Letters
“Are you Miss Lia?” the soldier asked.

Lia nodded dumbly, still not understanding why he was here. An alarm went off in her head. Did the librarian call on a soldier already?

“There’s a parcel for you.” Lia finally noticed the box in his hand. After handing it to her, he turned around and left.

She went inside, gingerly opened the box and the letters tumbled from it. She opened one.

Dearest Lia,

By the time you read this, you are now a scholar. I knew you could make it. I wish I was there to celebrate it with you. It would have been better to celebrate it over noodles, don’t you think? Or the sweetened fruits from the market?

Sadly, there are still things to do here so I have to make this short. I hope you’re doing well.

E

A small smile escaped from Lia’s lips as she re-read the letter. She checked the other letters, and they all came from this letter sender E. From the looks of it, it seemed like he started writing the moment he arrived in the north.

“You have too much free time, General.” She gave a slight flick on the paper and re-read the letter for the third time.

Her earlier anger seemed to have dissipated. Sometimes it was easy to feel that she was alone against the entire world. But these letters proved otherwise. She had a friend, an ally somewhere, even if he was someone unexpected. Unimaginable even.

She imagined telling Eldric what happened and wondered how he would react. Would he listen until she ran out of steam or would he laugh at her? If she was going to be honest with herself, she missed those late-night visits, the foods Eldric brought, and their conversations.

“Wow, am I this lonely to be thinking about him of all people?” She wondered aloud staring up at the ceiling.

***

After class the next day, she tried talking to Charlotte, but the other girl left right away. Since the library was off-limits, she did not know where to go next. She walked around and tried to find her next hangout spot.

Her feet brought her to the garden. As she came nearer, she heard someone crying. She glanced around and found no one in the area.

Just as she rounded the corner, she found the source of the sound. A child hovered over a plant, crying in front of it as a puddle of water gathered at his feet. He heard her came and so he stiffened and stifled his sobs.

Lia paused too, not knowing what to do. She was not the best person for consoling, but she could not ignore him too.

“What is wrong?” she asked tentatively and winced at her bland tone. She tried again, “Do you have a problem with your plant?”

He slowly turned his big round eyes and regarded Lia with wariness. “My plant d-died, I think. I did everything the gardener told me to do.”

It took all of Lia’s willpower not to squeal from seeing his cute face. The puffiness of his eyes did not erase the traces of his adorable and kind features. He was about seven years of age but looked well-mannered and elegant for his age. It was hard for Lia not to feel bad for this cutie so she came over to his side.