Chapter 609: Chapter 609 - Taming the Letter

Luna had left the room.

Now Ren looked at the wrinkled letter he held in his own hand, the one he had been keeping since Sirius had given it to him. With Luna’s permission, technically he could read it.

But something about doing so felt profoundly private, as if he were about to invade a space that didn’t belong to him.

He swallowed hard, his fingers brushing the paper damaged by recent events. The texture was rough where energy had singed the edges, and the creases were deep from being folded and unfolded countless times.

Liora leaned forward, her curiosity obvious. "Are you going to open it?"

Larissa also moved closer, though she tried to disguise her interest. "For a long time now, I’ve always wondered..."

Even the guards seemed to be paying more attention than usual, their rigid postures betrayed by the way their eyes subtly shifted toward the envelope.

It was then that Mayo began to laugh.

The sound was soft at first, a contained laugh she tried to suppress by covering her mouth with her hand. But the laughter intensified, becoming something she clearly couldn’t control.

Matilda looked at her with an exasperated expression and pushed her gently, trying to silence her. "Mayo, stop."

María observed her two companions with evident confusion. She was the only one of the maids who clearly didn’t understand what was so funny.

But Mayo’s laughter didn’t stop in time.

Now everyone was staring at her, and when she saw their expectant faces, she laughed even harder. Matilda grabbed her head in a gesture of total surrender.

"What’s so funny?" Ren asked, disconcerted.

Mayo straightened up, composing her expression into something more theatrical. There was a gleam in her eyes that suggested she was about to enjoy this immensely.

"So, do you want to know what the cursed words are?" she asked in a conspiratorial tone.

Larissa sighed deeply. "That lie is old, Mayo. We already knew from that time that there are no cursed words."

"Ah!" Mayo raised a finger, smiling broadly. "But that’s where you’re wrong. What was a lie was that the words would make you physically vomit. However," her smile became more genuine, softer, "I definitely think that in one way or another those words are cursed. Although Luna doesn’t like me calling them that..."

Mayo’s mana pattern was completely honest. She wasn’t lying this time like she had years ago.

Those present were visibly surprised. Liora sat up straighter, while Larissa frowned now interested.

Ren looked at the torn and burned letter in his hand, but Mayo shook her head.

"That one is so damaged that maybe it’s not clear," she said while rummaging in her own bag. She extracted three more envelopes, all equally wrinkled but not burned and in better condition than Ren’s.

The confusion in the room was visible in everyone’s faces.

"The letter is always the same," Mayo explained, her tone now more serious. "Sirius would give our Luna a new one every so often because she always squeezes and manipulates it a lot when she’s stressed. It’s like a tradition they had." She paused, some sadness crossing her expression. "Although since Luna got angry with him, they didn’t exchange another the last promised day."

"Why would Sirius have to give her the same letter over and over?" Liora asked.

Mayo smiled again, but this time there was understanding in her expression. "I don’t know... It’s cryptic. Luna knows nobody will really understand it, maybe that’s why she doesn’t mind if people read it."

With deliberate movements, Mayo opened one of the wrinkled letters.

Everyone swallowed hard...

And she began to read.

"I love you, my bright star. I love you, light of my nights. I love you more than the stars. I love you with every breath. I love you, my little constellation. I love you beyond measure. I love you infinitely. I love you boundlessly. I love you without end. I love you eternally..."

The repetitions went on, each variation slightly different but carrying the same obsessive weight. Mayo’s voice took on an almost hypnotic quality as the declarations continued.

Ren felt his cheeks heating up. The others exchanged uncomfortable glances as Mayo continued without pause.

But when Ren opened the one he had, he realized that indeed they were the same.

"Hello my sweet light, hello my precious one, hello my invaluable treasure, hello my reason for existing, hello my little drop of honey, hello my everything, hello my universe, hello my dawn, hello my dusk, hello my eternal flame..."

"Please stop," Larissa murmured, her own face flushing.

But Mayo didn’t stop. "With all my heart, with all my soul, with every piece of my being, with everything I am, with everything I have, with my entire existence, with my last breath, with unwavering devotion, with absolute certainty, always and forever, eternally and completely, through all time and space..."

The declarations continued for several more lines, each one piling upon the last. Then Mayo reached what appeared to be the farewell section, and her voice took on an even more theatrical quality.

"Goodbye my treasure, farewell my precious star, until we meet again my light, see you soon my constellation, I’ll return to you my dawn, wait for me my eternal flame, don’t forget me my everything, remember me always my reason for existing, hold me in your heart my sweet light, keep me close my little drop of honey..."

The farewells went on and on.

"Until light returns to darkness, until my heart finds yours once more..."

Mayo paused to catch her breath, and several people in the room shifted uncomfortably. The repetitive, almost manic quality of the words was starting to feel oppressive.

The list continued, Mayo reached a section that made everyone feel a strange chill run down their spines.

"I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise. I promise..."

The word "promise" repeated line after line, filling almost half a page. The handwriting became slightly more frantic as it continued, the letters pressing harder into the paper with each repetition.

"And finally," Mayo concluded, her voice softening, "I miss you, my light. I miss you more than words can express. I miss you with every heartbeat. I miss you in every moment you’re not here. I miss you when I wake. I miss you when I sleep. I miss you in daylight and in darkness. I miss you, I miss you, I miss you..."

She paused, then read the final line with particular emphasis: "I will never abandon you. Never. Never. Never."

The silence that followed was uncomfortable and heavy. Nobody seemed to know exactly how to react to what they had just heard.

"That’s..." Ren began, but couldn’t find adequate words.

"Uncomfortable," Liora completed bluntly, twisting in her seat. "Cursed indeed they coul..."

"It’s intense," Larissa corrected, though she didn’t seem to disagree with Liora’s assessment.

Mayo laughed softly. "Matilda and I have seen them many times. But unfortunately, Luna has never told us what they really mean. It’s something that started arriving shortly after the great attack when I was assigned to her from the Ashenway house to help Matilda."

"Do you have any theories?" Ren asked, still processing the strangeness of what he had just heard.

Mayo shrugged. "Matilda thinks it’s some kind of code. I think it’s simply a father just like his daughter trying to communicate in an exaggerated way something he can’t say directly. But in the end," her expression became serious, "that doesn’t really matter anymore. Luna now hates Sirius and just wants to recover the relic."

"The relic?" Ren straightened, his attention completely captured.

"The one that belongs to her, the light one from the Twin Stars," Larissa explained. "The Starweaver artifacts that were used in the western sector during the battle. Now the faction opposed to Luna’s has them, and they’re using the battle’s success to legitimize their control over them and the territories."

"It seems to mean too much to her," Liora added. "More than just political value or military power."

Larissa remained thoughtful for a moment, then nodded slowly. "With Luna’s documented achievements during the defense of the northern sector, it would be possible to argue that she should have custody of her faction’s relic in her father’s absence. But we would need quite a bit of support, and it won’t be easy or quick with how noble bureaucrats are."

Ren looked at the letter in his hand again, then carefully put it away. He thought about Sirius, about his decision to leave the city, about the cryptic and obsessive words he had left behind. He thought about Luna, about how she had fought so valiantly despite everything.

His fists clenched.

"I’m not just going to solve crystallization... I’m going to help Luna recover the relic," he declared. "However necessary."

The words came out with more conviction than he had felt in a long time.

’For that,’ he thought, a new resolution forming in his mind, ’maybe I’ll have to embrace truly becoming a noble soon.’

The girls looked at him, recognizing the determination in his expression.

But some blushed...

Ren looked at them and lowered his gaze. He realized that indeed, the sheets had fallen to his waist during his dramatic declaration.

He became aware once again that he was surrounded by girls, blushed, and quickly covered himself up to his neck.

"If you can... could you leave so I can get dressed?" he murmured, avoiding eye contact.

The girls exchanged glances. Then, as if they had reached a silent agreement, none of them moved.

Liora smiled mischievously.

Larissa tried to maintain a serious expression, but there was also a touch of amusement in her eyes.