SIWALL Ch 41

Elliot’s vehement denial made Elliot laugh once more. A dazzling radiance seemed to stream from that smile, making his eyeballs sting as if he had stared directly at the sun. Whether Elliot was clutching his both eyes or not, Elliot picked up a handkerchief and stood up.

And he opened the first drawer of the bedside nightstand and put the handkerchief inside.

“I’ll carry this with me starting tomorrow.”

Embarrassed for no reason, Elliot busily pretended to open a book.

“If you say so… do as you please, then.”

At Elliot’s mumbling voice, Elliot laughed once more. However, this time, Elliot couldn’t even bring himself to look at that face.

“I have something to give you, too.”

Saying that, Elliot took out a small box from the drawer where he had put the handkerchief. Handing the box to Elliot, he said,

“In place of the apple tree sapling.”

Elliot accepted the box and opened it. Inside lay a brand-new pair of glasses.

“…Ah.”

“I’m giving them to you because it bothered me that the frame of your glasses was unbalanced. It doesn’t mean anything special, though.”

Elliot gave a blunt, supplementary explanation.

Elliot slowly picked up the glasses. The design was similar to his current glasses, but on both sides of the thin and light silver frames, the initials ‘E. B’ were delicately engraved in cursive.

“This…”

When Elliot abruptly raised his head and looked at Elliot, Elliot flinched and closed the nightstand drawer.

“I had them made with my own handwriting. Not that it means anything special, though.”

Custom-made glasses of this era, completed in just a day.

Elliot could guess how much Elliot must have pressured the glasses artisans and made a fuss to create these. Poor artisans…

However, it was a strange thing. Usually, he would have empathized with them and cursed out Elliot, but right now, he didn’t feel like doing that. Pitying them lasted only a moment, and Elliot’s chest filled with joy. He was even overwhelmed because he liked these glasses, specially made just for him, so much.

“If you tell Henderson about the lenses, he’ll adjust them separately. For now, they don’t have any prescription—”

“I love them!”

“…”

“Thank you so much. Really, truly, this is the best gift I’ve ever received in my life.”

Elliot’s eyes were sparkling, literally like the eyes of a young child who had received a gift. That sparkle was so brilliant that Elliot slightly narrowed the corners of his eyes.

Elliot didn’t see Elliot’s expression. He quickly took off his old glasses, which were slightly tilted and twisted to the right, and put on the glasses Elliot had gifted him. Although he couldn’t see well yet because there was no prescription, Elliot beamed at Elliot with a playful, wide smile.

“Do they suit me well?”

“…Very much, they suit you well.”

Elliot replied slowly.

Thrilled, Elliot used his fingers to push up the glasses and even traced his own initials engraved on the side of the frames.

1. B.

Elliot Brown.

After possessing this body, for the very first time, he came to think that having this name was truly wonderful and made him happy.

“Thank you.”

Elliot greeted him once more.

There was no reply from Elliot. However, since Elliot ignoring Elliot’s words was a routine occurrence, Elliot didn’t pay it much mind and scrunched up the bridge of his nose wearing the glasses.

If Elliot had paid just a little bit of attention to Elliot back then, he would have been able to see that, just like Elliot, the tips of Elliot’s ears were tinged with a slight redness.

∞ ∞ ∞

Ever since that day, Elliot wore his new glasses and poured his energy into ghostwriting Loran’s letters to Elliot.

「To the kind Grand Duke Elliot Teron,

I am delivering news of the poor crow. The crow received proper treatment and flew back up into the sky. Thank you for your concern.

Just receiving a reply from Your Grace makes me genuinely happy. However, I think it would be nice if you talked a bit more about yourself.

I received a small gift from a friend today. It’s a painting drawn by some unknown artist, and my friend said they are currently sponsoring him and he is bound to make a name for himself soon.

So I kept the painting. If he becomes famous, just having it will have value, and even if he doesn’t, it serves as a token of sincerity acknowledging my friend’s expectations.

That is how wise I am. I hope you see me in a new light.

Yours humbly, Loran Pedet」

Elliot’s reply to this was as follows.

「To Loran Pedet,

All humility is dead.

And gifts are not meant to be received with such a calculated heart.

You need to look around you and learn a bit more.

Elliot Teron」

「To the mystical Grand Duke Elliot Teron,

Just who am I supposed to learn from? You speak in such short sentences, Your Grace, that I cannot quite understand. I suppose this is a matter of Your Grace’s consideration rather than an issue with my intelligence.

And what is wrong with calculation? Isn’t a calculated heart born from good intentions also a part of good intentions itself? Anyone among that ‘surrounding’ crowd Your Grace mentioned is probably calculating diligently in their hearts. It’s just that Your Grace doesn’t know.

I am a very good-natured person. You haven’t forgotten the fact that I am a piece of the divine, have you?

From the angel in white, Loran Pedet」

Upon receiving Loran’s letter, Elliot let out a snort before he realized it. He still didn’t much care for Loran, but surprisingly, exchanging letters with Loran was entertaining.

Loran’s letters were neither aristocratic, elegant, nor noble. Though less than Elliot’s, they were written straight to the point, heavily self-absorbed, and above all, his bad personality was laid bare. As he read his letters, he would fall under the illusion that Loran’s face was floating right above the paper.

Yet, on the other hand, there was a flavor that kept making him read them. Without flashy rhetoric or unnecessarily long greetings, the short letters written straight to the point possessed a sort of rhythm. Letters that seemed to honestly display his flaws sometimes gave the impression of being cute.

Cute, you say.

Elliot pushed the letter aside with a sneer. When it came to cute, Elliot Brown…

Thinking up to that point, Elliot consciously stiffened his face. And he picked up his pen to write a reply.

「To Loran Pedet,

Whomever I meant by that ‘surrounding’ crowd purely accepts goodwill without any such calculated intentions.

You couldn’t do that even if you died and came back to life.

Give up. Don’t even dare to try. It’s displeasing.

Elliot Teron」

Elliot knew that he had gotten angry rather out of nowhere, but he couldn’t help it. It was because the moment the word cute came to mind, Elliot Brown had popped right into his head, which he couldn’t believe.

Of course, Elliot Brown fell into the cute category, but still, he wasn’t cute.

Without realizing his own logical fallacy, Elliot took out the handkerchief he had tucked into the inner pocket of his chest. Elliot’s face had naturally relaxed before he knew it. It was a stealthy yet clear change, like ink spreading through water.

∞ ∞ ∞

For a few days, peaceful days continued. Elliot, disguised as Elliot and Loran, rapidly exchanged letters, and the content of the letters became more trivial. The most recent letter was like this.

「To the hero of Lantar, Grand Duke Elliot Teron,

This morning, a young noble who adores me gifted me a gemstone necklace. It was a very flashy women’s necklace. Exactly what does he expect me to do with this and walk around? Of course, there is nothing that doesn’t suit my beauty, though.

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Your Grace wear accessories. May I ask what kind of accessories you mainly wear besides a mask? I might give you one as a gift later. In my opinion, anything would look great on Your Grace. Let me know in your reply. You know my financial power, right?

From Loran Pedet, whose safe is about to burst」

「To Loran Pedet,

The accessory I like is a mask.

Stop sending letters now.

Elliot Teron」

「To the masked handsome Grand Duke,

How about I gift you a mask used at masquerade balls or in the opera? Because such a flashy mask seems like it would suit you well, too. Since Your Grace has no way of hiding your flashy beauty even when covered by a mask, and you always wear clothes of simple shapes, I think it would be good to spruce you up a bit with a mask. What do you think?

From Loran Pedet, who has a sharp eye」

「To Loran Pedet,

Are you going around selling masks lately?

I’m not buying.

Elliot Teron」

“The way that mouth of yours talks…”

A deep smile hung across Elliot’s face as he said that.

Lately, everything was good. Elliot’s job as a bedtime attendant had become extremely comfortable, he had gotten closer to Elliot—at least in Elliot’s mind—and ghostwriting the letters was also enjoyable.

Somehow, he even felt satisfied by Elliot’s consistency in treating Loran coldly, unlike how he treated himself.

“My, oh my, this is unsettling…”

Anxiety and worry gradually bloomed on Elliot’s smiling face. It wasn’t an emotion based on evidence. It was simply because of a rule known to anyone who had ever set foot in the service industry.

The moment you cheerfully say, “There are no customers today,” a group of customers rushes in. They invariably order different dishes. They loudly chat and laugh amongst themselves, and at some moment, at someone’s single remark of “Hasn’t this all been made yet?”, multiple gazes quietly and simultaneously plant themselves on the part-time worker.

The law of the universe.

Peaceful days could never possibly continue on forever.