Chapter 151 - 78: Letter

Chapter 151: Chapter 78: Letter

Almost three months had passed since Lilia first proposed they get engaged.

The weather had changed from the warmth of spring to the sweltering heat of summer.

During this time, Lilia had sent several messages to the Light Kingdom, but she never once mentioned her engagement to him.

Lilia: "..."

"How have I not made things official?" she asked, finding it a little amusing. "Have you forgotten that personal letter?"

She was referring to the handwritten letter from the King of the Light Kingdom, which she had presented when she first proposed the engagement. It clearly stated that Lilia had full authority over her own marriage.

This also proved that Lilia had already decided to get engaged to him before she even came to Ovis.

"And yet you looked so reluctant when I first brought it up."

Lilia looked up at him. "And now you’re complaining that it’s not official."

"I was hardly reluctant," Lucian said, raising an eyebrow.

Besides, when the King of the Light Kingdom wrote that letter, he only knew that Lilia would be getting engaged to a prince from Ovis.

The specifics—who it would be, when it would happen, and whether things were proceeding smoothly—were all still unclear.

Therefore, Lucian insisted it was absolutely necessary to send a letter with this news to Hillflan.

She had no choice.

Lilia was half-pushed, half-embraced into a chair at the desk, where, under Lucian’s personal supervision, she wrote a letter describing her current situation.

However, she chose not to send it back to Hillflan, to that father of hers.

Ever since she became the Crown Prince, the King of Light had gradually delegated power to the princes and princesses, while he himself retired in peace to enjoy his golden years.

Nominally, he was recuperating at the Royal Court, but in reality, who knew where he was off enjoying himself. A letter sent there would never find him.

So, Lilia simply sent it to Veronica instead.

With the situation in Ovis resolved, Veronica had also reportedly withdrawn from Salden.

She should have plenty of free time to read these... um, daily updates Lilia was being forced to share.

...

[Dearest Veronica, I hope you are well.]

[This is our third day in Nestway since Lucian and I arrived.]

[It’s a coastal city. Even though it’s already summer, the temperature is cool and pleasant, making it perfect for a vacation.]

[Over the past few days, Lucian and I have tried a lot of the local specialties. Tomorrow, we’re renting a fishing boat to try our hand at fishing.]

[I hear you can either take your catch home to prepare yourself or have the captain sell it to a restaurant he knows. If you’re lucky and catch a rare species, you might even make back the cost of renting the boat.]

[But the captain said that’s highly unlikely.]

[I seriously considered the possibility of using Water Element Magic to catch fish. When the captain heard this, he was horrified and urged me to drop the idea.]

[Lucian said he must have misunderstood. This town is very small, and the townsfolk have no concept of Magic. What he imagined as Water Element Magic was probably a storm capable of engulfing the entire sea.]

[Oh, right, speaking of Lucian... Although we haven’t had a formal banquet yet, we’re already engaged.]

[I know this is sudden, but let me explain.]

[Um, it’s basically that Lucian felt it was necessary to let you all know. After all, marriage is an affair between two families, and you are my family.]

[Remember to pass the news on to Adrian and the others for me, and say hello to them as well.]

[—Lilia, June 17, 1372, in Nestway.]

...

[Dearest Veronica, I hope you’re well.]

[We arrived in Florence today. Like Nestway, it’s also a very famous tourist town.]

[The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and I have no desire to go out at all. We ended up staying at a winery in the countryside. The owner said he could teach us winemaking step-by-step.]

[I’m not very interested in wine, but the grapes are delicious.]

[The owner said these are the rejected varieties because they aren’t suitable for winemaking...]

[I’m definitely not interested in wine.]

[I originally wanted to send some grapes to you all, but the journey would take too long.]

[Lucian and I looked into it and decided to make a Magic Insulation Box. I hope the grapes will still have their best flavor by the time they get to you.]

[Remember to let them thaw before eating.]

[—Lilia, July 10, 1372, in Florence.]

...

[Dearest Veronica, I hope this finds you in good spirits.]

[Yes, I’m writing to you again.]

[I received your reply. It’s a shame Chris didn’t get to eat the grapes I sent...]

[I’d love to send another batch for him, but we’ve already left Florence and arrived in a small town called Nerigo.]

[Unlike Florence and Nestway, this isn’t a tourist town. The reason I came here is that it has the largest church in the vicinity. I heard that a priest from the Hess Empire passed through here long ago and funded its construction himself to spread his faith.]

[I had heard about the Hess Empire a long time ago and was very curious about that mysterious nation, so Lucian and I came to have a look.]

[That’s right, Lucian is mentioned in this letter, too.]

[He’s watching me from the side, so I have to write it...]

[But back to the topic at hand.]

[Unfortunately, the church is over a hundred years old and has been renovated several times. The original group of Holy Order members have all left for various reasons.]

[The ones who remain here now are all locals from Nerigo.]

[The day Lucian and I arrived, we happened to catch their monthly mass.]

[We aren’t followers of this God; we just wanted to attend out of curiosity. The priest presiding over the mass initially disagreed, but then we donated a little money... All right, we donated a lot of money and successfully got ourselves into the church.]

[It was very quiet in the church. I didn’t really understand what the priest and the choir were chanting, perhaps because I have no talent for theology.]

[Most of the attendees were common folk, along with some poor people in ragged clothes. Many of them weren’t actually believers in the God either; they only came to try their luck after hearing that Holy Communion would be distributed.]

[The priest was aware of this, but he didn’t turn them away.]

[Perhaps this place isn’t as transactional as I imagined.]

[After the mass, the priest sought out Lucian and me privately. He told me that no matter who you are, or what your status is, the God will gladly accept anyone willing to convert.]

[These people, they’re as hard to understand when they speak as when they’re chanting scripture. I suspect he was taking a jab at me, but unfortunately, I have no solid proof.]

[The Light Kingdom’s decision to forbid the Church from large-scale proselytizing was absolutely the right one.]

[—Lilia, July 31, 1372, in Nerigo.]