Sincerely, Vanessa [EN]: Chapter 53

To Teacher, From Vanessa. 53 (53/146)

A stamp? I hadn’t seen one in ages, not since Hornirs [magical communication devices] became common.

As he curiously picked up the letter, his aide, Miguel, who had followed him, chattered on.

“Ah, this was sent by your newly sponsored ward. The address was initially incorrect, but I heard you personally chose this person, so I brought it here. Shall I remove it if it displeases you?”

Gideon turned the letter over.

“To Teacher, From Vanessa Rose.”

The handwriting was smooth, without sharp edges.

“…No. If you’ve finished checking the documents, you may leave. Send a Hornir to this… Vanessa Rose. It would be difficult to attach a stamp every time she contacts me monthly.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After Miguel left, Gideon, now alone, nonchalantly tore open the envelope.

Although the envelope was thick, he didn’t expect much content. Most letters from sponsored individuals were monotonous. It couldn’t be helped.

What could they say to a sponsor they’d never met? They would only inform him of their excellent grades and describe what they needed.

So, he couldn’t help but be puzzled by the paper filled with writing.

The academy hadn’t even started the semester yet, had it?

He slowly read the letter.

‘Vanessa Rose’ called him Teacher. It seemed to be the most respectful term she knew.

The letter detailed her feelings and experiences leaving the orphanage.

The letter, filled with both loneliness and excitement, vividly depicted her writing at an old desk in the inn.

After reading the entire letter, Gideon placed it on the desk and was slightly taken aback when he noticed the smile on his face.

The faint smile that had graced his lips hardened again.

It had been a long time since he had read a heartfelt, informal letter. He hadn’t maintained such friendships since taking this position.

Too many people were trying to exploit him to squander the family’s wealth, and he didn’t tolerate such things.

After a moment of contemplation, he forgot about the Hornir he had told Miguel to send and personally selected and ordered a product himself.

The pure white, porcelain-smooth Hornir was extremely expensive due to the exquisite craftsmanship of the embedded magic stone and the delicate magic circles.

However, it wasn’t a bad price to pay for a heartfelt letter.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

Gideon thought the first letter would be the first and last.

Perhaps she sent such a long letter because it was the first time.

The next contact would be a typical request listing what she needed, like other students, and it would end with him sending appropriate items.

Gideon, who had inherited the title of the sole Duke of Freiva and was the head of the Special Forces, had an overwhelming amount of work. As a result, the list of places to contact regularly was as long as a person, even written in small letters.

Therefore, he had dozens of Hornirs separated by purpose, and there was a separate room just for storing Hornirs.

So, when Miguel separated Vanessa Rose’s letter from the letters received from other sponsored individuals and brought it to him, Gideon was slightly taken aback. He couldn’t even tell him to leave it, so he accepted it.

She said she sent it short because there was only one stamp. The second letter sent by Hornir seemed to be more than twice as long as the first.

“Ah, shall I just handle it separately? You didn’t say anything last time, so I brought it separately again this time. Isn’t it rare to have a sponsored ward who shows potential as a mage!”

Gideon paused slightly at Miguel’s cheerful words.

“Yes, leave it there. You don’t need to bring it next time.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Miguel politely placed the letter on the desk without any objection and disappeared.

He left the letter unopened on the desk and dealt with other documents first. Reports of monster proliferation were increasing.

It wasn’t that the Special Forces were neglecting their duties, so he couldn’t figure out the reason. Unless someone was deliberately manipulating things.

However, there was nothing suspicious to be seen. Freiva was an excessively large country, and there were many places to hide.

Gideon scribbled his signature on a few documents and stamped them with his seal. He tried to ignore the letter that kept catching his eye.

Several hours passed in a flash. He stopped only when he saw the ink-worn pen scratching on the paper.

Looking out the window, he saw that darkness was already spreading, and magic stone lamps were lit. He hadn’t even realized how much time had passed while he was swamped with work.

Or perhaps he was preoccupied with something else.

Only then did the man put down his pen and reach for the letter that had been gnawing at his nerves. He leaned back in the plush chair and tore open the letter.

The second letter was written after the sponsored ward, Vanessa Rose, arrived at the academy.

The new sponsored ward marveled at everything.

She was delighted with the Hornir she had for the first time, amazed that she had come to the academy, and found beauty even in the small room of the dormitory.

A white blanket that smelled of sunshine. That phrase foolishly reminded him of his own bed for a moment. Did it smell of sunshine?

Looking at the letter filled with rich emotions, Gideon thought he was like hardened stone. Dry and parched. The days just flowed by, and nothing was special.

So, reading Vanessa Rose’s letter felt like going back to his academy days.

A time when he hadn’t hardened yet. When everyone was healthy and safe, and he was studying as an heir.

Gideon swallowed a bitter smile and folded the letter.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

With Vanessa Rose’s continued letters, he eventually picked up a pen.

He himself wondered what kind of whim this was, but the result wasn’t bad. Vanessa Rose was very pleased with the reply sent by ‘Teacher.’

Such a reward for an excellent student wasn’t difficult.

Calling it a reward was actually a cowardly story. Because at some point, he had also started looking forward to Vanessa Rose’s letters.

Once he sent a reply, it wasn’t difficult to do it a second time. He would sometimes take out clean paper when he needed to clear his head and write neat letters on it.

Gideon realized that exchanging letters with someone who knew nothing about him was better than he thought. Thanks to that, the pen writing the letters never stalled.

“To Miss Vanessa Rose.”

The reply came back quickly.

“To my kind Teacher.”

Vanessa’s letters were always dazzling with various colors, as always.

He genuinely burst out laughing when reading stories related to [inside jokes or shared experiences], and when Vanessa achieved excellent grades, he was probably more proud than Vanessa herself.

He was furious when he heard that Vanessa Rose was embroiled in scandalous rumors at the academy.

He recognized the power he had never used privately. No matter how much it was the academy, could his power not reach it?

He thought he was just barely breathing while hardened. There might be creatures that survive after a long winter, but there are also those that freeze and die.

But did the letter carry the scent of spring flowers? Or was the heat of summer hidden in it?

Finally, he became genuinely curious about Vanessa Rose.

Not the Vanessa Rose pieced together from the contents of the letter, but the real Vanessa Rose who walked around bravely, learned new things, and sometimes became depressed.

Gideon chose a dispatch location with personal interest for the first time since becoming the head of the Special Forces. And after that, he applied for several days of vacation.

The king was surprised by the news that Gideon Sol Balder had taken a vacation and grabbed him, bombarding him with questions.

Of course, Gideon just stood there with a nonchalant expression.

“No, where are you going!”

“Is that something I need to report?”

“Of course. It sounds interesting, so tell me.”

“…….”

As soon as his vacation was approved, Gideon left for Seogoteu.

He carefully checked around the academy, looking for monster habitats. There were no particular problems.

So, it was clear that the monster that had crawled into the academy was not a natural occurrence but someone’s doing.

However, the line was very unclear. He caught one person involved, but he was already dead.

Since he was going to Jenien’s house anyway, he could ask him for additional research on chimeras [creatures made of mixed animal parts].

After completing the overall subjugation and investigation, Gideon headed to Nimrod. Jenien’s house was quite far from the center of Nimrod.

He walked the complicated path, wondering what he should give her at their first meeting.

She liked it when he sent her sweets. She also said she liked lemon candies. She would probably like it if he bought her a cake.

Gideon saw a familiar pair of blue shoes in a store he happened to stop by. The owner of the shoes was staring at him with wide eyes….

Gideon smiled faintly. And walked towards the cake display, towards Vanessa.

The vacation spent in Nimrod passed surprisingly quickly. He sometimes felt that the flow of time was relative, but he had never felt it was this short.

Vanessa Rose was a much better person than she herself evaluated. More than what he had read in the letter.

She didn’t waste any time and worked hard. She was grateful for what she had and wanted to give back what she had received to someone. The sparkling blue eyes when she experienced something new would have been impressive to anyone.

She is a rare good person.

Gideon thought ‘only that’ under the tree where they had sheltered from the rain together.

⚜ ⚜ ⚜

The relationship was building with just letters, but since they had even met in person, the connection became even stronger. On the letter, it began to be written as Miss Vanessa instead of Miss Rose.

And at some point, Gideon sincerely cherished Vanessa Rose.

He had never had a biological sibling, but would it feel like this if he actually had one? Gideon tilted his head and pondered.

He was disqualified as a sponsor. He didn’t want Vanessa Rose to be great. He just wanted her to have fun and happy times.

So, he decided to send a gift on Saint Barand’s birthday [a significant holiday]. In the midst of difficult studies, he wanted this day to be completely perfect.

He initially contacted only one store to request a product list. It was a place where Peres, who managed Balder Castle, had praised the quality of the products in passing.

But unlike the good quality, his mouth seemed to be quite light [he gossiped easily].

How they heard that the sole owner of the Balder family wanted the product catalog of that store, lists began to fly in from all the stores in Püdom.

Even famous stores of several magicians who only received personal orders sent secret contacts.

If the owner of the Balder family wishes, we are always ready to provide better products. Please contact us.

Thanks to that, the product catalog became as thick as a novel hardcover, but Gideon carefully examined everything.

What would she like the most?

When things he had to do didn’t go as he wanted, he held the list with a gloomy expression. Choosing gifts made him feel a little better.

Gideon was worried that Vanessa’s tastes were very different from his, so she might be disappointed, but he didn’t want to entrust this task to someone else. Vanessa would know that all the gifts were chosen by ‘Teacher,’ so he wanted to do it himself.

He chose fifteen gifts. Only then was he satisfied.

The most favorite item was a scarf made by a magician who realized magic with embroidery. White satin with a beautiful luster and small embroidery at the end.

The floating end was like a cloud. He thought it would go well with Vanessa’s blue eyes.

A faint smile spread. Gideon began to write a long, long order list.