Threads of Fate and Hidden Letters

Luke, who had been quietly observing the series of conversations, finally opened his mouth.

“It’s settled, then.”

“It seems so. Honestly, I might not have even needed to come here.”

“What are you saying, Cyril? It’s just that Ensi is exceptionally capable.”

As Cyril flashed a sheepish smile, Lily hurried to wave her hand in dismissal.

One should not place Ensi and the rest of them on the same linear scale.

Unlike them, who were still borrowing the authority of others to navigate this world, he possessed a status and reputation he had built entirely on his own.

“But Ensi, for me to just deliver that kind of information to Sirius… there’s no probability. It lacks context.”

“Ah…”

At the words cautiously spoken by Titania, who was still crouched in front of Ensi, everyone let out a collective groan of realization.

“Come to think of it, does the Grand Duke know that Titania has no intelligence network or information power in those areas?”

“Most likely. Titania’s position in her family is one of total neglect.”

Since the past-life Titania’s preference for a true “angst” story required the character to grow up in an impoverished environment, she was currently in a state that was practically a total severance from her household.

“Even so, just telling him that a friend told me everything is a bit…”

“It doesn’t fit the character personality Titania has built up so far.”

“It’s just one mountain after another.”

When a simple solution failed to present itself, a natural silence descended upon the room.

“—A letter.”

While everyone was moaning in frustration, Cyril, who had been pondering along with them, suddenly muttered as if possessed.

“There’s the letter! The Grand Duke knows that Titania and I are close, right?”

“Mhm, because we exchange letters every vacation.”

At Cyril’s question, Titania slowly nodded her head.

With that, Cyril’s face brightened even further.

“I happen to have business that requires me to go to the Holy Kingdom, so I’ll send a letter from there. It will be effortless to frame it as a friend sending a worried message after hearing rumors circulating in the capital.”

“Then wait a moment, Titania. You must absolutely never be the first one to hand that letter over to the Grand Duke.”

Lily, who had been quietly listening to Cyril’s explanation, instantly sketched out the rest of the plan as soon as she judged the situation had enough probability.

“Huh? Then what should I do?”

At Titania’s innocent question, Lily placed a hand on her shoulder.

Naturally pulling her up to stand, Lily put her arm around Titania’s shoulder and led her toward a corner of the room.

“Titania, you and the Grand Duke have already gone all the way, right?”

“Of course. My story is a 19+ rated angst novel, you know?”

Titania tilted her head with an indifferent face despite the scandalous question.

Her reaction was one of pure curiosity regarding the intention behind asking about their progress.

At Titania’s bold answer, Cyril let out a small cough, ‘Ahem,’ and slinked over to join the two.

“Then Cyril, you must have sent the letter during her Heat period as well?”

“It was the same during Sirius’s Rut.”

“Oh my— that’s fast.”

‘Really fast.’

Cyril’s cheeks flushed slightly at Titania’s unhesitating reply.

Watching Cyril, who clearly looked high-spirited, Luke and Donovan—who had been trying their best to keep their ears closed—let out a deep sigh.

Soon, Luke gestured toward Ensi, signaling for him to stop them, but Ensi merely shrugged his shoulders.

When Ensi pulled out his tobacco pipe, expressing his clear intention of not wanting to get involved, Luke pressed his throbbing forehead.

“What does the progress between those two have to do with a letter?”

In the end, Luke asked the question on behalf of Donovan, whose neck was flushed crimson from embarrassment.

“What do you mean it doesn’t matter? It’s incredibly important.”

Lily, who had been whispering and plotting in the corner, immediately shot back an answer to the question that was laced with obvious disapproval.

“Luke, think carefully. How would you feel if your lover hid a letter you didn’t know about right before you were going to bed together?”

“…Is she a spy?”

“—Hey! Add some romance to your life for once!”

Startled by the shout directed at Luke, Donovan winced and hurriedly whispered to Ensi.

“I don’t understand either, what should I do?”

“It’s fine if you don’t know, so don’t worry about it. It doesn’t cause any problems for your adventuring anyway.”

“Right, Ensi! What do you think?”

Around the time Ensi was soothing the anxious Donovan and seating him in a vacant chair, a spark suddenly flew his way.

Ensi twitched an eyebrow in dissatisfaction and answered.

“…It would be bothersome. He’d probably be anxious, wondering if it’s a letter sent by his romantic rival, the Tower Master.”

He would likely be irritated as well.

If it were right before going to bed, it would be a time when an Alpha’s instincts are sharpened to a razor edge.

He would react more sensitively than usual.

In fact, even without such factors, Sirius was known for his extreme obsession.

Since he was a character who loved to keep everything within his grasp and control, there was no way he would let it slide quietly.

“Exactly, that’s it!”

When Ensi casually tossed out the correct answer, not only Lily’s but also Cyril’s expression brightened.

As the frustration cleared, Lily sent a round of applause toward Ensi, while Cyril locked eyes with Titania, who was finally starting to catch on.

“Now, Titania, did you hear that? The important thing is that before you go to bed, you have to pretend to hide the letter I sent in front of the Grand Duke. As if it contains content he must not know.”

“And if the Grand Duke reads the letter and asks if it’s true, say you don’t know. It would be even better if you defend the Tower Master, saying he would never do such a thing.”

“It’s a total mess.”

Watching those who were pouring their heart and soul into flesh out the operation, Luke decided to ignore them completely.

To put that into practice, he poured tea into Donovan’s cup and spoke.

“Donovan, how was your last adventure? It seemed like a journey you took based on clues found in the original work.”

“Ah— have I not mentioned it yet? Fortunately, it seems I interpreted it correctly because I discovered ruins from the era of the Four Kingdoms. With the help of the Eclipse Merchant Guild, we’ve even begun excavating the ruins. But…”

Ensi lightly gestured with his chin as a sign that it was okay when Donovan trailed off and glanced at him.

Since he had already received a report through the merchant guild, he knew why the other man was reluctant to speak.

“As expected, you already knew. Still, I’m sorry, Ensi. I thought this time for sure I’d be able to find a clue about the disease, but I failed.”

“It’s fine, so just focus on making a name for yourself as an adventurer. I can create new opportunities for you anytime.”

“I don’t think it can be considered a failure since you discovered ruins from the Four Kingdoms era. If you wish, I shall provide support as well.”

“Thank you.”

Donovan showed a bright smile at the seemingly indifferent but warm consolation.

Ensi, having neatly concluded a matter he had to discuss with him eventually, also nodded with a somewhat lighter heart.

“There, it’s a perfect plan!”

Luke was about to bring up a new topic immediately, but it was thwarted by Lily’s cheer.

Recognizing that the plotting in the corner had finished, Luke set down his teacup and let out a light sigh.

“The Magic Faculty will be noisy for a while.”

“I think the Political Science and Diplomacy Faculty will be noisy as well.”

“It’ll be peaceful compared to the faculty where a criminal is enrolled.”

Since Ensi was in the Knight Faculty, he could laugh off Luke’s lamentation.

Just as he was pulling his hands away from the teacup that had lost its warmth, Titania ran over in a single breath and grabbed Ensi in a hug.

“As expected, there’s no one but Ensi. Thank you.”

Ensi hurriedly raised his tobacco pipe, which still held a lingering heat, above his head.

With his free hand, he gently pried away Titania, who was habitually rubbing her face against him and acting cute.

“I hope it succeeds.”

“Mhm, mhm.”

Titania let out a curved smile with eyes that still bore traces of tears and stepped two paces away from Ensi.

“Can we consider Titania’s story to be essentially finalized?”

“We still need to be careful, but… this is pretty much right before the conclusion.”

“Then that means only Lily and Ensi’s stories are left.”

Donovan was an exception from the start due to the nature of adventure stories where it takes a long time for the tale to reach its end.

In Cyril’s case, she was heading toward the ending without any issues, and Luke’s portion of the story had ended cleanly.

In the end, as he said, the only ones whose stories actually remained were Lily and Ensi.

“To be precise, it’s Lily’s story. I’m just a passing extra.”

As Ensi spoke along with a puff of faint smoke, Lily pouted her lips.

“So you’re saying it’s someone else’s problem, huh?”

“But Lily, do you really intend to avoid the story from the very beginning? Wouldn’t it be difficult to nullify the engagement?”

“I have to! Otherwise, what will I do if my baby deer gets hurt!”

“Baby deer… has Nocturne really accepted that disgusting nickname?”

“What, why, what.”

When Luke looked disgusted at the word ‘baby deer’ coming out of Lily’s mouth, she glared at him and defiantly tilted her chin up.

Since Luke and Lily clashing was a fairly frequent occurrence, the other four didn’t pay it much mind.

“You said Lily’s story begins in the first semester of the second year at the academy, right?”

“Yes. It’s soon. Since they say Marquis Florence has started moving, we’ll probably hear news of the engagement before long.”

When Titania glanced at the rowdy duo and sat in her seat to ask, Ensi nodded his head in affirmation.

“Then Ensi, what kind of person is Agniele? Seeing how Lily is trying so hard to avoid him, he might not be such a good person.”

She had been so busy writing her own story that she couldn’t afford to pay attention to Lily’s story.

Because she was relatively lacking in information, she asked in a small voice, careful not to let Lily hear.

“Well, I don’t have any contact with Agniele either, so I don’t really know. However, they say he isn’t exactly a bad person. It’s just that he isn’t Lily’s type.”

The reason Lily wanted to avoid the original work was because of Nocturne—the personification of her ideal type whom she met like destiny—not because there was a problem with Agniele.

Cyril, who was a step late in passing the two who were still fighting and sitting in a vacant seat, tilted her head and asked.

“Nocturne is a decent man, after all. More than that, isn’t Lily the first one to destroy the original work?”

“If we’re being technical, wouldn’t Luke also be a case of destroying the original…?”

Cyril and Titania had reasonably used the original work to only change the ending branches, and Donovan had actively followed the original route because adventuring suited his aptitude.

As Donovan said, since only Luke—who avoided the death scheduled in the novel—had chosen a completely different direction from the original, the members’ gazes naturally turned toward him.

“No. Since the time I entered the academy and the time I was supposed to exit the original work were similar, strictly speaking, I am not a destroyer of the original work either. As proof, even now, my older brother is carving out a story similar to the original.”

Luke, receiving several pairs of eyes at once, calmly shook his head even while in the middle of a fight.

Because of that, the fight was weakly broken off.

Lily, who lost her fighting partner for a moment, looked back and forth between Luke and those gathered at the table, let out a faint sigh, and moved to where the members were huddled together.

In the meantime, the members groaned, ‘Ugh,’ at Luke’s plausible argument.

“Hmm… I don’t think a proper solution will come out just by talking about it now, so shall we watch for now?”

Even though the situation she faced was no small matter, Titania, who had been seriously joining in Lily’s worries, essentially declared her surrender.

“That would be best.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’d be of much help even if the original work starts—.”

“Same for me. Romance isn’t my specialty, so it can’t be helped.”

“Well, yeah. There’s still time.”

When each person agreed with Titania’s words, Lily had no choice but to express her affirmation, though she wore an unsatisfied expression.

Whether Lily did so or not, Ensi tapped out the remaining ash from his pipe with a leisurely gesture.

Even though he was a character in the same story as Lily, he was, after all, a mere extra.