Chapter 3

Since she had to go to work tomorrow, she should head to bed quickly.

But instead, she walked toward her desk.

Sitting at the desk piled high with books for learning the language of the neighboring Kingdom of Cherdan, Luarina opened a drawer.

Inside was an envelope.

It was a letter she had received not long ago.

She’d been too busy to reply for days, so tonight she was determined to finish her response.

Luarina opened the letter again.

Rustle—

The paper opened, and she read its contents.

To Luna.

You seem to be very busy these days.

I can tell from the two different inks in one letter that you don’t even have time to write properly.

It’s okay to send your reply slowly.

At your age, it’s the busiest time.

Don’t overdo it.

The owner of the letter was her penpal friend H.

This relationship, already continuing for three years, began when Luarina sought a friend to study a foreign language as a credential for her application to the secretarial office.

Because of that, the two always exchanged letters in the language of the Kingdom of Cherdan, not the Imperial language.

In fact, she had already achieved her goal of joining the secretarial office, but Luarina had grown attached to this mysterious friend and continued exchanging letters.

She didn’t know his real name or where he lived.

All she knew was the pseudonym H and that he lived in Cherdan.

The letters were sent through a penpal agency, so neither could learn any personal information about the other.

However, through three years of conversation, Luarina had guessed quite a lot about him.

First of all, this friend seemed to be quite a bit older than Luarina.

‘From the way he talks, he feels like a noble from the neighboring Kingdom of Cherdan. No matter how I think about it, he must be at least five or six years older.’

She didn’t think this for no reason.

She could sense his age from his speech.

Unless he was a member of the Imperial Family, people her age didn’t use that kind of language.

He spoke informally as if it were natural.

If even Luarina, a foreigner, could feel it this strongly, he must be even older in reality.

Still, he probably wanted to seem younger, so she refrained from asking about his age.

Luarina was considerate enough to pretend not to know his age.

But as she reread the letter to write her reply, Luarina suddenly pouted.

He was unnecessarily perceptive.

She was busy, but there was no need to treat her like a child.

She was a proper working adult.

Yet, the way he said “At your age, it’s the busiest time,” sounded like someone who’d seen everything in life.

Well, it did make things more comfortable, though.

Luarina spread out her stationery and began writing her reply with her pen.

To H.

No one knows how hard it is to work in the Imperial Palace secretarial office. It’s really not ordinary work, but nobody appreciates it!

Every single day is overtime.

I even asked my senior today, and she said it’ll be at least two more years before a new hire comes.

Can you believe it?

That I have to endure two more years like this!

I don’t mind being the youngest, but it’s so busy and the daily overtime is exhausting.

I’d borrow a cat’s paw if I could.

If a new hire comes, I’m sure I’ll treat them so well.

I’ll cherish them so much!

If His Majesty knew the hardships of the secretarial office and gave us more staff, I’d have no more wishes left.

But since that will never happen, H, you have to listen to my complaints from time to time. Okay?

Luarina poured out her grievances in the letter.

She couldn’t share these things with her sisters because she always had to act tough around them.

If she showed even a hint of struggle, they’d tease her, saying they knew it would be like this.

So Luarina always confided honestly to her penpal friend.

He lived abroad, and she didn’t even know his face.

He was (probably) much older than her.

She wasn’t revealing any Imperial secrets or insulting the Imperial Family, so it was fine to talk about working in the secretarial office.

Having finished her reply, Luarina pushed the letter to the side of her desk.

It seemed her response was complete.

But now, as if starting the main topic, she swallowed nervously.

‘Ah, nobody’s going to come in, right?’

She worried a little that her sisters might suddenly barge in again.

‘No, everyone’s really gone to bed now.’

With her heart pounding, Luarina carefully flipped over H’s letter.

There was a pink letter attached to the back.

Luarina took out the pink letter.

This was actually the real part of their penpal relationship.

The white letter was for daily life, but the pink letter was…

Luna, about the question you asked last time, don’t believe a word those quick-finish guys say.

Saying finishing quickly is being considerate so the other person isn’t tired?

That’s pure nonsense.

If you want, you can make someone lose their mind for hours during s*x.

Those guys’ things are probably no bigger than a pinky finger.

They probably wear loose clothes to hide it.

Well, people like me have nothing to do with that, so I can’t relate, but just keep it in mind.

Anyway, ignore them.

This was their channel for sharing their secret desires.

A few days ago, Luarina had overheard the Finance Department people talking on her way home. Naturally, curiosity had bubbled up and she’d asked H about it.

Was it really good to finish quickly?

And this was the scathing reply she received.

‘So it was all nonsense?’

She thought it was strange anyway. Good thing she asked.

But as Luarina’s eyes lingered halfway down the letter, her pupils shook.

‘Hours, huh.’

How could someone do it for hours and make someone lose their mind?

S*x really must be something incredible.

Luarina kept reading the letter.

The next part was even more outrageous.

The lower she read, the more it was full of self-praise.

Apparently, truly big and confident people never say such things.

He claimed that if someone actually experienced a guy like him, it would be different, and even wrote that he was sometimes asked if he carried something in his thigh because his thing was so big.

‘Isn’t this just what I heard earlier?’

Luarina remembered the conversation her sisters had just had.

Young Master Fern supposedly carried something in his pants on purpose.

Her sisters had laughed at him so much.

So it seemed like the same situation now.

Oh dear, why is this person like this today too?

He was overflowing with confidence.

Even if they didn’t know each other’s faces, there was a limit to self-praise.

Of course, Luarina was the one who first asked about such dirty topics like s*x and organs.

The only person she could ask about the conversation she overheard in the Imperial Palace hallway was him.

But whatever she asked, he always ended up boasting about himself, which was a bit of a problem.

He was a penpal friend who was a little too full of himself.

But so what?

They didn’t know each other’s faces, and even if it wasn’t true, it didn’t matter.

Even if it was different in reality, exchanging these letters was fun.

In fact, Luarina was starting to enjoy seeing just how far his boasting would go.

‘Hmm, how should I reply?’

Luarina thought for a while, then wrote her reply.

If you hadn’t said it was nonsense, I might have believed it was true.

So finishing quickly isn’t good—I learned something new today thanks to you.

Every time I hear your stories, I feel like you’re really amazing.

How do you answer everything I ask so perfectly?

You must have a lot of experience with everything.

And your positive attitude is always impressive. I always want to learn from you!

As you taught me, I’ll be sure to watch out for men who wear loose pants!

Ah, office life.

Luarina looked at her letter with pride.

Even when dealing with her bosses in the secretarial office, and even with her penpal friend, she applauded them—Luarina.

Nine months of work experience didn’t go to waste.

She was proud of herself.

Life really wasn’t easy.

Luarina’s hand kept moving with her pen.

And I’m a little curious, too.

I wonder what it feels like to have s*x.

Is it really that good?

My sisters said today that a man’s face isn’t everything, and being nice doesn’t matter.

They said nighttime skills are the most important—do you think that’s true, H?

She asked everything she was curious about.

It was annoying when her sisters talked about it, but it would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious.

She was already twenty-four.

But if Luarina showed even a hint of curiosity, her sisters would definitely pounce, so she didn’t want to ask them.

H was someone she could confide in about anything.

‘I wonder what kind of reply I’ll get this time.’

Luarina’s heart raced as she sealed the envelope.

This secret relationship was practically her only escape from her busy life.