CH 78.5 - Interlude 2 - Dear Nora

Dear Nora,

Clara wanted us to write something long and hearty. I wasn’t sure what to write, so instead, I’ll tell you what I want to be when I’m older—what I want to be like the next time we meet.

Did you know Clara and I went through our Awakening in the Fall of Spring? We’re still new to the System, but we’re working hard on getting Skills before we start leveling. Phil is a bit older, having turned eight in Peak of Spring. He’s –well, I’ll let him decide what to tell you on his page. I don’t want to ruin his stories.

Anyway, after our Awakening, my mother put me to work. When we meet again, I hope I’m a squire, at least. If not a knight. I want to join the Swordsmanship Academy. It would mean moving away from Ugar. But I’d be okay with that.

Clara and I have a half-dozen younger siblings, so being home is tiring now. With every Skill Level, the Church pushes us to decide our future. They want us to decide to help Ugar, and I guess I want that.

But I want that in the way the Knights of the Dusk came through and blew away the monsters in the forest. One day, I want to be so strong that entire cities rely on my Class Skills for protection. Clara says I’ll never reach that goal. That it’s selfish and impossible. That I should want to stay with our mother and father. But she only thinks that because they dote on her.

Oh, I shouldn’t have written that. Clara is going to read it and be mad at me. Probably won’t change it, though. She’d rather cry about it than me not say it. It’ll give her something to hold over my head.

Do you have any siblings, Nora? Aren’t they the worst? Well, I don’t mean that. Not really. Clara just gave me a sweet. So she’s not so bad. She could do with a bit less crying and yelling, but she’s always there with a bandage when I trip during Phil and me’s training.

I hope you got to Fellan safely.

Send us a letter back when you can. I know it’d mean the world to Clara. And Phil. And maybe me.

Don’t forget about us.

We’ll find you someday. Or maybe you’ll find us. I’ll keep your present safe. I named him Arachno. He sits on my window sill and watches over the farm.

Yours, or whatever,

Clarence of Ugar

----------------------------------------

Nora!!

Don’t listen to Clarence!! Siblings, especially twins, share something special. Even if Clarence doesn’t want to admit it. I’m going to show him.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

He thinks Ugar is too small, and I’m scared he might be right. In order to grow, I’m worried I’ll have to leave my home. Mother says it’s normal to travel to a bigger town for a couple of years and attend one of the Queen’s Academies. She says Clarence and I will probably have to attend the Academies in Juvel. They’re small, not nearly as cool as being in the borderlands.

I asked my mom if it would be dangerous for you to be there. She gave me one of those answers that isn’t really an answer at all. A kind lie, Clarence calls it. She said you’d do great at the border and that there were a ton of opportunities. She never said that it would be safe.

I’m sorry you have to travel alone. Were you scared? I know you were with the knights, but still. I would be scared without my family. Traveling all alone to a new place. At least I’ll have Clarence if Mother sends us out of Ugar. And Phil. But that’s, well, that’s neither here nor there.

Phil doesn’t want to settle for the mundane. He says it’s a crime to waste his potential.

I hope he doesn’t leave us behind.

My Bunbun misses you and Noir, and I miss you too. Even though you’re yet to leave, I miss you already.

I hope when we meet again, I’m someone fun. Someone you still like to be around. I don’t care much for what my Class will become. I just want to enjoy what I do. Clarence says that’s childish. That I should aim bigger. That I could be the Mage to his Swordsman. I don’t think I have all that studying in me.

Will you write when you settle in? I want to hear all about the rest of your journey to Fellan. And your time with the Dusk.

Someday, we’ll meet again. And I’ll have made Ugar my home. I hope I make it a better place. A place you could find it in yourself to maybe love a little bit too.

Love,

Clara of Ugar

P.S. Phil wouldn’t let me read his letter! So I’m sorry in advance for whatever he’s said!

----------------------------------------

Lady Eunora Dawn,

I’m sorry. I didn’t tell Clara or Clarence about finding out who you were. And you hopefully won’t be able to tell I know before you leave. But my grandpa told me the truth. He was worried we’d spoil Ugar for you, that you’d think we were… well, that we were too peasant-y.

But you didn’t seem the type to mind that Clara and Clarence didn’t have last names. Or that I did. You didn’t care, and you just played with us. So I’ll still call you Nora. But my grandpa said nobles are finicky about stuff like titles –he was watching me until just now. I had to sneak away with my paper.

I’m currently hiding underneath one of the last green trees. Soon, the leaves will fall here too. And then my hiding place will mark the passing of Autumn.

I hope we meet again. I bet you’ll be powerful. So powerful you’ll have forgotten all about us. But I won’t forget you. Instead, I’ll work hard to catch up. I don’t want Ugar to be a small town forever. And though my uncles are good people, they aren’t terribly ambitious.

They don’t understand what it would mean for our village to have the attention of a true noble house rather than just a village head. But grandpa has been teaching me everything about that.

He’s the one who taught me how to swing a sword, and read a book, and write. Grandpa is one of the more learned people in the village, despite appearances. And he’s never been shy about teaching me.

So, one day, when I leave this village for an Academy, I will work twice as hard as anyone asks.

When we meet again, I want to be someone you’re proud to know.

With my ambition,

Philip Ugar

Grandson of the Village Head of Ugar