Since this is your story, not Aila’s, couldn’t you share it with me? To be honest, I also think, what’s wrong with talking about someone who’s already married and gone?

I’m not trying to test your loyalty.

Instead, I want to make you a proposal.

You said you exchanged letters with Aila quite by chance, miraculously. In other words, there was no special reason.

Then wouldn’t it be fine if the person you exchange letters with isn’t necessarily Aila?

That is, if you’re not specifically exchanging letters only with the prettiest girl from across the sea.

As I mentioned earlier, I spend almost all day inside the house, and my sister, who occasionally kept me company, is now gone. My grandfather has started to go deaf, so to have a conversation with him, I need to shout loudly, but my throat is a bit weak.—Not just my throat—

It’s fine for a short while, but if I keep speaking loudly, my throat gets slightly torn, and sometimes I can’t speak for hours, like someone suffering from a cold.

But I can write reasonably well. If my right hand hurts, I can switch to my left, and I can rest and finish it later.

What do you think?

I don’t think it’s a bad proposal for you either. Although your letter partner has changed, I might be better than Aila for sharing secrets. My sister was the most popular person on the island, and I’m not.

Think about it carefully and reply.

Until your reply comes, I’ll be endlessly pacing the hallway.

Sent by Asha, May 6

P.S. That poem you said Aila wrote, I wrote it when I was ten. I did Aila’s homework for her. The only class my otherwise excellent sister detested was composition, and writing is the only thing I do better than her.]

[To you who shattered even the last bit of romance

Thank you for staining even my only memory with truth. All the friendship I believed I had built was a lie. Were the adults right when they warned not to trust outsiders carelessly?

I dismissed it all as nonsense. Saying they had become cowards with age.

Before establishing “our relationship,” there’s still one unresolved issue.

How did you get the letter into the house?

I want to ask the same thing. I never wrote an address even once, so how are your letters delivered to me precisely?

This morning when I opened the window for ventilation, a flatly folded letter charged at my forehead, and I almost got a bruise.

I didn’t exchange letters with Miss Aila very often. Naturally, the island where you are and where I am are very far apart. For a letter to arrive by normal methods, it would take at least a month, and if there’s heavy snow, it could take two to two and a half months.

Miss Aila’s letter envelopes always had the island’s official seal. I would peek at the city gate, wondering when Miss Aila’s letter would arrive.

But your letters don’t have stamps, and crucially, even though you don’t know where I am—they always find me precisely.

What kind of magic are you using?

Mine is quite simple. We have several paintings in our house, and one of them has a very old spell on it. Mother says it’s not magic but fairy mischief, but when it gives us miracles, what difference does that distinction make?

When I put a letter into the painting, the figure in the painting walks the path and delivers it step by step to the farthest island from here.

It’s a very large painting, done in oil on a wide canvas.

Does that answer your question?

And while your proposal is quite attractive…… the timing doesn’t seem right.

I was very sincere and tried my best. That sincerity and effort were betrayed just days ago. For me to have a genuine exchange with that person’s sister seems a bit difficult for now.

I don’t want to sound weak, but it’s too short a time for the wound to heal.

I hope you understand with a compassionate heart.

On the day when the moon is fullest, Carol full of worries]

[To Carol

A painting. What an unimaginable method. But thinking about it more, it’s not entirely unbelievable. After all, the way I send letters to you isn’t conventional either.

Come to think of it, the letters were always in the same location. Under the hallway leading to the first-floor study. After reading your letter, I walked from one end of the hallway to the other—though that’s barely twenty steps—and I think I found a clue.

Is such cute magic—or mischief—normal where you live? No, no. That can’t be. If it were, you wouldn’t have called your correspondence with Aila a miracle.

Ah, and I understand your negative opinion about my proposal. But there seems to be a clear misunderstanding, so let me explain once more.

Genuine exchange?

What nonsense are you talking about?

I didn’t ask you to tell the truth. If you paint everything from your name to your age with lies, how would I know? I can’t take even one step outside of Iota.

This means I have no intention of chasing you to where you are and making things difficult for you. Even if you’re actually short and balding, you can introduce yourself here as a tall, slender beauty with distinct features.

Can’t you just say whatever you want to say? It’s very tiring to measure truth and lies. I don’t have the energy for that either.

I’ll just believe you.

So, even if you lay out complaints riddled with lies—self-centeredly edited—I’ll respond as if such things happened.

Does unchangeable truth even exist in the first place?

As long as humans are involved, values are assigned and hierarchies are established in any matter. Even in the same violent incident, each person might consider themselves the victim.

What’s your opinion?

In other words, I don’t demand perfect truth or sincerity from you. I can’t swear that I’ll only declare truths to you either. I’ll talk about what I want to, as I please.

Isn’t this more comfortable than pretending to be proper to impress a woman four years older?

Think about it once more.

May 21, Asha

P.S. My method of sending letters is simple. I kiss the letter and breathe into it. Then it goes where it needs to go.]

[To a friend with wondrous skills

May I call you “friend”? Since you spoke informally to me, I’ll address you as I please too.

Not having to be truthful. It was an unusual tolerance, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. People tend to place truth as the highest value. Including myself.

That’s why in my letters with Miss Aila, I tried to convey my feelings as truthfully as possible. Of course, out of desire not to appear childish, I added various decorations and removed some emotions.

There was not a shred of falsehood in what I confided to Miss Aila. There was some processing, but what matters is the original, right?

So, what I mean is.

Alright, let’s do it that way. As you said. Though that doesn’t mean I’m going to deliberately lie. I’m not imaginative enough to make up everything about myself.

Even when I was very young, I never dreamed of flying in the sky. Same with dreams of being chased by monsters. All the wishes I’ve held are rooted in reality.

You said it yourself.

That you won’t distinguish between truth and falsehood. Yes, I promise too. I’ll keep in mind that what you say might be false, but I’ll accept it all as truth.

As I organize my thoughts, I wonder what on earth I’m saying. If my brothers knew, they’d frown and say “what nonsense is this.”

Well, I have absolutely no intention of letting my brothers know.

I look forward to our future correspondence.

On the day when leaves peek out, your new friend]

[Good.]

[To Asha

After receiving your last letter, I waited a few more days wondering if I had sent it to the wrong person. I thought perhaps in your haste you had delivered a note first and would add a calm explanation later.

But after a large folded paper without an envelope hit my forehead, there was no further contact. You have no idea how my heart was like a frozen lake all this time.

After so sincerely tempting, no, persuading me, suddenly such a half-hearted response! If your previous letter was your entire answer, I would be a little disappointed.

Though you must have your unavoidable circumstances!

I wondered all night if I had done something wrong. I didn’t plan to stay up all night, but sleep wouldn’t come.

I even got worked up thinking maybe the sisters were plotting together to tease me. But judging from your letters, you don’t seem like the type with enough energy to tease someone. Yes, at least that’s what I want to believe.

So if you don’t have plans to hurt me…….

Was calling you “friend” too hasty? We haven’t exchanged many letters, so you might have felt the expression was too familiar. I chose that title thinking it was more common.

Then what would be a suitable, appropriate title? I hope you’ll think about it with me. I wasted the entire morning today until just before sending this letter, worrying about how to begin.

I hope your truthful reply—though it doesn’t have to be truthful—will ease my anxiety.

On a day with particularly bright skies, sent by Carol]