Love Letter From The Future

It was a calm and mature tone.

The vampire’s pupils narrowed in an instant.

“A long time ago, in the beginning, humanity believed that the great nature demonstrated the cycle of this world. When winter passes, spring comes… just like the moon waxing and waning. They thought the world also repeats creation and destruction.”

“That’s nonsense.”

Panting, the vampire added that.

Her trembling pupils represented her feelings. A strange sensation was scratching at her five senses.

It was truly instant.

Before long, the vampire found herself standing alone. The endlessly extending and receding scenery felt almost like a hallucination.

Now there was no one around.

Only one person remained, a mysterious woman standing in front of her.

Her dark blue hair fell to her waist. With her eyes of a pale green that held a deep light, along with her beautifully curved body.

She clearly resembled the vampire.

It was natural. Because the two were sisters.

The vampire, recalling unpleasant memories, cried out as if in desperation.

“That’s just a legend…! I realized while researching that the primal insights of primitive humanity do not necessarily contain fragments of truth!”

“Maybe.”

The woman with dark blue hair, the Archmage, replied with a slight smile.

“However, what the primitive humanity witnessed was not just the scenery of the ground…”

As she said that, the Archmage slowly extended her palm.

Starlight danced upon it. One, two, three. Then dozens, hundreds, ultimately beyond counting, an unimaginable number of starlights.

They rotated, spiraled, and formed a sphere.

Circle and sphere.

Shapes that complete themselves without a beginning or end.

A symbol of the ‘world’.

As the Archmage’s fingers curled, her arms and hands began to tremble. The rotation of the starlights forming the sphere only intensified.

At last, the stars of the heavens moved.

At first, so slowly that it was hard to notice, the silvery lights tracing tails in the sky soon formed a circle.

It was then that the vampire took a step back, letting out a despondent remark.

“Unbelievable…”

Wasn’t it just a spell crafted by some mere creature?

It was an impossible miracle. The celestial bodies of the heavens responding to the call of an existence that, compared to them, was not even a speck of dust.

In contrast, the voice of the one causing that abnormality was calm.

“Since being trapped in the Great Forest, I’ve pondered every day while looking at the night sky. What, indeed, is closest to the essence of the world… This is my answer. Although I cannot say I have understood all the principles of ‘life, permanence, difference, and destruction’…”

Crack, crack, crack!

The starlights that continued to rotate upon the Archmage’s palm began to emit a dazzling light. And a small sun slowly rose in the sky.

“… I was able to imitate that.”

The starlights tracing circles in the heavens began to narrow their orbits and converge into a sphere of light.

Dozens, hundreds, thousands.

As the number of stars it contained increased, the trembling of the light sphere grew stronger. Until it resonated not just within the sphere, but throughout the whole world.

It was an extraordinarily beautiful sight.

So much so that it was hard to believe it was crafted by a mere mortal.

The vampire had also once been someone who practiced magic. Naturally, she had a guess about the power held within the Archmage’s spell.

However, because of that,

The vampire could no longer suppress her rage and screamed, scattering her blood.

“Don’t, don’t joke around… For a thief like you, for a thief like you once more…!”

The Archmage’s quiet declaration resonated.

“Conclusion.”

As the Archmage raised her index finger, the frenzied vibrations of the sphere came to a halt.

Until that moment, the vampire was still exerting her full power. With bloodshot eyes, she gazed at the sky.

“Once more, once more…!”

That was the last.

As the Archmage drew her finger down, the final syllable was uttered.

“Release.”

Light, stars, and the moon.

And another world came crashing down, piercing the heavens.

Shattering a single world.

It was the end.

It was a tale from long ago.

So long ago that no one would remember, there once lived an aspiring sorceress. So talented that it was said she was hard to find a match for across the entire continent.

Her life had been one without lack since childhood.

Not long after she began to show promise, she was chosen as the next head of her household. The vassals adored the capable and beautiful heir.

Wherever she went, she was showered with attention and affection. Although there were those who envied the accomplished woman, so what?

They were merely worthless scraps not worth casting a glance at. The woman believed in her own talent, worked hard to meet the expectations of the world, and spared no effort to become an excellent head.

However, even a woman with everything must have a painful reminder.

Her younger sister, who since childhood neither cried nor laughed, was a source of worry for the woman. With a sulky expression and eyes seeming to understand the world too well, she often appeared older than her age.

Having been born with such a lovely appearance.

Sympathy soon turned into interest, and interest morphed into affection. No matter how strange the world found it, the woman alone remained on her sister’s side.

Even the coldest ice is powerless in front of warmth.

At first, her sister, who was only sulky, ultimately had to unlock her heart. One day, while sharing updates and talking about the workings of the world,

Her sister confided her long-hidden true feelings.

“Can I also become like you, sister…?”

It was a wish confessed with a slight blush on her face.

That day, the woman was as joyful as if she had gained the entire world. After all, it was the first goal her sister had ever voiced.

The tutor she hired arrived the next day.

There was so much that a noble must be cultured in. From social matters, economics, and king’s studies, to training in magic and swordsmanship.

Her sister astonishingly quickly absorbed all the knowledge. The vassals were amazed that another talented person had emerged within their household, even praising the woman for having recognized that talent early on.

But when did it start?

“You’re a genius who appears once in hundreds of years!”

“I’m no longer at a level to teach you. You should go see the ‘Supreme Wizard’ of the Empire.”

“The continent’s greatest divinity has emerged from our family!”

The eyes and mouths that were once directed at the woman turned to her sister.

“Already on the brink of becoming an Archmage? Your sister doesn’t even show signs of becoming an Archmage yet…”

“In just a few years, they say she’ll be someone who progresses the current system of magic by decades.”

“If so, what about the next head?”

“The strong shall possess all… isn’t that the law of the Great Forest?”

Everything that had supported the woman began to crumble.

One by one.

The frequency at which her sister was called to the position previously meant for the woman was increasing. Before she knew it, she came to her senses, realizing that the brilliant spotlight that should have been hers now only illuminated her sister.

Attention, affection, and even envy and jealousy.

All of that became the exclusive domain of her sister. On the day she lost the position of the next head, the woman finally realized.

She had become what she had scorned all along.

An existence that no one gave a glance, not even worth attention, and a petty being filled with jealousy over the shining others.

The woman could not endure that reality. The loving younger sister she found repulsive, and the loss of what she had always thought would be hers forever.

So she locked herself in her study.

If she lacked talent, effort would suffice. Once her years of painstaking research were completed, everyone in the world would have no choice but to focus on her again.

Then, she could stand tall before her sister once more.

Not as a foolish sister hiding in the shadows, casting jealous glances, but as the confident and poised older sister she used to be!

But within just a few weeks.

“The genius has solved the conundrum!”

The research topic she had devoted years to suddenly found a simple resolution.

It was, after all, in her sister’s hands.

This was talent.

The woman trembled in despair. Wasn’t it true that if you lacked talent, effort would suffice?

It was nonsense. In the face of such absurd talent, all her struggles were meaningless.

Thus, she lost her life.

The continent’s greatest figure, a promising sorceress, and the next heir carrying the expectations of the vassals.

Those brilliant titles now referred to her sister, not her.

Having been born a being high above from the start, the fall was dramatic. The woman grew haggard day by day and became increasingly consumed by jealousy.

Every time she heard of her sister’s accomplishments, she would bury her head in her desk and scream.

Why?

Why do you take everything from me too?

You could have taken enough. All that glory was mine since before you were born. So why you of all people!

Despite how hard she struggled, she could never reach you!

Then one day.

The woman received a guest with red eyes.

“Do you wish to reclaim it?”

There was no object to the question.

The woman simply nodded furiously. And, following the words of the guest, who claimed to give power in proportion to the price, she offered the souls of her entire household.

It was the birth of ‘jealousy’.

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