Chapter 12: The Return Letter

At this moment, someone finally spotted Song Ze lying in the grass. They immediately rushed forward to help him up, shouting behind them, “Song Ze is here!”

A clamor erupted from behind. Song Ze stared blankly at the crowd suddenly appearing before him, each person’s expression tinged with excitement, as if they would have died if they hadn’t found him.

“Song Ze! Thank goodness you’re okay!”

“I’m so moved!”

These faces were all familiar—clearly his classmates from the academy. But hadn’t they always looked down on him before?! Why were they suddenly acting so warmly now? It felt bizarre!

Then they surged forward, nearly squeezing the breath out of him.

Suddenly, a tall figure appeared—it was Aliel. The crowd immediately fell silent, glancing at him with a mixture of awe and terror. After what had happened earlier, they all still had shadows in their hearts. If they hadn’t found Song Ze, who knew what Senior Aliel might have done!

Song Ze looked up and froze in terror, instantly recalling the breakup letter he’d left for Aliel.

‘Damn it! If I’d known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have left that letter so quickly. I should have just bolted!’

“Song Ze!”

Hearing Aliel’s voice, Song Ze squeezed his eyes shut, trembling. Death felt imminent. Luckily, he’d saved before the last quest; otherwise, he’d be back to square one—

The next moment, he felt an irresistible force grab his wrist, and he was pulled into a warm embrace.

Song Ze blinked, opening his eyes slightly, and saw Aliel’s face—barely a trace of his usual arrogance, only worry, and exhaustion visible… It looked like he’d been searching for ages.

“A-Aliel…” Song Ze murmured, shocked. He hadn’t expected Aliel, with his personality, to not kill him outright after reading the letter, but to look so concerned… So gentle.

‘If only Aliel were a girl! What a pity. If I tell him we should just be bros from now on, is it too late…?’

“It’s a relief you’re okay.” Aliel hugged him tightly, afraid he might disappear. “Don’t ever leave my side again.”

When Aliel returned to camp and found Song Ze missing—likely taken by the dark elves—he almost tore the whole camp apart. No one could stop him, and he even wanted to storm back into the Dark Forest to search. But the forest was too vast; he couldn’t find anyone alone, so he had to wait for the temple’s arrangements. He hadn’t expected Song Ze to just come back like this.

Afterward, Song Ze was taken to the camp for an examination. Once they confirmed he was fine, they let him in.

Then the priest interrogated him—after all, disappearing from camp was a serious matter. Aliel stayed by his side the whole time.

Song Ze knew that a wrong explanation could ruin his future. Actually, he didn’t care about his future, but only by becoming a paladin could he meet the saintess—that was his greatest hope in this world.

So Song Ze solemnly claimed that during a fierce battle with a dark elf, the enemy fled when things turned sour.

Priest: ‘…He was definitely captured by a dark elf, but he was so useless they didn’t even bother keeping him as a hostage and just dumped him out.’

Anyway, this was just a formality. Song Ze’s strength posed no threat, and with the duke’s backing, they couldn’t pin anything on him. The priest signaled for him to leave.

Song Ze sighed in relief and was helped out by Aliel.

“I’m sorry.” Song Ze’s voice was heavy. After all, he’d done all those… things to Aliel like some pervert… then immediately broke up with him. He was the worst kind of scumbag!

And Aliel, who in the game would kill a rival out of jealousy, had actually forgiven him so gently… It was unbelievable, making Song Ze even more guilty.

“What do you have to apologize for?” Aliel said. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone here. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“No one could have foreseen this…”

“True.” Aliel replied. “But luckily, we can still make it in time for the wedding ceremony—”

Song Ze: “?”

Song Ze: “??!”

Song Ze: “The wedding ceremony?” Didn’t he break up with him? Though it wasn’t like they had officially… you know.

“Actually, there’s no rush. Mother said half a month from now is the best day for the ceremony. That’s when we’ll receive the Life Goddess’s fullest blessing.” Aliel’s cheeks flushed slightly. “So we have plenty of time to prepare.”

Song Ze felt like he’d been struck by lightning. He carefully ventured, “Aliel, did you… see what I left behind?”

“The letter?” Aliel immediately said. “I was in a hurry earlier, so I haven’t opened it yet. I can—”

“NO!!!”

Song Ze’s survival instinct exploded inside him. He grabbed Aliel’s hand, his azure eyes gazing deeply into Aliel’s. “Don’t read it.”

“Why?” Aliel frowned slightly. “Is there something I shouldn’t see?”

“No.” In that instant, Song Ze’s mind raced. He spoke in a tender, slightly shy voice, “Because… it’s a special letter I wrote for you. It can only be opened on our wedding day…”

Aliel’s face turned crimson.

He averted his gaze and softly hummed in acknowledgment.

At that moment, it was as if pink bubbles floated around them.

Song Ze sighed inwardly in relief. ‘Great, crisis averted for now… But that letter is a ticking time bomb! I have to find a way to get it back from Aliel!’

Suddenly, someone hurried over. “You’re Song Ze, right? A letter from the duke’s estate.”

“What?”

Song Ze took the letter blankly, opened it, and was stunned.

The letter was written in haste. It stated that his adoptive father, the duke, had suddenly fallen ill and died yesterday.

The duke’s steward immediately wrote to summon Song Ze back to discuss the distribution of the inheritance.

Although Song Ze was only the child of the duke’s comrade, raised in the duke’s manor, he wasn’t really part of the duke’s household. Legally, he had no claim to the inheritance, and the duke had even sent him to the monastery. But unexpectedly, the duke’s will insisted on leaving part of the estate to Song Ze.

What shocked Song Ze wasn’t that the duke still cared for him and left him an inheritance.

Rather—

That old duke, who in the game survived until the chapter before the finale, had kicked the bucket! Did he really have to do this?! This world seemed so different from the game in many details…

‘Well, this is a perfect excuse to go back. Otherwise, Aliel would really drag me into getting married!’

… …

…

The next day.

Song Ze boarded the magic carriage home. His reason was legitimate, and with his strength, staying was useless, so he got leave approved easily.

But there was one problem… Aliel was coming along.

“Ah.” Aliel’s voice sounded.

Song Ze turned to see him offering a plump, juicy fruit.

‘All for survival!’ Song Ze thought, gritting his teeth, leaning in to take it with his mouth…

‘It’s delicious!’

He immediately forgot his previous suffering, eyes sparkling as he leaned closer.

Aliel picked another fruit from the plate but didn’t hand it over. Instead, he leaned down and kissed Song Ze on the cheek.

Song Ze: “…!!!”

‘I’ll find a way, I swear!’

‘I will not become gay!’

‘And soon, I’ll finally meet another of this game’s targets—the old duke’s only daughter, my childhood friend—Idis!’

After dealing with so many initially cross-dressing characters (who then turned into men outright), he could finally meet a direct female lead who was a mature older sister. Song Ze almost wept at the thought.

In the game, Idis was a cold, aloof older sister, five years older than the protagonist. As the duke’s heir, she was practically perfect—amazing in every way, almost inhuman, and secretly controlled many forces. She practically ruled the empire with an iron fist.

Even as a human, Idis’s beauty rivaled that of non-human targets, and her combat power was level 99. How did she even train that much?

Though Idis always treated the protagonist with an icy demeanor and indifference, making everyone think she despised him and might even kill him…

In reality… she was the only character whose affection started at 80 from the very beginning!

Truly heartwarming. Song Ze couldn’t wait to see her. Even with Aliel sitting beside him, it couldn’t dampen his excitement.

… …

…

Meanwhile, at the duke’s manor.

Servants stood trembling outside the door, while the steward respectfully looked at the figure descending the stairs.

Half their face was hidden in shadow, but even that small glimpse revealed stunning beauty.

Yet no one dared look twice, for everyone knew the new Duke’s cold and ruthless temperament.

“Is Song Ze returning today?”

“Yes, Lord Idis.”

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