My Dear Aster

Returning from the afternoon tea time, Lihen opened a new card. She wasn’t even writing a love letter, but her hands were shaking with nervousness.

“Huuu, haaa.”

She took a few deep breaths out loud and Penny chuckled.

“Would you like me to get a prescription from Dr. Norman to calm you down?”

“Don’t tease me.”

Unconsciously, she said sulkily in a sharp voice, and Lihen immediately regretted it.

“Sorry.”

“No. I’m sorry, Miss.”

Penny apologized, burying her hand in the hem of her skirt. Lihen smiled.

“Don’t tease me too much. Because I seriously don’t think I’m going to have anything to do with Lord Schudermel. We’re just going to the graduation party together.”

“If it’s Lord Schudermel, I know it well. The Miss keeps going for a walk in the garden behind the main building, where there are no people, because you want to run into him.”

Lihen couldn’t answer. She never told anyone. But if she thought about it, there was no way Penny, who was always stuck by her side, couldn’t have noticed.

Unbeknownst to her, her face turned bright red. She thought no one would know it for the rest of her life. Her memory was vague, so rather than having her feelings exposed right now, it felt like an embarrassing childhood event was being revealed.

Penny smiled broadly.

“I never thought Miss would have such courage.”

“We’re just going to the graduation party together.”

“Even so. How did you come together with him like that? I was really surprised. The fact that Miss came holding hands with him made me jump in surprise, but my God, he even used such tremendous magic to keep Miss’s dress from getting wet.”

“Maybe it’s because magic is as simple as breathing for him. He wouldn’t do anything if he did not like it, but once he decides to do it, isn’t he the kind of person who does it perfectly?”

“Oh, Miss. Why are you so negative? If he really didn’t like it, you wouldn’t have been escorted, perfectly or not. He even accepted your request to be your partner.”

“Is that so?”

Lihen’s cheeks, which had regained their color, blushed a little again. Penny was right. No one would offer to accompany someone to a party just for kindness to someone they didn’t like.

“But Penny, you shouldn’t talk about that anywhere else. Because this time would really be the end of our relationship.”

“Oh, do I look like a person who spreads rumors? It’s about Miss. And do you really need to decide that it’s the end? You might be able to get along well with him.”

“It’s not going to happen.”

“Because he is an illegitimate child?”

Penny asked straightforwardly. Lihen was taken aback. Penny muttered an explanation.

“After the Miss asked him to be your partner yesterday, I was curious to see what kind of person he was, so I looked around a bit. It was a famous story.”

While saying that, Penny was stunned and asked.

“I am not bothering the Miss by looking into this, right?”

“No, it’s okay. But I’d rather you not do that in the future, Penny. You know how much my father hates talking about other people’s scandals.”

“Oh, why would the master care about something as trivial as my business? And the Master of the Magic Tower is a great existence. He is no different from a noble.”

“That’s how the treatment is, but it’s because…….”

The value in the wedding market was different.

She was about to say that, but Lihen stopped. She just wanted to enjoy the excitement, joy, and time with him, but since she was old enough to get married soon, she kept thinking about it.

In social circles, the biggest concern was always who meets and marries whom, so even if she danced two songs together with someone, she might be like, “Perhaps?” and it couldn’t be helped because that’s the kind of place it was.

She sternly told Penny.

“Don’t talk about nonsense everywhere. We’re just going to the graduation party together.”

“Oh, okay. Miss is too timid. I just have to spread the rumors so that the master and the mistress approve it.”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it. Lord Schudermel is wonderful, but we’ve only met once, and talking about it can be a nuisance to him and it can be very difficult for me.”

“I’m sorry. I know, but……”

Penny buried her hand in the hem of her skirt to apologize and lowered her head, and soon smiled a little.

“Miss has a very gentle face.”

“Gentle face?”

“You’re a little different these days. I can’t say exactly where you’re different, but you seem to be more relaxed now, and you laugh a lot…… And you act boldly. Miss mustered up the courage, so I really hope you do well.”

Lihen also smiled at her.

“Thank you.”

“Yes! I’ll really watch my mouth!”

Well, just how far can Penny, an ordinary 19-year-old girl, keep a secret?

Lihen suddenly remembered her husband’s problem. Penny abruptly quit her job sometime next year when she was engaged to Harold and married a man eighteen years her senior, and left the capital.

At that time, Lihen was disgusted to hear that Penny’s husband was thirty-eight years old, but she never had a chance to meet him in person. Nearly twenty years later, she had heard from her nanny, Mrs. Rod, that Penny had become pregnant at the time and got married in a hurry.

It made her sad when she thought about it. Lihen didn’t know if Penny lived happily ever after with her husband, but she knew one thing for sure. She didn’t want to quit her job.

“Come to think of it, my parents will decide on the marriage anyway, so that’s fine, and you.”

“Me?”

“If you have a lover, be sure to tell me.”

“I don’t have one.”

Penny blushed and shook her head.

“Tell me when you have one. And no matter how difficult it is, be sure to talk about it. I like Penny, so I want to help her when she’s having a hard time.”

“Miss…….”

Penny was moved by Lihen’s words and blushed and felt awkward.

“I didn’t know that Miss thought of me that way.”

“Of course I should care. You’re my person. I would be very lonely if you suddenly got married and left.”

“How could it be! I like Miss so much.”

“Hmm, is that true?”

“Really. You’re better these days.”

“So, you mean that I wasn’t good before.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Penny laughed bashfully.

“No, I understand. I was young, and it was a time when I was very sensitive.”

“You speak as if it happened a few years ago.”

Lihen just laughed and picked up the fountain pen.

Dear Sir Schudermel Laft,

Your kindness toward me the other day still warms my heart.

I also want to thank you for graciously accepting my rude and immature request.

I obtained my mother’s permission.

I look forward to your visit when you have time; I’ll have some hot tea ready for you.

Lihen of Copland.

Knowing that she had nothing to say, and that she would regret it later if she wrote a long letter, Lihen wrote down only what she had to say. Rather, it was the handwriting that bothered her.

She must have written thousands of invitations in her life, but once she wrote them down, she didn’t like them. As if the fluttering heart was revealed at the fingertips, the hand that kept putting the period was shaking.

After throwing away a few cards to write in a beautiful and neat handwriting, she managed to finish them and put them down. If it was to be sent to a friend, she would have decorated it with a ribbon or melted beeswax to stamp it, but that was not the case.

Instead, she put a sheet of dried lavender petals inside the envelope. And hoping that it wouldn’t show that she cared too much about this card, she left it to Penny to bring it to the servant in charge of the letter.