TRETTHD 53

Chapter 53. Good News

What was I even thinking, all on my own when the person in question wasn’t even here?

Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I quickly unfolded the next letter.

This time, it was from Clozet.

**[To my dearest sister,

How are you?

After you left for the Empire, I almost went mad watching Brother Herald sigh and worry about you every hour on the hour.

These days, whenever I miss you, I go to your room to visit that ugly little statue.

…(omitted)…

Oh, right! Something interesting has come up recently.

I’ll tell you everything in detail when we meet in the Empire.

The palace feels a little empty without you here.

I miss you.

I’ll come see you soon.]**

For some reason, I could practically hear Clozet’s lively voice in the words. It even felt like she was reading it out loud to me herself.

“Something interesting? I wonder what that could be?”

Clozet had always been curious about many things, but it wasn’t like her to openly show such enthusiasm. Maybe because she was so clever, her interests usually fizzled out quickly.

“Ha… she really is such a funny child.”

Even though she was my younger sister, I couldn’t help but marvel at how delightful she was.

I wanted to spend more time with her.

In my previous life, I had always buried myself in the library with books, leaving little chance to be with her. Our relationship hadn’t been bad, but neither was it especially warm or affectionate.

Yet Clozet had always adored me anyway.

“An ugly statue… maybe I should’ve brought it with me.”

I murmured without thinking.

“What statue?”

Khalid, who had just walked into the room, tilted his head at my muttering.

The phrase ugly statue sounded oddly endearing.

“Oh—Khalid.”

I turned to greet him with a smile.

“You’re not going to explain what this statue is?”

“Ah…”

I recalled the statue back at the royal palace of Ronica.

At first glance it looked like a statue, but to anyone unaware, it would just seem like a lump of stone.

“Do you remember the figure that was on the terrace of my room?”

Khalid paused, digging through his memory.

After a moment, he nodded vaguely.

“I think I remember.”

Though not clearly, he claimed to recall it as he pulled out a chair and sat across from me.

“But… that was supposed to be a statue?”

“Haha.”

I couldn’t stop laughing at his puzzled question.

“Don’t just laugh on your own—tell me the full story so I can laugh too.”

“Ah, sorry. Actually, that was a gift Clozet and Brother Herald gave me.”

“The ugly statue?”

“Yes, that ugly statue.”

I sifted through old memories.

Back when I had been about Clozet’s current age…

Brother Herald had just reached adulthood and grown busy with his successor training, while little Clozet had finally begun learning her letters. But none of that mattered much to me then.

At the time, I was a teenager, overly sensitive and moody.

“I used to think Clozet and Brother Herald were nothing but nuisances.”

I had seen them as annoying, foolish people, brushing aside their affection with irritation.

But even when I pushed them away, they never once turned their backs on me.

“One day Clozet ran to me, fell, and burst into tears. For some reason, I got angry and left her there, going back to my room alone. From the next day on… she stopped coming to me.”

A day, two days, a week passed.

The siblings who had always clung to me no matter how harshly I treated them simply stopped showing up.

I gave a faint smile.

“I thought, ‘Ah, they must be completely sick of me now.’”

I remembered so vividly the way Clozet had cried, calling sister, and how after that day neither she nor Herald appeared before me again.

At first, I felt relieved.

No more nagging, no more pestering.

But before long, I began to notice their absence. When I saw them laughing and playing without me, a bitter, hollow feeling welled up inside me.

And yet—I was the one who had pushed them away.

“Then on my birthday, they gave me that ugly statue.”

To be exact, I had spotted it hidden in Clozet’s arms, though she’d tried hard not to show it.

I could still see Herald’s hands, covered in scratches, and Clozet bawling that it wasn’t meant to be a gift.

“They hadn’t avoided me out of dislike—they’d been secretly preparing a present.”

Though clumsy, just barely resembling a human shape, the statue had been their labor of love over several days. To me, it was still a priceless, tender treasure.

Khalid, watching the soft expression I wore as I recounted the story, lifted the corners of his lips.

“You have a very loving family.”

“Yes. Far more than I deserve.”

As I shared the story of the past, laughter suddenly bubbled out of me.

‘Come to think of it…’

Recalling my younger self, a thought struck me so abruptly I couldn’t hold back my smile.

Back then, the romance novels I devoured were filled with all kinds of male leads, and just like any girl my age, I used them to imagine my ideal type.

‘And my ideal type… was awfully similar to Khalid, wasn’t it?’

But of course Khalid had no idea what had crossed my mind.

“Why are you smiling at me like that?”

“Oh, nothing. Something just came to mind.”

But that was a thought I would never share.

Khalid rubbed his chin, teasingly amused.

“So when you were younger, you must have been quite…”

“Quite what?”

He only smiled, saying nothing.

But I instantly knew the word he’d swallowed back and spoke it myself.

“I know. I was awful back then.”

I let out a long sigh.

“Conceited, thinking I was better than everyone… You must’ve found me insufferable.”

If we had met back then, we probably never would have gotten along.

With an unhidden smile, Khalid asked,

“So then, that statue is what made you who you are today?”

“Well, I can’t say it was everything—but it did play a part.”

So it really was a precious little statue after all.

Khalid tried to recall it, though only faintly.

‘Thinking of my childhood… it makes me want to see them again even more.’

I gazed warmly at the stack of letters on my desk.

I had a feeling my replies would end up being unusually long this time.

The thought filled me with so much joy that I couldn’t help but smile radiantly.

“So… time to write back to your family?”

“Did I interrupt you?”

Khalid took my hand and pulled me up.

I blinked, startled, as I rose to my feet.

“You want me to hurry and write?”

But instead, Khalid pulled me onto the bed with him and wrapped his arms tightly around me.

“Ha… what’s this? Weren’t you urging me to write letters?”

“No. What I meant was—forget the letters and come spend time with me.”

He held me close, resting his face on my shoulder. It almost looked as though he were the one snuggling into my embrace.

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What is it?”

“It seems His Holiness really will attend our wedding.”

At that, Khalid shot up in surprise.

“You mean he truly said he’d come to the Empire?”

“Yes. Mother wrote so in her letter.”

Khalid looked just as startled as I had been.

Of course, it was good news. The High Priest of the Holy Kingdom traveling all the way to the Empire to attend his granddaughter’s wedding—just that fact alone would raise my standing immensely.

But it was unexpected, and now all the preparations would have to be redone.

And as if that weren’t enough, I added brightly, dropping another bombshell.

“And it seems Her Majesty, the Queen of Ronica, plans to come as well.”

“The Queen, too…”

Khalid fell deep into thought.

Watching him, I reached out and squeezed his hand.

“To be honest, I feel really unsettled. Don’t you?”

“Your unease… is it because things are no longer unfolding the way they did before?”

As expected, he saw right through me.

He knew that I was shaken by how different reality had become from the past life I remembered.

“Don’t worry so much. Everything we’ve been doing has naturally begun to change the future.”

“But what if the information I know becomes completely useless?”

I had once believed I could defeat Raul because I remembered the future. But the more it changed, the more I feared I was becoming a burden, offering nothing of value to Khalid.

And what if even my revenge failed?

Sensing my dread, Khalid turned his hand over to clasp mine firmly, as if to say everything would be fine.

“That’s exactly why I’m here by your side.”

Why had I been given this second chance? I had always wondered.

Maybe… it was to meet this man.

How else could I feel this happy? This full to bursting?

“So just do whatever your heart tells you.”

Khalid brushed a stray strand of hair from my forehead, smiling gently.

“I’ll handle everything ahead of us—and everything left behind.”

His endlessly tender words made me close my eyes with relief.

Khalid’s hand slowly caressed down from my brow to my cheek.

There wasn’t a single part of me, it seemed, that he didn’t find beautiful.

His thumb stroked softly over my skin.

“Velia.”

I cracked open my eyes.

His face was already right before mine.

“Are you still planning to write those letters?”

His eyes narrowed with a dangerous allure—beautiful and perilous all at once.

I couldn’t look away.

“…And if I said I must?”

“Then your handwriting would be quite shaky. Are you sure that’s okay?”

I understood the meaning at once, and my cheeks burned scarlet.

He was saying…

“Well, I’ll do my part, and you can do yours.”

Khalid spoke shamelessly as his hand slid to the back of my neck, gently teasing.

“Ah…”

My eyes trembled.

And after that—everything blurred in an instant.