The Villainess Is Shy In Receiving Affection

Melody responded with clapping hands, thinking that this must have been the answer Claude wanted.
However, Melody didn’t have the chance to check if her words were ‘correct’ or ‘completely incorrect’ according to Claude.

Looking at the bottle in front of her and choosing an ink color, Loretta raised her head and grabbed Melody’s arm, pulling her.

“Melody, you rowt a lettew for Loretta?!”

After Melody nodded her head, Loretta waved her feet in the air and wiggled happily in her seat while she rejoiced.

“Den Loretta will olso rayt a lettew for Melody saying how much I love her!”

Loretta eagerly put the stationery Claude had brought in front of her, and with her crooked handwriting, she wrote, ‘Loretta loves Melody so much!’ Melody was so moved because it was the first time she had ever seen Loretta write her name down.

“You know, I pwactice rayting because I wanted to rayt Melody’s name.”

Loretta folded the letter that had not yet dried its fresh ink and handed it to Melody.
She couldn’t stop herself anymore as she wanted to tell her how much she loved her right away.

“I weally, weally like Melody!”

Smiling as she said that, Loretta was the image of an angel so Melody hugged the adorable child tightly.
The name Melody and the words ‘I love you’ written in the letter must have been smudged by now, but what of it? The heart in it was obvious.

Even in ‘Claude’s How to Write a Refined Letter Class’ that Melody heard earlier, he said that there is no better letter than a letter that shows ‘sincerity’.
That’s why Loretta’s letter must have been the best written letter in the world.

Happily hugging Loretta, Melody suddenly felt a strange gaze directed at her. Ah, I forgot about him now that I think about it – the fact that the rude fool-for-his-younger-sister elder young master was here. She felt a tingling gaze behind her back, but Melody decided not to care about it.
It seemed like she had gotten used to Claude’s jealousy to some extent.

Hmph, if you want to be jealous then so be it. Moments later, Melody wrote a letter in front of Claude’s eyes.

[I love Loretta the most in the world too!]

Of course, this heartfelt letter was also folded and delivered to the recipient before the ink had dried.
In the end, Claude did not receive a single letter.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Isaiah finished a wonderfully written letter for the doctor.
His simplistic letter that was written today is sure to melt away the doctor’s worries.
Claude excused himself and went back to his room.
He told them that he had to finish his work before the mail wagon arrived this afternoon.

Loretta put on a big hat and stepped out to the garden, saying that she had promised Ronnie to pick pine cones.
Only Melody and Isaiah were left in the spacious parlor.

“Okay, Isaiah?”

Melody stared at Isaiah and gave him important advice.

“From now on, you will write like this at least once a week.”

“Once a week?!”

Isaiah looked at Melody in disbelief, with an expression that said he was hoping for it to be changed to once every two weeks.
Despite his obvious protest, Melody didn’t give in to him.

“Ah, alright.” He muttered and nodded.

Melody now smiled, satisfied.

“In return,” Isaiah ate peanuts that the grandfather butler had brought and said something, “Mel, promise me one thing too.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”

He wiped his lips that were smeared with peanut dust and looked at Melody’s face, who was next to him, with a serious expression.

“Don’t meet her.
Your mother.”

He emphasized the last part of his sentence.
He seemed to be quite sincere seeing that his eyes were full of strength and conviction.

“Why are you suddenly asking me to make such a promise?”

“That’s because Mel is kind and you might fall for it!”

Melody slightly shrugged.
In a sense, she was telling him that it wasn’t really like that.
However, Isaiah disagreed.

“You couldn’t even get revenge on the people who bullied you when you were young.”

Even though Isaiah always brought the boys who were bullying Melody over to her and prepared a great revenge play when they were younger, Melody never joined him – no, she couldn’t.
She was a frustrating child who couldn’t do anything naughty.
So when Isaiah met Melody at the entrance of the prison yesterday, he was both happy and worried.

He was wondering if Melody came to visit her mother by any chance.
Fortunately, she wasn’t there for that reason, so he was a little relieved to hear that she had come to deny the last request of the death row prisoner.
Even so, he had no idea if Melody’s heart would change or not, so he decided to take this opportunity to make sure he gets her to promise it.

“If you think about what that old woman did to you, you have nothing to worry about.
You must never grant her last request.”

“That….”

‘I think so too….’ Melody whispered in a low voice. Was she still a little uncertain about it? Isaiah grabbed Melody’s shoulders and made her look at him.

“Mel, will you promise me?”

“…”

“Mel!”

He pressed her for an answer, but instead of the answer he wanted, Melody told him about the most marvelous fact that flashed in her mind.

“Isaiah… you have changed.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“You used to tell me that I should chastise the children of the village with my own hands.
That way, they won’t bother me again.”

So she naturally thought that Isaiah would tell her to go to her mother in the prison and show her mother exactly what she did to deserve her sentence.

“It’s just that the way you will get revenge is different.
The more you don’t go and meet her, the more she will go crazy.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.
She was crying and making a fuss while calling your name.”

Melody found out one surprising thing from his words.
Doesn’t that mean he actually met my mother?!! After all, he was a squire working under the knight guarding the prison, so there’s a chance that he could go inside.

“Oh, uh, no, it doesn’t mean I actually met her.”

Perhaps realizing his mistake, Isaiah quickly took back his hands off Melody’s shoulders and looked away for no reason.
Judging from his reaction, she was certain that he must have met her mother – the mother who was crying and making a fuss while calling Melody’s name.

“In any case, don’t meet her.
There was nothing good in it.
Instead, I will write to my mother once a week.”

Melody nodded at his gentle soothing words.
She had no intentions of meeting her mother even without Isaiah’s suggestion.
She decided not to get hurt anymore.

“Alright.”

In response, Isaiah quickly looked back at Melody with a happy face.

“Really?!”

“I meant to do that anyway.”

Perhaps he liked her straightforward answer.
Isaiah stroked Melody’s hair, just like he had a long time ago.

 

* * *

 

The Duke decided to show Isaiah kindness.
His letter was sent to his hometown via the mail wagon that would come to the Duke’s house.
Since its postmark and treatment was different, the letters coming from the Duke’s house would be able to arrive a little faster than other letters.
So Isaiah left the letter to be sent home and returned, then a quiet afternoon descended upon the Duke’s house again.

Claude was still locked inside his room.
Ronnie put on a smug look at Loretta, watering the pine cones he had picked up.

“It is said that a pine cone that watered would curl like this.”

“You’w amajing, bwoder!”

Loretta’s eyes twinkled while holding the pine cone that had shrunk and became like an acorn.
With the help of their servants, the two children left the pine cones inside a cute basket.
These little pine cones now will be placed inside every room to help moisten the dry air a little.

Melody hung a ribbon from the basket while Ronnie and Loretta were sharing pine cones.
When the basket of pine cones were all done, from the Duke’s garden came the sound of a carriage Melody had been waiting for.

“The mail wagon has arrived.
Miss Melody!”

Just in time one of the servants told her that, Melody quickly grabbed Isaiah’s letter and ran to the front door.
It seemed like an urgent letter for the Duke had arrived at that time, so the butler that had received it was running inside in a hurry.

Melody was worried if she could send a letter without the help of the butler, but that worry disappeared when she met the kind mailman.
He checked the letter Melody handed him without saying anything, then smiled as if there was no problem at all.

“Will it take long to arrive? The doctor is anxiously waiting for this letter.”

He gave a very kind answer to her carefully posed question.

“No, it will arrive soon.
It will definitely arrive within a week so you don’t need to worry.”

That’s really a relief. I can’t believe that news about Isaiah will be delivered before the cold winter begins.

“That’s a relief.”

Around that time, Claude came out with three thick and large envelopes.
Again, the mailman skillfully received the mail and confirmed it.

“I will definitely pass it on to the academy.”

Claude rubbed his tired eyes and nodded at the delivery man’s reliable words.

“Please.
I couldn’t even sleep because of that.”

“Most people who mail the academy do.
Don’t worry.”

He put Claude’s envelope in the wagon, and then approached the two again, remembering something.

“Just in case, would the Young Master want me to deliver your birthday presents to the mansion this year?”

“No, I’m going back to the academy soon anyway.”

“Then I will send it to the academy.
This year the gifts might really fill three carriages.”

Surprised by the mailman’s words, Melody asked, “The Young Master’s birthday is coming up soon?”