Letter?

“So, my lady, what did the seven-character woman write?”

“Chi… Ah, you mean the young lady from House Chili.”

Having delivered the reply letter to the castle lord, Jack and Aspara had returned to her room and were warming themselves.

Jack set a kettle on the stove to heat water, then brought up the letter from home that had been mentioned in the garden.

The sender was, as Jack put it, a young lady with a particularly long name. A seven-syllable name; Aspara, too, decided to simply call her “Seven.”

The reason being that she had always addressed the woman by her family name alone, and could not for the life of her remember the given name.

Not that it mattered; she would not be using that family name anymore.

She must have remarried my ex-husband by now… His rank is higher, so she’d have taken his family name.

“It’s nothing special. Just some pleasantries.”

“Really? There wasn’t an apology?”

“Don’t hold it against her too much. The divorce was something I wanted anyway, and thanks to it, I’ve moved to such a free place as this, haven’t I?”

Jack glanced around Aspara’s desk for a moment, then picked up a conspicuous envelope.

Not only was the material exceptionally fine, but the vivid scarlet of the paper caught the eye.

Colored paper was quite the luxury item, and to use it for a mere envelope spoke of rather extravagant tastes.

If it had been yellow or sky blue, I might have called it elegant — but writing in ink on paper this garish red is just idiotic extravagance. No doubt her husband bought it for her.

That had been Aspara’s immediate thought upon receiving the letter.

Enduring the eye-watering strain, the contents she had read were as follows:

[To Miss Aspara.

Hello, Lady Aspara.

How have you been? I hear the weather there is always cold.

I cannot sleep at night for worrying how our delicate my lady must be suffering among those barbarians.

I think what happened to you is truly, deeply lamentable.

That someone like Lady Aspara — who only ever did good deeds and spoke only kind words — should have to endure such a thing!

However, I do urge you to think of it positively.

I believe this is, in fact, a wonderful opportunity for you, Lady Aspara.

I have heard that barbarian men are just as beastly on the inside as they are on the outside — covered head to toe in fur, with fangs jutting from their mouths.

But seeing as Lady Aspara has always had such a fondness for dogs and cats, is this not the perfect groom for you?

I hear that northern men have rough hands and hold women in low regard, but do think of this positively as well.

Perhaps it will be a fine opportunity to learn the role of a wife and live a more modest life.

So please, do not despair, and I wish you a happy rest of your life.

I do worry so — if you get rejected on the wedding night there as well, this time it might not end in mere divorce but with your head flying clean off.

Thanks to you, Lady Aspara, I am doing very well indeed.

Since my husband and I share the same bedroom, the room that used to be yours has been turned into the baby’s room.

It is such a snug little room — just perfect until the baby starts to walk, I should think.

Truly, it seems Lady Aspara’s grace never leaves my side.

— In haste, XOXO]

Jack read the letter carefully and blinked.

“—Oh, so that’s how it is. She sent her well-wishes, what a pleasant surprise! She told you to live positively and be happy, my lady. And she says she’s doing well herself! How nice.”

“I know. I read it first.”

“Oh…”

Jack stared down at the letter for a solid minute and thought it over again.

“But how could she have had a baby? It hasn’t even been nine months since you divorced that man, my lady — not even two.”

“A miracle must have occurred. Such miracles are not uncommon among people of distinguished birth.”

“Oh dear, I do hope the seven-character woman didn’t have a premature birth. I hear it puts a terrible strain on the mother’s body — I wonder if she’s all right. Shall I write her a letter of comfort?”

Aspara shrugged and checked whether the water in the kettle had finished heating.

“If you like.”

“Come to think of it, she already had quite a large belly before we departed. Now that I think about it, perhaps she’d been ill since even then. Poor thing…”

“Is that so. Then include that in the letter as well — tell her to take good care of her health.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Jack borrowed a pen and paper from Aspara’s desk, propped the paper on his knee, and began scribbling a letter.

“My lady, when you say ‘lose weight,’ how do you spell ‘lose’?”

“Just write it however.”

Aspara took the kettle off the stove before the water had fully boiled and began brewing tea.

“Would you like some too?”

“Ah, thank you! Sugar in mine, please.”

“We don’t have any.”

Watching herself let that level of impudence pass without so much as a scolding, Aspara realized she had grown quite accustomed to the north.

Come to think of it, I wonder if they sent something to the castle as well…

The north had been sparsely populated since time immemorial.

Resources, food chief among them, were inherently scarce, and the culture firmly upheld the practice of making no distinction between daughters and sons.

A sparse population meant a shortage of labor.

This was the reason Star, Aspara’s dedicated maid, also juggled miscellaneous duties all across the castle.

“Ahhh, busy, busy!”

Today alone she had gone out to brush the snow off the railings, then personally received the cargo from the international mail coach that came once a month.

“Oh my, a red envelope. How pretty.”

That day, among the yellowed envelopes, two reddish ones stood out.

One was addressed to Aspara; the other bore the name of the castle lord, Gus.

Star delivered one envelope to her mistress on her way to clean the rooms, and the other passed through another attendant’s hands before reaching Gus.

“I wonder what’s inside — since they both arrived at the same time, maybe it’s a ball invitation from the central kingdom? Ahhh, I wish they’d take me along too.”

Having finished her morning duties, Star dusted off her hands, hummed a little tune, and headed to the break room.

Ever since the secret passageway in the kitchen had been sealed off, a number of attendants had begun hosting a little tea party among themselves, and today was the day for it.

Meanwhile, the other red envelope had arrived safely on Gus’s desk.

“Flamboyant taste in stationery.”

Gus drew his letter knife and opened it.

[Greetings, Castle Lord of the North.

I am — — —, an old friend of Aspara’s.

Can you perhaps read?

If not, my apologies, but letters are my only means of communication, so I humbly beg your understanding.

A letter is a tool for conveying stories by writing symbols called “characters” on paper — paper like the kind you are currently holding.]

Gus raised one eyebrow. An old friend of Aspara’s. Well, that was certainly a welcome letter.

But as he read on, it struck him that this friend did not seem terribly bright.

Well, not so different from that knight, I suppose. Perhaps all southerners are like this and my wife is simply an exceptional genius.

Mm, that was surely the case. Gus felt a swell of pride toward his wife and puffed out his chest a little.

[To get to the point, I would like to invite my dear friend Aspara and her husband to a party.

My spouse and I have been blessed with an heir, and we wish to hold a celebration.

This may be a difficult concept for a northerner to grasp, but in the south, we cherish life, and so when a child is born, there is a custom where everyone gathers to celebrate.

We would be most honored if you could attend and grace the occasion.

I do not wish to burden the castle lord with guilt, but

my dear old friend was whisked away to the north so suddenly that she could not even attend my wedding.

I have enclosed the date and location of the banquet, and humbly request that you attend as a couple.

Aspara may act embarrassed on the surface, but I am quite certain she will be leaping for joy inside.

We are the very closest of friends, you see.

I would also love to see for myself the face of the man Aspara has married.

I have heard rumors that northern men are perfectly normal and quite handsome — I am truly curious.

I was so eager to invite the castle lord that I even brought in a specialist in northern culture to prepare food from your region and found an attendant who speaks your language.

If you are able to write, I humbly request a reply.

From — — —.]

An old friend of Aspara’s.

As was typical of southerners who showed no regard for northern culture, the sender had not written their own name in the northern tongue, only in their native script.

I have no idea how to read it, but what an extraordinarily long name, Gus thought.

Having finished the letter, he let out a deep breath. To have missed her closest friend’s wedding. That was terrible.

The familiar ache of guilt began to swell. To steady himself against the feeling, Gus fixed his eyes on a single phrase in the letter:

[I humbly request that you attend as a couple.]

[Attend as a couple.]

Attend… as a couple…

He fought back the grin threatening to break across his face. No, this would not do. His wife could not attend her dearest friend’s wedding, and here he was, grinning over the letter.