At first, I was quite flustered, but later I became resigned to whatever happened. Even at Count Pennel’s mansion, I often took the wrong paths. I thought it was just because I was young, but that wasn’t all.

It was only later that I realized I had a serious sense of direction problem. I would even get confused trying to find the door I had entered through to get out.

I kicked a stone that was in my way and muttered once again.

“Well, I’ll find my way eventually.”

The room assigned to me was next to Ricardo’s.

There were only two rooms used as bedrooms on the second floor, so while they weren’t exactly adjacent, it was hard to shake the feeling of being under surveillance.

For the past three days, he had left the mansion early in the morning and returned late at night. I was frustrated not knowing how long I had to wait, but I was also afraid to ask.

When Ricardo and I arrived at the duke’s residence, many people came out to greet us, but I didn’t see the duke and duchess.

“Are they not on good terms with their parents?”

Well, it would be strange if they were. Although I knew that an oracle was an inviolable divine command, understanding it intellectually doesn’t make the resentment disappear.

Ah, since I have no memories, does resentment even have any meaning?

The sun was still high in the sky, and shadows were short at my feet. As I looked around, I saw a pretty bench and plopped down on it. The vast garden of the duke’s residence spread out before my eyes.

The sun pierced my eyes dazzlingly, so I narrowed them. I thought I’d try to find my way again when the shadows grew a bit longer.

“There are cyclamen here too. They really look like clothes fairies have taken off.”

As I relaxed and looked up at the sky, something rustled and moved in the flower bed. Soon, like a flower blooming from a bud, a woman rose up. If cyclamen were to be reborn as humans, would they look like this?

The woman, wearing white gloves and holding a trowel, stared at me blankly.

I quickly stood up. Even the maids in the duke’s household were of higher status than me.

“Ah, hello.”

“Who are you?”

If flowers had a voice, it would surely sound like this. Her brilliant golden hair and reddish eyes were so beautiful they could captivate one’s soul.

“Ah, I’m……”

How on earth should I introduce myself? As I hesitated, the woman looked me over for a moment and then nodded.

“Ah, Lady Pennel.”

Although I had maintained my noble status, my title had been confiscated and I was living like a maid, so being called “lady” was uncomfortable. But having been addressed as such, I lifted my skirt and gave a curtsy as a noble lady would.

It must have looked clumsy to that noble lady.

In response to my greeting, she tilted her head slightly and smiled with her eyes. When she smiled, it became even harder to guess her age.

“But what brings you here? This isn’t the annex garden.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know this was a place I shouldn’t enter. Actually, I… got lost.”

Embarrassment washed over me and I smiled awkwardly.

“It’s not that you’re not allowed to enter. It’s just that no one ever does.”

Isn’t that the same thing?

It would be rude to ask when the noble lady hadn’t revealed her identity first. Not knowing who she was, I bowed my head slightly to appear as polite as possible.

A gentle laugh reached my ears, and when I looked up, I saw the woman sitting down in the flower bed again.

“If you help me with what I’m doing, I’ll help you find your way.”

“Pardon?”

“……”

“Oh, yes.”

As I approached, the woman handed me a spare pair of gloves and a trowel. Seeing that there was even a low stool, it seemed she had been tending to the flowers for quite some time.

“We’re going to separate and replant some of the ones that are too crowded together.”

“That doesn’t sound too difficult.”

Thinking it was actually fortunate, I rolled up my sleeves. Time passed slowly when I had nothing to do.

“Do you take care of all these flowers by yourself?”

“Of course not. Just whenever I have time. No, whenever time doesn’t pass quickly enough. It’s my hobby.”

“Ah……”

As she said, it wasn’t a flower bed that such a beautiful lady could manage alone.

Though she was a stranger, I immediately took a liking to this noble lady. As a rule, there are no evil people among those who love plants and animals.

“If you’ll allow me, I’d like to come out and tend to the flowers occasionally too. Though I don’t know how long I’ll be staying here.”

The woman smiled softly at my words. I couldn’t help but gaze at her graceful figure.

“You’re really… beautiful.”

At my words, spoken as if entranced, the woman looked at me with clear eyes. Her red eyes seemed to pierce through one’s heart.

“Ah, the flowers, I mean.”

As she chuckled, I thought she resembled someone, and at that moment, a long shadow fell over us both.

“What are you doing here?”

I looked up at the low voice to see Ricardo looking down at me with a fierce gaze. The wick of his eyes was still ashen, but his breathing was slightly uneven. He pursed his lips and tilted his jaw slightly to one side.

“Duchess.”

Still keeping his eyes on me, he called out to the woman beside me. Duchess… So this woman who had been digging with me was…

“Eek!”

I jumped to my feet. Who was the Duchess of Rochester? Wasn’t she the woman said to be even harder to get an audience with than the Empress of the Dermeyer Empire? To think such a noble lady had been sitting on a low stool tending to a flower bed.

“Duchess, I have been extremely rude. Please forgive me.”

When her son appeared, she put on a completely different expression from before. The duchess rose slowly from her seat without a hint of dishevelment. As she removed her soil-stained gloves one finger at a time and lifted her chin slightly, all traces of the woman who had been smiling like a gentle breeze just moments ago vanished.

“You’re here, Ricardo.”

“Duchess, are you making my guest work right now?”

Wasn’t this place supposed to be mild all year round? I was about to shiver from the chill between the two of them.

“She said she was lost, so I put her to work a bit in exchange for showing her the way.”

“I don’t recall giving permission for anyone to approach my guest.”

Ah, that brat. He used to keep me away calling me a slave, and now even the duchess.

“Hahaha, I got lost. Funny, isn’t it? Getting lost inside a house.”

“Speak properly, darling. It wasn’t me who approached, but your lost guest who came to me.”

“That’s right! I approached the duchess first. I even said I wanted to help with the work in the future.”

“Then you should have just avoided her.”

Excuse me, I’m right here. I’m quite tall, can’t you see me?

“I’ve never avoided anyone since I was born.”

“You…!”

Fearing Ricardo might say something disrespectful again, my hand moved reflexively. As I lightly grabbed the cuff of his sleeve, he flinched and was about to speak but closed his mouth again. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

“Young master, please guide me around the duke’s residence. So I don’t get lost again.”

Ricardo looked down at me. The sunlight shining from above cast deep shadows on his face. Even as I felt intimidated, he was breathtakingly handsome, and my gaze involuntarily shifted.

“If you have time, that is. Hahaha.”

I’m being foolish. I know I’m being foolish, but I can’t stop myself from feeling like the ultimate weakling.

I put a little strength into the hand holding Ricardo and pulled slightly. He gave a slight bow to the duchess and turned around. As I was taking off my gloves and calming my heart, he took three or four steps and then suddenly turned back.

Why? What now?

“Aren’t you following?”

“Ah, yes.”

I quickly paid my respects to the duchess and hurried to follow Ricardo. I glanced back slightly, but I couldn’t read any particular expression on the duchess’s face.

Is it really okay to end my first meeting with the duchess like this?

As I diligently followed him, I couldn’t help but contemplate the fate of a shrimp caught between fighting whales.

“Don’t go out without permission.”

“Yes, yes, as if you’re my owner or something.”

Even as I was contemplating the feelings of a shrimp, my unrestrained mouth automatically talked back.

He stopped abruptly. At that moment, a wind blew from afar, ruffling his black hair. Ricardo’s scent, carried by the wind, involuntarily caught my attention.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

“What?”

“I mean, telling me not to go out without permission. That’s something I say to our chickens back home. I wonder how our chickens are doing, by the way.”

“Chickens……”

As he exhaled quietly, his mouth closed and his jaw tensed. Feeling a sense of “oops,” I looked around and saw that the group following him had frozen like ice.

Are they tense because of me right now?

As I was about to say something in response, the oldest-looking man widened his eyes and shook his head slightly. Ah, so they are tense because of me.

Only after seeing people trembling in front of Ricardo did I truly realize that the person I was dealing with was the highest authority in this empire.

“I’m not treating you like… a chicken. I just mean that when you go somewhere, let me know first.”