“Your hands are quite cold.”

Claire had always had cold hands and feet, but now they were even colder. Sometimes it felt like holding ice in one’s hands.

“Claire was born that way. She often drinks warm tea, but her hands and feet are still cold, which is quite inconvenient.”

“Interesting. Jane was like that too. Though it seems even colder now.”

Holding Ian’s hand, we arrived at the place the gravedigger had mentioned.

“The flowers are in full bloom on this side, but there are no flowers at all on that side.”

“The gravedigger’s flower has quite demanding growth conditions. Its roots are so deep that it takes a long time for the flower to bloom. That’s why there’s a story about it.”

“What kind of story?”

“It was a song by some minstrel… ‘When I die, I’ll bloom my soul’s flower to light your night path.’ Or something like that. Anyway, it became the subject of those lyrics. There’s also a story that the gravedigger’s flower has seeds inside corpses, so when a body is buried, those seeds sprout and bloom. Since people are buried deep, it takes some time for the flower to break through the thick earth and bloom.”

“Really? There are seeds in human bodies?”

“I’m not sure either. It’s just a story that’s been passed down. We can’t just dig up graves to confirm it, can we?”

“But such stories don’t just come out of nowhere, right?”

“I’ve heard that when graves are actually dug up, the roots of the gravedigger’s flower are often found entwined with the corpse. Some scholars say that the flower’s growth conditions are unique in that it only sprouts when combined with something produced during the decomposition process of the corpse, but I don’t remember the details.”

“It’s more surprising that there are scholars studying this.”

“Well, scholars tend to dig deep into one thing. And what’s interesting is the characteristics of this gravedigger’s flower.”

“What kind of characteristics does it have?”

“The gravedigger’s flower itself doesn’t have any particular medicinal effects. But strangely, it has a unique property of attracting and containing the properties of other things.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“So, this gravedigger’s flower acts like a vessel. If its roots become entwined with other herbs, it absorbs their medicinal properties into its roots.”

“That’s interesting. Then you could grow it together with hard-to-obtain herbs.”

“That’s a good idea, but the problem is that the gravedigger’s flower itself has such demanding growth conditions that it’s rarely cultivated that way.”

“Ah… I guess if it’s an herb that needs to grow in a graveyard and only sprouts after a long time, it’s not very efficient.”

“That’s right. And since it’s hard to know what’s happening underground, it’s difficult to clearly identify which herbs it’s entwined with, so it’s not used as an herb. It would be disastrous if it accidentally touched the roots of a poisonous plant.”

“That’s true.”

“Instead, I heard it was often used in curse rituals in the past. It was mainly grown by witches, so in some countries, it’s called the witch’s flower rather than the gravedigger’s flower.”

“Either way, none of these names are very pleasant.”

“And there’s another problem with this flower.”

“What kind of problem?”

“It’s not common, but occasionally it’s said to contain diseases that the corpse suffered from in life. That’s why witches often used it for curses.”

“Curses?”

“They would grow flowers containing easily transmissible diseases. I once saw records of flowers being grown on the corpses of animals that died from epidemics, and used as cursed flowers. Of course, it’s just a record, so I don’t know if it’s true.”

“A witch’s curse sounds terrible. It’s fortunate that witches don’t exist anymore.”

Ian shook his head as if disgusted by the mere mention of witches. But I don’t particularly hold any ill feelings towards witches. Since the difference between medicinal herbs and poisonous plants is so slight, I felt a strange sense of kinship, thinking we dealt with similar materials.

“To be honest, when I was young, my dream was to become a witch.”

“What?”

Ian looked at me with a shocked expression. Is that really so surprising? A child’s heart can admire witches.

“Of course, there are many bad stories about witches, but witches are people who have better basic knowledge of herbs than others. And in the fairy tale books I read when I was young, there were more good witches than bad ones.”

“The witches I’ve heard about are beings who curse those they don’t like and cause germs and insects to infest. I can’t believe Jane wanted to become such a witch.”

“There aren’t only those kinds of witches. Good witches also treat the sick with medicines and break curses. They’re like magical people, similar to wizards… I thought witches who were good with herbs were cooler than wizards.”

“Weren’t you just impressed by any profession that was good with herbs?”

“There’s certainly some truth to that.”

At my words, Ian burst out laughing and said that being a pharmacist was my true calling. I nodded in agreement, thinking the same.

“I’m curious about something. Why did His Majesty the Emperor persecute the prophets from the Kingdom of Stefan so severely? Of course, their abilities shone brightly in the war against Stefan, but after all, that war ended in victory for the Kalovanian Empire, and the Kingdom of Stefan disappeared.”

Ian, who had been listening to me, nodded with a smile.

“Certainly, His Majesty the Emperor showed a sensitive reaction when it came to the Stefan prophets.”

“It’s too harsh, especially since the war is over. Of course, their ability to see the future prolonged the war and often interfered with what the Emperor was trying to do, but after all, they were just trying to protect the Kingdom of Stefan. When you think about it, it was the Kalovanian Empire that first invaded the perfectly fine Kingdom of Stefan, and from Stefan’s perspective, those women were true patriots.”

“Indeed, during the war, the Kingdom of Stefan received great help from their prophecies. The current Emperor had to repeatedly confirm how excellent their prophetic abilities were throughout the war.”

“Then they should have employed them after the war ended! I’m not saying the current Kalovanian Empire is bad, but wouldn’t it have been better if those women with prophetic abilities were around?”

“That’s why he disliked them even more. If they were alive, he would have to confirm how accurate their prophecies were every time. He was afraid that he himself might not be able to escape the fate uttered from their mouths.”

Afraid of their prophecies? This didn’t match at all with the image of His Majesty the Emperor that had been circulating.

“I thought His Majesty the Emperor was a person who feared nothing in the world. This is unexpected.”

“Did you know that the Empress Dowager is from Stefan?”

“Of course. I heard she also suffered from the prophet’s fever, like His Highness the Crown Prince.”

It was because of this background that my grandfather was able to quickly diagnose Ian’s condition as the ‘prophet’s fever’ 15 years ago.

“That’s right. The Empress Dowager also suffered from the prophet’s fever. Later, her condition worsened, and at that time, she revealed a certain future to the Emperor.”

“What kind of future?”

“That he could obtain everything in the Kalovanian Empire, but the one thing he would want to give up everything for, he would never be able to obtain no matter how much he wished or tried.”

“I don’t know what that one thing is, but it’s a cruel prophecy. Especially the part about not being able to change it no matter how hard you try.”

“You’re right. It is cruel. But when the Emperor first heard that prophecy, he actually welcomed it.”

“Why? It’s a prophecy saying he can’t get what he wants most.”

“At that time, he was the person furthest from the imperial power.”

The previous emperor, who had many wives, also had many children, and due to not clearly designating a successor, there was fierce underground competition for imperial power. Having no power, he couldn’t even guarantee if he would survive until adulthood.

“The prophecy that he would have everything in the Kalovanian Empire meant that he would become emperor, surpassing numerous other princes. It also meant that he would at least survive until becoming emperor.”

Fearing that her prophecy might leak out and increase the number of those trying to take his life, he deliberately spread the rumor that she was mentally ill and had her confined.

“And he probably thought this too. If he could become the master of the Kalovanian Empire, he could give up just one thing he wanted.”

“I guess that’s true. Since it means becoming the master of the empire. Then why did His Majesty the Emperor persecute the prophets so much if he welcomed that prophecy?”

“Something real appeared. Something he wanted to obtain even if he had to give up everything.”

The one thing he wanted to have even if he had to give up the Kalovanian Empire, and the one thing he couldn’t obtain even as the master of the empire. What could that possibly be?