Letter

Hiroto sat in his room, holding an envelope. It was a letter Sofia had given him. When he'd asked her why she helped him, she had just handed him this letter instead of replying. He wondered why she couldn't just tell him? Why give a letter? Was the reason something she couldn't say in front of him?

Hiroto thought of a scene from a high school drama where the female lead gives a love letter to the main character because she's too shy. He wondered if this was the same thing, but Sofia didn't seem like the shy type. He quickly dismissed those thoughts and looked at the letter. The envelope had no sender's name, only the receiver's:

Darmin Galur.

The current king and Sofia's father.

Hiroto was surprised and disappointed to read the receiver's name. The letter wasn't meant for him. He still wanted to know why Sofia helped him. He opened the envelope. It was a standard letter, but the handwriting was beautiful. It contained greetings and well-wishes for Darmin, written like a letter to a longtime friend.

Hiroto wondered what this letter had to do with anything. It was the end that caught his attention:

'If something happens to me, please protect Hemal.'

This one sentence stood out the most. It wasn't difficult to understand who the sender was; it was his mother. Hiroto wondered if the king and his mother were related somehow. But more importantly, was this letter the real deal or something fabricated?

He placed the letter on the table and fell into deep thought. The words meant she was aware that someone was after her life, yet she didn't do anything... no, maybe she couldn't do anything. She asked the king to protect him, but why now? Why was the king asking for him now? She died years ago. Did something change? 

Wait, were the people who wanted to kill Hemal also responsible for his mother's death?

Hiroto had many things missing. The dots were connecting, but he was not satisfied. He knew that there was something crucial he was missing, and Hemal's memory, as always, was of no use. He thought maybe Sofia would know who was behind the death of his mother.

Hiroto looked at the back of the letter, but there was nothing. He had thought maybe he would find a code written there, like in movies. There were more things for him to worry about now. He understood why the king wanted to meet him: another reason to go to the capital.

...

Fred was busy with paperwork in his study, as always. A deep frown was etched on his face, a frown that hadn't left since the day Carl had escaped. He wondered what he had done wrong. Hemal was one thing, but now Carl was also causing problems for him. He wished Carl would never come back. The disgrace he faced was too much for him to forgive. And this matter was under the Princess's attention, so he couldn't be lenient towards Carl. He wondered where Carl was and what he was doing.

During all this turmoil, the door knocked. Before he could say anything, a man came in. It was the head butler. Seeing that, Fred went back to his work.

"My Lord, Young Master Hemal wants to talk to you."

Fred stopped what he was doing and looked at the butler. He wondered what Hemal wanted now. He didn't want to deal with him and his problems.

"Let him in," Fred commanded.

The butler bowed and left the room. After a moment, Hemal entered. Fred was still busy with his work, so without looking up, he said, "I hope you are not here to say that you don't want to be a mage anymore."

Hiroto was surprised by his words, but that wasn't why he was there. 

"No..."

"So what is it?"

"I will be visiting the capital with the Princess next week."

Fred stopped his pen and looked at Hiroto. 

"Why?"

"Because she invited me."

Fred was a little skeptical about their relationship. He wondered if the Princess was trying to use Hemal for something. What was she interested in? But this was all speculation, so he didn't stop Hemal.

"Go if you want to."

Hiroto smiled. 

"Is that all?"

Before Hiroto could say anything else, Fred went back to his work. Hiroto also exited the room.

...

Emma was brought back to the Shaw estate, still under house arrest. Her father, Helmik, was disappointed in her and wanted to disown her, but her mother begged him not to. Seeing her mother's desperate pleas, Emma remembered how she had been begging Carl.

She felt relieved that she didn't have to marry Carl anymore. She knew it was wrong to think that, but what could she do? She was just a selfish coward. She couldn't change the core of her being and just had to live with what she was. She had committed many sins, but the biggest one was hurting Hemal. She wanted to apologize to him. He had nothing to do with all this, yet he was the one who had suffered the most. She would do anything to gain his forgiveness, even though she didn't deserve it. Yet, what else could she do but try to satisfy her guilty conscience?

She didn't think she had done anything bad to anyone except Hemal. Still, she was only afraid of what would happen to her now. Would she be married to someone else? That would be the most likely scenario. Her family didn't want to keep her any longer. They would marry her off to some unknown noble. She would become someone unknown. She would become what she feared the most.

She didn't want the things she had done to go to waste. She hardened her resolve and decided to run away from the Shaw estate.