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"... So you've decided to go as well, then."
Forrest glanced up from where he was saddling up his horse, listening to the others go quiet as his father approached. He grit his teeth, face set. "I am. Will you have a problem with this as well?"
"Nothing of the sort." Leo still looked serious, but his face lightened. "I should've expected as much... in fact." Leo reached into a pocket on his armor. "I did."
Forrest watched as Leo pulled out a letter and offered it up for him. Hesitantly, he walked forward and took the letter from his father's hands. He flipped it over to look at who wrote it for him.
To Forrest
... He didn't recognize the handwriting.
"It..." Leo considered his words, eyebrows furrowed. "She wrote that for you, you know. Before she gave you to me."
Forrest's grip tightened on the envelope. "So you only give it to me now? My ever elusive mother you refuse to say anything about? You happened to have one last gift from her?" He didn't want to crumple it, so he took a deep breath and loosened his grip. "Why keep it so secret? Why have her haunt us like a ghost if you've had this all this time?"
Leo's face looked pained, and he looked away. "... You are very likely going to meet her if you're going to Hoshido."
Forrest stared. He faintly registered Ophelia and Sophie gasping behind him. When did Ophelia get here? "... Hoshido?"
"It'll be good for you. To get out of here." Leo said, turning around. "Maybe, if you meet your mother, you'll understand why it was better for you here than there."
Forrest glanced down at the letter, only listening to the clicking of his father's boots as he walked away.
To Forrest. Handwriting that seemed formal but unfamiliar. All this time...
"So our lovely lord of the night has the dawn bursting through his veins!" Ophelia shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I knew you had something special about you, Forrest!"
"Now is not the time, Ophelia." Forrest turned around, going back to his horse. "We should be getting back to the others." Forrest put the letter into his tome satchel and hoisted himself up into the saddle. "I know just as much as you do, don't get too excited."
"Should we tell the others?" Sophie asked, the only considerate voice in the stable.
"... only after I know who she is." Forrest conceded.