Chapter 30

There is a face that comes to mind when I close my eyes. White skin, red cheeks, petite forehead, cute nose, red lips, long and thin fingers.

There is no part of her that isn’t pretty, but the most beautiful part would be her sparkling blue eyes.

Yurina Carthia.

‘How much has she grown?’ 

Raynald laid in bed and imagined her face turning 15. But it didn’t come together in his head. The only thing that came to mind is when she was ten years old. In fact, even that was blurry.

It’s already been 5 years since they separated. Even though he tried to keep Yurina’s face in mind, he kept forgetting it little by little. Only her blue eyes were clear in his memory.

He tried to draw out that face. The double eyelids were probably a little darker. Her cute nose would have become a little more curvy, and there would be a little more emotion in her eyes.

‘I wonder how tall you would be now.’

When he left the mansion, she was slightly smaller than him, so she must be a lot smaller than him now than 5 years ago. Dave also once told Raynald that he is bigger than his peers compared to Yurina who was slightly smaller than her peers.

He imagined her, who couldn’t reach up until his shoulders, looking up at him with moist eyes. He can hear Yurina calling his name with her thick red lips. 

―Ray.

Early in the morning, a soft, fresh voice chimed as if it was like a bird singing. When Yurina called his name, Raynald felt like the most special person in the world.

In fact, he wanted to be the most special person to her, and so clenched his teeth and tried so hard.

However, that was only wishful thinking. Unlike Raynald, who only has her, Yurina has a family that cares for her more than anyone else.

His imagination became more selfish. Her thin, white nape, her white cuff wearing the ruby bracelet he got for her, and her white ankle that seems to be seen through the hem of her dress.

And if you travel further up from her ankle…….

He suddenly came to his senses. Raynald got up from his bed and wiped his face dry. He buried his face in his hand because he wasn’t able to calm his breathing.

‘Crazy.’

It was clear he was going crazy. If things go too far, it will be a problem, and he has been holding himself from his longing so hard that he must be losing his mind.

He always tries to think rationally without being swayed by emotions, but when he thinks of Yurina, his thoughts go out of control.

‘I can’t do this.’

It’s most probably wrong to say and think that the more she was out of his sight, the more he wouldn’t think of her. Because as the time went on, his longing for Yurina only grew.

Thinking that there are still two and a half years left before going back, he tried not to think of Yurina, but if he let his guard down for just a short moment like just now, her face would appear even when his eyes are closed.

Well, if it was possible to forget her, he would have already in the last five years he was here. But the more he tried to forget the more he thought of her face and pure smile.

The more he tried, the more he felt like he was drowning.

‘I’ll do my work’

There was a knock on the door as he got up to go to his desk. Normally, it would have been an unpleasant interruption but now he needed it. Thanks to this, he’ll be able to clear his mind. 

“Who is it?”

When he opened the door quickly, he saw Aiden’s smiling face and his hand waving.

Even before the formal entrance ceremony, he ran into him in the hallway of the Academy, and at that time, he was friendly and asked questions about this and that.

From then on, he’s been at Reynald’s side for the past five years. People say they’re close friends because they’re always together, but Raynald didn’t think that that was the case.

“What happened?”

“Hey Ray. Guess what I brought?”

Aiden smiled with a playful face as he had always done for five years. Reynald quickly noticed that it was a letter that he was waving like a fan. And he noticed the sender of the letter.

Besides Yurina and Dave, there were only a few people who send him letters, but there was always a faint smell from Yurina’s letter.

“Give it to me.”

“What’s the rush? It’s amazing that there are people who send letters every month even though they don’t have a family. I’m thinking about sending my family a letter once a year.”

“Aiden, give it to me.”

When he reached out with a firm look, Aiden handed the letter with suspicion in his eyes.

“Sorry, here you go. I’ll be careful from now on.”

“It’s fine.”

“By the way, who is it?”

Aiden tilted his head toward Raynald, who was focused on the letter.

“Yurina Carthia? I’ve never heard of that house, are they a noble? Did you leave your lover in the Empire?”

Aiden is from the Kingdom of Crohn, he came from the southern region, which is the same as the countryside. Even though the Carthia family is said to be part of the imperial household, Aiden was not interested in the Empire enough to memorize the names of the noble families.

“You don’t need to know.”

“Well, is this the one you always send letters to with a faint heart?”

“Nonsense.”

Reynard’s voice, which always sounds grumpy, was also somewhat mixed with laughter. At first, Aiden’s affection was unfamiliar and embarrassing, but now, five years later, he became accustomed to it.

However, because of his personality, Raynald couldn’t be nice to him.

Reynard looked at the back of the letter after the corners of his mouth turned up. He already knew who sent it, but wanted to see it himself.

[Yurina Carthia.]

Yurina’s handwriting has been so cute since she was young. He bursted in laughter as soon as he saw her roundish handwriting, which is very unlikely of his usual character.

Raynald, who is completely unconscious of the face he is making, was smiling, then opened his mouth, now showing his teeth.

“Wow, you look different. Why can’t you make that face talking to me?”

Instead of responding, Raynald hurried to take off the wax seal before realizing that Aiden was still there. He quickly hid the letter behind him. The sudden gesture made Aiden squint in return.

“What is it? Don’t tell me I can’t peek?”

“No…But why are you the one who brought this to me?”

“It was stuck in my mailbox so I brought it with me. They must have made a mistake because your mailbox is on the opposite side. Shouldn’t you be grateful? I wasn’t waiting for a thank you at first, but you don’t have to be so suspicious.”

Despite his grumbling words, Aiden couldn’t completely erase his curiosity.

“So who is it, Ray? Who can make you smile like that? Do you have a real lover? Isn’t it about time for us to have this kind of talk?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Why are there secrets between friends? I tell you everything.”

“You talk too much. And how many times do I have to tell you to call me Raynald?”

“Raynald is too long. Why do you ask me to call you that when you have a short nickname? And why don’t you call your close friends by their nicknames? I told you to call me Eddie.”

“No. Anyway, call me Raynald.”

Raynald shook his head, pretending to not see Aiden’s look of disappointment. There was only one person in the world who could call him Ray.

P/r: hihihihihihiihihi *fangirling at max*

He couldn’t bear to hear that friendly but awkward nickname come out of someone else’s mouth.

‘……am I embarrassed of it?’

Raynald questioned himself for a moment with those thoughts. It’s just not impressive when it comes out of Aiden’s mouth, but is it really embarrassing?

Ray.

It doesn’t have a special meaning, but it’s just an abbreviation for ‘Raynald’. Even if they are not close, ‘Caitlin’ is referred to as ‘Kate’, and ‘Nathaniel’ is referred to as ‘Nate’.

There was nothing to be embarrassed about, nothing that made it extra friendly.

Raynald remembered how Yurina would say it.

―Ray.

He felt giddy and embarrassed thinking of her smiling face with blue eyes. That’s the right one.

p/r: whipped much hehehehe

‘It’s not the right time.’

His senses came back when he noticed the letter in his hand.

“Anyway, thank you for bringing the letter, but I’m super busy right now. If you need something, come back later.”

“Huh? Hey, hey! Wait a minute!”

Raynald gave him a firm order, and then closed the door. Aiden looked as if he was betrayed, but it didn’t matter to Raynald. The only thing that matters was the letter in his hand.

He lightly ran his fingers over where Yurina’s name was printed and buried his nose to breath in the scent. Maybe she liked the sweet fragrant scent now, just like when she was younger.

‘I have to remember that.’

Only a faint scent remained in the letter after it left Yurina’s hands, which would have had a strong scent. He felt sad, but whenever this happened, he would realize the far distance between the Empire and the Kingdom.

‘I miss you.’

The longing, that wasn’t satisfied by a simple letter, arose in his mind again. Struggling to shake it off, Raynald opened the seal and read the contents.

[Dear Ray,

Please understand that the handwriting is hard to recognize. I’m writing to you in a shaky carriage]

Her letter was written in worse handwriting than usual. However, Raynald was already absorbed in the contents of the letter, and was never bothered by the handwriting.

‘Where are you going?’

Even after reading the letter, he was dumbfounded and couldn’t think. He read the contents of the letter again in case he missed something, but nothing had changed.

[By the time you receive this letter, it should be crossing the border of the Crohn Kingdom. Wait a bit, I’ll be right there]

……Was she really coming here? Really? Yurina? To see him?

He jumped out of his seat and ran outside while putting on his coat.

“Oh, oh? Ray! Where are you going?!”

Aiden shouted with a surprised look when Raynald burst through. However, there was no time to correct the nickname ‘Ray’ that rang out in the hallway, Raynard hurriedly made his way out of the Academy.