his chin on his hand and watching her, raised one eyebrow.

“Did you even savor the taste?”

“It melted as soon as I put it in my mouth, so there was no time for that.”

Vanessa made an unfair expression at his suspicious gaze.

“I’m serious! The butter scent is lingering on the tip of my tongue like, uh-”

“Okay, okay. I’ll believe you.”

Vanessa glared at him for a moment before taking another generous spoonful. It was too delicious to grumble.

He was just watching her with satisfaction, not even picking up his fork yet.

“How do you even know how to cook?”

“My father liked this kind of thing. He wanted to fill everything around my mother with things he made himself.”

“Little Gideon learned from his side?”

“That’s right. He told me to make the person you like full first.”

Gideon smiled, and Vanessa was momentarily captivated by the sight. The man with his chin propped up, not fully dressed and slightly disheveled, felt somehow dangerous.

“He even knew how to embroider, but I’m not that good. I’ll learn it now if you want.”

“No, that’s too much pressure. I can’t cook or embroider.”

“Do you need to do it? I know how to do it.”

Vanessa shook her head. He looked at Vanessa with a smile-filled gaze and said.

“It’s a shame that I’m only now understanding why he wanted to fill everything around him with things he made himself.”

I wish I could have shown it to him. Gid smiled faintly. The plate was already clean.

The sun was setting outside the window, and the red light decorated the table. The two sat in the same direction, quietly gazing out the window and whispering softly to each other. The sound was so small that not even the vase on the table could eavesdrop on their secrets.

The time that had passed would not return, so the two returned to Valder Castle. Even this was Gideon squeezing out as much free time as possible, so she couldn’t complain.

Ramona was disappointed that they were already back, but Vanessa was satisfied enough.

From tomorrow, work would be even harder, but she had saved up the strength to endure it.

After everything is over, they can go out again. Then Gideon and she will have more time and it will be more enjoyable.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

A soft, whining voice flowed out.

“So?”

“It’s dangerous to move now.”

“Ah….”

The face of the younger of the two people sitting across from each other was truly bizarre. Looking at the pale, fleshless, and gaunt face, he looked like a young man in his prime, but the innocent, questioning eyes made him look like a boy.

The middle-aged man with a pointed chin spoke carefully. Considering the deep wrinkles, he was much older, but his attitude towards the young man was very polite.

“It seems like you got caught after showing some petty sympathy. The Duke is glaring with fierce eyes-”

“Then we can just kill that Duke.”

The middle-aged man stiffened at the sudden, refreshing voice.

“Are you perhaps talking about Duke Valder?”

“Haha, there aren’t two dukes in Priba, of course, I’m talking about Duke Valder. I’ve hated him since a long time ago. My sister cherishes him too much. I’m jealous.”

Marquis Rossini swallowed hard at the sight of him stretching out leisurely.

“You’ll do it, right? You owe me.”

The young man’s eyes curved sweetly. Only silence flowed between them. Until Rossini finally nodded.