Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 54

[Translation By Divinity]

But Lilliana seemed quite determined to follow Damian. He had no right to tell her what to do.

He sighed softly and started walking again. It felt awkward that Lilliana, who usually chattered beside him, was now walking behind him with a cold expression. Damian wasn’t used to this kind of situation.

Lilliana remained silent until they reached the library. Damian walked between the bookshelves organized by genre, sweating nervously. He was in the children’s book section. Lilliana, who had followed him, looked puzzled, but he pretended not to notice.

Damian browsed the books and picked out a few that caught his interest. Then, feeling a sudden emptiness beside him, he looked around and realized Lilliana was gone.

He assumed she had gotten bored and left, so he turned his attention back to the books on the shelf. But then he groaned and turned around. He scanned the space between the bookshelves. And not far away, he spotted Lilliana with her blonde hair tied up high.

She was on her tiptoes, reaching for a book on the top shelf, her outstretched hand trembling slightly. There was probably a ladder nearby, but she seemed too lazy to get it and was attempting to reach it on her own.

But from Damian’s perspective, she was way too short. Finally, unable to watch any longer, Damian approached her and took out the book she was trying to reach, handing it to her.

Lilliana, too focused on the book, hadn’t noticed him approaching and was startled. Her eyes widened like a rabbit’s.

But her expression quickly turned sullen, and she hugged the book, saying in a prickly voice,

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

After a brief thank you, Lilliana turned and walked towards the desks. She found a spot and sat down, opening the book. When her eyes met Damian’s, she narrowed them. Intimidated, Damian turned his attention back to the bookshelf, pretending nothing had happened.

He was also bothered by the book Lilliana had chosen. He wasn’t particularly interested in what she read, but he had caught a glimpse of the title.

‘The Adventures of the Brave Knight Stern.’

It was a fairy tale about the adventures of Knight Stern, the namesake of Damian’s irresponsible mother’s haphazardly chosen surname.

He didn’t know why she had chosen a well-known children’s book, but Damian didn’t want to encounter it.

He had been teased a lot as a child because of his last name, and it had made him stand out unnecessarily as he grew older. He had wanted to change his name when he was younger, but the legal process was long and complicated, so he had given up.

But regardless, it wasn’t his business what book Lilliana read, so he focused back on his own books.

Soon, Damian settled down at a table on the opposite side of where Lilliana was sitting and neatly arranged the books he had chosen. The first book he opened was a fairy tale about a commotion in a forest inhabited by various fairies and spirits.

Yes, Damian had begun learning about spirits from the basics.

If he wanted to learn about mythical creatures, fairy tales passed down through oral tradition were the obvious starting point. So Damian concluded that he needed to understand spirits starting from what was described in fairy tales.

Damian began reading the fairy tale with a serious expression.

***

Feeling hungry while reading, Damian checked the time. It was already lunchtime. He thought about getting something to eat and then going to his rehabilitation session, so he tidied up his space and looked around.

He felt bad about leaving Lilliana alone to eat, so he walked towards where she had been reading.

But he stopped abruptly when he saw her. Lilliana was reading the book with tears streaming down her face. Damian was taken aback.

‘Why?!’

‘The Adventures of the Brave Knight Stern’ was, as the title suggested, an adventure story. The knight defeats monsters, helps people, and becomes a hero…

It was a cheerful story, so Damian couldn’t understand what part of it would make someone cry. Moreover, he hesitated to interrupt her and suggest going for lunch in such an atmosphere.

Damian hesitantly approached Lilliana. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn’t notice him coming. When he tapped her shoulder, she jumped in surprise and turned around.

“…Would you like to get some lunch?”

Damian asked awkwardly, and Lilliana wiped her tears with the back of her hand, closed the book, and stood up. She sniffled, her eyes red, as she started walking.

Lilliana didn’t say anything, so Damian assumed she agreed to his lunch suggestion and led the way.

A sniffling, crying girl and an awkward man following behind her. It was a sight that could easily be misinterpreted.

Damian, realizing they were attracting attention, quickly walked beside Lilliana and offered her a handkerchief.

“Why are you crying?”

Lilliana silently took the handkerchief, wiped her eyes, and then blew her nose. Damian, too preoccupied to even think about choosing a menu, led her into a nearby restaurant. Only after they were seated did Lilliana speak.

“I feel sorry for Sir Stern.”

“Ah…”

Damian thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Because the king ordered him to search for the princess for the rest of his life? That’s a bit harsh, I suppose.”

But Lilliana shook her head and said, still sniffling,

“That’s not what I meant… Sir Stern and the princess loved each other, but they couldn’t be together.”

“Huh?”

Damian let out a silly sound.

“I read it again after a long time, and now that I’m older, I understand. They loved each other.”

“Really? Which part?”

Damian asked curiously, but Lilliana flipped through the menu and said,

“Let’s get the two-person lunch course.”

“…Okay.”

Lilliana called the waiter, placed their order, and gulped down some cold water. She seemed to have finally calmed down, her flushed face from crying returning to its normal color. Damian stared at her, still waiting for an answer, and she looked back at him with a puzzled expression.

“The interpretation that Sir Stern and the princess loved each other is quite common, Damian. Haven’t you ever heard of it?”

‘Heard of it or not, I wasn’t interested enough to even look for such interpretations.’

***

The plot of ‘The Adventures of the Brave Knight Stern’ went like this:

Sir Stern was a knight of a kingdom. His skills as a knight were exceptional, and the king favored him. Then one day, the princess of the kingdom disappeared without a trace, just a day before her wedding to the prince of a neighboring kingdom.

The kingdom, as well as the neighboring kingdom, was thrown into chaos. The king summoned Sir Stern and ordered him to find the princess. Accepting the mission, Sir Stern immediately embarked on an adventure to find her. During his journey, he defeated a dragon that was threatening a village and helped commoners oppressed by an evil lord.

As he built up his reputation over several years of wandering, Sir Stern’s status in the kingdom grew higher and higher. Every citizen in the kingdom knew of him, and he had become a hero of the kingdom, surpassing the king’s favor.

However, a year passed, then two, then five, then ten, and Sir Stern still couldn’t find the princess. The prince of the neighboring kingdom, unable to bear the wait any longer, gave up on the princess and married another beautiful lady. As time went on, the princess was gradually forgotten by the people.