VCAM 13

Chapter 13

“The Heroine Who Wasn’t Chosen, the Letter That Never Reached”

Morning at the academy.

In the slightly restless air, Filia Estrella quietly climbed the stairs of the old library tower.

It was a tower that was now rarely used, a place where old books slumbered.
But she liked the stillness there.

(…I hadn’t even meant to come here today.)

In her hand was a single sheet of stationery.
It was the letter she had written—after tearing up draft after draft—to that person.

Dear Professor Cross,

When I first attended your class, I was simply astonished.

The way you taught, your words, the way you read magic circles—
Everything was completely different from the “magic arts” I knew,
and yet, strangely enough, it all stayed with me…

I found myself wanting to know more.
“What kind of world did this person come from?”

…But I’m weak.
Even though I wanted to stay by your side,
just one word from someone else was enough to make me give up.

That day, the prince said to me:
“I’ll teach you myself. Don’t go near that man again.”

I knew it wasn’t an order.
But I obeyed anyway. Because I…

Because I like Lord Leon.

That’s why I can’t return to that place.
I no longer think I have the right to take your classes.

But there’s one thing I absolutely had to tell you.

Professor.
I truly respect your classes from the bottom of my heart.
You were more of a teacher than anyone, and more human than anyone.

Please, stay safe.

From your student

Closing the stationery, she let out a small sigh.

(…I can’t send it after all.)

No matter how many times she reread it, the words seemed to tremble.

Then she slipped the letter between the pages of a book and returned it to the back of the shelf.

(This feeling… I’ll keep it to myself alone.)

◆◇◆

That night.

Filia lay in her dorm room with the lights off, stretched out on her bed.
In her eyes floated the image of a classroom from long ago—of that “strange teacher” who handed out candies while speaking in a Kansai accent, laughing.

(Even now, I still dream of it sometimes. Of you… teaching me something in my dreams.)

(But I… I couldn’t become the heroine.)

◆◇◆

Meanwhile.
Lutia was practicing magic circles late into the evening with Kai at the academy training grounds.

“…Impressive. There aren’t many students who can grasp the coordinates this well.”

“Of course. Who do you think I am?”

“Hah, says the one who not long ago went on about ‘this is only for nobles to study’…”

“Shut up!”

Her smile looked somehow relieved.
In her heart, “trust” had already taken firmer root than “doubt.”

◆◇◆

And then, deep into the night—

A message arrived at the academy.

It was an official notice from the Ministry of Magic:

“To Mr. Cross Kai:
By order of His Majesty the King, you are summoned to the royal capital,
where a judgment will be passed on your very existence.”

—It was a dangerous summons, one that would force him to choose between two extremes:
exile from the country, or being confined as a magical resource of the kingdom.

Upon learning this, Lutia clenched her fist in the darkened school building.

(Once again, someone’s trying to ‘decide everything’ for him.)

(But… you’re the only teacher I have.)

And without anyone knowing—
that single sheet of stationery tucked away in a corner of the old library tower

remained there, quietly asleep, unseen by anyone.