Chapter 123: Waiting for a Reply
"Arielle, I am leaving tomorrow," Garett said.
When I heard those words, my mind froze for a moment.
'...I see' were the only words that I could mutter at that moment.
I realize more than anyone that it was a rather cold response, but that was the only way that I could stop myself from crying.
When we were children, we could exchange letters to each other often, but Garett was going to the harsh borderlands of where he can most likely send out a letter once a month and where he once died in my past life...
Garett had gone out of his way to make me happy and taken me out on plenty dates and brought me flowers on days we could meet.
He was going to leave me one way or the other, so I had to accept it and keep a smile on my face even though I was terribly lonely inside as our days together were quickly coming to an end.
"I will be back soon," Garett said as I saw him off.
I seemed unable to utter or find the proper words to say, so clung to his chest. He replied by wrapping his arms around me in a tight embrace.
"...I will miss you," I said quietly.
"I will miss you too," Garett said as he squeezed me once more before letting me go.
The next day, I received a letter from Garett.
"My dearest Arielle,
I have written a set of letters to you, starting with this letter, that will be sent to you every day in addition to the letters I will send when I am away, so that you can think of me at least once a day.
-Garett"
"...What a romantic," I said to myself as I reread the letter over and over again with a smile on my face.
From that day forth, I received a letter everyday as promised. Some letters were so mundane about what his thoughts were while he was writing it, some were about stories that he had gotten interested in and wanted to recommend to me but could never find the time, and just occasionally he would slip in a few letters that contained borderline desire...true couple like letters.
It was about once a month where I received a letter from him while he was currently stationed up North. Those letters were even more brief than the ones I would receive on a daily basis as they only contained a few brief sentences about his health and the weather. Those letters were so dry that I thought I was reading a medical health checkup.
I wrote back saying that I wanted more feeling in his letters.
The response I obtained in return was a letter containing three words that nearly covered 1/3 of the parchment as if done in spite:
"I love you."
-Garett
I had been played...
I folded it into a heart and kept it in my journal since I was happy to receive a letter containing those words.
There would often be times where playful banter would be involved in our exchange of letters, but not one would mention his personal feelings or the current state of where he was at.
I could just have easily hired an investigator. Instead, I just decided to have faith in Garett's capabilities.
On my birthday, I received both a letter and a rose bushel of Jacques Cartier roses. I had received such an expensive present as well as a project that would keep me busy thinking about him if the letters were not enough. I decided to add the roses to my collection and took great care of them before going back to the Royal Academy.
With neither Garett nor Prince Erik to enrich my school life, the passing days seemed a bit mundane
"My Fairy! Have you missed me?" Prince Nariel asked as he jumped out of nowhere in front of me.
Typical...if you say that things are boring, the unexpected will slap you in the face.
I smiled prettily and looked out of the window.
"Kyaaaa! It is Prince Nariel!" I screamed in a high-pitched tone.
"Not again!" Prince Nariel said as he began running away from the crowd of girls running from him.
I soon saw Channing Wells running through the halls.
"In a hurry, Vice President Wells?" I asked.
Re-elections for the Student Council happened earlier in the year. Channing Wells became the Vice President.
"I have been looking for Prince Nariel all day to continue giving him a tour around the Academy, but he insisted on going to find his 'Fairy' business," Channing Wells said.
I took out my handkerchief and wiped his sweat falling off the side of his face.
"The other students should not see you looking too defeated, Vice President Wells," I said with a smile.
"I will do my best, President!" Channing Wells said as he jumped back and stood upright.
I took over Prince Erik's position and became Student Council President when I returned back to the Academy.
Other things have changed as well...
Charlotte began seeing someone
she has yet to introduce me to, Grace started dating my cousin Randall, and most surprisingly Vance came back to me as a fully-fledged Knight and asked me to become his Master. The most saddening part of the change was that not everything can stay the
same. The Library where we all hung
out and exchanged snacks and
stories was suddenly empty.
It was understandable that we could not stay together all of the time since we were growing up.
I just wish that some things lasted a bit longer...
When I returned to my dorm room, I found Garett's daily letter but not his monthly letter from the North.
I did not want to jump to conclusions since it was the first time, I missed a letter from him.
Eventually, the same thing happened the next month after the next. There were suddenly no more current letters from Garett at all.
All I could do was shed a tear as I had no way of knowing the truth of what was currently happening to Garett.
I continued to faithfully wait regardless because I believed that he was still alive.
In no time at all, it came to my Graduation day.
On that day, I received Garett's daily
letter that told me his sincere congratulations. I wondered a bit of how long I would receive these
letters for even after the current ne
ones had stopped coming to me but decided to leave it out of my mind as I gave out my speech to the Graduating Class.
When I came down from the podium, I saw Garett waiting for me below with a bouquet of pink roses.
I leapt down ungracefully into his arms. I hugged him tightly as if you confirm his existence.
Unfortunately, the whole school caught me doing that, so I had to deal with the embarrassing repercussions that happened afterwards...
It was not long after that I prepared for my wedding with Garett.
"You are the most beautiful bride in the world!" Charlotte said as she hugged me.
"Thank you, Char," I said.
Charlotte suddenly grabbed my face and smiled gently.
"I am glad that all my hard work paid off. I hope that you will be happy this time," Charlotte said with a slightly melancholic smile and tears running down the side of her face,
I suddenly recalled the instances where Charlotte acted against my expectations.
...Does she have memories of her past life too?
"Char, are you..."
"I will see you later at the Reception!" Charlotte said as she hastily ran off.
I walked down the aisle and accepted my vows with Garett by my side.
He then removed my veil and gave me the kiss that would mark my happily ever after ending that I had always dreamed of.