“Mm~ Mmmm~!”

A man wearing a postman’s hat with a wide brim strode through a forest where the trees seemed to touch the sky.

He was Dylan, the only postman of a small village at the edge of Tillin.

Dylan’s lively facial expressions, constantly changing from moment to moment, stood out among the stoic people of Tillin whose emotions were not easily shown on the outside due to the cold weather.

Even in this quaint village, Postman Dylan had his regulars. It was a faded blue-roofed house at the end of the village, down a long forest path.

This place was a boys’ orphanage run by two priests known for their kind hearts, and various letters came and went every day.

Broadly categorizing them, there were letters from the temple and letters sent to the temple, letters from those who wanted to adopt and letters sent to them, and finally, letters from the orphanage’s adopted daughter who entered the academy this year.

The adopted daughter, who ended up staying at the boys’ orphanage due to her name Nigel which is usually given to boys, was secretly loved by the adults of Tillin, including Dylan, for her eye-catching cute appearance and her sharp behavior in contrast.

The news that Nigel, who always acted humbly, had entered the Imperial Academy through self-study in this place without proper educational institutions caused a huge stir in the small village.

Even the priests, who always acted humbly, couldn’t just sit still at this news and boasted with their jaws dropped.

After Nigel left, one or two letters came and went regularly every week. Dylan was always happy to see the orphanage members delighted whenever they received a letter from Nigel, as if it were his own business.

However, the letters suddenly stopped a few weeks ago as if it were a lie.

When Dylan, who was worried, casually asked about Nigel, Ron, the director, told him with a big smile that Nigel was returning to Tillin for vacation.

And now that Nigel had returned, the blue-roofed house had a new regular.

Letters arrived frequently addressed to Nigel.

As expected of the Imperial Academy, the letters Nigel received were all fancy, with elegant engravings on the envelope, and reeked of money.

However, if there was something strange, it was that there was only one sender and that Nigel never sent a reply to the letters.

“Today it’s blue.”

Dylan enjoyed the small pleasure of looking at Nigel’s envelope and quickly walked through the forest path.

Even in midsummer, the shaded areas like forests in Tillin were cool.

Dylan felt refreshed by the cold and walked out of the forest with vigorous steps.

Before long, Dylan’s eyes caught sight of the blue roof, the spacious yard, and the long clothesline.

It seemed to be laundry time, as Nigel was hanging laundry with the young children in harmony.

No, to be precise, the children were moving swiftly following Nigel’s instructions.

Dylan smiled contentedly at Nigel’s sharp behavior, the same as always.

“Ah, you’re here early today. Uncle Dylan.”

Nigel, recognizing the familiar laughter, approached Dylan.

“Yes, today too… it’s a letter for you! Nigel is popular as always.”

Dylan handed over the letter with a big smile, taking it out of his messenger bag.

However, Nigel’s face upon receiving the letter was strange.

Usually, she would have quickly torn open the letter to read it, but today, she just stared blankly at the white letter.

“…Ah, aah!!”

Only then did Dylan realize his mistake.

Due to Nigel’s outstanding appearance, mischievous village boys would sometimes mix in unstamped love letters among the letters to be delivered, and one letter that had not been dealt with accidentally ended up in Nigel’s hands.

“I’m sorry about this, Nigel. It seems the village kids played a prank.”

Dylan made a sad face and handed over the blue letter.

“It’s okay, Uncle. But this, if it’s sent to me, I can read it, right?”

“…Huh? Y-yeah, sure.”

Nigel held the white letter preciously and lifted the corners of her mouth.

Nigel, who had never even made friends her age, let alone experienced first love, was now interested in love…!

This had to be quickly notified to the villagers.

Dylan’s footsteps quickened as he descended the forest.

“Nigel, why are you grinning?”

Nigel ruffled the young child’s hair and focused on the letter.

“Well, it’s something a little kid doesn’t need to know.”

“Tsk, boring.”

The boy immediately lost interest and went inside the orphanage.

Nigel had only seen love letters in novels and had never received one she wrote herself, so she quickly read the letter which showed traces of effort to write the poorly written letters as neatly as possible.

Nigel thought this experience would someday accumulate and be useful when seducing someone at the academy.

“Hmm… captivated by the appearance, keep thinking about, want to see… huh. I expected some fresh sentences, but it’s more clichéd than I thought.”

This wasn’t even worth keeping for reference and was perfect for firewood in the fireplace.

Of course, Nigel shook her head and followed the boy into the orphanage.

It had already been well over 2 weeks since Nigel returned to Tillin.

Throughout the journey to Tillin, her head had been aching from the unresolved feelings with Noah and the huge bombshell Widrun had dropped, but when she finally arrived in Tillin after three full days, all the distracting thoughts flew away.

Tillin, my hometown.

Except for the fact that there was no snow, Tillin, unlike the capital where everything was fast-paced and changing, was just as Nigel remembered.

Then, the wind blowing from far away delivered the cool scent of the forest, and her heart naturally felt at peace.

This small village, where you could see every corner in half a day, had accepted Nigel and willingly hid her identity.

Perhaps because she felt at ease, Nigel, who had been immersed in the accumulated work and household chores, forgot about her promise with Allen.

However, as if anticipating this situation, exactly one week later, a bundle of Allen’s colorful letters greeted Nigel.

Seeing this, the orphanage family was even more excited than Nigel and gathered around to take a look.

They were always worried, repeatedly asking if anything difficult had happened at the academy, to which Nigel only answered that everything was good. But now, letters had arrived for Nigel.

Everyone beamed at the proof that Nigel had safely made a friend in Sienia.

Nigel quickly read and put down the blue ocean-colored letter she received today in the neatly stacked pile of letters exclusively for Allen.

The content of Allen’s letters was always the same. He kept sending them, never getting tired of telling her to come play in the south soon.

Then, Jack, who had grown tall in the meantime, approached Nigel.

“Nigel, what kind of person is the friend who always sends letters?”

Nigel, pondering about Allen, found the right word.

“Hmm… he’s rich.”

“Richer than… Nigel?”

Because whenever they bought things the children needed at the orphanage with the check Nigel left behind when she went to enter Sienia, Ron and Handel said Nigel bought it for them, the standard of being rich for the orphanage children was Nigel.

Nigel suppressed a laugh at their innocence and opened her mouth.

“Yeah, he’s incredibly rich, incomparable to me. Though he’s a bit clumsy.”

“Wow, then Nigel became friends with one of the richest people in the world? That’s cool. So when are you going to meet that friend?”

Nigel blinked at Jack’s question that hit the nail on the head.

Actually, she had been agonizing over whether or not to go to the south, as the date they promised to hang out was just next week.

It would surely be fun if she went to the south, but she didn’t want to leave the familiarity and peace that Tillin provided.

Above all, Noah Beselion was the problem.

Widrun couldn’t possibly be the saint, so it wasn’t that Nigel figured out on her own that she was the saint. The only remaining possibility was that Noah had told Widrun that she was the saint.

That night, after confirming Noah’s heart that cherished her more deeply than expected, Nigel no longer wanted to doubt Noah, but Noah kept being suspicious again and again.

And in this state, she was worried that if she went to the south, she might not be able to control her emotions and fight with Noah again, ruining the atmosphere.

So she couldn’t make a decision.

Creak, creak.

Then, Ron came down the creaky wooden stairs.

“I’m sorry to Nigel who hasn’t been able to reach a conclusion, but it seems we’ll have to head down to the south next week after all.”

“But there’s still a mountain of work to deal with.”

“Is that so? Then how will we handle the temple inspector coming next week…?”

“I’ll go, to the south.”

At the mention of the temple inspector, Nigel promptly answered.

As if she had never been agonizing over it.

“…I think I’ll head to the south in a few days. You said your villa is in Obeliu, right?”

As soon as the communication with Allen connected, Nigel stated the conclusion first without preamble from the sizable village an hour’s carriage ride from her village, the communications bureau.

Her voice was as awkward as could be, with the guilt of not being able to reply seeping through.

-……

The connection was clearly established, but when a long silence flowed from the communication stone without any response, Nigel carefully added with unease.

“Allen…? It’s okay for me to come hang out, right?”

-…Oh!! Of course!!

Then, a joyful shout stabbed Nigel’s ear, a beat late.