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**Message to Mrs. Director**
[Hello, dear Madam Director,
I'm Evie! I apologize that I have not written to you for a long time.
I intended to write more, but I fell asleep every night from exhaustion... But what could I do? Erin's house is filled with countless fun things!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am now staying at Erin's house. Everyone here treats me with incomparable kindness, and no one looks down on me because I'm a girl from the orphanage.
Every morning, Misses Amber, Becky, and Cindy come to me with new clothes. They said they were all clothes that Irene wore when she was little.
I asked them, and they said that people in the South grow fast, so they often can't wear their old clothes after a short time.
They added that there would be no more smaller children born in Terrence's family, so I could take all those clothes!
No holes, no tears, it all looks like new. When I said that the clothes were very clean, Irene replied that it was thanks to the skill of the Terrence family's maids.
It seems like everyone, even the rich, keeps their stuff like we do at the orphanage.
I received a lot of clothes, so I will send what I don't need with this message. Please, distribute it to friends.
Surprisingly, as a child, Irene looked a lot like me! The length of the arms, the neck, the legs… everything fits me perfectly! Isn't this strange?
These days, I always wear the hairpin that Madame Crevel gave me. When we went to the market together, a passing woman said to us that we were “two beautiful girls.” I felt so happy!
I will stay here another week. It's already been a week, so I'll spend another week, then go to Monsieur Arcel's mansion, then to Lusca's mansion, and then back to Irene's house.
I received letters from M. Arcel and Loska as well.
They said they were looking forward to my arrival and wanted to have fun together. When Irene saw those letters, she took me into her drawing room.
(Can you believe it? Irene’s house has a room for drawing, another for reading, a third for listening to music, and even a dressing room! Amazing, isn’t it?)
We played together and drew with crayons containing 180 colors! Irene said that such things would not exist in Arcel's or Lusca's house, so I should draw a lot here.
I was very happy and painted with enthusiasm, but Irene complimented me and said that I had drawn a wonderful raccoon... I was drawing a dog! Then she added that children at the age of seven are usually not good at drawing, and that she herself did not start drawing well until she was ten.
She said I would be good at drawing when I was ten, too.
When I'm ten, I'll paint a lot of paintings and dedicate them all to you, Madam Director. And…)
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“Oh, we're out of paper!”
Evie raised her head as she wrote the letter without stopping, only to find that she had reached the end of the paper. The letters filled the paper densely.
She picked up the pen, hesitated for a moment, then added more lines over a section she had previously crossed out.
They were words I had written that might make the principal lady feel sad if she saw them. After crossing that part out completely, Evie opened the desk drawer.
Inside, there were letter papers that exuded a pleasant, fragrant scent. Evie approached one of the leaves and inhaled its sweet fragrance.
“The principal will be happy when she receives these papers.”
She decided to write to her friends to inhale the scent of the leaves as well. Evie picked up the pen again and began writing quickly.
It had been a week since she had arrived at Irene's house, and when she tried to write down everything she had been through, it seemed as if the letter would never end.
“There is a lot to write in the letter!”
From the moment she woke up to the moment she and Eren lay on the bed to activate the magic stone, there was not a single dull moment.
During the day, they played so enthusiastically that they became overheated and exhausted.
On one occasion, the maids had to force them to sleep in separate beds to take a nap.
“We know very well that if you two stay together, you will continue to gossip and not sleep!”
The maids were usually very nice, but at that moment, they stood with a hard and resolute face, refusing any discussion. Thanks to them, Evie was able to sleep soundly.
When Evie finally finished the letter, she heard a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
“Miss Evie!”
The newcomer was Amber, the eldest of the three maids.
“It's time for lunch. Miss Irene will finish visiting her guests soon and will come over. Let's go down together.”
Amber extended her hand, and Evie grabbed it excitedly. Amber whispered softly:
“How much was it worth for me to win the rock-paper-scissors game...!”
She clutches her other hand and trembles with joy.
“Miss!”
At first, Evie felt very embarrassed when they called her that. She blushed and said they should stop calling her that, but the maids insisted on calling her “Miss Effie.”
“When you wear clothes this beautiful, you are a miss!”
“When you act so classy, you're a miss!”
“When you are this kind, you are definitely a miss!”
Eventually, Evie gave up.
“But it feels great.”
At first, she was shy, but now, whenever she hears the nickname, she smiles.
When I entered the dining room, Irene had already arrived and sat down, waving her hand.
“Today's lunch is your favorite fried chicken, Evie!”
"wow!"
Evie jumped with joy, screaming, then sat down.
“Are you that excited?”
“Yes! Southern fried chicken is so delicious!”
One might think that frying chicken is the same everywhere, but Southern Fried Chicken was a completely different dish.
The crunchy crust is delicious on its own, but the sweet, spicy sauce it's coated in makes you want to eat it all day long.
As Evie looked at the next dish, she noticed a trace of exhaustion on Erin's face as she sat down solemnly.
“Were you tired today?”
“Mm? Ah… Five people came at once to talk about the Autumn Party, so they hurt my ears a little.”
“Fall party?”
"Yes. Soon, there will be fall concerts everywhere. Haven't you seen the academy's rule book?"
Evie nodded as she remembered what she knew.
The Autumn Ceremony was the largest formal event in the Three Great Academy.
In other places, the New Year's celebration may be the largest, but at that time the academy is on winter break. Therefore, the Autumn Concert, which is held during the students' presence, is considered the most pompous and luxurious event.
“The guardian will be present at this ceremony, right?”
Evie later learns that many yearn to become guardians just so they can attend this ceremony.
“This year, His Majesty the Emperor will also reportedly attend, so it will be a truly huge event.”
Irene held her forehead as if imagining the commotion that would accompany the event.
“Will His Majesty really come?”
Is the Emperor moving just to attend the academy's event, Evie wondered anxiously? But Irene responded in a scolding tone, as if to say that she was worrying about trivial matters.
“If he doesn’t show up, that’s the real problem! Didn’t you see the letter? He suggested that I visit him at the Summer Palace for a week during vacation.”
Irene remembered the letter that arrived on the second day of her return home. It was nicely written, but the gist was clear:
“He was asking for one of the three weeks I had.”
If the letter had been from someone else, Irene would have said, “Oh my God, what nonsense? Ah, it looks like I slipped my hand and burned the letter! Haha!”
She completely forgot about the message's existence without any problem.
But with the Emperor, that couldn't be done. Even the great Terence family knows very well who is the ruler who controls the land in which they live.
Now, the Emperor looks friendly and smiles sweetly when he sees Evie. But he is the same man who, after his victory in the war of succession, did not hesitate to annihilate thousands of enemies and their followers.
He is the emperor who ascended the throne amidst the greatest amount of blood in the history of the empire. This fact must not be forgotten.
“Right, it looks like the Summer Palace is going to be fun!”
Without knowing what Erin had in mind, Evie smiled excitedly as if she was looking forward to the visit.
“By the way, who is your guardian, Eren?”
“Guardian? It’s Lady Dershna Kamen, the Border Countess. She’s called the ‘Tigress of the South’. Have you heard of her?”
Evie nodded enthusiastically.
Dershna Kamen is a border countess over sixty years old, who owns lands near the Dering Strait in the south, known as the “Barbarian Sea.”
This region corresponds to four kingdoms across the sea, and in the past was the scene of constant conflicts between states.
Even during the War of Succession, the Four Kingdoms took advantage of the chaos of the empire and attempted to conquer it across the Sea of Barbarianism.
But they could not set a single foot on the lands of the Empire, for the Border Countess completely crushed them at sea.
She did not participate in the War of Succession, but was more loyal than anyone else to the defense of the empire.
When she was young, the tiger she raised died, so she skinned it herself and made a shoulder ornament that she always wears, earning her the nickname “The Tigress of the South.”
That this valiant woman would be Irene's guardian?
“So, will she come too?”
“Yes. She said that in recent years she has come to prefer luxurious things, so she will come to the capital to shop and attend the fall ball as well. When the Countess comes, we should go and meet her, Effie.”
"wow!"
Evie clapped enthusiastically, excited at the thought of meeting a heroine who looked like she stepped out of mythology.
No doubt, your fall party will be a lot of fun.
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