NOVEL NEXT Chapter 369
369 – Letters from the Past Ladies
Jiang emerged from the laboratory with a fluttering heart, heading towards the personal dormitory.
“Hey, Jiang! The professor said if you help carry this stuff to the personal room, you’ll get some points. Want to join?”
“Nah, you can have all the good stuff, Titosso.”
Brushing aside Titosso’s temptations effortlessly.
“Hey, first year! Sorry, but up ahead is off-limits. The Production Department messed up the slime production mix, and now the whole path is covered in slime… Oh?”
“What are you looking at? Are you seeing things from exhaustion?”
“No, really! I saw a short-haired female student who looked like a creepy doll at night…”
“No matter how you twist it, that sounds like a ghost, seriously. Get a grip.”
Following the upperclassmen’s warnings, Jiang bounced over the slimy streets with ease thanks to his upper-class magic and sprint.
“Run! If any passing students see you, the senior will force you to run at the same pace as him and cast a fatigue curse until you collapse! Everyone has to hide indoors!”
“Wait, how do you know so much detail?”
Heh heh. “That’s why the quick-witted underclassmen have it tough. It’s lucky you managed to escape from that mana-sucking trap before it drained you dry…”
He passed by a group of classmates cheering for Irene, who skillfully dodged the senior’s traps.
“Isabel is making new dishes in the kitchen and has leftovers she wants to give away!”
“Whoa, how many can get it first?”
“Ten. If you run now, you might not be too late!”
Though it was quite a struggle to suppress his desire to return to the kitchen, he persevered, forcing himself to remember his goal.
Creek. Thud.
With an unwavering wish to sneak a peek as soon as possible, Jiang returned to his dorm without detouring!
“Let’s hope there’s nothing too crazy.”
The letter he exchanged for Isabel’s new dish was a collection of letters and diary entries sent by the lady to Jonnas.
━━━
To the butler I miss.
It’s been two weeks since I enrolled in the academy. You might think it’s a lie that I miss the training we had together, but oddly enough, I really do miss those days.
Compared to the intense training at the academy, those times were much easier and more comforting.
Why didn’t I realize this before? That even the hard training was just for ‘enrollment’ in the academy, and it’s natural that it wouldn’t compare to the training for ‘promotion’ within the academy.
I want to go back. I miss eating training meals, tougher than bricks melted by one-point needles, and denser than black bread. Jonnas, if I can return to the mansion during break, could you cook for me once more?
Though it’s lacking in flavor and the vegetables are soggy, I want to eat the earnest stew you made. But I guess I must keep your existence hidden from the academy?
I’ll keep this letter safe and gather them all to give to you on the day we reunite.
From your intelligent lady.
━━━
Was this lady actually a noble lady? Her polite tone and neat handwriting screamed that she was well-educated. Even when she acts spoiled, she still maintains an admirable noble demeanor; a perfect aristocrat who doesn’t shed her seniority even when appearing a bit loose.
That was the first impression Jiang had.
Assignments are tough. Classmates are so impressive. Professors think we’re only listening to their lectures.
The lady has been writing weekly letters filled with relatable grievances and nostalgia for Jonnas. From the letter written in May after final exams, her handwriting began to tremble, filled with intense emotions.
━━━
To the annoying butler.
I thought I was prepared, but getting direct orders like this reveals my true feelings. Have I really become a discard? To be instructed to purposely lose against Charlotte in our duel assignment?
It truly pains my heart to have to self-sabotage my efforts. Does she also have a butler? Did she have time and chances to refine her talents like I did, being chosen by the foundation?
The reason I must bear the loss of her commands while she benefits from them must be because of the difference in our effort, right?
I know I can’t say it’s unfair. But the thought that this is just the beginning makes me want to cry. Please answer me.
I hope you haven’t lost hope in me, just as the foundation seems to have lost hope too.
Your lady needing comfort.
━━━
The lady who has worked hard despite difficulties encountered a problem. She didn’t achieve good grades. She was branded a ‘discard’ by the foundation.
Despite having special talents and receiving training from a personal butler, this ‘lady’ fell to the same status as an ordinary ‘lower scholarship student.’
The command recognized her growth potential’s limits and forced her sacrifice for a better scholarship student. Yet, the lady quietly endured her sacrifices.
While shaken, sorrowful, and tormented, she continued her academic journey.
━━━
To the butler.
It was only after the break that I realized. The foundation didn’t allow me a place to return to or a butler to meet with. I have no excuses since I didn’t achieve my desired grades in my first semester finals.
However, my resentment keeps growing. If only Charlotte weren’t around. If I hadn’t lost those points to her, I could have reunited with you.
I also had a place to return to, a butler I had to meet.
Please tell me. Is this all there is for me?
If it is… then what was my effort for? To neither meet the butler nor return to the mansion, but merely to raise Charlotte to the upper class?
What the heck does that even mean?
I’ve made up my mind. In this next practice, I will leave the academy. Then I can uncover the foundation’s true intentions, right?
If I still have any value as a lady, I will be forgiven, and if not, maybe I can meet you again, even like this.
I’ll be coming soon.
Your lady who wishes to see you.
━━━
The first lady’s letters ended here.
The lady thought that leaving out her name or Jonnas’s name would spare him any grief.
That considerate mind prevented her from harming Charlotte but didn’t stop her from embarking on a foolish and kind-hearted gamble with her life.
Jonnas said all previous ladies before Oknodie couldn’t withstand life at the Gift Academy.
But this was different.
This was a struggle of a human who had fallen as a sacrificial lamb to the command, seeking to reaffirm her own value.
She became the master of her own life, and now only unsent letters remained here, awaiting to be read by her own hands.
Gently caressing the blank spaces, Jiang folded the letter.
*
After a short break, Jiang opened the letterbox again.
“Next lady.”
The paper quality had changed. The first lady’s letter could have been casually mailed without issue.
With no name or address written, it became a sender-less, recipient-less letter that would end up bouncing back, unnoticed.
In contrast to the neatly folded letters inside the envelope, the second lady’s letter was a complete mess.
Ripped bits of a notebook. Scrawls like worms crawling all over the page. The content was very confrontational.
━━━
This bastard is really awful.
I knew this wasn’t the first time, but did you let the previous lady die so pitiably?
You scumbag.
I was tricked into thinking I’d get food and now…
Ugh. I’ll definitely kick his ass when I see him again.
━━━
“…”
Quite an unrestrained personality.
Even after this, each torn notebook section had vivid insults and clear intents to resort to violence against Jonnas.
Struggling with assignments? Want to beat up Jonnas. Classmates being standoffish? Want to pound Jonnas flat.
The rhythm of sending these letters was all over the place; some weeks had twenty scribbled notes, while others had three weeks’ worth without a single peep due to laziness.
Unlike the first lady, whom she cared about deeply, the emotional detachment was evident.
However, a notable difference emerged in this second lady’s letter compared to the first.
━━━
You went through all that trouble to disguise yourself and come see me but didn’t even give me money? How stingy of you.
━━━
She had come to visit.
Risking danger.
It was evident that losing the first lady impacted the foundation’s butler significantly.
Imagining the second lady grumbling, yet smiling, brought a grin to Jiang’s face.
Yet, the outcome awaited at the end could only be summarized with the tragic word “adaptation failure.”
The rambunctious lady’s tragedy unfolded similarly but differently from the first.
━━━
Have you all lost your minds?
Threatening perfectly fine students to induce Dark Mana outbursts, or else you’ll punish them? Is that something humans do?
Cathy may not be the brightest, but she’s not someone who should die like that.
Your first lady experienced something similar, right?
Wondering if her very existence was merely fertilizer for Charlotte’s promotion.
I can answer that. Cathy is not fertilizer for my promotion. If you’re going to kill Cathy, then I’ll hide her.
━━━
Unlike the first, who was marked as a sacrifice for promotion, the second lady had been chosen as a blooming flower to grow on fertilizer.
This rambunctious lady couldn’t contain her overflowing sense of justice and acted out, and the bits of notes were no longer found in the letterbox.
“I’ve picked this second lady to surpass the first’s fragile heart, but her kindness led her to the same fate of death.”
Did I have good judgment, or did I not?
The thought that Jiang, the person who had abducted the missing Dobi, might be the main culprit faded from his mind.
Even if he were a villain, I was strongly convinced that his way of committing crimes wouldn’t involve abducting students.
“Still, I can’t let this slide.”
The letterbox still had the third lady’s letter.
The third lady nurtured right before the Oknodie.
Who could she possibly be?
Curious, Jiang began to read the letter, and his eyes froze.
This lady was different from the preceding ones.