Why on earth is this happening?

That night.

Lying side by side with Dante, Serpina couldn’t calm her noisy mind.

Now that the cold war was over, they had to stop using separate rooms.

The external excuse of a cold had long since passed.

So from today, they decided to share a bed again according to northern tradition.

‘I can’t sleep.’

Sleep wouldn’t come.

Maybe it was because they were lying together after so long, but she was acutely aware of Dante next to her.

She forced her eyes shut, but her head was too loud and chaotic for sleep to come.

No, it wasn’t her head that was chaotic, but her chest.

“…Sigh.”

“Can’t you sleep?”

A quiet concern followed the sigh she had unknowingly let out.

Serpina opened her eyes in surprise.

At the end of her gaze was Dante looking at her.

Oh. Goodness.

She shook her head and closed her eyes again.

“A little.”

“To be honest, I can’t either.”

So Dante can’t sleep either.

She thought that perhaps it was for the same reason as her.

It was awkward to sleep together after so long.

Yes. That must be it.

Having finished this excellent self-suggestion, Serpina turned to face Dante.

Lying like this reminded her of the first time they slept together.

Back then, they slept just fine even lying much closer than now.

Indeed, humans are creatures of adaptation and habit.

Who would have thought a brief period of separate rooms would make things feel so new?

Somehow expecting a long night of tossing and turning, Serpina swallowed a sigh.

“Dante.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s not use separate rooms anymore and keep sleeping together from now on. Even if we fight.”

If they had to go through this every time after using separate rooms, it would be quite troublesome.

Serpina left those words and tried to fall asleep.

And so, she didn’t see the expression with which Dante was looking at her.

Nor how red his cheeks, neck, and ears had become.

‘Ah. This is bad.’

Dante carefully wiped his face and swallowed hard.

The desire he swallowed down his throat was hot.

Heterson visited to check if the cold had properly healed and to share the status of the hoosan fruit research.

After a brief examination, I told him about the ‘incurable disease misunderstanding’ incident.

It seemed like news he should know as the doctor in charge of the Richter mansion.

“There was such a misunderstanding? No wonder! I was wondering why everyone was acting so strange!”

Heterson jumped up from his seat after hearing the story.

His face was a mix of relief and indignation.

Well, that’s understandable.

Because of the misunderstanding that I had an incurable disease, he was in danger of being branded a quack.

I heard that even during the last visit, he was dragged away and thoroughly questioned…

Perhaps sensing my sympathetic gaze, Heterson, who had been excitedly jumping around, sat down with a fake cough.

“Anyway, it’s good that the misunderstanding has been cleared up.”

“You’re telling me. I almost had a funeral while still alive.”

“If that had happened, I feel like I might have been buried right next to you.”

“Oh, that would have been an honor.”

Heterson laughed at my joke.

No matter how I thought about it, he felt more friendly than the prince I had officially become friends with.

He told me that he had obtained meaningful results regarding the consumption of hoosan fruit.

He said that with a bit more research, it would soon be possible to safely consume the fruit.

I carefully noted down the method I received from him, then handed over the hoosan fruits and seedlings of hoosan fruit trees that I had prepared in advance.

“Oh! You succeeded?”

“About a third of them survived. The rest all died.”

“That’s still impressive. It’s not easy to sprout seeds in the first place.”

As expected of a doctor, he seemed to have some knowledge about plants.

I gave him a thumbs up, acknowledging his recognition of my efforts.

Heterson also gave me a thumbs up with a hearty laugh.

Strange. I’m sure he was a bit timid at first.

The sky was high.

The wind had become much colder compared to summer.

Although I’m confident in enduring cold, paradoxically, I’m quite sensitive to it, so I was already wearing a thick outer garment.

“We should start preparing to light the fireplace soon.”

“Already?”

When I asked, Mari’s gaze turned to my outer garment.

Ah. Not already, I see.

I nodded in understanding.

“By the way, how are the herbs doing?”

“We’ll harvest them all early and leave the field empty for winter, of course.”

“That seems a bit disappointing.”

“How can humans go against the laws of nature?”

Of course, if we had something like a greenhouse, we could go against it quite significantly.

As we were talking in front of the field, Markops, who had appeared from somewhere, chimed in.

“Then, how about planting things that can withstand winter?”

“Things that can withstand winter?”

Nothing particularly came to mind.

The things I had already planted were hardy varieties.

Of course, they wouldn’t survive the northern winter.

“If you’d like, shall I recommend some?”

Markops asked with sparkling eyes. Well, as a gardener working in the north, Markops would know well what crops could withstand the northern winter.

“How about potatoes?”

“Potatoes?”

“…Are you serious?”

Unlike me who was intrigued, Mari’s voice had turned cold.

“Why? Don’t you like potatoes?”

“No, it’s not that. But potatoes… aren’t they too serious for a garden?”

“It’s fine. Potatoes are root vegetables anyway, so only the leaves are visible on the surface. It’ll look decent enough, right?”

“Your words are most wise!”

“Besides, we have a fireplace. I think they’d be delicious roasted.”

“Ah. You’re even going to roast them in the fireplace?”

“Is that not allowed?”

“…No. I’ll follow whatever Madam wants.”

The strong sense of resignation I felt from Mari was just my imagination, right?

“But don’t potatoes usually get planted in spring and harvested in fall or summer?”

“Among the potatoes grown in the north, there are varieties that are planted in autumn and harvested in winter.”

If that’s the case, then it’s fortunate.

I looked alternately at the field, Markops, and Mari with her precarious expression, then nodded without hesitation.

“Let’s plant potatoes.”

And so, following the 1st Autumn Tree Planting Event, the 1st Autumn Potato Planting Event was held.

This time too, we recruited participants voluntarily.

Perhaps word had spread that the tree planting was fun, because this time there were more participants.

So we had no choice but to increase the size of the field.

Even combining my field and Dante’s field, there wasn’t enough land to plant potatoes.

Everyone gathered to plow the land, pull weeds, remove stones, add fertilizer, water, and plant seed potatoes repeatedly, and before we knew it, a decent potato field had been completed.

…Wait a minute. Isn’t this too serious a field, just as Mari said?

I had that thought for a moment, but what could be done now?

We all planted them together, so I couldn’t tell everyone to dig them all up again.

Well, it’ll work out somehow.

Anyway, if Flora becomes the lady of the house as in the original story, she’ll plow it up or do whatever she wants with it.

Now it’s my field. No, it’s my garden, so I should do as I please.
I looked at the potato field with satisfaction.
In winter, I’ll have to stay cooped up in the room and roast potatoes with Dante.
After finishing the mansion’s autumn event like that.
“The Autumn Hunting Festival?”
What awaited me was the empire’s autumn event.
“Yes. It’s one of the noble events hosted directly by the imperial family.”
An event directly hosted by the imperial family.
“Is it a famous event?”
“It’s one of the most notable among the empire’s events.”
Hmm. I see.
After my confession about my past, I asked questions about my ignorance of high society more freely.
Honestly, I don’t think I put on much of an act before either.
Anyway, a hunting festival that’s one of the most notable events in the empire.
…How typical of a romance fantasy novel.
Isn’t a hunting festival a common theme that often appears in novels?
Then, was there a related story in “Please Water the Second Flower”?
I racked my brains, but nothing significant came to mind.
Whether there was no hunting festival episode or I simply couldn’t remember, I couldn’t be sure.
“Then, are we attending too?”
“Probably.”
Probably?
“When the imperial family directly invites you, you have no right of refusal.”
Ah. I understand.
“Well, since the imperial family tends to be a bit obsessed with us, they’ll definitely invite us.”
“…Us.”
“Pardon?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
Strangely, Dante didn’t seem to be in a bad mood even though we were talking about the imperial family.
I shrugged my shoulders and thought about the hunting festival.
Many nobles would come too, so in a way, it was my official debut in high society as a Richter.
No. It’s just my first ever debut in high society.
When I lived at the count’s residence, I was confined to the mansion with the external excuse that “Serpina is frail.”
“High society…”