A small tea time for the three began, marked by Amy’s return with tea cups and plates for two people.

The tea time was more enjoyable than expected. Ryan expressed his admiration while sipping tea and desserts, and shared various stories. They were mainly about the flowers and plants he cared for.

Amy, seemingly having heard his stories often, got annoyed and told him to stop. Riena, enjoying this simple time, just smiled.

“Ryan seems like such a nice person.”

When Riena, who had been quietly listening to the story, innocently complimented him, Ryan burst out laughing with a “Wahaha,” and Amy frowned deeply.

“That was a compliment, right? You’re not mocking me for talking too much?”

Riena quickly denied it.

“Of course it’s a compliment. Ryan really seems like a good person. And I enjoy listening to Ryan’s stories. I’ve learned a lot of things I didn’t know before.”

Ryan scratched the back of his head, seemingly embarrassed.

“Thank you for the compliment, miss. Usually, people who like plants are never bad people. I love plants more than anyone, so I think my personality has become even more gentle.”

“Is that so? Well, I guess it does seem that way.”

Amy, who had been listening to their conversation with a sullen voice, chimed in.

“Miss, don’t be fooled. This is all an act from Ryan. He’s like this in front of you, but he’s completely different when it’s just the two of us.”

Ryan cupped his chin with both hands.

“Oh really? How am I then?”

“Teasing me by calling me carrot, playing mean tricks, and also…!”

Riena looked at the two with great interest.

She hadn’t noticed until now, but Ryan’s gaze towards Amy was unusual. His eyes were filled with laughter, but also an undeniable affection that couldn’t be hidden.

She had thought he was just friendly and unguarded towards everyone because he liked people, but this was a bit different.

‘It seems Ryan likes Amy?’

But unfortunately, Amy didn’t seem to have noticed it yet.

As Riena silently observed the two, she suddenly thought of Cassel.

Seeing Ryan’s gaze towards Amy naturally reminded her of Cassel.

Was it just her imagination that Cassel’s gaze towards her had been like that too?

As Riena’s expression slightly worsened, Ryan, who had been looking at the chattering Amy as if she was cute, suggested:

“Miss, if you’ve enjoyed the refreshments enough, would you like to go for a proper flower viewing?”

Amy, who had noticed Ryan’s intention, quickly agreed.

“That’s right. The scent of flowers will refresh your mood. You can also choose flowers to put in your room yourself.”

“That’s a good idea, Carrot.”

“Stop calling me Carrot!”

Riena obediently got up from her seat.

“Alright. Shall we go then?”

Amy stayed behind, saying she needed to clean up the table. Thanks to this, Riena ended up viewing the garden alone with Ryan, and it wasn’t boring thanks to his constant explanations about the flowers. There was no time to think of other things or feel depressed.

As they were viewing the garden like this, a particular flower caught Riena’s eye.

Riena unknowingly stopped in front of it.

“Sunflowers.”

They were small sunflowers similar to the ones Cassel had given her. The yellow sunflowers were lifting their heads high towards the sun high in the sky.

“Do you like sunflowers?”

“It’s not that I like them, but…”

Riena hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“Cas, I mean, the Duke gave me a bouquet of sunflowers.”

“A bouquet of sunflowers, that’s not a common choice. But it must have been pretty.”

“Yes, it was decorated with white baby’s breath and was quite pretty.”

Ryan took out garden shears from the bag tied to his waist.

“In that case, to revive your memories, I’ll make this bouquet with sunflowers for you this time. There should be baby’s breath in the greenhouse too.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Since I’m bringing you flowers anyway, it’s better if they have meaning. Which sunflowers do you like?”

When Riena pointed to the roundest-looking sunflower, Ryan cut it with his shears.

“Seeing a flower being cut right in front of me makes me feel a bit sorry. Maybe it would be best to just look at them here.”

“This sunflower will be happy to bring you joy too. It would wither in time anyway if left here.”

Ryan answered nonchalantly while selecting and cutting a few more sunflowers.

Soon, he led Riena to where the baby’s breath was. As he cut the baby’s breath, he said:

“Come to think of it, I didn’t realize it before, but the master is unexpectedly romantic.”

“Romantic? But many people give flower bouquets.”

“I’m not saying this simply because he gave you a bouquet, but because of the flower language.”

“Flower language?”

“Yes.”

Ryan smiled.

“Do you know the meaning of sunflowers in flower language?”

Riena shook her head.

“No, I’ve never heard of it.”

“The meaning of sunflowers is ‘devoted love’. It means loving only one person. There’s also a myth about it.”

Ryan told her the myth about sunflowers.

One day, a fairy fell in love with the sun god. She always watched him, wishing only for him to look at her, but the sun god never noticed her existence.

As days passed, weeks passed, and quite a lot of time had passed. The fairy who had been watching the sun god from one spot turned into a yellow flower.

That flower was the sunflower, which is said to always look at the sun.

“When I just heard the flower language, it sounded quite romantic, but hearing the myth makes it a bit sad. In the end, it was just a one-sided love.”

“Now that you mention it, I guess you’re right.”

Ryan, agreeing with her, explained a bit more.

“There’s another interesting thing, they say the meaning changes depending on the number of sunflowers in a bouquet. Four flowers mean ‘I will look only at you anytime, anywhere’, and 999 flowers mean ‘I will look only at you even if I’m reborn several times’. Isn’t that extremely romantic?”

Come to think of it, how many sunflowers were in that bouquet? It might have been three, or it might have been four. She couldn’t remember exactly.

“Well, I wonder if the Duke really knew about this? I think he probably just gave them because they were pretty.”

Ryan shrugged.

“That could be the case too. Sunflowers are common flowers you can see in late summer or early autumn, so they might have been easier to get than other flowers.”

He continued to talk to Riena even while trimming the flowers.

“This baby’s breath also has a meaning in flower language, but you probably don’t know that either, right?”

“That’s right. So what’s the meaning of baby’s breath?”

“Baby’s breath is unique in that its meaning changes depending on the color, do you remember what color it was?”

“I think it was white. Similar to what you’re holding now.”

“In that case, hmm…”

Ryan thought for a moment.

“White baby’s breath means pure heart and promise, or the fruition of love, something like that. There are a few other meanings, but it’s usually given with these meanings in mind.”

“What are the other meanings?”

Ryan hesitated for a moment.

“I know it also means death and sorrow. It’s a bit creepy that it has meanings like pure heart and death together, but I think it’s romantic in its own way.”

“…Romantic?”

When Riena asked, looking a bit uncomfortable, Ryan laughed as if embarrassed.

“This is just my personal thought, but doesn’t it sound like saying ‘I love you so much that I would even face death for you’?”

His expression was quite solemn as he explained.

Riena laughed along with a “Pfft.”

“Now that you mention it, it does seem that way. But the Duke, well, I don’t think he considered it to that extent when he gave them to me.”

“Then you can tell the master about it later, miss.”

“Mmm.”

As Cassel was mentioned, Riena’s expression, which had brightened, darkened again.

Noticing his slip of the tongue, Ryan quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, I wonder if young master Noah likes flowers too? Since we’re here, it might be good to prepare flowers for the young master as well. Would you like to help, miss?”

Riena smiled brightly, grateful for his consideration.

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Riena carefully chose flowers for Noah with Ryan. Ryan recommended various flowers while explaining their meanings, but it wasn’t easy to choose.

After going around the garden once more, Riena decided to give Noah the same sunflowers after much deliberation.

Her reason was that the deep yellow color of the sunflowers was similar to Noah’s hair color.

Ryan skillfully trimmed the flowers and then made them into a bouquet using white wrapping paper.

Noah, receiving the sunflower bouquet from Riena, jumped with joy.

The child was delighted twice at the words “I chose them because they look like your hair,” and thrice at “I have the same flowers in my room too.”