Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 118

To Teacher, From Vanessa (118/146)

“…What? Is the teacher the one I’m thinking of?”

As Vanessa remained face down on the sofa, Lina jumped up and started shaking her.

“Is it that teacher or not!”

“Of course, it is!”

“How did you know? Wow, you always bring such amazing news every time you come.”

Lina exclaimed, but Vanessa only rubbed her eyes, swollen from lack of sleep.

“I’m asking how you knew. Did he tell you?”

“No….”

Vanessa mumbled, saying she noticed a different handwriting in his documents than usual. That handwriting was definitely the same as the teacher’s.

She said she confronted him about it and poured out all the reasons why she was having a hard time, without holding anything back.

Lina listened to Vanessa’s story very intently, sometimes sighing and sometimes making humming noises.

“You two are really birds of a feather [people who are very similar].”

As soon as Vanessa finished speaking, Lina clicked her tongue and muttered. She easily ignored the glare from Vanessa’s reddened eyes.

“What you’re saying is funny. You’re saying he might not actually like you, and he’s saying you might not actually like him.”

Vanessa sniffled.

“So, you’re wondering if you’re mistaking his pity for affection? Or maybe it’s just the bond you’ve built over time.”

“I thought that might be the case. But Gideon’s expression….”

Vanessa recalled his expression when he found her in the office, how his joy bloomed like a flower.

Could that expression be fake?

No. Absolutely not…. Gideon had definitely given her reassurance.

“Then what’s the problem?”

Vanessa repeatedly curled and unfurled her fingers before finally opening her mouth.

“I spent all day yesterday reading the letters from Teacher.”

“You mean your boyfriend, Gideon.”

At Lina’s remark, Vanessa sighed.

“Yes, the letters from Gideon. I read them over and over, without missing a single line.”

“And?”

“Do you think my feelings for Gideon were intentionally created by him? Could he have done it with planned encounters or something?”

“I can’t know that. You’re the one who knows.”

Lina said coldly. Vanessa roughly swept back the hair that had fallen over her face. Only then did Lina notice her disheveled state and grimaced.

Lina picked up a bottle of fragrant oil from beside the mirror and began to dampen Vanessa’s hair. Unfazed by the rising floral scent, Vanessa continued to mumble.

“I, I don’t know…. If he really wanted to, it would have been better to reveal who he was. You know how much I relied on Teacher mentally while I was at the Academy.”

“Well, I guess Teacher would have told you to get engaged to him then. The Duke took a very difficult path.”

Lina chuckled, and Vanessa glared at her with swollen eyes.

Lina gathered the hair, now dampened with oil and moderately calmed, and began to braid it thickly. Then, she asked sweetly, as if singing a song.

“Why did you fall in love with him? Because he’s handsome? Or because you fell into that cave together? Because he protected you? Because of some kind of familiarity that came from the letters?”

Vanessa frowned and then carefully spat out.

“You can’t choose a reason. But how could I not like him?”

He had been captivating from their first meeting. In Nimrod’s café, in front of the cake display, he looked like an angel who had fallen from somewhere. The memory was still vivid. Those golden eyes, shining brilliantly in the light.

But if it had only been ‘that,’ Vanessa would not have been interested in him at all. A brief interest might have sparked, but it wouldn’t have lasted long.

In the first place, Vanessa’s life was not leisurely enough to be so greatly charmed by someone she barely saw a few times a month.

But even excluding his appearance, he had an abundance of things that would steal Vanessa’s heart.

The simplest reason was that the time spent with him was incredibly enjoyable.

When they were talking non-stop, it was time to part, and it was hard to take their feet off with regret. That was the same before and after they became lovers. A person who regrets every minute and second they are together, such a person is rare.

How trivial would her stories have been to someone with the title of Duke? The stories she told were about conversations with friends, overflowing work, and minor problems in the dormitory. It was too far from what he dealt with.

Nevertheless, he listened to her stories without missing a single detail and had affectionate conversations.

He had a lot, but he was strict with himself and never neglected his efforts. In the end, he had great skills in both swordsmanship and magic. There were many who tried to belittle him, but no one could doubt his skills.

He had a strong sense of responsibility and did not neglect any work. As she later learned, the Special Operations Unit office was one of the last places in the Cabinet to turn off the lights, and the office in Valder Castle was, of course, brightly lit throughout the weekend. Despite his high position, he never shied away from dangerous dispatch missions.

He liked it when Vanessa was happy. He acted as if that was all that mattered when she was happy. He wanted to share and alleviate her pain, even if he hid his own. This was a disadvantage in her standards, but anyway.

From some point on, whenever she looked up, there was always a delicate gaze watching her. Knowing what she liked and what she disliked.

But even if these things were done intentionally by him, would it be a problem? Isn’t that how everyone tries for someone they like?

When she accidentally met him in the Magic Department, there was a time when she could no longer avoid him.

Vanessa was the same. She was curious about everything about him. She wanted to meet Gideon and go with him wherever he went. She felt good when he smiled. She wanted to 맞춰주고 [match him/cater to him]. She just suppressed that feeling.

Everyone is like that.

“Vanessa, are you even listening to me?”

Lina was now rolling Vanessa’s braided hair into a circle….

And in contrast to that calm attitude, Vanessa suddenly felt a surge of heat and gritted her teeth, muttering.

“What? You’re doubting whether he intended my feelings? You think you can make anyone fall in love with you after meeting them a couple of times and exchanging a few letters?”

“Huh?”

The moment Lina tilted her head and dropped it, Vanessa suddenly started kicking her feet in the air.

“Am I a fool? Do you think I’d fall for it just because he intended it! He’s showing off, really!”

Lina took her hand off Vanessa’s head and made a sullen expression, but Vanessa did not stop shouting, unable to stop her resentment.

“After the internship? I realized my feelings before the internship was over! I was first! And then intention? Does that make any sense?”

“…Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“Yeah, I should have. I always think of what to say after I’ve finished fighting! Damn it, do you know how much I hit the wall while looking at the letters yesterday? The neighbor came to complain about the noise!”

“…….”

Lina was now wondering if Vanessa was crazy.

“Me, me! Do you know how much I praised Gideon to Teacher? I described his appearance when I first met him! I said it was the first time I’d seen such a beautiful face in my life, that a knight had popped out of a fairy tale or something!”

Lina clicked her tongue as Vanessa yelled.

That would be really embarrassing. What expression would the Duke have made when he saw the letter?

“I made such a fuss after that. If I had sent a letter saying I had a crush on him, I would have stormed Valder Castle right now and stolen it! I’m glad I didn’t send it!”

“Uh-huh….”

Lina muttered, but Vanessa was not finished yet.

“I also said that I understood the story well enough now, and sent him a letter saying my head was a flower garden [filled with romantic thoughts]. But Teacher is that person! It’s like I said it directly to his face!”

“Oh dear…. That’s a bit much.”

As Lina said pitifully, Vanessa pounded the sofa mercilessly.

“Thinking about it, it’s really infuriating. What? He’s afraid that he created that feeling? He’ll listen to whatever I choose? He should just apologize for hiding it, what’s with all the fuss!”

Vanessa, who had flared up, squeezed the cushion on the sofa, seething. Lina suppressed a laugh at the sight of her eyes flashing with fire.

“You’re showing your 4th-grade self after a long time [acting childish]. You used to get angry pretty well back then. It was cute.”

Lina said in a nostalgic voice. She seemed to be recalling a certain day in the past.

“I won’t let him off the hook when I see him next time.”

Vanessa foreshadowed his future in an ominous voice. Lina leaned back on the sofa and watched her eyebrows, which were raised sharply.

“So, are you done worrying?”

“Yes, I’m done. The reason I came to like Gideon wasn’t because we met a few more times or exchanged a few more letters. It’s because I liked the way he showed himself. That’s all.”

As Vanessa answered sullenly, Lina said with a sullen expression.

“Then why did you come here?”

“I came to a conclusion while talking to you. Okay, I’ll hit Gideon once and forgive him. I’ll thank Teacher.”

“That’s the same person, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

At her expression asking what the problem was, Lina sighed.

“…Okay. Let’s have a meal then.”

Lina picked up the butter knife again, ready for battle.

Only then did Vanessa calm down from her boiling anger and come to her senses, feeling slightly nervous. Her complexion had been terrible for the past few days, so Lina would definitely try to feed her a lot.

The prediction was right. Vanessa swallowed bread with three layers of butter and ate three spoonfuls of each type of jam. She had to serve herself the heavily peppered chicken dish twice.

But even after eating this much, nagging followed. What’s with that complexion!

Then she could confidently retort. It’s because of Gideon. Lina twisted her lips.

Only after filling her mouth with desserts that were so sweet they made her tongue tingle was Vanessa able to leave the dining table.

Lina meticulously checked Vanessa’s appearance, just like in her Academy days. She readjusted the angle of her shoulders and stepped back to check her from side to side. Then, she smoothed out the wrinkles at the end of her uniform sleeves and gently pushed back Vanessa’s neatly tied-up hair.

Stepping back and scanning Vanessa, Lina nodded in satisfaction.

“Have a good trip, Vanessa.”

“Thank you for making time for me. It would have been nice if Chebati was here too, but he’s been very busy these days.”

“Yeah, I miss the Academy days sometimes. Back then, I could immediately know if something happened to you or Chebati, but now I only find out if you tell me.”

As Lina smiled brightly, Vanessa felt a strange tingling in her nose. Her literary sensibility was still greatly lacking, but her emotions overflowed only in these situations.

“I’m always really grateful. I can’t imagine what it would have been like without you. I would have been crying alone in my room.”

“You’re saying all sorts of things. I didn’t do anything, and you were the one who was sobbing, getting angry, and drawing conclusions all by yourself. Thanks to you, it was a very enjoyable morning.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes, realized there was nothing to deny, and smiled embarrassedly.

“Let’s meet with Chebati next time. I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay. Don’t get hurt.”

Vanessa picked up her luggage and twirled in place, showing off her appearance. Lina chuckled and laughed.

Vanessa smiled brightly and jumped into the sunlight with a lightened heart.