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Crunch. Crunch.

There were definitely supposed to be three gardening spades, but Ariel simply stood by, staring blankly as two people dug into the earth.

Neither of the other two expected her to help anyway, so they silently continued their labor, wearing faint, wry smiles.

Of course, it didn’t help that Ariel’s outfit was completely unsuitable for sitting on the ground and digging up dirt.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have just put it in a box.”

“Right?”

As Edgar chuckled softly and muttered, Ariel eagerly agreed, scampering over to his side. She figured she might as well lend her eyes in case there was something they overlooked.

Swoosh… Tick.

“Oh, here it is.”

“Is it there?”

Just as they continued to dig for a while longer, the sound of something snagging on the end of one of the spades echoed.

Cautiously unearthing the dirt where the sound came from, Edgar finally revealed two round orbs.

Even though they didn’t seem to contain anything valuable, the two felt an odd mix of emotions wash over them.

“Is this what you two were talking about?”

“Yep. I originally planned to open it next year, but the timing got moved up a bit.”

Edgar glanced at Ariel, gauging her reaction, but she approached with a blank expression and picked up one of the orbs.

“It doesn’t seem to be damaged at all.”

“Right? Seems pretty durable.”

“Could it be magically enhanced on the outside?”

Even after eight years, the orbs were just a bit dusty but otherwise unharmed.

They momentarily forgot the original purpose of retrieving the orbs and began discussing the functions contained within.

Realizing they had something to do, they quickly decided to check the contents.

“What do you think? Should we look at each other’s letters?”

“Can’t we look at both? I’m curious.”

“That’s fine.”

Knowing her personality, Edgar suspected that she wouldn’t allow just one side to be read.

Nodding nonchalantly, he handed the red orb to Ariel.

In turn, Edgar held the black orb.

Inside the orbs were letters each had written that matched the color of their hair.

“Did we have to pour magical power into these?”

“Yeah, I think mom said so.”

“Alright, let’s open them simultaneously.”

With Ariel agreeing, they drew closer together, each holding their orb, and gently closed their eyes while channeling their magical power into them.

Just like eight years ago, tiny particles of light enveloped the orbs.

Then, the orbs lost their shape and disappeared into the air with a swirl of light, leaving behind the neatly folded papers in their hands.

“Do you remember what you wrote in the letter?”

“Of course not. Do you?”

“Actually, I do.”

Ariel, displaying an uncharacteristic giggle, carefully began unfolding the paper.

After all, the two had been rushing around like crazy for the last eight years.

It wasn’t that they didn’t value the existence of this item; it’s more like they simply hadn’t had the leisure to focus on it.

Besides, there was no real need to remember the contents of a letter they were going to open someday.

If they had remembered it, the expectation for this moment might have diminished.

Thus, the two held the letters sent by their past selves from eight years ago and began reading them slowly.

Shuri, wanting to avoid interrupting them, leaned slightly to the side, trying to sneak a peek at the content.

“Pff.”

“What’s so funny, sir?”

In stark contrast to Ariel, who was reading the letter with a serious expression, Edgar suddenly burst into laughter, unable to contain himself.

Shuri, who had leaned in towards Edgar, wore an expression of confusion.

“Just… what I wrote eight years ago is absolutely ridiculous. Want to take a look?”

“Is it okay?”

“Who cares? It’s not like it’s a letter to someone else; it’s a letter to me.”

If he had written a love letter to Ariel, showing it to someone might have been a bit embarrassing, but at that time, Edgar definitely wasn’t feeling any romantic jealousy.

He might not have even recognized it at that time.

So, showing it to Shuri wasn’t a tough thing to do.

Once he finished reading the letter, he waved it in the air, prompting Shuri to eagerly snatch it up and begin reading.

Meanwhile, Ariel was still engrossed in her reading, not exchanging a single word with the two.

“Pfft…”

“Is it that funny?”

“Yeah, it’s some pretty childish stuff.”

“I have been told that a lot.”

Edgar playfully clapped for her as she nailed the answer, reclaiming the letter.

The content written there was truly trivial.

There were notes asking how he was doing, whether he was healthy, and if Ariel was still a child at heart.

There wasn’t anything deep or insightful – it was basically just a letter checking in.

Shuri actually thought it felt quite childish.

Usually, if a ten-year-old wrote to their future self, they’d want to express something deeper.

Like asking if they had confessed to their crush or whether they were still dreaming about the future.

After all, the younger one tends to have high hopes about how much they’d grown by then.

But the content sounded more like something written to a distant friend rather than to his future self.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have hope for the future; rather, it was more a reflection of a nonchalant philosophy on life.

That’s what Shuri decided to call childish.

“He’s always been like that since he was little.”

Amid her reading, Ariel butted in, speaking curtly, “Well, I guess you know him well since you both were always together.”

“Yeah, he was always so busy teasing me, but then when it was time for something important, he’d be quiet and calm… what a strange personality.”

“Is that something you’d say to your boyfriend?”

“Isn’t it true?”

Just because they became romantic partners, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t bicker like they did eight years ago.

They just became a bit more honest about their feelings for each other.

Shuri firmly believed that despite their banter, when they were alone, they radiated a sweet atmosphere.

She felt the same way with her boyfriend Ronan.

“Alright, Ariel. Let’s swap and read now.”

As the usual bickering continued, Edgar was the first to extend his letter, suggesting they exchange and read.

However, for some reason, Ariel’s response was somewhat subdued.

She seemed hesitant, avoiding eye contact while trying to subtly hide the paper behind her back.

A large question mark floated above both Edgar and Shuri’s heads.

“Uh, yeah, that’s how it should be….”

“…?”

“Uh, um… can we just agree to only look at our own letters…?”

Her attitude was unusually passive.

Having watched her for nearly 18 years, Edgar sensed something was up.

And it had a strong whiff of something ripe for teasing.

With a mischievous grin creeping onto his face, Ariel flinched and started to step back slightly.

“You said it yourself! We’re supposed to swap letters!”

“Y-Yeah, but… thinking about it, I don’t think we should dirty each other’s memories.”

“Dirty them? That’s a bit harsh.”

“That’s not what I’m saying…!”

Edgar, showing overt signs of being offended, grumbled, causing Ariel to hurriedly wave her hands in denial.

In the end, she had dug her own grave.

If she had just kept her mouth shut until after reading the letters, it wouldn’t have been too late to say something.

But now, she had no choice but to show the letter in her hand to Edgar, stuck in a situation she couldn’t escape.

“Ugh… b-but I have a condition.”

“A condition for reading one silly letter…?”

“If you don’t want to, then I won’t show it to you!”

“Alright, what’s the condition?”

Edgar couldn’t help but feel curious about what could possibly be so monumental that she was making such a fuss over it.

Eventually, thinking that even a somewhat unreasonable condition was fine as long as it meant he could read the letter, Edgar accepted.

Ariel, with the letter covering her face, began to recite her condition in a small voice.

“Don’t laugh while reading it…”

“…That’s it?”

“Yep.”

Instead of a grand condition, it was disappointingly underwhelming.

On the other hand, it implied that there must be something incredibly laughable written in it.

Unable to hold back, Shuri asked, “Can I read it too?”, but Ariel resolutely shook her head, declaring ‘no’ without hesitation.

After leaving Shuri somewhat sulking, Edgar quietly took the letter and began to read the sentences scrawled on it.

As he did, Ariel swallowed hard, watching him, the tension practically palpable.

“Pfft…”

“I said not to laugh!”

“I-I wasn’t laughing! Cough!”

Having reached about midway through, Edgar ultimately burst into laughter, sounding something like a squeaky toy, prompting Ariel to ignite with fury.

Edgar argued that as he hadn’t laughed, it was fine, but he crumbled under his follow-up laughter.

“G-Give it back! You idiot! That wasn’t supposed to be for you!”

In utter desperation, Ariel snatched the letter away, while Edgar, laughing, extended a hand pleading for the letter back.

“Sorry. Since you already read some of it, let me finish!”

“…I knew this would happen.”

Realizing that snatching it back at that point would be pointless, Ariel glared at him and reluctantly handed the letter over.

Gratefully accepting, Edgar read the last part of the letter, and yet again, a wide grin spread across his face.

Was it funny or just cute?

What was written was a letter from Ariel eight years ago to her present self, serving as both a message of support and, in some sense, a massive bombshell.

“Hey, Ariel, did you hear? She asked to say it a hundred or a thousand times.”

“D-Don’t joke! I don’t even remember making such a promise!?”

“Wow, that’s rough. You’re telling me you’d forget a promise you made with yourself eight years ago?”

“Something was wrong with me back then! I wouldn’t say such embarrassing things unless…!”

With her face burning bright red, Ariel shook her head repeatedly in protest.

Even Shuri, who had stolen a glance at the letter in Edgar’s hands, burst into laughter, prompting Ariel to finally lose patience and shoot up from her seat.

“Give it to me now or I’ll tear it apart!”

“Why would I tear something so precious? I’ll keep this safe.”

“I said to hand it over!”

In the end, facing the embarrassing remnants of her past self, Ariel found herself thoroughly put in her place by Edgar again today.

Why was it that even her past self wouldn’t back her up?

In this wretched reality, she had no choice but to vent her frustration.

 

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