Chapter 191

* * *

Loretta shouted with joy, but quickly closed her mouth.

Although the people of the ducal family were quite lenient towards animals, Echo was not just a cat, but a cat from the Magic Tower.

So she felt like no one should find out about it.

“Echo, how did you come all the way here? Did you walk?”

A short answer came back, meowing.

“Oh my, you mustn’t do that! Winter is cold, and the mansion and the tower are very far apart.”

Loretta checked Echo all over. To see if there were any signs of injury from the long journey.

Fortunately, Echo looked very healthy.

(In fact, the clever Echo had secretly boarded and transferred between multiple carriages on the way.)

“Could it be that you came because you missed me?”

At Loretta’s question, Echo lifted her gaze and stared at her intently.

It was a somewhat mocking gaze. As if saying, ‘How could that be?’

“…I guess not.”

Just then, Ronny’s voice was heard shouting, “I found the carrots!” as he ran towards them.

Loretta was startled and looked back and forth between Echo and Ronny.

“Oh no, what should I do?”

Maybe Echo knew she was in trouble, or maybe she just didn’t like the cold.

Echo stepped on Loretta’s knees and snugly went inside her thick coat.

“Ah? Echo!”

Loretta quickly raised her arms near her belly and firmly held Echo so she wouldn’t slip out.

“What are you doing sitting like that?”

“Ah, umm… big brother.”

“Why are you holding your belly like that? Does it hurt somewhere?”

When he approached to touch her belly, Loretta hurriedly got up from her spot and took a few steps back.

Of course, still holding her arms around her belly.

“Ah, no. No! It’s not that my belly hurts…”

“Then why are you holding your arms like that?”

“Huh?”

Loretta rolled her eyes here and there, and had no choice but to nod.

“Ugh, yeah. My belly hurts. So I want to go to my room.”

“Should I carry you?”

At his kind offer, Loretta shook her head with a pale face.

If she did that, Echo might get flattened between her and Ronny.

“No, I want to go alone. Big brother, quickly make noses for the snowmen. If they don’t have noses, the snowmen will have trouble breathing, and if that happens, I might cry all night because I’m sad.”

Loretta took awkward steps backward, slowly.

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“I’m telling you not to make me sad!”

Shouting like that, Loretta quickly turned and started running wildly towards the mansion.

Fortunately, Ronny didn’t follow her.

* * *

Loretta returned to her room, sent all the maids out, and put Echo down near the warm fire.

Just in case, she brought a small bowl of water, and Echo immediately started lapping it up.

She seemed thirsty from the long journey.

Loretta lay flat on the floor in a similar posture to Echo and watched the cat drink water, making slurping sounds.

“Echo… you’re so cute.”

Just looking at her made Loretta’s toes curl up with affection.

“Ah, you must be hungry too. I’ll have to sneak into the kitchen.”

When Loretta said that and got up, Echo also lifted her head with her.

“Meow.”

After that, she approached Loretta’s knees and started walking back and forth in front of her.

“Echo?”

It felt like she was requesting something, but Loretta couldn’t tell what it was, so she just looked at Echo’s paws and tail here and there.

Then, she noticed a ribbon made of soft cloth around Echo’s neck.

When Loretta tried to touch it, Echo finally lay down on the floor and stretched her neck out long.

As if helping her untie the ribbon comfortably.

“Could it be…”

Loretta quickly untied the ribbon and unfolded the cloth.

Inside the small cloth, not even half the size of a handkerchief, there was a thin piece of paper with very familiar handwriting on it.

“It’s Evan’s handwriting!”

Loretta held up the paper high and smiled brightly.

It had already been several weeks since she last met him.

She had been missing him so much that she was looking for a chance to meet at the palace…

Loretta took a deep breath and started reading the letter.

[I’m sorry for contacting you so suddenly. It’s just that Echo said she would help. I’ve been missing you so much, Miss. Are you keeping my mana well?]

Since the paper was so small, that was all the content.

But for Loretta, who had been gloomy all day, it was a really big gift.

Loretta hugged his letter tightly. Her heart was beating amazingly fast, thump thump.

“What should I do? I’m so happy.”

Loretta also smiled brightly at Echo, who was sprawled on the floor.

“Echo, thank you for helping me. You really are the best cat! Mmm, the best creature!”

Even at the highest praise, Echo only swished her tail slightly. As if saying, ‘Of course.’

“Ah, right. I’ll bring you something to eat. You must be hungry and tired from the long journey. Right? Rest well in my room, and mmm, after that…”

“Meow.”

Echo wagged her tail again.

“You’ll deliver my letter too? Really?!”

The cat let out a long yawn and flopped down on the floor, which seemed to mean ‘Don’t make me say it again.’

“Echo is the best! I love you so much!”

Loretta jumped up from her spot and started running to the kitchen with excited footsteps.

Echo, who stretched out long, lay down again, changing her posture.

* * *

Echo stayed in Loretta’s room for two more days before leaving.

Loretta had written a letter for Echo to rest well before leaving, but she didn’t attach it to her neck. Somehow, Echo had cleverly taken the letter Loretta wrote and left on her own.

Echo passed by Loretta’s half-melted snowman and returned to the Magic Tower along the path she had come.

Evan was dozing off by the fire, holding a thick book.

He must have been unable to sleep after Echo left, worried and anxious.

Echo climbed onto his lap and curled up into a ball. If she didn’t rest now, she wouldn’t have the energy to go back to the ducal residence again.

* * *

[Evan! I was so happy to receive your letter. I want to see you soon. I don’t know if my body is keeping your mana well. But seeing as I feel lonely, it seems to have almost disappeared.]

Upon receiving Loretta’s letter, Evan immediately wrote a reply.

Of course, he also secretly hid the letter in a drawer so that Echo wouldn’t get tired, but after three days, Echo took the letter and left on her own.

[I wish I could give you stronger mana, Miss, and more of it. Maybe it’s because I only have weak power that I’m making you feel lonely. I’m sorry. I’ll study and train harder. So that I can be of help to you, Miss.]@@novelbin@@

Thanks to Echo’s hard work, Loretta was able to escape a little from the waves of loneliness that had been rushing in every day.

When writing a letter to Evan, she could only write short sentences, so it took time to ponder how to convey many feelings in them.

Moreover, the sentences that came back were also short, so she had to imagine alone the thoughts and feelings contained in each letter.

Of course, even in the midst of that, Loretta was often saddened by her longing for Melody.

But when she saw Evan and Echo trying hard to keep her from being lonely, Loretta didn’t want to spend all her time being gloomy.

As the cold season passed and the snow that had piled up thickly on the roof of the ducal residence melted, dripping water droplets.

On that day, Echo came again with a welcome letter.

[Miss, my mentor said he would take me to the Baldwin ducal mansion. I won’t be able to speak to you carelessly, but if I can see you even from afar, I’ll be truly happy.]

“Evan is coming to our house?!”

Loretta was startled and quickly got up from her spot.

Putting the letter in her pocket, she ran down the hallway and knocked on Claude’s door.

Usually, she would have waited for his answer before opening the door, but today she couldn’t do that, so she arbitrarily swung the door open.

“Big brother!”

But Loretta soon regretted her haste. In Claude’s office, there were three young gentlemen she had never seen before.

“…S-sorry.”

Loretta awkwardly bowed her head and quickly closed the door, taking a step back.

“Ugh.”

Her face flushed a little, feeling somehow embarrassed. What if rumors spread that the young lady of the Baldwins was a very rude person?

While she was worrying, the door she had just closed opened again.

It was Claude, who had asked his friends to excuse him and followed Loretta out.

“Claude, I’m sorry.”

“No, not really. They’re just friends from the academy days. Above all, the priority of my time is with you, didn’t I say that?”

Claude gently answered while brushing Loretta’s slightly disheveled long hair.

“Mmm, but still, since you have guests now…”

Just as she was about to say she would talk later, Claude quickly grasped her intention.

“Ah, because of Jeremiah?”

“Huh, yes?”

“Didn’t you come to ask me for details after hearing from the servants that Jeremiah is coming?”

Loretta thought she should say no, but somehow her mouth wouldn’t open.

“Seems like it’s the correct answer? Hehe.”

“Ho-how did you know?”

“Well, our little miss misses her youngest big brother so much.”

“……”

To be precise, it was Evan, Jeremiah’s disciple, that she wanted to see. But she couldn’t say that.

The very reason they became close was because she had gone to play at the Magic Tower against her father’s orders.

“Mmm, so I wanted to know when he’s coming.”

“He’ll be here in ten days.”

“Big brother will stay for one night and leave, right?”

When she asked earnestly with her hands clasped together, Claude shrugged.

“Well, that’s for Jeremiah to decide… But since you wish for it so earnestly, I’ll try asking him too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, or maybe he could stay leisurely for a week or so.”

A week! Loretta was so happy that she hugged his waist tightly.

“Claude is the best! The coolest in the world! I love you so much!”

At that moment, the door behind Claude opened slightly.

His friends, with faces full of curiosity, poked their heads out through the door gap.

“Big brother’s friends?”

When Loretta asked while clinging to Claude’s waist, they waved their hands wildly, making a fuss.

In fact, they had been asking Claude to ‘let us meet your cute little sister just once!’ but had been rejected every time.

“Hello, big brother’s friends. I’m Loretta. Loretta Baldwin.”

At Loretta’s greeting with a bright smile, they all rushed out the door.

“Wow, she’s incredibly cute!”

“So fairies do exist after all!”

“Claude Baldwin, you lucky bastard!”

They took turns screaming and then started introducing themselves to Loretta, competing with each other.

“You know, I am…”

But before the introduction could even begin, Claude lifted Loretta up high.

As if trying to separate her from his friends.

“Loretta. The names of these guys are Claude’s friend number 1, number 2, and number 3.”

“Huh? Which number?”

“From left to right, number 1, number 2, number 3. There’s not a single other name you need to know.”

Hearing that, his friends looked at Claude in shock.

If he kept this up, how would he handle it if his little sister found a special someone in the distant future?

They expressed their condolences in advance to the future man who would become the son-in-law of the ducal family.

An ordinary family’s man probably wouldn’t be able to handle a brother like this.