In the end, everyone in the mansion chose indifference.

No, not indifference. They chose to pretend not to care.

They thought that if that was what Serpina wanted, it was right to do so.

After all, nothing is more cruel than forcibly digging up a truth someone is trying hard to hide.

Instead of pressing Serpina about the uncomfortable truth, they decided to protect her happiness.

“Wow. How long has it been since I had a morning without heartburn…?”

The first thing I did when I opened my eyes in the morning was marvel.

After taking the medicine Heterson gave me, the heartburn was gone as if it had never been there.

Every morning I had been busy retching from the acid rising up my throat, but today I could get up leisurely, stretching.

Wow. Has a healthy life always been this beautiful?

Indeed, one must be healthy to appreciate life.

To celebrate this healthy and refreshing morning, I finished my meal properly for once in a while.

Avoiding overeating, I skipped the morning dessert and returned to my bedroom to read a book.

‘Herbs Are My Friends’

It was a plant encyclopedia.

I got tired of the book I was reading before, so I tucked it away in a corner of the desk and switched to this one.

“There’s nothing about Hosan fruit here either…”

I skimmed through the book, but couldn’t find anything about Hosan fruit.

At this point, it’s starting to feel like a fantasy fruit.

If it weren’t for the original work, I wouldn’t have known what kind of tree it was until the day I left this place.

…Then, should I think about the original work a bit more?

The only way to get information about the Hosan tree right now is through the original work.

Maybe if I think hard enough until my brain hurts, something might come to mind.

I closed the book and shut my eyes.

Then, I held my forehead with one hand and concentrated.

“…Ugh… Ughh…”

I concentrated so hard that groans escaped through my clenched teeth.

As I was wracking my brain like that…

“My lady? My lady!”

Mari, who must have come in at some point, rushed over to me.

I opened my eyes with a start at the sudden scream-like call.

“W-what is it, Mari? You startled me.”

“More importantly, what was that just now? Are you in pain somewhere? Your head? It’s your head that hurts, right? Right!”

Mari, pale-faced, asked me while flailing her hands in the air, not daring to touch me.

Meanwhile, her gaze was busily scanning my entire body.

I shook my head vigorously.

“No. I was just thinking about something. I was so focused I didn’t even notice you come in.”

“…I-I see.”

The awkward response lacked sincerity.

Her eyes seemed to believe I was lying, no matter who looked at it.

Well. I’m used to this kind of situation now.

They see me as nothing more than a walking skeleton anyway. Especially since I actually suffered something akin to esophagitis this time, their belief must have only gotten stronger, not weaker.

Instead of making any more excuses, I gave a thumbs up with a wistful smile.

Throughout cleaning the room, Mari kept glancing at me from the corner of her eye.

Though she didn’t say anything, I could feel her concern for me with her whole body.

It’s really touching… It’s really touching, but… yeah.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it were a little less touching.

At one point, my throat even started to itch and I was about to cough, but I swallowed it down because I was conscious of Mari.

“Gulp, gulp.”

But the cough wouldn’t go down easily.

Feeling Mari’s gaze intensify even more, I smiled wistfully again.

Only after Mari left did I finally let out the cough I had been holding back.

“Cough! Cough!”

Ugh, I guess my throat is pretty damaged from the esophagitis.

Given how I’m coughing.

After wiping away the runny nose that was about to flow with a handkerchief, I continued the thought I couldn’t finish earlier.

After several days of pondering, I recalled some information from the original work.

“…That fruit had poison in it.”

In fact, many medicinal herbs contain poison.

Depending on how they’re used, they can become either medicine or poison.

Come to think of it, the Hosan fruit was that kind of thing too.

The good news is that it’s not a deadly poison, but rather contains a mild toxin.

Side effects include heartburn and indigestion.

But the funny thing is, the poison of the Hosan fruit doesn’t affect the body itself.

I don’t know how such a fruit exists in this world.

No wonder it’s treated like a mysterious fruit.

Anyway, judging from various circumstances, the cause of my esophagitis-like symptoms that weren’t quite esophagitis was clearly a side effect of the Hosan fruit.

I got into trouble by carelessly shoving it into my mouth.

“Phew, I’ll have to be more careful from now on.”

I guess I’ll have to stop researching the Hosan fruit for a while.

I should do something after my body gets better first.

Fortunately, my physical condition improved day by day.

It was thanks to roughly figuring out the cause and the consistently taken medicine that was effective in alleviating symptoms.

I think I can go back to living my daily life like before, and the sunshine today is especially great.

“Ah. It’s today.”

After finishing breakfast, I put down my fork, got ready, and went outside.

Whew.

Ah. This clear and fresh air mixed with the scent of soil and herbs.

As I was taking deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling, Markops came running from afar, waving his hand.

“My lady!”

“Oh, Markops.”

“Oh my, are you feeling better now? Is it okay for you to come out like this?”

“Of course. It’s fantastic.”

“Huff. I’m really glad. Just in case, I only did minimal maintenance on your garden. I thought you might feel disappointed if I tidied it up too neatly.”

Indeed, it was just as Markops said.

The weeds were roughly cleared, but there were plenty of things that needed to be thinned out.

Herbs, flower buds, and leaves growing too close together.

At the sight that looked so inviting to work on, I gave a thumbs up.

“Perfect, Markops.”

“Hehe. After all, I am the duke’s gardener! The one and only! Gardener! Hahaha.”

As he laughed, he kept glancing around, seemingly wary of Siena who might be around.

He really hasn’t changed.

I let out a light laugh, then squatted down in front of the vegetable patch.

Markops also greeted me before returning to his work area.

Ah, it’s even more fun doing this after a while.

I was absorbed in gardening when…

“Hm?”

At some point, a long shadow stretched over my head.

Only after a while did I notice this and looked up, turning my head around.

Then, my eyes met directly with a face and eyes darkly shadowed under the sun.

“When did you come, Duke?”

“Just now.”

“Is that so? By the way, it’s almost the first time we’ve met like this here… right?”

There were many people who came to give advice while I was gardening, but the Duke had never come once.

Well, he’s such a busy person that he practically lives in his office during the day, and he never skips his sword practice in between.

I felt strangely glad to run into him in an unexpected place.

“What brings you here? Do you have something to tell me?”

“…No. Just, wondering how your health is.”

Ah. So that’s it.

I barely managed to hold back a chuckle that almost escaped without me realizing.

It’s not that I dislike it, but after being overprotected so much by everyone around me, I’ve reached the point where I reflexively laugh.

But Dante seemed to read my expression faster.

“Am I bothering you?”

“No. Not at all. You’re just worried about me, after all. I’m just concerned that I might have become too much of a worry for everyone.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Then that’s a relief.”

Whew, I managed to cover it up somehow.

But an awkward silence followed for a moment.

“Um, Duke?”

“…Don’t overexert yourself.”

With those words, Dante turned around and disappeared.

…Did he really just come to check on me because he was worried?

As expected. Tough on the outside, soft on the inside.

I resumed working with admiration.

And his visits continued for several days. Perhaps noticing that I felt burdened by him asking about my health, he didn’t speak to me but just lingered around before leaving…

That’s even more distracting.

“Ah. I picked the wrong one.”

Being conscious of Dante nearby, I ended up picking a flower bud that shouldn’t have been picked.

Oh my. My baby.

I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.

With a bitter heart, I carefully cleared away the flower bud, then abruptly stood up.

I can’t live like this anymore.

For the sake of our precious flower buds too!

I strode towards Dante, holding a trowel in my hand.

“Excuse me, Duke.”

As I approached him in a straight line, I could see Dante faltering.

“My lady?”

“Here you go.”

I seized the moment to place the trowel in Dante’s hand.

“Suddenly…”

“It seems like you want to join in too. Instead of lurking around, let’s just do it together. How about it?”

If I hint like this, given Dante’s personality, he’ll probably say ‘No’ and leave.

I feel bad about hinting at Dante, but I also had the right to enjoy my fantastic hobby.

However, the answer that came back was unexpected.

He stared blankly at the trowel in his hand, then looked at me and asked.

“What should I do first?”

“…Huh?”

Somehow, we ended up squatting side by side in front of the vegetable patch.

Glancing sideways, Dante’s expression holding the trowel looked even resolute.

Pfft. Ahem.

I almost burst out laughing and hurriedly covered it up with a fake cough.

He didn’t hear that, right?

As I was sneakily checking, his gaze that had been directed at the field was already turned towards me.

Blinking at the unexpectedly met gaze, his lips moved slightly.

“Cough…”

“Huh? What did you say? I didn’t hear.”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Strange. I thought he mumbled something.