Valerie absently stared at the letter she held in her hand. She didn't have much faith in this working out, rather, she was more afraid of how the crown prince might react if this didn't work out… but it shouldn't be a problem.

Yes. There should be no problem with doing this, but she still felt anxious. If Prince Julien didn't understand the message within it, she wondered if he would let her simply get away with it, but even in that situation, she knew that the prince was kind, so she would honestly tell him what it meant at that time.

But if it really was Leone…

She hoped he would at least listen to her.

Even just once, she wanted to reconcile this with him. She'd broken their promise—she had no choice at the time, no, she did have a choice, she was simply too scared.

But she can't let that control her now.

No, she won't. From her life as Alicia… she would atone for it, so maybe then she can finally let go.

Maybe then she can move on.

"You're worrying again, aren't you?" her mother's voice made her look up, startled as her mother suddenly came into her room and sat down beside her. "If he is as you say, then I don't think he would ignore you, rather I believe he would want to stay with you even more."

"How could you say that?" she couldn't help but ask,

"I'm friends with her majesty, and from what we have observed… there truly is nothing for you to worry about. Rather, you should learn to depend on him. Depend on his highness, for he will be your fiance after all. No matter what comes of this, do your best to open up your heart and be honest. If it's him… no matter if his highness is who you believe he might be or not, he would appreciate your honesty. I'm glad you decided to be honest with me, Valerie."

Valerie couldn't help but avert her eyes from her mother's gaze. "Thank you… for believing in me."

"I've had a feeling it would be like this anyways. Rather, this only makes sense, her majesty was worried for his highness, you know? Just like with you, she also thought there was more to him than meets the eye. What you've said only confirms this, although I cannot be fully sure if his highness is Leone or not." Nora said, absently combing Valerie's hair.

"I think it's enough. I… I simply have to resolve myself now." Valerie sighed, "That's the only thing I can do now, after all." she muttered to herself.

"Trust in him, more than that, trust in us. Whatever might happen here, I don't see his highness turning his back on you for this." Nora said, but Valerie simply stayed silent, before allowing the letter in her hands to disappear and be sent towards Prince Julien using what magic she'd learned.

"Okay." Valerie replied in a small voice, watching as the letter disappeared into fragments of light before closing her eyes.

It was time for them to go meet him now.

Julien paused as he felt a strange sensation come upon him. He was in the middle of reading some books, but then he suddenly felt that someone had sent a letter to him.

A spectral letter as well… Knowing that it had been directly sent to him without much warning, it must have been urgent—rather than that, it should have been a safe message then. After all, if it wasn't, then there would have been a warning signal as well.

He wasn't going to be too carefree in this world, after all.

Closing the book after placing a bookmark, he then materialized the letter into his hand, eyes slowly growing wide as it finished forming.

"V-Valerie…?" he muttered to himself, surprised at the incredibly recognizable insignia and signature placed on the lower left of the letter. "A letter from her… has this been talked about in the game? No, I don't think so… maybe she's just excited to know about me? But then why now when she's already on her way here…" he started rambling, trying to understand why she would send a letter to him like this, and so late too.

Something must have happened, but if it was something dangerous, then he was sure that it would have been informed by his mother or by one of the escort guards.

Right?

Shaking his head, he set those paranoid thoughts away for now and decided to open the letter itself, feeling rather anxious and excited for what the Lady Valerie might send him. The smile on his face gradually disappeared as he opened the letter and his eyes widened upon glancing at the contents before it.

Leone

That… that was a name he wasn't expecting to see, not for a long time.

Feeling shaken, he closed his eyes for a moment and made sure to place down an illusory barrier around him before continuing to read the letter, knowing just how personal this letter could be.

Alicia… it must be her. It has to be, right?

No, he shouldn't hope for too much, it must have been someone else. Yes, it should be—those were his thoughts right before he fully read through the letter given to him.

The contents were more shocking than he'd ever expected.

'To his highness, the first prince, Julien Corven III,

Forgive me for suddenly sending you a letter so late. But for the sake of your trust and my feelings, I have decided to write this letter to you in hopes that you may be able to see the person I truly am. As you know, I am Valerie Darnum, the daughter of Duke Darnum, but… I've had memories of my past life before. I will not divulge to you my previous name just yet, as I feel it would be better in person, however from what I have heard from my mother about you, I feel as though you are the same as I am. A reincarnator.

Please forgive me if I am being presumptuous, but from what I could guess, maybe it's truly you, Leone. If it's really you… then I would like to ask forgiveness for what I've done to you before. Truthfully, at the time, I wish it didn't have to end that way. I really wanted to be together with you for much longer, Leone... but due to my mistakes, I have been forced to separate with you. Maybe you don't remember me, maybe you do… either way, please, forgive me.

I never wanted it to end that way… more than that, I wanted to meet you once again. Hopefully, if it truly is you, Leone, I would like for us to be together again, if not that, then at least forgive me for what I've done to you…

Ah, I seem to have rambled meaningless words. Forgive me, your highness, but if you're not Leone as I had thought you are, then you don't have to pay those words above any mind. Rather, I am simply content to have let those words out. I… hopefully this will not deter you from being together with me. Thank you for reading these words from my heart, your highness, Prince Julien. Even with this much, I am happy.

Sincerely,

Valerie Darnum.'

Julien sighed as he finished reading the letter, carefully placing the letter down on the table.

His hands were shaking. A lot.

He closed his eyes as he tried to hold back the tears. Was it of joy? Of sadness? He didn't know for sure… maybe it was both.

"That idiot…" Leone—or rather, Julien, croaked out with a laugh. "Alicia, you always were sentimental."

Suddenly, he laughed, but the tears in his eyes didn't stop, no, in fact it got worse. What was he doing? Why…

She's actually here…!

He didn't know what he was really feeling. Anger? Happiness? Relief? Sadness? He didn't know—he just…

Before he'd noticed it, his mother was wrapping him around her arms in a hug, allowing him to cry on her shoulder.

"It's okay… mommy's here, just let it out my little prince, just let it out." the words of his dear mother, Van—Elise, urged him, making him cry even harder as she held him in her arms.

"Mo-mother!" Julien hugged her tightly, sobbing harder against her shoulder.

Alicia… She was such an idiot.

She was…

Why would he care about that?! Why would he ever hate her?! Why, just why?

Did she really think so lowly of him like that? Alicia…

Finally, his cries settled down.

After calming himself down and letting his emotions out, he sighed, looking up at his mother who had that caring smile on her face. Mother…

"I suppose I should start explaining some things to you now, mother." Julien said, deciding that it would be best to do this now.

But for some reason… he couldn't shake off a mysterious feeling of dread.

Valerie looked out the window, watching the greenery of the forest and farmlands pass by. The territory of the Darnum Ducal house wasn't all that far away from the Capital of the Kingdom, but it wasn't the closest one either. More than that, the Kingdom of Corven itself is rather large—to the point that it wouldn't be too out of place to call it an Empire, but the Kingdom itself didn't need to be an Empire to stand out.

More than that… the Kingdom is already powerful enough to simply have the Lenoria Academy. Everyone already recognized their country for how great it is.

Back to their journey, it will take at least one more day before they arrived at the capital, they were only a few towns away from it.

Valerie couldn't help but let out a sigh as she remembered about the letter she had sent to the crown prince Julien. She'd sent that a day ago and yet there was still no reply, it was making her feel anxious. She couldn't help it, after all she did remember how the prince tended to avoid replying to the letters sent to him by his fiance. Though at the time it was due to the situation of their relationship. Or rather… it was because the Valerie in the game was violating his personal space far too much.

Thinking about that, she felt even more worried, did she perhaps assume too much…? No, her mother was sure about it, but maybe she should have written things differently…

Before she could think much on that, suddenly the carriage they were on shook just as an explosion was heard nearby. Turning to her mother, she saw that Nora was already opening the door.

"Damn it!" her mother cursed, making her frown as she heard that. "Valerie, I know this may be a little too early for now, but I need you to protect me while I heal those who are injured for now. We've been ambushed, and our guards have been targeted first…"

Valerie nodded at that, going outside with her mother, and they saw the messy scene before them. Their guards, comprising of 6 knights and 2 mages were locked in a gruesome battle against monsters who were emitting a dark aura.

The other guards were nowhere to be seen, but with the scattered wreckage and remains before them, it wouldn't be hard to guess.

Valerie grit her teeth and immediately pulled out her sword and charged into the battle with a scream—almost.

She was stopped by her mother pulling her back. Valerie looked back at her, "Mother, why?"

"Not yet! We have to get out of here." Nora said to her while looking around cautiously. "Protect me for now. I need to focus on my spell."

Valerie glared at that, feeling frustrated for not being able to help their soldiers, but she nodded nonetheless. "I'll guard you for now. Please hurry." she told her mother and turned to look at the surroundings.

At the moment, it didn't seem like there was anything coming towards them other than the monsters which the last of their guards were dealing with.

She held her sword in both hands, looking out for any unexpected attack as her mother started to chant something behind her. She didn't focus on that, instead she tried to feel out the danger around them, a possible attack incoming towards them…

There.

Stepping to her right, she cut down the incoming projectile, a dagger, destroying it before it could reach her mother.

"Ho…" a cloaked man suddenly appeared out of nowhere, "I didn't think a little girl would be able to deflect something like that, much less destroy it…" she couldn't see his eyes, but she can see the smile on his mouth very clearly. "But… you're too late."

Valerie's eyes widened as she felt multiple daggers heading towards them, gripping her sword tightly, she swiftly dealt with all of them, her sword blurring as she moved to deflect all of them quickly.

She looked back towards where the cloaked man was before, but he was no longer there—and she quickly raised her sword to her side, stopping a blade from cutting her.

"Oh? You seem to be better than I thought?" the cloaked man muttered, a small frown on his face.

Valerie didn't care about that and immediately pushed his blade back and counter-attacked, missing him as he disappeared, but she continued and turned to the other side and attacked him, taking him by surprise.

"Gugh! What the hell?" the man grunted as he stepped back. Glaring at her this time, she could see red eyes glaring at her. "How are you this strong?!"

Valerie said nothing and raised her sword to attack once more, deciding not to let up on her assault, quickly pushing the cloaked man back. As she was about to deal the finishing blow, however, a barrier appeared around the cloaked man, stopping her blade from getting close.

"My oh my…" a woman's voice reached her ear, making Valerie glance to the side before dashing backwards and blocking with her blade as a spike of ice descended. "Valerie Darnum… to think a talentless girl like you would be this powerful." the woman appeared beside the cloaked man, long violet hair and eerie yellow eyes looking her way. The woman had a smile on her face. "Shall I test you instead?" she giggled, raising her staff, before the cloaked man stopped her.

"You didn't have to come here." he growled, seeming to glare at her. "I could have handled this."

"Could you? I saw quite the opposite, to be quite honest." the woman giggled again, "Johann, it seems you still have a long way to go if such a young girl could overpower you."

The cloaked man, apparently named Johann, was silent at that. His red eyes beneath the cloak met Valerie's as he glared.

Valerie just narrowed her eyes, they were surrounded, and her mother wasn't even done yet—no, she was quite sure that they were already trapped if a mage like this woman had appeared. Still, she can't give up. As a swordsman, she had to stand her ground to the very end.

That was her duty.

"Mother." Valerie whispered, slowly moving towards her mother while keeping her eyes trained on the two attackers. "How much more time?"

Nora was still focusing on her spell, but she managed to reply somehow, "One minute—no, give me half, I should be able to—"

"Please stop trying to contact anyone else." the mage smiled, interrupting their conversation as the mana around them was disrupted, breaking the spell that Nora was trying to cast. "Now, can the two of you quietly follow us?"

Valerie and Nora glanced at each other, looks like they had no choice…

Before anything happened, however, they were all blinded by a bright flash of light.