The Black Letter

The young man who was earlier grinning now appears capable of killing anyone. He now presents a different brightness in his eyes than he did earlier. I maintain my position. My right hand roams the wooden lining as I stand close to the chair next to mine.

My eyes briefly widen before I turn to look at his hand. He does have a very significant message to convey.

He continues, "…and I think you should also be aware of this letter." He no longer has a smile on his lips. Instead, a cunning smirk has taken its place. Not only is he gullible, but the person standing directly in front of me is also excellent at pretentiousness.

I sigh.

His right hand, which is holding the letter, shakes briefly as the young man puts it on his desk while acting as though he knows something.

I squint my eyes.

“However, in addition to the black letter, have you also received a book, a black book, your highness?”

“A black book?” He inquires. His brows furrow and I can see astonishment and then intrigue in his eyes.

I briefly close my eyes before shaking my head again.

“It appears that I mistook the object for a book, your highness, so please——"

"No, you said you also received a letter, right? Before anything like that."

I stammer, "Y-yes, in fact, Your Highness."

Prince Casper unexpectedly approaches me. He brings our bodies closer together. He's holding both of my hands right now, and his expression reminds me of a toddler who just had their first taste of a sweet treat.

I'm at a loss for what to do. Maybe I'll exploit this poor thing if I'm still in my first life. Again, if I'm worried about offending someone, I continue to bite my lower lip. This is the habit I’ve developed whenever I'm hesitant to hurt someone, I previously loved.

I constantly remind myself how much I detest it when others conceal information from me. But I'm also the one keeping some words to myself that I'm unable to express.

Prince Casper keeps tightening his grip on my hands, so I turn my attention to the ground. I feel guilty and confused at the same time. Except for this individual, who had placed his entire life's worth of confidence in me, I have never been more guilty than this.

But when I did, the love I had always believed to be true also turned out to be a betrayal.

"Please don't," he says, looking into my face. Unexpectedly, my eyes widen as a result of his hand lightly touching my chin. His grip seems delicate like he's petting my skin.

I look into his eyes. But rather than bringing his gaze to mine, he instead fixes his attention on my lips, seeming to crave them.

He says softly, "Please don't bite your lips too hard,” his hand then helps my lip to relax.

“Why?” I do it again—I just blurt out a word without thinking.

He repeats what I said, "Why?..." as if he were making fun of me, but when I look into his eyes, he maintains his eyes on my lips. He isn't mocking me or making jokes about me. He merely keeps his cool.

"Your Highness," I say.

When I attempt to talk to him, the hand that was formerly holding my chin moves to seal my lips. "Shh," he says

I furrow my brows until he laughs. However, he is never joking or laughing harshly. I get the impression that he is simply laughing out of pure amusement. He places his free hand on my cheeks before moving it to caress them.

My eyes keep getting bigger until they can no longer get bigger.

Why does this young man continue to surprise me by being already intimate with me when we have only just met? Since my first existence, I've understood him, yet it seems that the more guilty I get, the more I discover there's something to learn about him.

Like the young servant I never met in that life, something lurks in the shadows that are confusing me.

Even though I am aware that is not in my plans, everything seems to be changing. Did my rebirth change something that shouldn't have been changed?

“…I don't know why, but ever since I read your letter, I've been quite curious about you, and now that I've finally seen you, Lady Isabella, you're precisely what I've imagined,” his soft voice turned seductive for a moment. He bends down to speak those words close to my ears, his warm breaths cascade to my face.

Immediately, I get warm. I feel like I'm burning, but not in the same normal way. This is a feeling I haven't had in a while.

I take a whiff of his pricey perfume, at which point I start to feel lightheaded.

He finally releases his hold and moves away from me after a minute of silence. As if nothing had happened, he is now grinning like before. I can now breathe again.

Now that the air I was holding has been released, I can sigh quietly while he is distracted by something else.

“Do you want me to repeat my name in your ear, Lady Isabella?” I squint. I don't know why, but my body keeps hearing certain drums. Why am I acting so strangely this time? I look down at the floor as my hand abruptly grabs the seat.

The sigh of the crown prince is followed by some words that cause my eyes to once more expand.

"I'm here to negotiate a deal with you. I assume you have received and read the black letter. I need your help, Lady Isabella. In addition, I believe that going forward, we can be fairly excellent friends.”

***

I glance at Sir Rever as he points to the side of the hallway that has a sign indicating it is a private bathroom and says, "Here is the ladies' bathroom, Milady."

I enter the room while nodding. Leaning my back against the door after I close it while taking deep breaths with my hands on my chest.

If Sir Rever hadn't spoken, I may have continued to appear to be daydreaming about the crown prince's remarks.

He says something earlier before I can get out of here, almost making my heart skip a beat.

He kept saying, "Be sure to be my partner at that masquerade ball, Lady Isabella," and I kept forgetting that I needed to calm down, which is why I came here.

I know he got straight to the point, so maybe my letter was a hint to him about something unusual he's been getting. But I wasn't prepared for what he had done earlier.

I try washing my hands while I shake my head and do calm down. But no matter how hard I try, I can't get rid of the intimate recollections I have of him from earlier since I can still feel his warm breaths caressing my chin and cheeks. I can still feel the lingering warmth on my skin even how many minutes had passed.

Yet I experience a sudden chill.

When I turn to look at Sir Rever after exiting the ladies' powder room, it takes me some time to even gather my composure and act as if nothing has occurred. Even though I am familiar with the locations in this home, I pretended I was unaware of them because this is my first time in this second life entering an imperial household.

It was before I got engaged with the second prince I’m stalking before.

As we return to the crown prince's room, I remark, "I'm happy his highness comprehends."

I look at Sir Rever and he is grinning, "His highness is a very considerate man, Milady."

I respond, "I suppose I could say the same," but as soon as the room is within a few steps of our line of sight, the second prince walks in. Sir Rever stops what he's doing and turns to face me with narrowed eyes as if he were inspecting me for some important purpose that I am unaware of.

He inquires, "Milady, are you alright?" I nod, but I keep looking at the crown prince's room door.

When I finally turn from the door to Sir Rever after hearing him sigh, I think Sir Rever notices my stiff body because I felt my hands being opened. I notice a tiny wooden whistle in it.

“Sir Rever, what is this?” I ask.

“I'll gladly lend you this in addition to the small pillow, Milady.”

“What is this for, Sir Rever?”

“This…” he stops. He then walks to stand directly in front of me, pointing to the whistle on my hand, and says, “Is a really helpful thing for when you'll need my assistance.”

“What sort of assistance—-“

"When you really are having problems, Milady. In any case, don't forget to blow some air into it so I can support you in whatever scenario arises.”

"Sir Rever, why are you treating me this way when I'm just a lady? Why not serve His Highness rather than a lady like me?”

"Believe me, Milady. His highness shares my thought."

“I don't always fully comprehend you, Sir Rever.”

"Well, you will be able to someday. Shall we leave now, Milady?” I inhale deeply for a moment before nodding as we move toward Prince Casper's room.

Sir Rever unlocks the door and leads me inside, but he never steps within. I look inside and I’m now certain that in addition to Prince Casper, I must also speak with the other prince.

The second prince smiles at me and adds, "We meet again, Beautiful Lady Isabella."

Despite already being seated at his desk, Prince Casper's expression changed from one of a grin to seriousness.

The black letter is gone when I glance at his desk. I realize this at that point.

I begin to say, "I deeply apologize, Your Highnesses, please allow me to excuse myself---" but before I can finish, a strong hand takes my arm and pulls me toward the person—I don't even know who it is—while I'm still speaking.

"Lady Isabella, you stand out among the other women, and I have to admit that you have my attention. Why not join our conversation? I'm about to consider who will be my partner for my forthcoming birthday party, so why not let Lady Isabella be mine for that event? Indeed, she would be a wonderful partner for me, right, Casper?”