* * *
After discovering Isa at the temple, Kaindel had stationed people there to keep watch.
Whenever he was nearby, he did it himself.
But those he placed there weren’t given drastic tasks.
They simply observed Isa from a distance, offering subtle help when needed and handling any dangers that arose in secret.
Isa, oblivious as ever, didn’t seem to pay much attention even if he noticed people following him.
Even when he repeatedly encountered the same people, it didn’t seem to concern him.
Thanks to that, Kaindel could watch over him without fear of being caught.
“Isaac, wait a second!”
“Mm, I’m coming.”
“…….”
Kaindel burned the sight of Isa’s retreating figure into his memory.
His silver hair swayed gently as he ran, too fleeting for him to reach.
For the past two years, without Isa, Kaindel had fallen apart completely.
He drowned himself in alcohol just to sleep, only to be woken by nightmares.
His sense of reality blurred, hallucinations creeping into his daily life.
The ringing in his ears and the echoes of voices made staying sane nearly impossible.
He didn’t even notice the changing seasons until much later.
Regret over the past ate away at him, leaving his present in ruins.
Isa’s letters, left behind like a brand on his soul, stole any peace he might have found.
But the Isa he finally reunited with was different.
Isa had healed.
The corners of his lips, once hesitant to curl into a smile, now rarely lost their warmth.
His days were filled with people, laughter, and light.
The Isa who had once given love so freely now seemed to know how to receive it.
Yet the one thing that hadn’t changed was his kindness.
Even now, Isa was endlessly kind—so kind it hurt.
“You’re watering the flowers again, Isaac? What happened to the gardener?”
“Ah, I just wanted to do it. Thanks for checking in, Jack.”
“…Well, let’s grab lunch together later.”
“Sure.”
Of course.
Isa had always been like this.
And Kaindel had been the one to ruin him.
Even the most beautiful flower begins to wither the moment it’s plucked.
Kaindel had been too blinded by his own desires to realize such an obvious truth.
Before finding Isa again, he had planned everything out.
First, he would apologize—for everything.
For the way he had treated Isa, for the way he had acted.
He would explain why he had no choice but to behave that way. Then, he would beg him to come back.
He wasn’t sure if Isa would accept him, but he would at least plead with him—show him how broken he had become without him.
He had convinced himself that Isa, kind and compassionate as he was, wouldn’t be able to leave him like that.
Even though Isa’s last letter had spoken of love in the past tense, Kaindel had foolishly believed he could rekindle it.
But seeing the way Isa had changed, he found himself unable to do anything at all.
“I’m heading into town. Do you need anything, Isaac? Maybe a book?”
“Really? Wait, hold on. There was one I wanted to read—”
“You’re going to trip. Walk slower!”
Isa was doing just fine without him.
“Isaac! This is a candy from my hometown. Try it.”
“Thanks, Harilson. I’ll enjoy it.”
Far too well.
Kaindel clenched his fists, his mind replaying every recent memory.
In every single one, Isa was smiling.
Genuinely happy.
Unlike Kaindel, who had been trapped in the darkness of his own regrets, Isa had moved forward.
Kaindel had stood still, festering in his own wounds, while Isa had healed and grown.
Approaching Isa, who shone so brightly unlike himself, was never easy.
No—if he were to be completely honest, he wasn’t confident he could handle being rejected by Isa.
And so, all he could do was watch from afar.
It might sound like an excuse, but that was the truth.
If Isa had never reached out to him first, things would have remained that way.
“What’s this?”
“A letter, sent anonymously. Would you like me to discard it?”
“No. Give it to me.”
Kaindel pressed his throbbing forehead with his thumb before waving a hand dismissively.
He then adjusted the glasses that had slid down the bridge of his nose and stretched his stiff shoulders.
An anonymous letter out of nowhere—it was unsettling.
But there was a chance it contained something important.
Ever since joining hands with Alexander, he had developed the habit of not overlooking even the smallest details.
Holding the letter in one hand, he pushed the towering stack of documents on his desk to the side.
The recent increase in his workload was partly because he had been following Isa around, but also due to managing the estate of the Schudelgarten family.
Once things with Alexander were settled, he planned to leave the kingdom.
He had never expected to remain here after defying the royal family’s wishes.
Nor did he want to.
He would go anywhere—anywhere far from the Hadelber Kingdom.
Preferably somewhere that knew nothing of calamities or heroes.
Even if the princess succeeded in her rebellion and overthrew the current monarchy, conflicts would be inevitable if she failed to win the people’s support.
Whether those conflicts led to bloodshed, he didn’t know, but there was no reason for him to be caught up in it.
And he had no desire to be involved. He was sick of it all—the royal family, who treated him like a mere chess piece; the kingdom’s people, who revered him as a “hero” while forgetting he was just a man.
…At least, thanks to Isa, he no longer suffered from nightmares.
That was something.
Kaindel thought as he used a letter opener to slice through the envelope.
With everything keeping him so busy, he would have gone mad if he couldn’t even get a proper night’s sleep.
Just as the rumors in high society suggested.
“Still, I’ve never mistreated the servants.”
He scoffed as he absentmindedly recalled the rumors circulating among the nobility.
Stories about the hero going mad and rampaging—unfair accusations, to say the least.
True, he had frequented Jon Snow’s establishment, though for different reasons, so he couldn’t exactly refute the rumors about drinking and gambling.
But the claims that he abused his servants and drowned himself in debauchery, losing his sanity? Complete lies.
In reality, he had simply been locked away in his chambers, lost in thought.
“…I’ll have a lot to explain later.”
As soon as he muttered those words, he froze.
“Hmm?”
Kaindel frowned and lowered his gaze.
His expression stiffened, countless emotions flickering across his face in mere seconds.
Inside the envelope were scraps of paper, each bearing a single letter, pieced together to form a single sentence.
The scraps had been cut from different sources, each varying in size and shape.
[Be careful.]
“…Be careful.”
Kaindel repeated the words, rolling them on his tongue.
There was nothing else in the letter.
No explanation.
No sender’s name.
Not even a hint about what he was supposed to be careful of.
Just a warning filled with concern.
But that alone was enough for Kaindel to realize something.
…It couldn’t be.
“Find out where this letter came from.”
“Yes, sir.”
Doubt crept into his mind.
Whoever had sent this letter had to be someone unable to write a message directly, someone who had to cut and paste words together.
Someone who worried about him—yet couldn’t reveal their identity.
Everything pointed to only one person.
Kaindel couldn’t contain the surge of anticipation and ordered his butler to track down the sender.
He didn’t yet have a plan for what he would do if the person who sent it turned out to be who he suspected.
But one thing was certain—
He wouldn’t be able to hold back any longer.
“And that brings us to now, Isa.”
“…”
Kaindel smiled at Isa, who sat across from him.
Isa’s expression wavered—was it shock?
Or deep contemplation?
The beautiful silver eyes he had only ever seen in his dreams shimmered slightly, like a lake reflecting a starry night sky.
“That’s the end of my story.”
* * *
Oof