Love Letter From The Future
Chapter 411: Interlude: Gold and Silver (16)

Chapter 411: Interlude: Gold and Silver (16)

0% What happens when a commoner becomes the love rival of a noble?

Even in the academy that claimed ‘talent recognizes no social boundaries’, the outcome was always the same.

If they were lucky, they’d get publicly humiliated.

If not? Well, some lost their eyes. Others just disappeared. A few wound up dead under ‘mysterious’ circumstances.

All simply because they dared to love a noble.

That was how clear the gap between nobles and commoners was

No matter how hard they tried, a commoner could never break that difference in status, a rare few might earn nobility through great achievements, but that was a world far away from Emma’s reality.

And yet, she dared to covet a man pursued by a high-ranking noble.

No, she didn’t merely covet him—she had even kissed him

And her opponent was none other than ‘Elsie Rinella’—a girl infamous for her nasty temper.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t afraid.

Still, Emma fought to steady her pounding heart. She repeated to herself over and over that she needed to be brave at times like this.

She couldn’t keep hiding in Ian’s shadow forever.

Nor could she lie about the love burning inside her.

Whatever insults came her way, she would endure them.

For a commoner daring to love beyond her station, wasn’t that a small price to pay?

But Elsie’s actions went far beyond anything she could’ve imagined.

“Tally it all up for me.”

Those were the first words Elsie said after she dragged Emma out.

Before that, not a single word had passed between them—not even a casual greeting.

In that suffocating silence, Emma’s nerves stretched to their limit.

Was Elsie giving her a chance to apologize first?

Nobles hated squabbling with commoners. It was fundamentally beneath them.

So to save face, they sometimes offered commoners a ‘merciful’ option.

They’d wait for the commoner to confess their sin and rely on the noble’s magnanimity.

Hence, most nobles would forgive commoners’ crimes with just a lenient punishment. Partly to preserve their own dignity, and partly because they saw no need to bother themselves over trivial matters.

To go so far as to take actual action over a mere commoner?

A waste of time. An inefficient choice.

In just a few minutes, Emma’s hands grew damp with cold sweat.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say a commoner’s life hung on a noble’s whim.

Her instincts and the experiences she’d accumulated since childhood relentlessly urged her—

Kneel. Now.

Elsie was leading her through the bustling streets for some reason. If she begged for forgiveness here. Elsie would have no choice but to forgive her, even just for the sake of her family’s reputation.

Yes, that would be the right choice.

But Emma couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

Just imagining a life without Ian made tears well up in her eyes.

It was then that Elsie stepped into a luxury boutique.

At first, Emma thought she might be made to play servant, but Elsie just pointed at clothes randomly.

Most were far too large for her small frame and Emma could only watch her actions in bewilderment.

And then came those words.

Asking to tally up everything.

As Emma hesitated, unable to grasp her intent, a thunderbolt-like question struck her ears.

“To whom should we adjust the measurements?”

“Her.”

The person Elsie casually pointed to was none other than Emma herself.

Emma, who had never been to such a high-class store before, couldn’t even understand the conversation. She just tilted her head in confusion, and before she knew it, she was entrusting her body to the tailor who came with a measuring tape.

Elsie handed the clerk an amount of money that seemed to be the payment for the clothes.

A platinum coin, worth a whopping 100 gold.

As soon as she saw that noble luster, Emma snapped back to her senses.

It felt like a currency from another world had suddenly appeared.

Instinctively, Emma shook her head and refused.

“L-Lady Rinella! These clothes are too much for me.......”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Her tone was firm.

Her voice contained the arrogance and confidence unique to nobles. It was a certainty that her decision was absolutely right, regardless of whatever judgment a mere commoner made.

In the end, Emma could only clamp her mouth shut.

The clothes Elsie had chosen were all luxurious. Not just the style, but even the fabric itself looked different.

Emma had rarely ever bought clothes in the city.

With barely enough money for food, she had no luxury to come to the city center. The only decent clothes she had were the Academy uniforms distributed to commoners upon enrollment.

She had been carefully preserving even those, and now she was being given tailored-made clothes.

Was this some scheme to saddle her with unbearable debt and torment her?

But Elsie didn’t seem to care about the money in the slightest.

“Adjust the details to suit her properly, and send them to the dormitory when they’re done.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Elsie’s odd behavior didn’t stop there.

Taking Emma to expensive restaurants, buying her rare alchemy ingredients.

By the end, they were sitting side by side on a bench drinking beverages.

Emma couldn’t make sense of any of it.

This was her first experience with such luxury, but not understanding the reason behind it only made Emma uncomfortable.

When eating a meal that cost over 1 gold per serving, her stomach felt frozen, and when receiving rare magical ingredients, she could only look down in guilt.

It was the same now.

Emma couldn’t appreciate the taste of the expensive drink.

She was too busy trying to figure out Elsie’s intentions.

But no matter how much she racked her brain, no suitable answer came to mind.

Unable to stand it any longer, Emma carefully broke the silence.

“Um, Lady Rinnella......”

“Hm? What?”

While sucking on her straw as if this were all perfectly normal, Elsie turned her blue eyes toward Emma.

Her expression remained unreadable.

Perched on a chair slightly too large for her small frame with her legs stretched out, she looked almost like a girl on a casual outing.

It was ridiculous.

Why the hell would Elsie deliberately go out with a commoner?

Emma forced down her anxiety and asked in a timid voice.

“Why did you call for me.....?”

That was the signal.

Elsie’s expression instantly hardened, and Emma’s heart sank for a moment.

Did she make a mistake?

While Emma was hesitating, Elsie groaned as if deliberating.

After a long pause.

As if she had finally made up her mind, Elsie asked in a low voice.

“Hey, commoner. You’ve been rather close to Master lately, haven’t you?”

It was as expected.

Emma felt rather relieved at her cold tone. Now she felt like she could finally give the answer she had prepared.

She was already prepared for the consequences.

Emma nodded with a resolute expression.

“Yes.”

A single syllable, but one brimming with resolve.

It was a declaration that she wouldn’t back down no matter the pressure.

Facing this, Elsie began to chew her lip.

After more hesitation, she finally managed one phrase.

“........How?”

Right after, Emma’s thoughts came to a screeching halt.

How, she says?

Emma didn’t know either. Somehow they had kissed, and since then she had been living every day as if she was in a dream.

But Elsie looked more desperate than expected.

The girl moistened her lips with her tongue and pressed Emma again.

“I-I mean, how did you get so close! There must have been some kind of trigger, right? D-Don’t get me wrong, okay?”

At the same time, her tiny shoulders straightened as if putting on airs.

Though it couldn’t overcome the limitations of her small stature, the intention to show off was clearly conveyed.

Elsie raised her index finger as she tried to look triumphant.

“It’s not like Master and I have a particularly bad relationship, okay? It’s just... well how do I put it? I feel like we can’t get closer than a certain level. Ahaha... So I’m just a l-little concerned, that’s all. Otherwise, why would I ask for advice from a mere commoner like you?”

By the end, even her true feelings were being revealed.

Asking a mere commoner for advice.

For Elsie, who had grown up as a high-ranking noble, it was close to utter humiliation.

Suddenly, Emma remembered Elsie’s appearance she had seen today.

That stiff face and low voice—at first, she thought Elsie was angry.

But that wasn’t it.

She just wanted to hide her embarrassment.

The moment she realized this, Emma’s anxiety vanished as if it never existed.

She even felt a strange sense of camaraderie with Elsie.

Lady of the Rinella House or not, a woman was still a woman.

Both of them were the same, agonizing over love.

So Emma couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.

It was unimaginably rude under normal circumstances.

A mistake that should have made her panic and check Elsie’s reaction. Yet, she didn’t seem particularly angry.

She just trembled, unable to overcome her embarrassment.

“D-Don’t laugh......?”

“Oh, no! How could I possibly laugh at Lady Rinella... It’s just that I once had similar concerns.”

Oops, Emma thought she had made another mistake.

To say that she had ‘similar concerns’ in front of a prideful noble.

If Elsie got pissed and accused her of trying to stand on equal ground, she would have no defense.

That was the kind of people nobles were.

Self-centered, uncontrollable people.

But surprisingly, Elsie didn’t blame Emma. Instead, she just brightened her eyes as if intrigued.

“Similar concerns?”

“Y-Yes... Before Ian and I became close, I worried a lot too.”

Emma instinctively felt it.

How to speak without offending Elsie, while still moving things in the direction she wanted.

Living as a commoner in the academy was no easy task.

That long experience was now opening a path for Emma.

Hmmm—Elsie made an odd sound and lowered her voice.

“Then, can you help me?”

“Pardon? How could I dare to—”

“You want to be his concubine, don’t you?”

Elsie casually dropped those words.

She didn’t seem to realize that it might have been insulting.

But it was true.

When nobles and commoners formed relationships, the commoner usually became a concubine. Only nobles could be proper wives.

Emma was well aware of this, so she wasn’t particularly hurt.

“You know how hard a concubine’s life is, right? The main wife’s jealousy is no joke... But what if I became the main wife?”

Honestly, it didn’t feel real.

Marriage seemed like a distant future matter to Emma.

But Elsie’s expression was dead serious. She truly intended to become Ian’s wife.

Emma could only force an awkward smile.

The life of a noble sure was tiring.

That was the only impression that hit home.

“I’m not being nice to you because I like you. It’s just that, if you’re going to be by Master’s side... you need to get used to a noble’s dignity. Think of the clothes I bought you today as having that meaning. Stop wearing that shabby uniform for once.”

“Ah, y-yes! I’ll keep that in mind.......”

Emma hesitated but nodded anyway.

She was inwardly embarrassed by Elsie’s criticism.

Noble dignity—come to think of it, Ian was a noble too.

Of course he’d care about honor and dignity.

But for a girl who was constantly following him around to be starving every day and wearing shabby clothes.

People might have been pointing fingers.

Emma felt gloomy for no reason and slightly lowered her head.

Tch—Seeing that, Elsie clicked her tongue.

“Be careful from now on. I’ll look out for you from time to time, but.......”

Despite pretending otherwise, she was saying she’d help Emma.

Even though Emma hadn’t yet agreed to her proposal.

As they continued talking for a while, Emma had a thought.

Maybe she’d been wrong about Elsie.

As someone who led a group, Elsie was straightforward and sociable. At the very least, she wasn’t the type to nitpick every little thing about her people.

With this changed perspective, Emma naturally relaxed.

By the end, they were close enough to test each other with jokes.

“What if I get into a good atmosphere with Ian first.....”

“Hey.”

It was then.

Whoosh—Once again, Emma’s upper body was suddenly bent awkwardly. Before she knew what was happening, Emma was now forehead to forehead with Elsie.

Elsie was smiling.

Yes, at least her mouth was curved upward.

But the light had already vanished from her eyes.

“Don’t cross the line, okay? You’re the concubine, and I’m the main wife. Let’s make this clear.”

Emma could only answer with a whimper

“Y-Yes.....”

Nobles were scary after all.

Elsie Rinella being especially so.

That day, a new alliance was born.

A strange combination of an arrogant noble and an understanding commoner.

***I was momentarily stunned.

In the antique office, two beautiful women stood before me.

With silver hair and silver eyes.

Their focus was unclear. I couldn’t tell where they were looking nor what they were thinking.

Not knowing someone’s intentions creates anxiety.

Such ominous appearances were the symbol of a certain family.

Alpenhauser, one of only two Ducal Houses in the Empire.

The woman standing before me boasted beauty worthy of that name. The woman standing behind her gave the opposite impression—gloomy—but that was beside the point.

If only she’d fix that front hair covering her eyes, she’d look much better.

Of course, that was none of my business.

What really caught my attention was the table between me and the two women.

On it, platinum coins were pouring off it like a mountain.

As if to show off Alpenhauser’s wealth.

“So, is this enough?”

With a voice as haughty as her status, the woman sitting across from me gave a slight smirk.

“As payment for selling out the Saintess.”

I soon let out a heh and burst into laughter.

Instead of answering, I raised my hatchet.