I spent mornings doing the work my tutors assigned. It ranged from extremely interesting to what must have been created to torture criminals, and today’s reading assignment was on the latter end of that scale.

Before I realized my fate, I could have thrown all of this aside and gone to my friends, not a single care in the world. Well, if I hadn’t discovered that I was going to be a villainess, I wouldn’t even be taking this many lessons.

All the same, back home, I used to be able to procrastinate without guilt by visiting Damian and convincing myself that it was part of the plan. Could I do that with my friends? My internal debate was raging when a knock came at my door.

“Who is it?”

“A humble servant from Duke Northbury, my lady.”

Though Duke Northbury was the royal steward, I couldn’t think of why his servant was here.

“What business do you have?”

“Some letters, my lady. The duke sent me along with his sincerest apologies.”

I rushed to the door to let him in. It had occurred to me that I had not received a letter from Damian since I arrived at the royal castle, despite writing regularly back at our estate, and it felt like something important was missing. This didn’t even have to do with my plan or us growing closer, merely that I had never been away from him for so long.

A young man held a thick stack of letters, which he handed to me. I couldn’t help but grin as I saw the name of the sender was exactly who I was missing.

“How come it took so long? I’ve been waiting forever!”

“Duke Northbury is very sorry. The letters were mixed up during inspection, but it will never happen again.”

I was so happy that I had planned to let this pass, but his words interested me.

“What do you mean, inspection?”

“All the letters coming into the castle are inspected, my lady. Yours were confused in the process, and finally recovered this morning.”

I frowned. If there was one thing I learned from my parents’ stories of court, it was that nothing was ever an accident. Most likely, they had taken out Damian’s letters on purpose because of his status as a mage.

I wasn’t in the mood for a confrontation, so I nodded and shut the door. Besides, I could hardly wait to read what Damian wrote me.

A short description would be a madman's gradual descent into insanity.

To be clear, I wasn’t like the villainesses of novels who wondered so densely, oh, why was everyone obsessed with me? Anyone with a brain would be curious when someone has a sudden change of personality, especially if it was from horrid to saintly. My change wasn’t even that drastic, since only my actions changed while my personality didn’t, and already my reputation was improving.

However… this was a bit concerning. I read the first few carefully, then skimmed the rest due to my impatience to read it all and start composing a reply. I could read them more closely later, when I was sure that he wasn’t about to charge in here with an army of mages.

My dearest sister,

How are you? Are Father and Mother well? I miss you all very much.

I’m sending this to the royal castle, so by the time you read this you’ll have already arrived. Did you have a safe journey? If anything bothered you, just tell me, and I’ll make it so it can’t ever bother you again.

It’s the same at court. I know how they can be, so take care of yourself, and tell me everything.

I’ve made some more friends, like you told me to, but I don’t want to talk about them until I know you’ve arrived safely. There’s nothing more important than that.

All my love,

Damian

That was the most normal letter, and the only one where he talked about himself. The rest were so ridiculous that they were almost funny, in the uncomfortable way of yanderes.

My sweet Val,

Have you not arrived? Did something happen?

I know you’re likely busy with court, but if you read this, please send me a reply so I can sleep more easily. Father and Mother will keep you safe, if anything happens and I’m not there. I pray each night that you’re safe and happy.

…

Darling Val,

Why have you not replied? My friend’s parents were writing to him, so I asked him to ask them, and they said you’ve already arrived at court. Father and Mother have both sent letters, though I don’t know if they received mine.

Is someone stealing your letters? Does anyone dare? I’ll kill them all.

…

My precious Valentina,

I don’t know what to do. I can’t think of anything except why you have not written. Are you ignoring me? Why? Have I done something wrong? Or did you find a new fancy?

I promise you I can face that, if that’s what it is. Just please answer, and throw me aside so easily. Father and Mother said you were fine, and that’s the only comfort I have.

…

Beloved Sister,

Why? Why do you torture me with this silence?

I’ve figured it out, you know. You aren’t doing this, you’re not this cruel.

Who’s forcing you? What’s the matter? Please tell me, I beg you. At your request, I will come to your side in an instant, and destroy anything that displeases you.

Anything that stands between us can be annihilated.

…

At the end, his normally beautiful handwriting descended into unreadable chaos. He had the distress of a depressed and rejected male lead whose only solace was in the female lead. That is to say, an extremely toxic obsession.

Now, my main concern wasn't his almost creepy attitude. It was that I had barely done anything to warrant it, so what if he fell this hard for the real female lead and threw me away instead? It was that it seemed his insanity was developing far faster than I had expected. It was that he might become so attached to me to the point of standing between me and my future relationship with the prince.

That aside, I was absolutely thrilled he was so emotionally reliant on me. It wasn’t healthy, obviously, but I would rather it was me than anyone else, because I would never do anything to hurt him and because it guaranteed his unwavering loyalty.

How did these letters even pass inspection? I guess they only checked for secret magic spells and such, or didn’t dare withhold them. Nevertheless, I had to hurry to write a response.

Dear Brother,

I’m completely fine. Thank you for all your concerns and prayers, it makes me really happy.

The letters were lost for a bit during transport, that’s all. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again.

I’m sorry you were so worried about me. Please take care of yourself, and I’ll be fine too. I’m not a little kid anymore, you know!

I went on to detail what I had done in the time I spent at the castle, telling him only the good parts to not trigger him further, and sprinkling in even more assurances. It was a lengthy one, because I had loads I wanted to tell him. I smiled happily.

I miss you too. Please be well.

Love you,

Valentina

That ought to satisfy him. I would have my maids send it right away, and I couldn’t wait until he wrote back again. He was different from my friends, but forever the perfect brother, in my eyes.

I would tell Zoe to look into mana madness, since I didn’t have much time to spare these days between lessons and socializing. No matter what, I couldn’t lose Damian.