“If I had known they were so incompetent, I would never have hired them.”

Her father would surely go to any lengths to send precious flower seedlings.

“Yes, Princess, I will prepare,” Maegi replied and quickly rushed back to the castle. From behind, the sounds of Princess Anette scolding the gardeners continued.

Maegi thought it was a stroke of luck that she was not in the garden but inside the castle.
In the garden of Verdura, the newly sprouted saxifrage shoots were growing robustly day by day. Othon, in particular, stuck by the saxifrage whenever he had time, pouring his heart into it, even giving each shoot a name.

“Cutie, Beauty, Sturdy, Twinkle, Gold Leaf.”

Calling out the names one by one as the pointed shoots rose, Othon looked extremely happy. It was quite different from when he used to always grumble and speak provocatively.

Lying on the ground with his chin in his hands, Othon, smiling broadly, looked at the shoots. It was a lovely and adorable sight, completely different from his usual demeanor.

Saxifrage, nurtured by the blessed fertile soil of the goddess Terra, the love of the earth fairies, and Stella’s dedication, was distinct from other shoots from the beginning.

Drenched in a dense green color, even the slender stems looked robust, and the surrounding air carried a refreshing fragrance.

“Do saxifrages usually emit such a pleasant scent even from the shoots?”

Stella, just as attached to saxifrages as Othon, plucked saxifrages first thing every morning.

It seemed even more precious considering the hardships they faced to obtain the plant. Anticipating that these cute shoots would soon blossom into beautiful golden flowers, she was already happy.

“Normally, the scent isn’t this strong. It seems like it’s growing into top-quality saxifrage.”

Ark also marveled at the sturdy saxifrage shoots.
“Among these, it seems Sturdy will grow the biggest, right? Perhaps Gold Leaf will bloom flowers that sparkle like real gold.”

Othon unexpectedly spoke affectionately while looking at the shoots. His eyes were gentle and warm, as if he had fallen in love.

“Really? In my opinion, Cutie will be the most splendid.”

Ark pointed to the shoot planted at the front when he said this.

“Hey, hey!”

Esta, who used to visit the garden frequently after the unjust incident with the saxifrage, rushed into the garden making a fuss.

“What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Stella, who was sitting in front of the saxifrage, surprised, stood up. Esta, with a flushed face, panted heavily.

“I pulled them all out!”

Esto, who arrived in front of Stella in an instant, blurted out words without pause, breathing heavily.

“What?”

Stella, with an incredulous expression, asked again at the endless words. After catching her breath a few times with her hands on her chest, Estha pointed towards the direction of Muege Castle and shouted.

“Saxifrages! The ones taken to Muege Castle! All turned brown and went back! She’s yelling and causing a scene. That ugly princess.”

Although the sentences were not clearly organized, Stella understood well enough.

Stella wasn’t interested in Princess Annette causing trouble, but it was a pity for the saxifrages to suffer because they had encountered the wrong owner. If they had just been left here, they would have bloomed beautifully.

“Just let them grow well here.”
Nevertheless, she’s not an ugly princess. Due to her lack of manners, in the eyes of the earth fairies, Princess Annette seems like an inferior beauty.

Stella couldn’t shake off the bitter feeling and gently caressed the new shoots that were growing well again. Today, the wind was particularly refreshing.

“Huh!”

Kai, who had dozed off, woke up abruptly, startled. His breath was erratic as if he had just sprinted.

He couldn’t remember what dream he had. His heart was pounding unpleasantly fast, and cold sweat gave him goosebumps all over. It wasn’t a pleasant dream; that much he could guess.

He seemed to have dozed off while looking at documents in his office. Starting to feel drowsy like this was a sign that insomnia was starting again.

“Sigh.”

Kai sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand, making an expression of discomfort. Perhaps due to the lingering emotions from the nightmare, a heavy headache struck him.

As he took slow deep breaths, scenes from the dream began to surface like an unordered puzzle.

In the dream, Kai made efforts to save his drowning brother, trained in swordsmanship with Melissa, and took a walk with his mother in a place full of blooming flowers.

“Where was it?”

The place he saw in the dream seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t recall it. If he had gone there with his mother, there was a high chance it was inside the imperial palace, but he couldn’t remember if such a place existed within the palace.

“Sigh.”
The throbbing headache, which had been pressing heavily, now sharply stabbed at Kai’s temples.

“Why is that? Where does it hurt?”

In the dimly lit vision, a small and cute voice unexpectedly interjected.

Kai recognized the owner of the voice and opened his eyes. One of the small fellows, not even the size of a fist, was sitting on the desk again, looking up with round and innocent eyes. The name was Esta or Asta, something like that.

As Kai met the clear eyes of the little one, the headache that felt as if it had been falsely vanished.

“Oh!”

At the same time, he remembered the place he saw in the dream.

Verdura Castle.

The appearance of the castle he saw in the dream gradually overlapped with the current worn and unimpressive appearance of Verdura Castle.