You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 100
I wrote a letter to Lyras, partly to inquire about a gift for Karhan. Unable to write myself, I called a servant to help compose the letter. I carefully folded the paper containing various questions, such as what kind of gifts he likes and what foods he enjoyed as a baby.
With the meticulously written letter tucked against my chest, I made my way to the department responsible for correspondence. Everyone was working so quietly that I hesitated to make even the slightest footstep. Walking through the paper-scented air, I approached the nearest seated servant and asked in a low voice:
“Excuse me, would it be possible to send a letter to Lord Lyras…?”
“If you’re referring to Lord Lyras, who is close to the Duke, then yes, it’s possible.”
Relieved, I smiled and began to carefully retrieve the letter from my chest.
“If I entrust it to you now, when might it be sent out?”
“Well… There are many pending official letters, so it might take a while. Is it urgent?”
It was urgent, but compared to the official correspondence, my letter’s content was trivial. I furrowed my brows, looking at the letter in my hand. Biting my lip slightly, I let out a small sigh. No matter how urgent it was, I didn’t want to be a nuisance with something like this. Just as I was about to tuck the letter back into my chest, a familiar voice came from behind.
“W-wait a moment!”
Turning around, I saw the servant I had bumped into in the hallway earlier. With a somewhat frantic expression, he reached out to me.
“I-I happen to be returning home today… If you don’t mind, I could d-deliver it for you…?”
The servant asked, his outstretched hand trembling. As I had noticed before, this servant seemed unusually nervous around me. Even now, beads of sweat formed on his forehead, rolling down his cheeks and gathering at his chin before falling to the floor. He must be very introverted.
As I stared at him with wide eyes, the servant let out an awkward laugh. He bent his arm that he had courageously extended and covered his face.
Seeing him shrink his shoulders as if unaccustomed to being the center of attention, I had no choice but to lead him out to the hallway. Once there, he seemed to breathe easier and began to stammer again.
“I, um… regularly go home…”
“It’s okay! I don’t want to burden you with work when you’re going home…”
“N-no! No! I want to do this. Especially after bumping into you before.”
He still seemed concerned about our collision at the corner earlier. There was no need to worry about that, since we both failed to see each other… I scratched the back of my head lightly, looking back and forth between the letter and the servant. What should I do? As I stood there pondering, the servant suddenly bowed deeply and said:
“P-please give me a chance to make up for my mistake!”
Gah! Startled by his sudden subservience, I jerked my arms. I almost fluttered my wings too. Clutching my rapidly beating heart, I spoke in a flustered voice:
“W-wait a moment!”
I reached out to make him raise his head, but the servant showed no sign of straightening up until I handed over the letter. Finally, I stopped deliberating and reluctantly nodded. He quickly grabbed the letter from my hand.
“Ha, haha… I’ll deliver it well.”
With those words, he ran off without looking back. The letter’s sudden disappearance from my hand left me feeling strangely empty. I fidgeted my fingers that had been holding the paper meaninglessly before lowering them.
“I hope it’ll be alright…”
An inexplicable uneasiness lingered in a corner of my mind, but I brushed it off and returned to my room, thinking nothing serious would happen.
🐤
Two days passed, then three, after handing over the letter. Time flew by quickly, and the momentary anxiety I had felt became a reality.
The servant who had taken my letter didn’t come to find me. I even peeked around the laundry area just in case, but we didn’t happen to cross paths even once. I wanted to ask my personal attendant to look into it, but I didn’t know the servant’s name and gave up after listing only the most common physical characteristics. Without lining up all the servants and checking their faces one by one, the chances of finding him were slim.
If he never appeared before my eyes again, I would have no way of finding out about the letter’s fate. I should have asked for his name then… It was my fault for not establishing a means of contact as the situation unfolded so quickly. I let out a despairing sigh and slumped my shoulders.
“He definitely said a month would be tight back then…”
What would the scale of gifts be like here? A jewel entrusted to the world’s top craftsman? Or perhaps an exquisite outfit from the world’s best tailor? Given Karhan’s position as a duke, surely he would receive gifts made by such great artisans?
As I imagined this, another sigh escaped me.
“But I don’t have any money.”
That was the biggest problem. Even if I found out what Karhan liked, I didn’t have the resources to give him a gift that would perfectly match his tastes.
As I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling, a servant knocked on the door and entered.
“Sir Seol. Lord Ruzel has come to visit. What would you like me to do?”
Ruzel…? This would be the first time meeting him since our tea time in the garden on the first floor. Wondering if there was some urgent matter, I nodded for him to be let in, my face etched with concern.
Contrary to my worry, Ruzel entered the room with a smile. Skipping the greetings, he slowly sat down in the chair across from me and placed a small box on the round table. What could it be? As I tilted my head quizzically, Ruzel spoke:
“I was a bit worried, you see.”
“Worried?”
“Yes. It’s a gift for Duke Karhan, and I’m concerned he might not like it.”
Why is he showing it to me if he’s worried? As I blinked in bewilderment, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
“You’ve been with Duke Karhan longer than I have, haven’t you? So I’d like your opinion.”
Without waiting for my response, he carefully unwrapped the package. With a soft click, he opened the lid to reveal a long, hairpin-like object delicately woven from white wood, with a beautiful blue gem adorning its center, sparkling like dew.
Being an elven gift, it exuded a strong sense of nature. While the intricately twisted branches were beautiful, the blue gem at the center was so stunning that I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
As I gaped at it, Ruzel’s elegant fingers picked up the gift.
“Is it beautiful?”
“Y-yes…”
I nodded quickly. Ruzel said with a subtle smile:
“Hold out your hand.”
Without a second thought, I extended my hand. Maintaining his smile, he brought the long object close to me. Gently grasping my little finger, he pressed carefully, and the well-woven wooden stick swayed and moved, wrapping around my finger.
“Ah!”
It was a bit eerie to see the stick move like a living, breathing creature. I flinched, shaking off Ruzel’s hand and standing up. Yet the wood continued to move, eventually settling into place.
“…A ring?”
As I sat back down, muttering in confusion, Ruzel nodded and explained:
“Yes. It’s a ring imbued with magic. It automatically adjusts its size to fit the wearer. No need to worry about losing it.”
“Wow…”
The fantasy world had gifts on a different scale altogether. It wasn’t just a product made by some world’s best craftsman, but one with actual magic infused into it. Is this the kind of extraordinary gift people usually prepare? As I gazed at the ring beautifully adorning my finger, the corners of my mouth turned down bitterly.
Either not noticing my expression or choosing to ignore it, Ruzel continued his explanation in a cheerful voice:
“It’s not just convenient. Although not at a rapid pace, it also has magic that can improve one’s health condition.”
The more Ruzel explained, the darker things seemed to become before my eyes. With such magnificent gifts coming in, what kind of present could I possibly give? I neither had the ability to create something like this nor the money to buy it. My lips, which had been a straight line, finally curved downward.
“By the way, Seol. How are your gift preparations coming along?”
Seeing me sit silently without saying a word, Ruzel asked in a questioning tone.
“Are you not prepared yet?”
“I’m in the process of preparing, but…”
“Well, I suppose it’s not easy, given that it’s a gift for the Duke. But you know, the Duke will probably celebrate hundreds more birthdays in the future, so he might not even care about a small gift. Maybe you don’t need to give one at all…”
As I listened quietly, something seemed off, and I tilted my head. Looking up into his beautifully shining silver eyes, I asked:
“Hundreds of years?”
“Don’t tell me… you didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
As I questioned back, Ruzel’s eyebrows furrowed as if in pity. He hesitated for a moment, his lips quivering slightly before letting out a small sigh. He raised his hand, slowly stroking his chin as he observed me. Despite his sympathetically curved eyebrows, the silver eyes visible through his narrowed gaze were cold.
“I can’t believe you didn’t even know that Duke Karhan isn’t human.”
Not human?
My eyes widened so much they felt like they might pop out. As I gaped, Ruzel shrugged and said:
“He’s known to be a mixed-blood descendant of an ancient race.”
Saying this, he leaned back in his chair. Then, in an ambiguous tone, he muttered:
“I thought it was a joke before… but now I’m really curious about what kind of relationship you two have.”
There it was again. That strange feeling I had experienced before. It was as if he was trying to create a wall between Karhan and me. Repeatedly questioning whether we were really close when I knew so little about Karhan – he wasn’t entirely wrong. I rolled my eyes around before looking back at Ruzel.
He was smiling, fine wrinkles forming at the corners of his eyes. But when I met his beautiful silver gaze, I realized something. This person didn’t particularly like me.
I removed the ring encircling my little finger and placed it on the table. Then, lifting my head high, I said firmly:
“We are close. We’re dating, in fact.”
“For being so close, you seem to know very little about him.”
“That doesn’t matter. I can learn about him gradually. We have plenty of time…”
Feeling like I couldn’t afford to lose even a single point in this conversation, I spoke with forced strength. Ruzel’s eyebrows quirked up as if surprised. He then tilted his head slightly and gave a calm smile. His gently curved eyes and lips rippled uneasily.
After staring at me intently, he slowly twisted his lips to speak. I watched the leisurely moving mouth shape with great tension.
“The Duke’s time is quite long. I wonder when you’ll manage to learn it all.”
Ruzel lowered the hand that had been stroking his chin and folded his arms. Lifting his head slightly, he looked down at me with narrowly glinting silver eyes. The faintly upturned corners of his mouth began to grate on my nerves. It was clear that he was looking down on me.
I tightly clenched my fingers extended under the table. Firmly suppressing my trembling arms and determined not to lose, I too lifted my head. Wrinkling my nose bridge, I opened my mouth slowly, as if crushing my words:
“No matter how much you try to drive a wedge between us, it won’t work.”
As I warned him quietly, Ruzel’s eyes widened, and he covered his mouth. Then, in an apologetic voice, he spoke gently:
“Oh, I’m sorry if it came across that way. That wasn’t my intention.”
His beautifully folded eye corners were truly irritating. As I gnawed on my lips, he slowly adjusted his clothes and stood up. He ordered the servant waiting in the corner to gather the gift and turned around without a farewell. He walked to the door, paused slightly, and turned to look at me. The smile he had shown until now had completely vanished, leaving only a cold chill on his face.
“The longer the difference in remaining lifespan, the harder it is for the one with the longer life. I suggest you think carefully before getting any deeper. Perhaps your selfishness might end up hurting someone.”
The door slammed shut with a bang. Or maybe it was just my imagination. Something large sank heavily in my heart.
The gentle voice that had sounded kind at first had thrown a stone into my calm mind. Small, circular ripples formed, and the waves that hit the wall returned as large swells.
