Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 41

To Vanessa From Teacher 41

I don’t know how much time had passed while I was sleeping, but around us were golden threads and a magic circle made of Edirnean characters [referring to a specific writing system or script]. It seemed to be a kind of barrier magic that Gideon had set up.

Vanessa got up silently and looked around the cave. In the darkness, she had no sense of how much time had passed, which made her anxious.

The two of them had nothing… Even if they moved as quickly as possible, there was no way to know how far this cave went.

The wind seemed to be blowing from somewhere.

Just then, Gideon stirred and got up behind her. Whether the short rest had helped or not, he looked refreshed and without fatigue.

Vanessa quickly took off the coat he had given her and handed it to Gideon. When Gideon tried to refuse, she firmly pressed it into his hands.

“Did you get some sleep?”

“Yes. Even sleeping like this helps relieve some fatigue. What about you, Vanessa?”

“I just woke up too. Are you dizzy or cold?”

Gideon laughed in disbelief at her worried look.

“I’m getting all this concern. Thank you. I’m fine.”

“I’m really okay now too. I’m warm!”

In the end, Gideon put the returned coat back on, loosened his stiff limbs, and then firmly secured a long sword and two daggers to his body.

“You said the back is blocked, so should we walk forward for now?”

When Vanessa asked impatiently, Gideon tilted his head and lightly tapped the cave wall.

“It’s not too thick, so we could break through it, but that’s really a last resort. Let’s walk.”

The two began to walk. It was a very humid and damp place. But at the same time, it was mysterious.

The inside of the cave, lit by small lights, maintained a natural appearance as if untouched by anyone. The sound of water droplets falling constantly echoed clearly from somewhere.

“It sounds like water is flowing.”

“It probably is. At least we don’t have to worry about drinking water for now.”

Gideon wiped the moisture from the wall and held his fingers in the air.

The moisture slowly dissipated, and the temperature at his fingertips dropped. He could clearly feel a subtle flow of air.

“There’s an opening somewhere.”

Gideon didn’t seem surprised or afraid of this situation. His steps were firm, and his expression was calm.

Vanessa walked in step with him for a while, then hesitated and opened her mouth.

“But, what if we can’t get out?”

At those words, Gideon stopped walking. When Vanessa sadly looked down at her toes, he met her upward-looking blue eyes and smiled warmly.

“Trust me. Vanessa will return to the academy without a scratch.”

His voice felt very firm. Vanessa stared at his eyes for a moment, then nodded and started walking again.

*Anyway*, since Gideon told her to trust him, Vanessa was going to faithfully follow him.

From what she had seen so far, he was definitely someone to trust.

The cave floor was uneven and slippery with moisture.

Stalactites stretched down from the ceiling, and stalagmites grew from the floor. The two met to form pillars.

Gideon seemed to be checking if his magic was intact as he walked. Sometimes it glowed, or sparks crackled. So, for a while, only the sound of footsteps echoed in the cave.

Vanessa also tried to perform simple magic, following him. But somehow, the realization speed was slower and the range was narrower than usual.

Vanessa curled her cold fingertips. Noticing him, Gideon said quietly.

“It’s normal for the realization to not work well. The flow is not good, as if it’s blocked by something.”

Vanessa changed the subject abruptly. The thought that even magic wasn’t working made her feel like too much of a burden.

“Everyone must be worried, right?”

“Probably. The story might have spread to Phydom [likely a significant location or city in their world] too….”

At that answer, Vanessa involuntarily imagined Gideon’s fiancée.

*She’s probably in Phydom, right? She seemed like a beauty with black hair.*

Someone so different from herself, a beautiful person who was clearly loved. She must have been very surprised to hear that Gideon was missing….

Vanessa frowned and quickly cut off her flowing imagination. She couldn’t understand why she kept worrying about his fiancée.

Gideon’s fiancée was someone who had nothing to do with her.

“I’m okay, but the Captain’s family must be worried… and his fiancée too.”

Vanessa deliberately pronounced the word ‘fiancée’ clearly. Useless thoughts kept running rampant. She definitely needed to be alert….

“Fiancée?”

But at those words, Gideon’s steps faltered for a moment. He asked, greatly embarrassed.

“Do you say I have a fiancée? Who?”

“Huh? Oh, no. Just my guess…”

*If Grein knew he had said something like that, Gideon wouldn’t let it go.* His eyes, visible even in the dim light, were intense.

“Well, you send letters often… so. Maybe.”

“…I have a place to contact. I don’t have a fiancée.”

Gideon cut off any room for misunderstanding with a raised eyebrow. Vanessa pressed down on her trembling lips with the back of her hand.

“Oh, well, I made a pointless misunderstanding.”

*So, he didn’t.* Vanessa wiped her cheeks. It felt like the heat from earlier was still there….

Somehow, the two were enveloped in an awkward silence. After only the sound of stepping on the cave floor echoed for a while, Vanessa cleared her throat.

“Ahem, I thought all nobles got engaged early. So, that’s why I thought that.”

“I did have a fiancée… but I broke off the engagement when my parents passed away. There was too much work to handle.”

Vanessa was startled and gasped at Gideon’s calm voice.

The Valder’s crest [likely a family symbol or coat of arms] was so famous that it was bound to be in history books, but she was in the dark about the family’s circumstances. She didn’t know his parents had passed away, and she felt like she had touched a sore spot.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I keep making mistakes….”

“It’s okay. It’s been a while, so you don’t need to feel so sorry.”

Gideon smiled faintly at her flustered expression and continued.

“It was when I was attending the academy… One day, I suddenly received a call. I think I thought I was dreaming because they were such healthy people.”

Vanessa glanced up at Gideon. He was calm without any change in expression.

“It was a carriage accident. Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no conspiracy.”

“Ah….”

Vanessa didn’t know what to say. How could she say something that would be even a little comforting? But he didn’t seem to want comfort. So, she decided to just move on with the story.

“Um, then the reason you graduated early….”

“I had to take over the family right away, and there were many greedy relatives. I couldn’t stay a student.”

“So, you had to graduate as quickly as possible.”

“Yes. I took the exam and graduated in my fourth year with the consent of the professors. I think I was sixteen years old.”

“That’s very…”

Amazing. When Vanessa mumbled, Gideon smiled softly.

“So, you immediately inherited the title of Duke at the age of sixteen?”

“That’s right.”

“It must have been hard.”

Vanessa said carefully, spreading the light a little further. The inside of the cave became a little brighter, and his delicate features were clearly revealed.

Gideon was looking at a very distant place.

“Being left alone is a very scary thing. I had to try. The moment I showed a lack of ability, I would have been torn apart.”

Only then could Vanessa understand Gideon’s sometimes contemplative eyes.

“But even that’s hard, so why the Special Forces Captain….”

Gideon laughed briefly at the bewildered question.

“Vanessa will see you later too. His Majesty currently uses people very efficiently. He didn’t want me to remain only as Duke Valder.”

“Wow.”

When Vanessa exclaimed, Gideon swallowed his words.

*It’s better to have some fantasy about the king left… Isn’t she still a student?*

The king said exactly this.

‘You’re just having meetings in the Joint Council? Are you kidding me? Do both jobs!’

Seeing the king fighting with officials and throwing documents, any thoughts of entering the royal family would quickly disappear.

‘This is only good for paper toys! You’re calling this an agenda?’

‘Argh! I stayed up all night writing that!’

What he had seen in the past flashed through his mind.

“Then aren’t you too busy? It feels like even two bodies wouldn’t be enough. Of course, I don’t know very well, though.”

“I’m busy. There’s a mountain of documents piled up in my office. I don’t even want to go to the main estate in Valder territory….”

*There’s no answer. Even the aides run away.*

Vanessa ended up laughing along with Gideon’s embarrassed laugh.

With only the two of them left in the cave, Gideon comfortably brought up personal stories, bridging the distance between them. Was it because there were no eyes to be careful of?

He was no different from the Gideon who had ridden a boat with her on the lake in front of Jenien’s house and walked the streets of Phydom together. Vanessa was happy to see him again.

She thought she had shaken it all off, but she realized that she had been sad about the distance he had kept. No matter how much she told herself inside that it was natural.

*But why was she sad about that?* Only unanswered questions remained in her head.

Vanessa and Gideon talked endlessly. Vanessa told Gideon that she had grown up in an orphanage, but he didn’t seem very surprised.

“Did you know?”

“I heard there was a sponsor….”

When Gideon trailed off, Vanessa nodded.

“My parents died in a fire. I don’t really remember it. There are no traces either….”

“Your parents must have protected you to the best of their ability. They must have loved you very much.”

Vanessa’s heart warmed at Gideon’s gentle answer. She didn’t remember the past when she was a loved daughter, but it was fun just to imagine it.

“Probably? I must have been very happy with my parents when I was young.”

“Probably. The orphanage….”

“Well, it wasn’t bad. There was no one who bullied or ignored me. Actually, I thought I was pretty cute when I was young, you know?”

Gideon nodded seriously.

“You’re a beauty now, so you must have been like an angel in the past.”

Vanessa glared at his handsome face with a crooked look. He looked puzzled as if asking what was wrong.

“…Look in the mirror. Anyway, so I thought I would be adopted quickly. Besides, I was a very well-behaved child.”

Vanessa scratched her cheek lightly with her finger.

“But strangely, I wasn’t getting adopted. Even the people who seemed like they would adopt me quickly withdrew. It happened five times.”

Gideon was silent, but she knew he was listening to her.

Vanessa tried to make her voice bright. The dampness was enough just under her feet.

“Later, I just got okay with it. The orphanage wasn’t bad either. But there was one thing I was very envious of.”

“What is it?”

“The kids who get adopted receive pretty clothes as gifts. They wear what the adopters prepared and leave the orphanage, and I was so envious of that. I still remember it. A yellow chiffon dress with flower embroidery.”

It was the day she buried her face in a tattered blanket and cried.

“There was a curly blonde girl, and I wondered if I would have been adopted if I didn’t have brown hair, so I even painted my hair yellow.”

*I know that’s not the case now, though.* Vanessa smiled brightly, but Gideon quietly swallowed his words.

“But, uh… uh oh!”

Vanessa, who was about to say something else, suddenly pointed intensely ahead. Gideon, who had been focusing solely on Vanessa, also looked ahead and let out a short exclamation.

Somehow, the path was getting wider and there was more moisture underfoot, and ahead of them was a huge stream of water.

A huge lake inside a limestone cave.