She cheered herself on repeatedly in her mind. By earning money, someday she would be able to repay all her debts to her uncle and completely sever ties with that house. Until now, she had lived without forming relationships, focusing only on studying and tutoring to maintain her scholarship, but from now on, she might be able to meet new people and live a new life.

Her heart swelled with excitement about new encounters as much as with tension about the future.

‘Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t sent a letter to the author for too long.’

Suddenly, she realized that she hadn’t been able to send a letter to Author Leonie, to whom she had been regularly writing, because she had been busy preparing for graduation and employment.

I should also let her know about my employment……

Yes, even though it’s urgent, I should do that first!

Although she had just moved into the staff residence yesterday and hadn’t completely finished cleaning her room, let alone preparing for her first day of work, Connie decided to send a greeting letter to the author first and began writing, pressing her pen firmly against the paper.

⁕⁕⁕

[Author Leonie, it’s been a while since I’ve greeted you.

Are you staying healthy?

It’s still hot during the day, but perhaps autumn is approaching as cool breezes blow in the mornings and evenings. So if you happen to go out for a walk in the evening while writing, I recommend taking at least a thin sweater with you. It would be unfair to catch a cold in this weather. They say colds come when you let your guard down.

Ah, have I given too presumptuous advice? I’m sorry. But whenever I think of you, for some reason I keep thinking of the mother I’ve never seen.]

“Connie. This woman is at it again.”

Ryan frowned as he read the letter he had been waiting for from Connie Clarence.

This was the first contact after a very long time since Connie Clarence’s previous letter, and this woman’s misunderstanding, which hadn’t bothered him much before and had even seemed amusing, now suddenly felt unpleasant.

No, to be more precise, this misunderstanding had started to bother him since he met her directly at the Steen University graduation ceremony.

Connie Clarence seemed convinced that he was a middle-aged woman from the very first day she sent a letter.

It made sense that she thought he was a woman since ‘Leonie’ is a female name. But it was incomprehensible why she thought he was middle-aged or older. In fact, the pen name ‘Leonie’ was taken from the name of a truly small and pretty little girl who wasn’t even ten years old!

[I’m sorry for contacting you after such a long time. Actually, I’ve just gotten a job and have been a bit busy. I wanted to let you know that I’ll be starting my first day of work in a few days, so I’m writing this letter.

Ah…… you’re asking what job I got? Ta-da! I’ve become a teacher. I got a job as a teacher at a school in the capital. I wrote in a previous letter that I was taking teaching courses, but I’m not sure if you remember. I had been preparing to be a teacher for a while, and I was really fortunate to get a job right after graduation.

The new semester starts in September. So I have only a few days left before I stand at the podium.

Oh, I seem to be talking too much about myself today. I think I’m a bit excited about becoming a working adult for the first time, not a student. Last night I was so nervous that I couldn’t sleep well. It could also be because I just moved yesterday and the bed was unfamiliar.

Anyway, so I took out your book and read it again, and my goodness! I planned to read just a little before sleeping, but I ended up reading it all the way through. After finishing, my neck was even a bit stiff. As you probably already guessed, I’m not yet at an age where my neck joints should be strained.]

It’s not a guess, I’ve already seen you. I’ve seen your neck too, so thin it looked like it might break if lightly tapped.

[I really can’t help but love your writing. I’m still curious about what kind of person you are, who writes such newly entertaining and beautiful writing every time I read it. So actually, when I meet a beautiful lady on the street, I imagine if she might be you.

Ah! The ‘beauty’ I’m thinking of doesn’t necessarily mean appearance. When I see a mother smiling warmly at a cute baby in a stroller, or middle-aged women showing kindness to poor people, I think they are beautiful.

I’m sorry for imagining you on my own, but I can’t help but imagine that someone who writes such beautiful writing must have such a beautiful smile and character.

I heard from the bookstore that your new work will be out soon. I’m so excited and looking forward to it. I wonder what precious and valuable book will come out this time. Do you know that my expectations for your new work are as high as my expectations for my new life as a working adult?

From Connie Clarence, who can’t help but love you because I love your writing so much, in a small staff residence room attached to an elementary school.

P.S. Author, always take care of your eye health. Eyesight management is really essential for authors.]

“Ha! This woman, really.”

Baby’s mother? Middle-aged woman? Eye health, eyesight management?

It was absurd. Connie Clarence seemed to think he was not just a middle-aged woman, but now possibly a baby’s mother or, deep down, maybe even an elderly lady.

Even so, a baby’s mother was too much, Connie Clarence.

The fact that he was an author was a secret known to no one except a single person, Eric, who worked as his aide. That’s why he had included the P.O. box number set up by Eric in the author introduction, but he had never sent a reply and had always intended not to. If he needed to hide his identity, there was a high possibility that lies would inevitably be included in the reply. He didn’t want to write a dishonest reply to his most precious reader.

That had been the case, but……

Ryan tapped Connie’s letter spread out on the desk with his index finger.

It seemed the time had come to change his no-reply policy.

Ryan called his aide, Eric.

“Eric, are there many schools with staff residences for teachers? Elementary schools, I mean.”

“Staff residences? Hmm…… well, if we survey the entire kingdom, there might be a few, but I don’t think there are many. But why are you asking about this?”

Eric tended to ask a lot of pointed questions.

“Really? Not many?”

Ryan pretended not to hear Eric’s question and continued asking what he was curious about.

“Yes, as far as I know, there’s probably only one even in Barfal. That’s the school you and I graduated from, Your Highness. Only the Steen Foundation, which has money to burn and aggressively scouts good talent, would provide staff residences. It’s actually quite rare.”

“Steen School?”

“Don’t you remember? When Your Highness and I were fighting in front of the teachers’ residence behind the school building……”

Ryan and Eric were schoolmates who first met at the age of seven when they entered school and attended Steen Foundation schools together for five years of elementary school, two years of middle school, four years of high school, and even university.

Ryan, who became a prince and aide, and Eric, the second son of a duke’s family, had become so close that they would occasionally return to being friends, shedding their status and position, but during elementary school, they were so at odds that they would fight at the mere meeting of eyes.

“Ah! I remember. That’s the day you got beaten by me.”

“No, as I recall, Your Highness was the one who……”

“I hit you ten times, you hit me seven times, so you got beaten by me.”

“As I recall……”

“Your memory has always been poor, which is why you never studied as well as I did. That’s not the issue—so there was a staff residence at Steen Elementary School.”

“No, Your Highness, what absurd……”

“Shh, be quiet.”

Ryan forcibly silenced the indignant Eric and tapped his forehead with his index finger.

A few seconds later, Ryan gave instructions to Eric, whose mouth was hanging open.

“Eric, find out if there are any newly appointed teachers at the Steen Foundation’s elementary school this year.”

⁕⁕⁕

Two hours after ordering the investigation, Eric entered Ryan’s office with a confident stride.

“Did you find out?”

“Yes, there’s only one newly hired teacher at the Steen Foundation schools this year. A female teacher has been hired at Steen Elementary School.”

“The teacher’s name?”

“Your Highness, why did you suddenly order me to look into this? Please just do the work that you, as a prince, should be doing. It’s already overtime work for me to assist with your secret writing, and now this……”

Eric’s work processing ability was flawless to the point of being beyond reproach. However, due to his fastidious and prickly personality that couldn’t tolerate anything unless it was handled neatly, he never let anything pass without comment.

Especially since Ryan had begun writing in secret, he had entrusted Eric with handling publishing-related matters, which might be why his nagging had increased and become more brazen. He was capable but nonetheless a noisy and demanding fellow.

“Sir Eric Gosling, just report.”

At times like this, suppressing him with princely authority was the quickest method of control.

“Hmph! The name is Connie Clarence, 22 years old, born in October.”

So it really was Steen School. She was right nearby.