hello! for your event, may i request "i wish i knew you wanted me" with leona? congrats on 1k!!!
omg thank you so much anon 💛✨
also, i'm so sorry for answering so late 😭
"Oi, Leona! This stuff's yours right?" Ruggie tossed the small cardboard box in Leona's direction.
It wasn't eye-catching in any way. The box had the color gray, it was barren and worn. One would've mistaken it for another one of the things Leona scatters around, only to forget it later.
"Where'd you even get this?" Leona said, analyzing it from the outside.
"Savanaclaw's new house warden sent it here. You should be thankful that the guy hadn't thrown it away."
Savanaclaw. He hadn't heard that name for years now. How was the dorm doing? Is the botanical garden the same cozy place it was then? Has Crewel gotten wrinkles? How's the herbivore and that gremlin doing?
"Well, they're Assistant Headmaster something something. Kind of forgot the details. But they're doing pretty well if that's what you were wondering about," Ruggie shrugged.
The news made him feel a little at ease. As much as he'd like to have a chat between tea, he had so much paperwork left to do. The kingdom, legal stuff, trade, memos he needed to sign, and foreign affairs. Needless to say, he's got a lot on his plate.
Or maybe that's just an excuse for being lazy?
Thin stacks of letters were the contents of the box. They had a wide range of colors, some white, some orange, some even had more colors than one. All of them, no doubt, were the ones you sent him a while back.
"Ruggie, make sure the squirt goes to his lessons this time. That old baboon wouldn't shut up if he misses it again."
"Just like his Unca Leona," Ruggie snickered.
"Can't have our future king slacking off is all."
The hyena paused for a moment. It's been seven years since Leona assumed the throne, and seven years since the former king passed. He had agreed to be temporary king, to reign until Cheka had come of age and was fit to rule over Sunset Savannah. The wear and stress of the position took its toll on him.
Leona looked nothing like the proud house warden he once was. The circles under his eyes grew larger and more defined with the weeks. And he'd rarely see him come out of his office, and his eyes never looked dimmer than it was.
"Fine, fine. Take a break when you're done."
"I doubt I could even if I wanted to."
With Ruggie out the door, Leona was left with the mountains of paperwork and the stack of your letters.
"These could wait," he glanced at the box, putting it away in a drawer.
The night turned to day and night again. The towers of paper were reduced greatly by now. Meaning, that he had some time to slack off until the next hour.
The coffee on his desk had gone cold, and the bread turned stale from the hours of ignoring it. But it was still a good snack as any, he thought, too occupied to be bothered to ask for a new batch.
He decided that rereading your little letters would be better than staring at nothing. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't sleep. It felt like even the slightest neglect would result in everything he worked hard for to come crashing down. For all of the respect he's earned to turn into dust again.
"Alright, herbivore, let's see what you got."
The first letter was purple, with the mark of Octavinelle printed on the lower right corner in faint gold color.
Hey there. I hope this letter finds you well.
I wanted to thank you for your help back there. If it weren't for you, Grim and I would probably be on the streets.
I asked Jack what kind of food you liked. And he answered me with, "Expensive meat, probably." He had the same answer as Ruggie, so I went for it.
The ingredients were hard to procure, but Octavinelle lent us a few madols to compensate. And the ghosts told me they could help me make it.
So, I wanted to invite you for a feast. Ramshackle, at 7:30 p.m. You're not obligated to come, but I'd feel so much better if you would.
The memory earned a chuckle from him. He remembered how you waited for him on your dorm's porch. He couldn't forget how you looked like you were about to fall asleep right then and there.
He picked out another one, multicolored, with red, black, and gold. It was richly decorated with bundles of blue and yellow as if it was screaming 'rich!' at the top of its lungs.
Can you believe it? Jamil held us hostage! If we knew it would've ended up like that we never would've helped him in the kitchen.
Enough of that, how's your winter break so far? Does it snow back there? Or is it just cold? If it did, I bet you'd look goofy wearing a sweater. Do you have to wear something to warm your tail too?
That's pretty much all I wanted to say. I look forward to your return. Who knows, there might be a surprise waiting for you.
A plush toy. That's what was waiting for him. You got him a small lion plushie as a gift. Reluctantly, he accepted it anyway. To this day, it's still neatly stored in one of his closets.
The third one was a vibrant hue of purple. It was laced with gold on the edges and had a kind of sheen.
The VDC turned out better than I anticipated. I should give credit to Vil for helping us all throughout.
I was looking for you in the crowd. But I couldn't find anywhere I looked. Maybe you were busy with final stage maintenance?
That's too bad, I was hoping that you'd come see their performance. Who knew Ace and Deuce had some good moves up their sleeve?
Hey, Leona, if it's not too much trouble... Would you like to join me for dinner? There's a new restaurant in town. Cater sent me a few pictures of the venue, and I couldn't help but think of Savanaclaw.
The last one of the four was more formal. It was black, decorated with little lines of gold. And the seal of NRC was still intact.
"I haven't seen this one before..."
Congratulations. As your fellow schoolmate, I'm here to bid you farewell. We had a good school year together, don't you think?
After this you'll be out on the field, no? That's what Cater told me. Then it means you won't be around much. That's a shame, I'll miss you napping around the botanical garden for sure.
No joke, I'll really miss having you around. But don't let that hold you back. I'm sure you'll be known as the great wizard you are. Don't give up and keep looking forward.
We plan on holding a farewell party for all the seniors. I hope you can stop by Ramshackle, Grim and I've prepared a lot of good food.
That, and I want to tell you something. I honestly wanted to tell you this in person, but I'm worried that you might not come. I don't want to waste this opportunity to tell you that...
Leona Kingscholar, I love you.
Leona put away the letters. The gray box was stowed away in his drawer, he doesn't know when he'll be taking it out soon.
"If I had known, I would've loved you... I would've..."
When did he start crying?
He retired for the night, not in the mood for work.
