[Physis' POV]
As soon as I heard my older brother's words, I hurriedly returned to my room. Sure enough, there were huge piles of letters stacked on my desk.
If Adilun, who had already expressed her feelings towards me, saw this... It might be a big surprise to her.
I began to sort out the letters.
In my heart, I wanted to burn them all at once... But I couldn't, because there might be some important letters within this pile, which I needed to carefully sift through.
Still, I threw away all the letters with unfamiliar names that didn't seem important. It was obvious that they would be full of contents that were not a big deal anyway.
Continuing to the task of sorting through the pile of letters, I was relieved that I didn't rashly burn them all.
It was because there was a letter from Princess Lobelia. I took a quick look just in case, and there was a note saying to come to the imperial palace with Adilun when we had time.
At the end, I decided to keep this one and quickly burned the rest.
I started by gathered mana in my hand.
There was a high chance of arousing suspicion if I lit the fire myself... So I had to burn them quickly.
But just as I was about to burn the letters... a sudden knock echoed through the door.
"Physis? Are you in there?"
My heart sank at the sound of the voice I least wanted to hear in this situation. And top of that, I hadn't even finished handling the letters yet...
"Yes, yes!"
Despite my reluctance, I couldn't just ignore her, so I hastily opened the door.
As the door opened, a thought struck me suddenly.
'Why should I be afraid?'
Adilun was speechless as she looked at the scenery in my room. The sight of hundreds of letters scattered all over the room was probably the reason for this reaction.
"… …What is all this?"
Her tone was quite bleak. So I got a bad feeling and answered her quickly.
"They are letters sent to me. I think they are all the letters that came while I was staying in Rodenov."
"I know they are letters. What's in them?"
"That, well, uh… … ."
"Most of them are letters asking to meet, right?"
"There are so many names I've never seen before, so I was just about to burn them all."
"I see. But Physis, you can't do that. The princesses must have put so much effort into writing those letters with great care… …You can't just burn them all like that. So, wouldn't it be better to read it once?"
At her suggestion, my intuition suddenly spoke to me.
The situation didn't seem very good. I didn't know where her anger came from, but when I saw her, she clearly looked jealous… … I knew that if I answered incorrectly here, I would suffer for nothing.
"That's not going to happen. No. Never. It's unnecessary. Even if it was written with all their heart and soul... I already have a fiancee named Adilun. Letters like that would only cause trouble for me."
'Haa. With this answer, her heart would have been satisfied quite a bit.'
Thinking so, I raised my head and looked at her with a nervous feeling, and Adilun's strained expression eased a little as she looked at me... then she looked at my hand and stiffened her expression again.
"Is that s-so... By the way… …What is that letter you are holding in your hand? You seem to be holding on to it with great care… …"
Her suspicious gaze reached my hand. She was looking at the letter sent by Princess Lobelia.
'She asked about our well-being and said she would call me and her soon.'
Since there was nothing wrong with the contents, I immediately showed her the letter.
"Ah, this is a letter from Princess Lobelia. She said she would like to meet me and Adilun soon. And also we can't just damage the imperial family letter, can we? That's why I was going to show it to you."
"Is that so? Let me see it."
I immediately handed her the letter, and she quickly scanned it before nodding her head.
"I understand now. But... Those letters over there, you really don't need them anymore, right?"
"Of course. I was going to burn them all down."
"No. Physis doesn't have to go through all that trouble.."
-Snap!
At that moment, Adilun circulated mana and snapped her fingers once.
Immediately, the piled of letters caught fire and began to burn all at once.
Not even ashes were left in the place where they were burned. Thinking that as if it was a warning from her, I felt a little scared… …but at the same time, it felt good.
The fact that Adilun was jealous for me, made me happy. It meant that she liked me that much. In truth, a desired for monopoly could even be a way to confirm someone's affection, as long as it wasn't too excessive. So I was relieved that Adilun wasn't angry with me.
"To meet separately... There is no princess who made an appointment to meet separately, right?"
"I didn't have time for that. I don't even think about it."
"… …I see. I'm sorry for behaving rudely. It was an excessive curiosity, wasn't it...?"
"It's okay because it's you."
"Oh okay... Thank you."
"Then shall we go out for a while? There's a place I'd like to show you."
"Where?"
"There is a scenery that I really want to show you. Please follow me."
I took her hand and led her out of the room.
* * *
[Adilun's POV]
I already knew that he was popular.
However... amidst the feast of those fresh love letters that covered the entire room, even I, who already knew this fact, couldn't prevent myself from feeling shady jealousy and possessiveness that raised its head inside me.
So, I burned them all. Without letting him touch them, I did it myself. It was surely an act that crossed the line... and could be considered unnecessary meddling on my part.
But... I wanted to do it.
Recently, it seemed like I had been losing my temper too often whenever it came to Physis-related matters.
It was like same in Selina's case, and it was like that now too.
At a critical moment, these points might hold me back. No, it would definitely hinder me.
Even so, the reason why I had no choice but to be overly emotional about things related to him… … Because I couldn't let someone else take away the person I liked just because it might hold me back a little.
Maybe it was because I couldn't lose the only person like love in my life.
That was why I intended to actively step up in matters related to him from now on. Regret always comes too late... and if that regret attacked me as a result of losing what was most precious to me, I won't be able to forgive myself.
After burning all the letters, Physis looked at me with a slightly relieved face and then began leading me somewhere.
He seemed to have grown accustomed to holding my hand now, so he grabbed it whenever it was like this. Of course, so did I. And every time he do that… …I felt a sense of fulfillment.
How long had we been walking? We didn't go too far. We just walked a little after leaving the Ortaire Castle... and various scenery caught my eye.
A windmill that spins while leaning against the wind. And in front… … A golden wave that shone just by looking at it.
And above it, the blue sky embraced the golden sun.
It was a scenery that couldn't be seen in Rodenov. Looking at the wide golden wave, it felt like this place was the source of life, to the point where I could feel any kind of emotion.
"Wow… …"
I couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration. This was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen in my life, if not the most.
It reminded me of the view from the bell tower of the Caltix Fortress, a place I wanted to show Physis someday.
"Isn't it beautiful? In fact, I didn't know how beautiful this scene was at first. To be exact, until I met Adilun."
"Me?"
"Yes. Before that, I was a twisted guy somewhere. I couldn't feel what others felt, and I had no concept of beauty. However, I wondered if I had realized some more humane feelings after meeting Adilun. So when I reflected on my life again, this scene came to my mind."
"… … I see."
"So I really wanted to show you this scene. The scenery of Rodenov, where you lived, was very nice, but You see, the place where one was born and raised always has a certain scent that can't be surpassed. Maybe it's the same with Adilun. The most beautiful place for you… … There must be a place like that."
"Yes, that's right."
"Since I showed you this scenery today… … Someday... next time, I hope you will show me such a place too."
"Yes, I will."
It was such a beautiful sight. And… … Just seeing that scene with this person next to me made me felt like the world was widening a lot.
The wide sky, the vast wheat field, and the little me and him standing there.
How long had we been there?
Even though the sun was shining… … It started raining suddenly. It was an unusual experience. A strange sight with clouds on one side and the sun shining on the other.
Even that was new to me, as it was an unimaginable sight in Rodenov.
I felt the cold raindrops hitting me little by little, and I heard Physis' voice.
"This. Ah… … . Come in quickly. You might catch a cold again."
"… …Yes."
At my regretful look, he comforted me.
"I'm sorry, but it's okay because we can come back tomorrow."
"I see."
While stepping on his sidewalk, I stumbled.
"Oh!"
"Adilun!"
He wrapped his arms around me in an instant. My body, which started to get wet little by little, touched my body, and at some point, I was held in his arms like a princess.
"Is it okay?"
"Oh, yes. I was just a little surprised."
However, I couldn't ask him to let me down since my body was still trembling from the aftermath of my misstep, and one of my shoes had a broken heel.
"Anyway, this kind of land doesn't seem suitable for walking with your shoes right now. I was careless."
Perhaps noticing my state, Physis gave me a strong embrace. Without even realizing it, I got more closer to him, burying myself in his arms.
"Then could you take me there like this?"
As I mumbled in his arms, I felt him nodding. His embrace carried the same scent as before.
A scent that was refreshing and cool.
I had been curious about where this scent came from. It wasn't just the smell of a simple perfume, but rather his own natural scent that was fragrant.
But now, in this situation, I finally understood.
It was the result of his temperament, born under the vast sky of Ortaire. As his temperament seeped into the mana, it gave off this fragrance to someone sensitive to mana like me.
Even as he carried me in his arms and ran, I simply enjoyed his fragrance, feeling comfortable in his embrace.