All-around teacher at the magic academy

"Has it been handled properly?" The man's cold voice echoed in the air.

“Yes, Your Grace,” the butler replied respectfully and affirmatively.

"Was that letter successfully retrieved?" the man continued to ask.

“It’s back, Your Grace.” The butler responded, carefully holding the letter in both hands and handing it to the Duke with the utmost respect.

"Just leave it there." The man didn't seem interested in it; such trivial matters weren't worth his attention.

"Yes." The butler gently placed the letter on the table, then bowed and silently withdrew, ending his conversation with the Duke.

...

Leon had no idea how he got there; his mind was a complete blank. Upon hearing the news, he even wondered if he had misheard.

Philip is dead? How could that be? He was perfectly fine this morning. On his hurried journey here, Leon silently prayed that the messenger had made a mistake.

However, when he arrived at the scene and saw the captain standing there silently, smoking incessantly, his face filled with desolation and sorrow, Leon felt a chill in his heart. He felt as if this matter was indeed true.

He ran there almost unconsciously, and when he saw the person lying in a pool of blood and was sure it was Philip, his heart was instantly filled with indescribable shock and grief.

Philip, who always smiled foolishly and was carefree, now lay coldly on the street, his body mutilated.

Leon couldn't understand who would do such a thing to Philip. What kind of enemies could someone with his personality possibly have made?

According to passersby who witnessed the incident, the man was cut in half while running. Leon couldn't believe that the person Philip had offended would take such a huge risk to attack him directly in the street.

A wave of regret washed over him. Why hadn't he stayed behind and waited to leave with Philip? If he had, would he still be alive?

Why am I in such a hurry to go back? I'm always like this, always watching helplessly as people around me leave one by one, and I can't do anything about it.

He didn't know how to tell Ilya about this; she must be heartbroken. What if Ilya chose to go with Philip after finding out?

Leon's thoughts were in disarray. He didn't know what he should do. Helplessly, he squatted down, burying his face in his hands, trying to pull himself together. But the more he tried, the more distressed he felt.

Feeling the force on his shoulder, Leon turned his head with difficulty to look at the person who had come. He didn't blame the captain; he knew the captain must be feeling bad too, and regretted keeping him on as a worker.

...

Leon looked at the carefully wrapped gift box in his hands, feeling its weight. He could guess what was inside; Philip was definitely looking forward to seeing the happy smile on Ilya's face when he received it, after all, the guy had been nagging him about it for ages.

He knew he had to tell Ilya the news, but he didn't know how to say it in a way that would avoid causing Ilya further harm.

The image of Ilya's pale yet radiant face flashed through my mind. She must be very anxious right now, eagerly hoping that Philip would come home for dinner as usual.

...

At this moment, in a secluded courtyard in Barton City, Ilya sat in the yard, lost in thought. The food had long since gone cold, but she didn't care.

Philip had never come home this late before. Even though he had missed home on time before, he always made it within an hour.

However, more than two hours had passed, and Ilya's mood grew heavy, with worry and unease slowly spreading through her heart.

She kept telling herself that maybe Philip was too busy with work to find the time.

But one thought kept nagging at her: what if something bad happens? This thought quickly took hold of her mind, and she felt incredibly anxious. Unable to sit still, she began pacing back and forth in the yard, trying to calm her unease.

...

Leon walked slowly down the street, his steps heavy. He didn't want to face Ilya so soon; he didn't know how to tell her. He wanted to escape, to delay as much as possible, because he hadn't figured out how to handle the situation.

Watching the people coming and going on the street, he wished so much that it was all just a dream, a figment of his imagination. Should he wake up from this sad and helpless dream? There was no point in continuing.

For some reason, Leon came to a pet store and wanted to go inside and take a look.

He remembered a local dog he had when he was a child. It was very obedient, and he loved playing with it.

He had few friends, and whenever his family wasn't around, only this mongrel dog kept him company, making him feel less lonely.

He cried for a long time when his family sold it. That day, he begged them not to sell it, because it was his friend, his only friend.

He didn't know what trouble it had caused that made its family want to sell it; all he knew was that he saw tears in its eyes that day.

From then on, he never kept a dog again. He went into a pet store and saw all sorts of breeds.

Seeing him approach, they all barked happily at him. Leon's gaze was drawn to a patch of white in the corner—a small Samoyed, sitting alone and watching him.

Leon looked at it and felt that it seemed to be isolated by the other dogs, just sitting there all alone.

...

Leon felt he shouldn't run away anymore; he should bravely face this cruel reality. Things had to be resolved eventually. He seemed to have made some difficult decision within himself, and resolutely quickened his pace.

But when he saw the lonely figure sitting by the door not far away, his heart still couldn't help but clench with pain. Leon tried hard to compose himself and appear normal.

When Ilya saw Leon arrive, his heart skipped a beat, and his eyes instantly welled up with tears.

He walked up to Ilya and put the small, snow-white Samoyed he was holding on the ground. It didn't make a fuss, but sat there quietly, looking at the two of them.

Leon handed the gift Philip had prepared to Ilya without saying a word.

Ilya took it from his hands with difficulty, but tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.