Love Letter From The Future

The past few months have been a series of goodbyes.

My childhood friend has gone missing, my beloved junior has left, and my fiancée has headed to the Great Forest with my teacher.

Even my dear wife did not say goodbye to me.

It was one week before the artifact discovered in the Haster Clan’s gold mine was to arrive.

The Lady Virgin Saint, who had been staying away from the Temple for a while, came to my room.

Just as I was about to take out a cheap whiskey from the cupboard and fill my glass, I had no choice but to freeze in place. I had already been drinking too much recently.

Of course, the Lady Virgin Saint, who was living in a manner not much different from a hermit, had no reason to look at this with kind eyes. She even pleaded with me to stop drinking, saying that I shouldn’t be doing such things when my body was not fully healed. But my drinking never seemed to stop.

Alcohol was an anesthetic for emotions.

The human determination to forget pain was relentless. Even I, who thought I had transcended all sorts of suffering, could not overcome the wounds within my heart.

There was no choice but to numb my heart by gulping down cheap whiskey.

Of course, it was not the correct way to cope.

I was well aware of that fact, which is why I limited my drinking to late at night. There could be nothing more pathetic than being so drunk during the day that I couldn’t go about my daily life.

To be honest, part of me wanted to do just that.

But the weight of responsibility on my shoulders pressed down on me.

The morning star of humanity, the one who hunts the darkness.

If I were to collapse, the repercussions would not end with just me.

Of course, the fact that the Lady Virgin Saint would be heartbroken on either side did not change.

The silence was long. The Lady Virgin Saint was staring at me without saying a word, and it wasn’t until some time had passed that I awkwardly put the whiskey bottle on the floor and cleared my throat.

“…Have you come?”

“Why are you hiding this so naturally? Why don’t you put it back right now?!”

In the end, I had to stumble back to the cupboard with the whiskey, like a cow being taken to the slaughterhouse.

Didn’t someone say that marriage is the grave of life?

I felt a strange understanding of that saying.

Even after that, the Lady Virgin Saint’s nagging continued. It couldn’t have been more brutal.

“Ian, I told you, your body isn’t fully healed yet… It’s a mess inside in such a strange way; it’s close to being a rag that’s barely stitched together! And yet you’re drinking again?”

Under the fiery command of the Lady Virgin Saint, my eyes subtly looked down.

She even took away my drinking and was digging deep.

The golden advice from life seniors who told me to delay marriage as much as possible came to mind again. With a visibly sulky expression, I had no choice but to present a meek counterargument.

“No, I’ve been drinking and fighting just fine…”

“Oh, I can’t live like this!”

As she banged on her chest in exasperation, the heavy, resilient sensation transmitted visually struck me. Seeing this, I suddenly thought.

Marriage might not be entirely bad.

The seniors who had given advice with such superiority all felt like fools. How could one harbor such thoughts with a lovely wife like this?

However, unlike my heart that was changing constantly, the Lady Virgin Saint could not shake off her lamenting expression.

“What will you do without me? You’ll just drink every day!”

“Well, we could live together forever.”

“Ugh.”

At my reasonable counterargument, the Lady Virgin Saint merely let out a sigh.

Rather, she seemed to appear a bit happier. But that was just an unfounded assumption based on my intuition.

The Lady Virgin Saint shook her head as if it was unavoidable.

“Really, I’m only putting up with this because it’s you… Otherwise, we would have divorced by now.”

As she spoke, the Lady Virgin Saint casually pulled the chair opposite me toward her. Naturally, she sat down in front of me.

Before long, worry filled her pink-tinted pupils.

The woman rested her chin on her hand and asked me.

“Why haven’t you gone back to your hometown?”

Was it because it was an unexpected question?

For a while, I was unable to respond, as if caught off guard. After a moment,

I managed to find an excuse.

“…There’s nothing for me to go there for.”

“When have you gone for something to do? It’s vacation.”

That was true.

It had been months since the vampire attack.

In that time, the Academy had maintained an unusually peaceful atmosphere. Perhaps it was because even the Dark Cult had suffered from the loss of one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Or perhaps they were plotting something even greater.

Of course, the seasons had already passed autumn. The cool air had begun to carry the chilled winds from the north.

So it was only natural that, according to the flow of the seasons, the Academy was now on vacation.

But I was still staying at the Academy.

It seemed the Lady Virgin Saint sensed the change in my mood over this unfamiliar behavior.

“Are you scared?”

A cautious yet resolute question.

I sighed quietly and averted my gaze. I longed for the whiskey I had put back on the shelf.

As silence stretched on, the Lady Virgin Saint pressed further.

“It’s already been months that you’ve been in this sulky state… I’m your wife. Can’t a wife understand her husband’s feelings? Why can’t you answer…?”

“Alcohol.”

A sound that was either a groan or a sigh.

As I poured out such painful tones, I gently lowered my gaze.

“If you give me alcohol, I will talk.”

And then silence.

The Lady Virgin Saint stared at me in silence for a long time, as if we were having a staring contest.

The stillness did not last long. My wife soon let out a deep sigh and rose from her seat in annoyance.

Then, with a thud, a bottle appeared in front of me.

I cautiously poured whiskey into my glass while glancing at the Lady Virgin Saint. The cheap whiskey that flowed out seemed to reflect my shrinking heart.

But what could I do?

This was not a conversation that could be had without alcohol.

Just before I tipped the full glass of whiskey to my lips.

Oh, before I realized it,

Something white snatched the glass before my hand could reach it. And then came the sound.

Glug, glug.

My vision spun in an instant. It could be called instinct. Chasing after that white trajectory, what was imprinted on my fixed retina showed the Lady Virgin Saint drinking.

She gulped it down in one go, even though it was stronger than 40 degrees.

Before my rational mind awakened, a scream burst from my lips.

“No, what is this… This woman!”

Of course, the cry I let out was not because I regretted the whiskey.

After all, there was still alcohol left in the bottle. And yet, the reason I bolted upright was because of how much the Lady Virgin Saint could drink.

She was not good at drinking.

She would get tipsy even with a sip of wine. How could she gulp down a spirit that was twice as strong?

The liquor implied a meaning beyond mere arithmetic—it didn’t just mean she would get drunk twice as fast because the alcohol content was double.

Just as I was about to grab the Lady Virgin Saint’s glass in disbelief.

Thwack!

Her delicate hand pushed me away. I was so shocked that I couldn’t say anything, and in that instant, she made a face of distaste, sticking out her tongue.

“Ugh, it’s gross.”

“See, I…!”

“Drink as much as you like. But for every glass you drink, I’ll drink one too.”

Her tone was firmer than I had expected.

Could she really take herself as a hostage?

I had no choice but to let out a humorless chuckle and slump back down. The Lady Virgin Saint kindly poured me another drink and set it in front of me.

She was indeed a terrifying woman.

Truly fitting for someone who navigated the treacherous politics of the Holy Kingdom.

Suddenly realizing my wife’s greatness, I tipped the glass in one go. The burning sensation of cheap whiskey traveling down my throat was not mild.

Followed by the horrid smell of alcohol.

Finally, after wiping my mouth with a huff, my lips began to move.

“…I still haven’t found Celin.”

“So?”

“How could I face my parents? My mother thinks of Celin as her daughter… What about the Lady Haster? What about Baron and Baroness Ainstein?”

In the end, unable to suppress my bitter feelings, I carelessly tilted the liquor bottle.

As I tried to fill my glass again, my gaze met with the pink eyes that were watching me closely.

In conclusion, I had no choice but to let out a groan and fill my glass only halfway.

Then a hand swiftly snatched my glass.

The whiskey disappeared into the woman’s mouth. That foolish girl, leaving my bitter lament behind.

Glug.

My glass filled again.

To lift the box I had sunk deep within my heart.

“And what about Reto?”

It was a short but heavy question.

Reto Ainstein, my closest friend.

As soon as his name came up, my eyes began to tremble. It didn’t take long before I could no longer endure it, and I drained my glass.

The Lady Virgin Saint was silent for a while, merely gazing at me with a slightly dazed look.

Eventually, a question was returned.

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