CH 151

“I have to read and find out who it is.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Yes.”

“But what are you going to do once you find out?”

“Of course . . .”

He replied with a smug look.

“I will politely refuse.”

“. . . I don’t think it’s something that Noel can refuse.”

“But if Father wants to refuse, the other person will have to wait another month?! At least it won’t be until it rains that my father has time to write a reply to letters like this.”

“Yes . . . but . . .”

“Of course, the result will of course be rejection, and as the Princess said, the only special person in my father’s life is Mother.”

“Still.”

Rieta did not understand why Noel was acting somewhat dubious.

“Looking at personal letters is a bit . . .”

“Even so, it took the letter a while to get here because of the post office mistake. But to make a lady wait longer? That’s not a gentleman’s job.”

“. . . If you say it like that, it sounds reasonable.”

“Right? So I will read it.”

Noel quickly picked up the letter and turned his back to her.

“. . . ?”

Then Rieta tapped Noel’s back with her palm.

“What about me?”

“What is it, the Princess wants us to read together?”

“Yes.”

Then Noel snorted.

“Children don’t get to see things like this. Whee.”

He pretended to hand it over, then took back the letter.

Rieta was terribly offended that Noel had treated her like a child.

But she did not give in, and she succeeded in spying the contents of the letter over Noel’s shoulder.

Dear Dwayne. The daffodils you said you liked are blooming. I hope you smile for a moment.

That was the end of the letter.

Perhaps this letter had been accompanied by flowers.

It seemed that all the writings had withered during the period when the letter was lost.

The children ran to the study and checked the season when the daffodils bloomed.

Spring.

So, this letter had been stuck in the post office since last spring.

“I really didn’t know who it was.”

Noel clicked his tongue and pulled out a letterhead with the Duke’s symbol on it.

Rieta wondered how Noel would write a reply, and poked her head over the desk.

Dearest Lady.

The beginning was polite.

It seemed that Noel was trying to show off his gentlemanliness after a long time.

However, from the very next sentence, Noel shattered Rietta’s expectations.

Don’t contact my father.

He wrote down the letter at once, and then signed ‘Noel Mayer’ at the bottom.

“What is this!”

When Rieta asked in amazement, Noel answered proudly.

“If I write this down, she won’t feel any regrets for my father, right?”

“You can’t! This is so rude . . .”

“Okay, I’ll write a bit more.”

Then Noel added the following text below the last sentence:

Father has no interest in you.

He nodded his head satisfactorily, saying that it was now a letter without any misunderstanding.

Of course, not a single such letter was satisfactory to Rieta.

* * *

The next day.

Noel handed the postman an envelope with nothing but a stamp.

“What is this? Lord . . . No, Duke’s representative?”

“It’s a letter.”

“I know that, but if you don’t let us know the recipient, we can’t deliver.”

“I can’t help it. The letter you brought yesterday had no sender.”

“Oh! Did Lord, no, Duke’s representative write the letter?”

“Yes. Because Father isn’t here. Anyway, take it and find the owner of the letter and deliver it.”

“Uh . . . I don’t know if that’s possible, but . . .”

The postman hesitated, but when Noel put out a letter with a lot of strength in his eyes, he had no choice but to accept it.

“As soon as you find the address, deliver it. Understand?”

“I, I understand.”

He was compelled to receive the letter.

Rieta was upset that Noel had written such a rude letter on behalf of the Duke, but she decided not to give it much thought for now.

It was a letter with an unknown recipient’s address.

They would probably just leave the letter at the post office somewhere.

It would never be able to reach anyone in its lifetime

* * *

Another day passed.

Noel was practicing the piano in the drawing room, and Rieta was reading a book on a nearby sofa, dangling her legs.

Knock, knock.

Then there was the sound of someone knocking on the living room window.

The two looked out, and the postman was standing with a restless face.

“What’s going on?”

Noel asked, opening the window.

“If it was mail, the employee would have gone to pick it up.”

“Yes. All other mail was sent there.”

“Then?”

Seeing the postman hesitate, Rieta also put down the book she was reading and went to the window.

“Isn’t there a letter you gave me yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“Actually, I haven’t delivered it yet . . .”

The postman took a small envelope out of the bag and lifted it.

“No, I went to work this morning and found a letter with the same handwriting on the desk?!”

“. . . ?”