Chloe POV.

Back at the Evermoon Royal Palace.

"Your highness, I have found them." Sara, my bodyguard said as she handed me a huge stack of letters.

"That's a lot of letters..." I said.

"Over one hundred letters your highness."

"Oh wow that's a lot, I was expecting twenty to fifty... Anyways who was hiding them? The letters I mean."

"... It was her highness princess Zoe who was in possession of the letters."

"Watch your mouth! Don't accuse my baby sister of anything!"

"But your highness they were in her room and I checked thoroughly of any sign that anyone planted them in her room, but there were none." Sara pleaded and I gave it some thought.

"... I'll talk to her, guard these letters with your life!" I checked with Zoe's caretaker and found out she has a piano lesson. I waited until she was done then invited her for tea.

"Hehe! It's been a while since you invited me for a tea party, Chloe, I'm happy!" Zoe said with the brightest smile on her face which made my heart melt.

"Your sister is also happy." I said. How could she be mean enough to hide Theodore's letters? No, no! Don't waver, she needs some tough love or she'll grow into a corrupted person as an adult. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

"Today the piano teacher praised me for my performance!"

"That's not what I meant, but amazing sweetheart... Are you hiding something from me?"

"No...? I always tell you everything!" Everything huh? God, this makes my blood boil.

"Cut the crap Zoe, I know you hid Theodore's letters from Noah." The moment I spelled out the truth, Zoe's face went pale.

"H-How do you know that?" She cracked too fast, gotta teach her next time to toughen up.

"Didn't I tell you I have ears and eyes everywhere, you can't hide anything from me." I took a sip from my tea and then put the cup gently on the saucer. "I knew from the beginning that you had them, but I was waiting for you to confess." I am totally bluffing and she is totally buying it.

"W-Why now? After all this time? Why now you decided to ask me about them?!"

"I turned my back on the whole thing because Noah never asked me to find them."

"Wh-Why do you care so much about Noah, sis? Isn't he so annoying and creepy?" Zoe yelled.

"Watch that insolent mouth of yours, Noah might be unsightly, but he is our unsightly brother, you don't understand now, but one day you will realize the only people who will be there for you when you hit your lowest are not friends, not your lovers, but your family." Zoe didn't like that I am lecturing, I can tell from her unbothered expression. "Now tell me... Why did you hide them?"

"... I was saving them... From... From father."

"What? Watch your wording carefully Zoe."

"I like Theodore, he is a good person despite being a lowborn, and Noah doesn't deserve him. I proposed that he should choose me over Noah once I am eighteen, but for the longest time, his eyes were following our brother. I decided to support him when he went to our father to propose to Noah."

"That doesn't explain the letters." Zoe nodded her head.

"Our father doesn't like Theodore because he is a lowborn, he told Theo if he wanted Noah's hand in marriage he must emerge from the war victorious and Theodore did that, he sent letter after letter to Noah, but our father was burning them, I found out early about it and decided to hide the letters away from father's grasp."

"Then how come you never delivered the letters to Noah?"

"I was scared father might find out about it and punish me."

"You could've told Noah to keep it a secret, no... Knowing Noah, his face will betray him. You did the right thing." I petted her head and then hugged her gently. "I'm proud of you Zoe, you just showed me that you are a real Evermoon." Zoe started sobbing and I comforted her.

"Y-You're not mad at me?"

"Of course not, if I were in your shoes I would have done the same. I will be taking the letters to Noah and I won't tell him about what happened. It'll be a secret between us sisters." I said then crossed my pinky with Zoe's. "You don't need to carry this burden by yourself." I will make our father pay for not only hurting you but also Noah and Theodore.

Noah POV.

A week later.

I was in the library reading a book about cooking when suddenly Sara, my sister's bodyguard showed up out of nowhere. "Your highness." Sara said.

"Gaah!" I dropped the book from the shock. "Sara?! You scared me, why are you here? Is Chloe here too?"

"I sincerely apologize for alarming you your highness, I am here on a confidential mission, and no, her highness princess Chloe is not here." Sara answered all my questions with a stoic expression.

"What mission?" I closed the book and put it down.

"Here, I was entrusted with those letters... The letters Sire Theodore Black sent you the past two years." Sara handed me a huge stack of letters. My heart dropped and I felt the corner of my eyes stinging.

"H-How? Wh-Where were they?"

"They got sent to the wrong castle, thus the reason for the delay, I sincerely apologize for the grief it caused you."

"Thank you, Sara, I'm really, really grateful... Theo's letters." I couldn't contain it anymore and I started tearing up.

"I organized them by dates for you to read thoroughly... Then I shall leave, all hail Evermoon, may Amatersasu watch over you."

"Please send my regards to Chloe."

"Understood." And just as she suddenly appeared, she disappeared in an instant. The letters were worn out, some had dried blood on them while others were wrinkled.

I hurried to the bedroom to start reading the letters. The first one was one month after he departed, the envelope was in a good condition. "Dear Noah, you didn't reply to any of my letters, but it's okay I understand that you are a prince and things like that happen. I was busy myself trying to find a location for my troop to rest, we're currently in an active warzone, we lost three of our men and one lost his right arm. I hope you're safe, I promise to come to you in one piece. With love, your husband Theodore Black."  Aww, Theo is such a cutie.

"Dear love, you still haven't replied to any of my letters, honestly just you reading them is enough for me, but I'd be happy if you replied to at least one. Our alchemist died, they lost their mind when their partner died and rushed to the warzone and got killed. Such a tragedy, if I don't make it, I want you to move on and be happy with your life. With love, your husband Theodore Black." A tragedy indeed, but there is no way I'd move on from you!

"Hello love, our new alchemist arrived, her name is May Blackwell, she has short bright pink hair and large green eyes. She's very energetic, like a child, I swear if you see her you'd think she's fourteen, but the funny thing is she's older than us. She claims that she knows your brother Owen and that they are keeping in touch. I will update you with anything new. With love, your husband Theodore Black." 

Oh this one month later. "Hey sweetie, I hope you're faring well. I know it's been a long time since the letter I sent, I miss you so dearly. I want to hold you tight right now. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we're winning the war, we just took down an entire quarter. The bad news is that our supplies had been cut and no one is responding when to ask about it. Did King Regis abandon us? Did... Did Amaterasu abandon us? I don't want to die yet... If the day comes I want to die in your arms. With love, your husband Theodore Black." What is he talking about supplies being cut off? I never heard of it. I read the next letter, this one had a dried bloodstain on it.

"Great news love! Remember May? She got in touch with Prince Owen who investigated and resolved our situation. Man, I shouldn't have doubted her, I guess Prince Owen cares a lot about her. Though we lost lots of men because of that, most of them went mad, while others chose to take their own lives. I thank Amaterasu did not give up on us. Love, your husband Theodore Black."

I kept reading one after another, there were letters full of hope while others were full of despair. Oh! This letter is talking about Hina Kamisato. "Hey love, today our reinforcement from Eiko arrived! I was about to lose my head when a beautiful girl jumped to my rescue, she's a demi-human. Half-human, half-dog. Her name is Hina Kamisato. Her attitude was cold and unwelcoming at first, but as we got to know one another I realized she's really funny and cute, but of course not as cute as you! I wish to introduce you to one another once the war is over! Hina introduced me to her childhood friend, Jude Sato, she's the same age as you love, sixteen. She seemed interested in May romantically, too bad May is super in love with your brother. Jude is so young and brave, she joined the military at a young age because she wants to be with Hina. Hina and I are keeping our eyes on her since she's stubborn and reckless. Love, your husband Theodore Black." Hehe... I can't imagine Hina acting cold, she feels like sunshine.

Oh... I choked up as I reach the part when Theodore talks about my brother getting abducted by Whitenight forces. "I'm sure the news reached you first that Prince Owen got abducted, May went insane when the news reached her ears, she didn't want to believe it, she believes your brother is going to make it, that he'll find an escape route. I wish I can be by your side, hold you, and drop everything just to find Prince Owen." Theo is such a sweetheart, but that's not how the world works. Owen is gone and there's nothing that could bring him back...

Huh? This one is after three months...? Why did he take so long to write this one? "Why won't you respond to any of my letters?! Do you hate me that much?! You know what, fine! I also hate you! I wish we never got married! If I knew you'd be like this I'd have never proposed to you, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you!" ... Of course, he'd be angry, I mean he was waiting for his husband all this time to write back, still, it doesn't hurt any less hearing him say that he hates me, and what does he mean by he wouldn't be in the battlefield if it weren't for me?

This one is one week later. "Hey love, I'm sorry for throwing those hurtful words, I shouldn't have said that. I was venting my frustration on you. I mean Hina lost Jude, May lost Owen, and I... I feel so lost and alone. I want this war to be done and over with and if... If you do not wish to be with me then I understand." Hot tears streamed as I read Theodore's letter. I never realized how much Theo needed me, he wanted some emotional support in the hell he experienced. I can't believe I doubted his feelings for me.

"My love, great news! The war ended! I'll come to fetch you once we're home, but before that, I promised May we'd search for Owen, whether he's alive or dead, I want to give her and you of course closure. Once this whole thing is over I'd like to take you out for a picnic. Love, your husband Theodore Black." So that was the reason Theo didn't come back immediately after the war. May and Theodore never lost hope in finding my brother.

Oh! This letter is the beginning of the dragon hunt. "Hey darling, I'm so sorry I couldn't come to see you. I didn't think the search for Prince Owen would take so long, I also apologize that I could not find him anywhere. I was assigned as the leader of the hunting and May joined us. I bid my farewell to Hina as she is busy with her own affairs. Wish me luck. Love, your husband Theodore Black."

His letters during his dragon hunt were uneventful, he'd report if he found any trails of the dragon and how sneaky the dragon was. I was laughing at some of the jokes and blushed at some of his promises. "My dearest Noah... I have something grave to confess... I did not kill Ao, I know you're confused, who is Ao? It's the name of the dragon. We fought against each other for three days and I kind of got to know him through the fight. He's fierce, smart, and noble. I didn't understand why the king wanted him killed. Both Ao and I decided that he'd shed his skin and modify it to look like a dead body. All my troops thought I really killed Ao, but May caught up to it and I ended up confessing to her the truth. She supported me and helped me cover any cracks and made the skin more real. I am so grateful for her help, I wouldn't have known what to do without her... I will finally be back home in two months, I hope you'd be in my castle, you're my husband, after all, I decorated the castle to your liking. I can't wait to see you. Love, your husband Theodore Black."

I was frozen for a long time. That was the last letter Theo sent to me before arriving at his castle to find me not there. Now I get why he was angry and disappointed when we met again. I... I feel wronged and Theo was wronged too. I wish there was someone to blame for our dismay.

To Be Continued...