“Sirius… He left this letter for me?” I asked the guard, just in case.
He nodded with vigor. “Yes, Princess!”
So I was right… That explains why Sirius handed the letter off to the guard without hesitation.
“The person who handed me this letter assured me you would know who it was from, Princess.”
Urk. Is it just me or are this guard’s eyes sparkling…! His eyes are just screaming, I knew you’d know who sent it!
By knowing it was from my brother without even reading it…am I like…receiving way too much credit here? The horror…!
“No, no.”
Better set the record straight!
“…?”
“I only knew this letter was from Sirius because he always puts a mark on letters that only I can decipher.”
And that mark is called Japanese kana!
I stared at him hard, willing the words Are we clear? into his mind. Then the guard nodded.
Good!
“Did my brother, pray tell, say anything else to you?”
The guard fell silent for a moment, recalling the events of the night before. After a while, he answered, “He told me only to give you the letter if you came here.”
Which begs the question—
“And if I didn’t come here?”
“In that case, he instructed me to destroy the letter.”
Hmmmmmm…
“Under what circumstances did my brother hand you this letter?” I asked, holding the letter up to the guard.
“It was just after the prisoner was relocated. Prince Sirius pressed a hand to his head—he didn’t look well. Then he asked for something to write with. And though I was worried it would be rude to do so, I gave him the papers we always use for correspondence.”
So he pressed a hand to his head…
Was it the headache I’d observed my brother suffer many times?
“Thus, he used your yellow paper to write me this letter,” I confirmed.
Okay. Now I’ve grasped the conditions under which Sirius wrote me the letter.
Next—the contents!
Since the addressee was written in Japanese, he knew a third party wouldn’t hesitate to discard it, in the event I no longer needed to read it. There was also no need for me to sneak off to my room to read it alone.
I opened the letter and read the first line…
The words “To my beloved sister” flew off the page.
Um… Big brother of mine…?
If he were there right then, I would have grabbed him by the collar and shook the living daylights out of him.
No, wrong takeaway, Octavia—he wrote the words “To my beloved sister” in Japanese.
The entire letter was in Japanese…!
To my beloved sister,
I’ll keep this brief. Octavia, you’ve noticed I’ve lost parts of my memory, haven’t you?
But last night, my memories temporarily returned.
I can think of two reasons why—but since I can’t verify either, I’ll refrain from writing about them here.
The most important thing is that I’ve regained my memory now.
I was the one who gave Hugh that order.
And that is exactly why I cannot punish Hugh, even though that’s what he wants. Hugh’s only crime was carrying out an order I gave him.
But unfortunately, I fear I won’t remain in this state for much longer.
It’s quite likely that by tomorrow, or even a little after I finish this letter, I will forget everything again.
When that happens, I won’t be able to defend Hugh, even if I vaguely trust him.
The most vital memory to confirm all of this will disappear.
I decided to take action while I’m still myself. I lobbied Father to set the wheels in motion regarding Hugh’s treatment. As a result, Hugh will be relocated before the morning. No harm will come to him. That I can guarantee.
I wrote this letter to give to you if you take action tomorrow to help Hugh. You probably feel disappointed right now, Octavia. That’s why I gave the guard this letter, to give to you if you are in that state. If you’re reading this, I suppose that’s what happened.
First and foremost, you can rest easy about Hugh. There is no need for you to bear the full brunt of any consequences.
The only thing worth any concern is how I will act once I’ve lost my memory. With or without my memory, I’m still me. I hope I won’t do anything foolish, but I cannot guarantee that. Thinking over my past self thus far, that alone worries me.
I’m sorry.
If I cause you any trouble, retaliate in full. Don’t spare my feelings.
I tried to do everything I could during the night. However, I don’t think I’ll be able to see you. I truly regret that. I encountered your bodyguard in the Great Corridor and thought I still had time to see you, but I was being overly optimistic.
Then again, if I went to see you during the night, you would be asleep anyway.
Whenever you dozed off during the day, I would often hear you whimper and cry.
Are you no longer tormented by those nightmares?
That would make me happy.
I hope that the next time I get to speak with you as the real me, it will be in person and not by letter.
—Your brother, Sirius
“……”
Huh…huh…huh…?
Sirius!
Wait a minute. It’s crazy how after all this time, I now remember this is how Sirius used to be!
When I saw “To my beloved sister” at the beginning, I’d flinched a little, but when I saw him close with the words, “Your brother, Sirius,” it reminded me of the letters he used to send to invite me to tea—they were exactly the same. (Though those letters were in the Esfian language.)
But the biggest issue of all was just how much information he crammed in there…!