Side Story 3. Message Card

“Since when did you and Aion get along so well?”

“Hmm, I noticed every time we met that we communicate well.”

Aris looked at him with eyes that found the combination of her brother and husband fascinating. Having safely gotten through dinner time with the family, the two were heading to another location together.

Aris had spent all day showing him places in the Eldeiz residence that she considered valuable.

The spacious garden with its elegant stone fountain, the beautiful greenhouse reflecting the Marchioness’s taste, and even the room displaying expensive artwork that the Marquis liked to show off to guests.

And at the end of it all, their final destination was Aris’s own room. A room full of memories, where she was born and raised.

Standing in front of that door holding Kalaian’s hand, Aris suddenly felt a wave of nostalgia.

“It’s a bit embarrassing… but I’ll show you.”

Aris gripped the doorknob with a solemn feeling. Though she had wanted to show him the things she cherished, now that she was about to reveal them, she felt quite awkward.

Soon after she flung the door wide open, the dim room’s view spread before their eyes. Though it was too dark to see well, just smelling the familiar scent made Aris helplessly fall into memories.

“It’s full of your scent.”

Standing in the bright hallway and blankly staring into the dim room, Aris snapped to attention at his words. She turned to look at him, wondering if she had heard wrong.

“…What?”

“A soft and warm fragrance. It really feels like I’ve come to your room.”

“What’s that about. Ah, don’t smell it. It’s embarrassing…”

When Aris glared at him sharply, Kalaian let out a laugh. Soon he asked.

“May I go in?”

“Of course. Come in, Kalaian.”

Aris hurried into her room. Then she turned to look at him after lighting up the room.

Kalaian looked around as he stepped into the space full of Aris’s memories. The room was clean as if someone had been staying there, probably due to being regularly cleaned even while she was away.

It was a neat room with nothing special about it. However, Kalaian carefully observed every part of the room as if he couldn’t miss anything.

“This is a teddy bear I loved so much that I couldn’t let go of it since I was young.”

Aris showed Kalaian the brown teddy bear sitting demurely on the bed. Meeting her old friend, Aris lightly patted the bear’s head.

How have you been? Even Kalaian could quickly recognize the meaning in her affectionate eyes asking after its wellbeing.

A laugh escaped him. Approaching her side, Kalaian picked up the small doll that had known Aris before him and asked.

“What’s its name?”

He thought the young Aris would surely have named her best friend. He was right, as Aris cheerfully answered with a pleased expression.

“Grape.”

“Grape…”

As he repeated its pronunciation, he suddenly bit his lower lip hard. After making a strange expression for a moment, he soon burst into uncontrollable laughter.

As his refreshing laughter continued, Aris looked at him with bewildered eyes.

“Young Miss Aristena must have been craving grapes.”

“Ah…”

Remembering the cat’s name, Aris’s face flushed with embarrassment. He looked at Aris with fond eyes while continuing to laugh.

“I won’t have to worry about what to name our children.”

“Stop teasing me…”

Aris’s lips jutted out in a pout. Kalaian’s gaze lingered for a moment on her cherry-colored lips that had sulkily protruded. Resisting the urge to hug his wife and shower her with kisses, he changed the subject.

“Will you show me something else?”

“Hmm… Ah! How about this?”

When the topic changed, Aris’s lips quickly returned to normal and spread into a bright smile.

She moved busily around the room with her small frame, showing him her favorite fairy tale books, cherished fountain pen, and things like children’s bracelets.

She was so enthusiastic. Kalaian couldn’t hide his smile for even a moment at Aris’s extremely excited appearance.

“Oh right! I haven’t shown you the most precious thing.”

Aris jumped up from her seat after clearing away the items she was holding onto the table. The table was already full of odds and ends. Kalaian watched his wife’s back as she pattered over to the desk, wondering what else he would get to see.

After rummaging through drawers for a while, Aris looked back at Kalaian with an expression full of anticipation. Soon, she approached Kalaian sitting on the sofa while hiding something behind her back.

Aris asked with a bright smile.

“What do you think I brought?”

“Hmm… perhaps a handkerchief?”

“It should be the most precious thing I own, right?”

“A tiara?”

“Wrong.”

“…A magic stone?”

“That’s nice too, but…”

Aris glanced at his face. He was wondering with a completely clueless expression. Aris watched him amusedly as he continued trying to guess, before revealing what she had been hiding.

In her hand was a small folded paper. Seeing it, Kalaian looked at it with even more puzzled eyes than before.

“…What is this?”

“The message card you gave me.”

Kalaian’s expression became strange. Aris unfolded the stiff paper herself to show him. The few words entered Kalaian’s view.

[From Anonymous E]

“Remember? When you first sent me a magic textbook.”

Aris turned the paper she had shown him back toward herself and looked down at the letters with gentle eyes.

“This is probably more precious to me than anything else in this room.”

Aris raised her gaze again and smiled freshly while looking at him.

At this unexpected item, Kalaian was blank for a moment. But soon, he lifted the corners of his mouth along with her.

“I didn’t know I would beat Grape… I should consider this a glorious victory.”

“Please cherish that glory for a long, long time. Though you couldn’t see it, it was a fierce battle.”

“I will.”

Looking around the room, Aris spoke as if she had nothing more to show.

“Shall we go back now?”

Aris was about to take Kalaian’s hand but stopped.

“Just a moment, Kalaian.”

She hurriedly returned to her desk to grab something before coming back. Aris, holding a notebook against her chest, interlocked fingers with Kalaian.

“Let’s go now.”

* * *

While Kalaian went to wash up, Aris, who had already prepared for bed, was deeply absorbed in something.

Sitting with her knees together on the bed, Aris had opened some notebook and was moving her gaze across it. When she’s curled up like that, her delicate frame looks even smaller than usual.

When she turned to the next page, Kalaian, who had just finished bathing, approached in his robe.

“Aristena, what are you doing?”

He sat on the bed while pulling open the chiffon canopy that was hiding Aris’s figure. And Kalaian’s gaze naturally went to what she was holding as he confirmed her appearance.

Feeling his gaze, Aris said.

“It’s my diary.”

“…I see. You must have left it at the Marquis’s residence.”

“Yes. It’s been a long time since I wrote in it. When I received the magic textbook you gave me, I only thought about leaving right away, without even time to think about things like diaries.”

Aris showed a faint smile but stared at her diary with lonely eyes.

“Seeing my parents’ reaction today thanks to you suddenly made me think of this diary.”

“Your parents saw this diary too, you said.”

“Yes, that’s right… When Aion told me about that incident, he said that sometimes written words with sincerity have more impact than speech and actions. So I became curious. About what my past self wrote.”

Kalaian moved to sit beside Aris. As their arms touched, warmth seeped into their hearts.

“How was it?”

“It was really such a foolish diary all the way through. Why did I like people who treated me so harshly… But what’s more foolish is that I don’t think I would write anything different even if I went back to that time.”

Because she was so desperate for her parents’ love and attention. Amid their indifferent gazes and harsh treatment, even a single word of praise made her truly happy back then.

Those few occasions she could count on one hand took up more space than all the gloomy diary entries.

Kalaian silently looked at Aris’s old diary before quietly disagreeing.

“It’s not foolish.”

“…Is that so?”

Aris turned her head with a slight smile, trying to lighten the mood.

However, the Kalaian that entered her view had an even sadder expression than her. He narrowed his eyes desolately before finally turning his body to pull Aris into an embrace.

Finding herself suddenly in his arms, Aris blinked.

“It just contained the sincerity you felt, it wasn’t foolish. At least that’s how it felt to me.”

Kalaian had also seen Aris’s diary.

After losing her, it was only after 13 years that he truly came to know the person called Aristena. Through that diary.

There was nothing amusing contained in it at all. Only devastating sadness that pierced the heart existed.

In the diary, she laughed, rejoiced, and got excited over small things. While he, who had given those small things, couldn’t even remember doing so.

But how was it at the end? No trace of laughter remained in her diary. Only the screams of someone whose entire heart had been shattered existed.

Everything harsh around her, including himself, had finally broken down the woman who smiled brightly even in darkness.

That diary was just the method she chose to sustain her life. How could those traces of her, desperately clinging to happiness, be foolish?

He let out an anguished breath and held Aris even tighter.

She was at a loss for what to do for a moment. But soon she slowly raised her hands to hug him back.

“…Yes.”

Aris smiled quietly.

If that attachment-filled appearance didn’t seem foolish to him, perhaps that was enough.

Though others might click their tongues and find it pathetic, the person she loved told her it wasn’t so.

That was enough.

Aris gently pushed away from him who held her tight and smiled.

“Let’s go to sleep. We’re supposed to go on an outing tomorrow.”

“…Okay.”

Aris closed the diary and placed it on the bedside table before turning off the light. After Kalaian turned off the bedside lamp and lay down, Aris burrowed into his arms as if she had been waiting.