Ricardo was deep in thought.
“…Where should the wedding be held?”
Spring might be best, when Bianca’s favorite flowers are in full bloom.
Of course, she’d be the most beautiful part of it all.
He’d fill the entire venue with chocolate fountains, so that everywhere she looked would be filled with things she loved.
If they could just exchange vows to love each other for the rest of their lives and walk the path she desired, then there was nothing in the world to fear.
She once asked him what his favorite thing in the world was. He’d never even thought about it.
There had never been a need to.
To him, Bianca was the best thing in the world.
Not even a lifeti would be enough to confess how much he loved her.
Monts with her felt like fleeting seconds, while ti without her dragged on like an eternity.
Humans are bound by ti.
But she bent ti to her will—so Ricardo was destined to be bound to her forever.
Many things had changed.
The eyes that always glared at him now softened when they looked at him. Bianca, who used to avoid him, now walked beside him in step.
More than that—their conversations, once riddled with buried emotions, flowed like normal now.
A series of things he never could have imagined before.
But behind those dreams, a familiar unease crept in.
In his life, despair always arrived just when everything seed perfect.
From that fear, a new dream was born—one that painted a different future.
In it, Bianca had no lingering attachnts to this world.
Like before, she always turned her back to him as if he ant nothing to her.
No matter how far he reached, he could never touch her as she drifted away.
He would wake up like that.
Relieved it was just a nightmare, yet grounded in reality.
Ricardo had a vague sense of where the dream ca from.
“She seems like soone who has no attachnts in this world. As if she could leave at any mont.”
He had once asked her that.
But Bianca never answered. She just looked at him with eyes filled with fear, as if she hadn’t realized she gave off such an impression.
“…Where would you go?”
Would she change her mind if he gave her all the treasures in the world?
If he cured the illness of the family she loved so dearly, would it make a difference?
When she smiled, the world shone brilliantly. But even a hint of sadness from her made it hard to breathe.
He’d do anything for her.
…But what if the thing she wanted most was to leave him behind?
Even the decision to live was made because of her. So what would it matter if she wasn’t by his side once everything beca perfect?
He feared the future she envisioned wouldn’t include him.
Feared that she’d simply walk away.
Bianca wouldn’t stay just because he clung to her.
She was kind to everyone. He wished that kindness could be reserved for him alone—but knew that was impossible.
Ricardo loved her kindness, and wished nothing about her would change because of him.
Yet that desire, ugly as it was, only grew stronger.
He was clumsy in every way.
…But it would be alright.
He would find a way to hold on to her—no matter what.
Leaving the wreckage of the past behind.
“I’ll just start over from the beginning.”
That’s all he needed to do.
With that thought, Ricardo grabbed his jacket and stood up.
He just wanted to see Bianca right now.
He wanted to prove to himself that all his fears were nothing more than imagination.
* * *
“...Brother.”
“Yeah?”
I crossed my arms and gave Leon a sideways look.
“You’re not actually interested in finding evidence, are you?”
“Th-that’s not true!”
“Why are you stuttering?”
“Didn’t expect you to ask that…”
Leon replied in his usual shaless tone—but couldn’t et my eyes.
My gaze drifted to the geography book he’d been reading. He quickly snapped it shut.
“Alright then. Will you at least help properly now?”
At my request, Leon rolled his eyes, then gave a sly grin.
“Shall I?”
The Dean of the Academy warmly welcod the returning alumnus Leon.
“You’re free to check the archives as much as you like. Leon, you were always such a diligent student during your school years—always welco here!”
Even while saying that, the dean insisted I should return soti with Cedric too.
‘Leon graduated in the 241st class, right?’
I checked the book spines and finally stopped at the class years for Leon and Cedric. Leon, following behind, let out a short breath.
“...This feels weird.”
He brushed his fingers along the spines as if retracing old mories. His expression carried an emotion I hadn’t seen from him before.
“I didn’t expect this to still be here.”
Then, he suddenly stopped.
Before I could ask, he pulled down a box from the top shelf.
“…What’s that?”
“Punishnt letters.”
Leon laughed lightly as he opened the box, revealing a pile of letters.
“Back then, most of the students were nobles, and festival participation was pretty low.”
I nodded quietly.
“One of the professors told us to write letters to soone we wanted to say sothing to. Everyone thought it would affect our grades, so they poured their hearts into it.”
“Why is that a punishnt?”
“The students who skipped the festival were told their letters would be delivered.”
Wow. Harsh.
“So you wrote one too?”
“Yeah. Cedric did too.”
I eyed the box with interest, and Leon quickly lifted it out of my reach. He was much taller than , so no matter how high I reached, I couldn’t grab it.
“That’s an! Then don’t tease if you’re not going to let read it!”
“Too embarrassing. I was young.”
How young could you have been?
Eventually, I gave up on taking the box.
Then Leon offered a mischievous deal.
“Unless you write a letter instead.”
“…That’s kind of tempting.”
“But two pages. Filled.”
“Can it be a diary entry?”
“That’s not a letter, Bianca.”
Too bad. Guess diaries don’t count.
Now I was curious about Cedric’s letter too.
He probably wrote a thank-you letter to Grandpa. He’d love to read it, I’m sure.
“From how the dean welcod you, I guess you had a pretty good academic record?”
“Surprised?”
“….”
“Bianca, you…”
Leon gave an exasperated look. I smiled to ease the tension, and he reluctantly returned the box to its place.
“Well, I had no choice. I had to graduate with top marks and no incidents if I wanted to inherit the title.”
Fair enough. Without that, Leon wouldn’t have needed to attend the Academy at all.
The Empire’s Academy was mostly for nobles who couldn’t inherit titles. Its graduates typically beca imperial retainers—or, in special cases, mage at the Magic Tower.
“I got close to Cedric because of that too. He was in a similar situation.”
I stopped in my tracks at his words.
“What do you an? Why would Cedric…?”
“He never told you? Wow, he really is tight-lipped.”
Leon clicked his tongue, then seed to rember that I hadn’t been close to Cedric back then.
“Apparently, there were rumors from the collateral branch.”
Seeing my expression, he quickly added, “It wasn’t anything major.”
“He was from the main line, but still entered the Academy like . He must’ve been really strict with himself.”
“Haha, yeah.”
I played it off, and Leon finally relaxed, scanning the shelves.
“I’ll take this side. You check over there.”
“Got it.”
* * *
We searched for a long ti after that, but found nothing useful.
We left the Academy empty-handed.
On the way ho, I quietly studied Leon’s calm expression.
“…You kind of knew we wouldn’t find anything, didn’t you?”
He gave a sheepish smile.
“To a degree. So? Feeling a bit more willing to give up now?”
“I’ll never give up.”
Leon looked troubled as he answered.
“Bianca, you know Cedric and I can’t go back to the way we were.”
“I’m not asking you to make up with him. I never expected that.”
“Then why?”
“If you were in my position, what would you do?”
“Of course, I’d…”
Leon stopped mid-sentence, his face falling as he realized the answer.
“You already know.”
“You really are…”
Leon let out a short laugh—but then his expression shifted, eyes flickering.
“What is it? Did you see sothing…?”
As I turned to look, Leon suddenly cupped my cheeks in his large hands.
Frozen in place, I could only stare up at him in confusion.
“Co to my place tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
I nodded without hesitation.
I thought that was the end of it—but Leon suddenly leaned in and whispered softly in my ear:
“See you tomorrow.”
For such a secretive gesture… it was a surprisingly light goodbye.
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