If I Were Reborn, I Wouldn’t Marry You - Chapter 121

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 121
It was already decided that I would go.
Since this wasn’t the time to throw a tantrum or whine, I spoke with composure.
“If you don’t write this time, I’m really going to be upset.”
Though the words I’d chosen were rather childish.
Leonhardt blinked before breaking into a smile.
“I’ll write one letter every week without fail. I promise.”
“Every three days.”
I lifted my chin as if negotiating, and Leonhardt nodded before extending his pinky finger.
“Fine, every three days.”
We made our promise by linking our pinky fingers like children.
I suppressed the reluctance to let go and forced myself to smile.
‘I won’t let you off easy, Prince.’
My lips were smiling, but the thought of Prince made my chest tighten, and my eyes widened.

* * *
The day Leonhardt departed arrived swiftly.
“Safe travels, Leon. Don’t get hurt.”
I’d intended to send him off with composure, but suddenly tears threatened to spill.
It was early dawn, and though I rubbed my eyes as if still half-asleep, it did little good.
I abandoned my pretense of maturity and simply looked up at Leonhardt with glistening eyes.
Leonhardt smiled gently and comforted me.
“I’ll be back soon, alright?”
His voice was tender, but it brought little consolation.
I knew it was merely meant to ease my mind, since the journey alone would take six months each way.
I sniffled and pulled out the handkerchiefs I’d embroidered over several days.
“I made plenty, so if they fray or get stained, just throw them away.”
Not wanting to actually cry, I’d tensed my eyes so much that my words came out gruffer than intended.
Leonhardt simply smiled and carefully packed away the handkerchiefs.
“Anyone would think you’re a handkerchief collector.”
Lester, who was departing alongside him, had been quietly observing us before chuckling and making his jest.
Suddenly aware that I’d forgotten everyone else’s existence and been lost in a world with only Leonhardt, I startled.
“Lester… you have to come back safely too, alright?”
As I belatedly sent a tender gaze toward Lester, he—having grown more perceptive with age—raised one eyebrow in displeasure and asked.
“So your brother was invisible this whole time?”
Of course, his tone was playful.
Still, since it was true that I’d forgotten about Lester, I laughed sheepishly at him.
“Of course not.”
I pulled out the handkerchiefs I’d prepared for Lester and handed them to him.
Lester grinned widely and carefully packed away the handkerchiefs before asking belatedly.
“Why do I only get one?”
It was blatant discrimination compared to Leonhardt’s handkerchiefs, which numbered well over ten.
“You should ask your girlfriend to make you several too.”
I sniffed petulantly, my nose wrinkling as I spoke with exaggerated displeasure.
I’d spent so much time making Leonhardt’s handkerchief that I’d only managed to hastily complete one for Lester last evening, which gnawed at my conscience and made me grumble unnecessarily.
“Raising a younger sister is apparently useless.”
Lester grumbled as if wanting me to hear, yet he carefully tucked the handkerchief into his pocket with obvious affection.
Then he offered a farewell with his characteristic bright smile.
“I’ll be back safely too.”
“Okay.”
I accepted his farewell with a strained smile, pretending everything was fine.
Leonhardt and Lester embraced me one last time in turn, then mounted their horses and departed.
‘They didn’t even look back.’
I pouted and watched the backs of their heads as if glaring at them.
It was all I could do not to cry openly until they became tiny specks in the distance.
Eventually, unable to hold back any longer, I began shedding tears once they were no larger than my fingertip.
As I wept aloud like a child, my Parents, Lionel, and Merlin rushed to comfort me.
“You know they’ll return safely.”
“You must send them off with courage.”
For the sake of my family, who were just as distressed as I was, I nodded firmly despite my puffy, tear-stained eyes.

* * *
True to his word, Leonhardt sent letters faithfully every three days.
About half the time, Lester’s letters came along with them.
The messages conveyed in those letters were always positive—that everything was fine, that they were doing well—yet I couldn’t bring myself to believe them.
“You always say everything’s fine!”
I picked up my fountain pen to write a reply, then set it down again, muttering softly words of reproach that I couldn’t commit to paper.
Fortunately, Leonhardt’s letters weren’t entirely false.
Given the circumstances of how the conflict began, Arcadia adopted the most defensive tactics possible.
The strategy was to endure a war of attrition until Tervan grew weary first.
It reflected Leonhardt’s desire to minimize casualties on both sides in a war sparked by Prince.
In such circumstances, I couldn’t simply sit idle.
I placed commissions with every Dark Guild in the Capital.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a commission to assassinate Prince.
Though Leonhardt had eyes on Prince, I suspected it might not be enough, so I placed this commission instead.
The Dark Guild that accepted my commission planned to conduct reconnaissance within the Underworld using their characteristic covert operations.
‘If Leon has eyes on Prince, then I’m watching the Underworld.’
Whichever bait he took, the end result would be Prince’s destruction, so there was no harm in it.
Among the Dark Guilds I’d commissioned, there was one closely connected to Viscount Perington, who had ties to the Underworld’s forces, so the commission details might reach his ears, but I didn’t mind.
In fact, if word leaked this way and we could stop Prince, that wouldn’t be so bad either.
Whether my strategy had worked perfectly or Prince had simply begun to exercise caution, no more unidentified corpses were discovered in the Underworld after that day.
Meanwhile, the war dragged on without resolution.
Though victory had decisively tilted toward Arcadia, the Terban Empire, driven by desperation, refused to surrender easily.
The prevailing opinion was that if the war’s objective had been merely to occupy the Terban Empire, it would have ended far sooner.
Eventually, as the Terban Empire grew weary of successive defeats, the two nations agreed to an armistice.
Leonhardt had come of age on the battlefield at sixteen, making the war a full two years in duration.
Leonhardt, taciturn as ever, seemed anxious that I might harbor expectations, and his letters—still arriving every four days—contained not a single word about the war’s end.
But I had Lester.
The moment the armistice treaty was sealed, Lester sent me a carrier pigeon, and thanks to his swift communication, I learned of the war’s conclusion before most others, clutching his letter as I cried out in jubilation.
“Leon is finally coming…!”
I wanted to jump up and down like a child.
I waited for Leonhardt’s return with an eager heart.
And of course, Lester’s return as well.
Like a child waiting for their birthday, I marked the calendar each morning and night, counting down the days, until one day letters arrived simultaneously from both Leon and Lester.
Leonhardt’s stated he would be unable to write for some time, while Lester’s was a complaint that the Prince was so desperate to get home he was driving forward like a madman.
“At this rate, isn’t Lester just adding commentary to Leonhardt’s letters?”
I compared Leonhardt’s meager five-line letter, which barely included a greeting, with Lester’s two-page missive, and my lips twisted wryly.
‘Well, since he says he’s coming soon, I’ll forgive him.’
The two months of waiting after receiving news of his return felt far longer than the previous two years.
Especially with the absence of letters that had arrived every four days.
And just before I thought my neck would snap from craning, word finally came that the Imperial forces had reached the Capital.
My family and I climbed the castle walls of the Capital to witness the triumphant procession.
“Leon, you’ve grown taller.”
I squinted hard to get a better look at Leonhardt, who appeared no larger than my palm, and my murmur was apparently loud enough that my family chuckled softly.
“Indeed, he does seem to have grown at least a finger’s width since we last saw him.”
“He looks even taller than Lester.”
As everyone added their own comments, the tiny figure of Leonhardt gradually grew larger before my eyes.
At last, Leonhardt was coming to me.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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