Chapter 16 - Volume 1 (1/2)

Side Story 2 – Part 1

Softly unearthing the soil with her gloved hands, she mixed in some new fertilizer before pressing in the plants’ roots again like how it was before. Even if she had a little goal in mind, these chosen plants were the type that would easily grow wildly if left alone. She let out a sigh.

「That should do it, I hope…」

Arche Mashie murmured that, wiping the sweat off her forehead as she assessed the plant in front of her. ‘Not bad, if I do say so myself,’ she nodded in satisfaction.

Arche’s walnut-colored, long hair fell to her cheeks, disheveled underneath the hood she had worn. It was as if the challenge of keeping her hair neat, went hand in hand with the plant she had painstakingly adjusted. The sensation of her hair clinging to her sweaty face felt gross. Irritated, Arche took her gloves and hood off, putting her hair in order once again.

「Come on—!」

That hair was nothing but a pain when she was working. ‘Should I cut it?’ She’d thought that countless times. But Arche knew that you couldn’t call her work, as well as her personality very feminine. So she kept growing out her hair as a final act of rebellion. There was a reason she wanted to do that.

Speaking of Arche’s work, she was a gardener.

Although she was still a novice, she considered herself skilled despite that. She knew she was a beginner, but she’d received a certain level of approval from her father, one of the royal palace’s purveyors as a gardener.

The Mashie family had inherited the job of gardener for generations. And on top of that, they received the splendid position of the royal palace’s purveyor. That was why Arche or her father could come and go from this palace, even though they were nothing but humble commoners.

Her father held pride in being a gardener, strict and uncompromising. Even now, she still remembered the joy she felt the day he praised her. She’d been called in by her usually silent father, and given a brand new pair of pruning shears. Until then, she had just used a pair of training shears, only helping out and following her father.

Her father had given her her own pair of shears, saying, 「Try it yourself from now on.」 That was more than enough.

The incessant sunlight was dazzling and gentle, the green leaves proudly reflecting back that light. The dark clouds that had spread over the sky until just a few days ago had cleared away as if they’d never been there. The gentle blue sky spread overhead in their place.

All this was thanks to the heroes, the saviors of the world. Not just Arche knew that, everyone in this entire country – no, the entire world did.

The demon king had recently come back after a previous hero sealed it away hundreds of years ago. Thanks to the hero party led by Yulifalet Lila Schtorenvihein, it had completely been destroyed for sure this time. It had just been some months since this happened.

With his sparkling golden hair and vivid green eyes like fresh leaves, he possessed looks that were masculine yet held a sweetness somewhere in them. Now at last, men and women of all ages admired him and longed to be him, that hero, Yulifalet. There were others that faced the demon king along with him: the shrine princess Clementine, boasted to be the kingdom’s living jewel; and the leader of the knights, famed as killing even a dragon with his unparalleled swordsmanship. And then, there was one more.

Thanks to them, Arche could still diligently do her work as a gardener even today. That’s right. The reason she could still touch these precious plants was—

——because of that gentleman, right?

Even she knew that her face turned red just at remembering his face.

That one last person from the earlier mentioned saviors of the world. That man had black hair that showed his endless magical power, the beautiful head magician of the royal palace.

His name was Agedilus Von Lancent. The fact of the matter is, he was Arche’s crush.

They first met when Arche had finally gotten used to looking after the plants in a small nook of the palace courtyard. It was so small you couldn’t even call it ‘a corner’.

Looking back at it, she thought she’d gotten carried away. Her care for that one corner she was in charge for ended faster than usual. Strange feelings welled up within her. ‘Can’t I look after these just a little more?’ That’s what she thought.

Her father or older coworkers didn’t warn her or anything – in fact, they did nothing but praise her. So she was convinced her talents were finally becoming reliable, certain. Even though there were so many things she still had to learn. Even she herself was now embarrassed.

But back then, she didn’t realize it was embarrassing in the slightest.

That’s why Arche began walking through the courtyard, with her own pair of pruning shears in hand. As expected, she didn’t have the courage to do it in the center or in the corridors where she’d be noticed by many people. But if it was somewhere no one could see, then no doubt it’d be no problem. A spontaneous smile grew on her lips.

The Mashie family had continued inheriting the title of gardener for generations; there was absolutely nothing she regretted…. Well, she couldn’t say that, but in the end, she thought gardening was her calling. Since touching plants was fun, and she felt so happy and proud whenever she skilfully raised a plant.

Her footsteps lightened with her exhilarated heart, and she felt like humming a song. But that feeling suddenly fell apart.

——……..Huh?

She looked in front. She looked to her left and right. Nothing but greenery spread out on all sides. In the gaps between that greenery, or, what was beyond the greenery were the white walls of the palace. Where was she? As she looked behind to where she’d come from, the same sight extended in front and to her sides too.

This might be bad. No, actually, this really was bad. She’d gotten lost. Forget that she could make her father worry, there was even a possibility that she’d be arrested as a trespasser.

This was no laughing matter. She let out an internal scream at what she’d gotten herself into. Well, for now she decided to jump into the overgrown greenery in the direction of the palace. She figured if she walked in the direction of the palace, she’d eventually find someone.

She didn’t even want to think about what would happen if she got awkwardly found by some nobles or guards. But that was still much better than staying lost here without anyone finding her.

How long had she desperately held back her tears, pushing her way through the rustling greenery? It was nothing but rigorous asceticism for Arche.

「Wa—!」

As she pushed through the greenery, Arche let out a small shout at the suddenly different open area in front of her. She looked around her surroundings, relieved at how it clearly looked like a place someone was taking care of.

The place Arche had gotten lost in, she realized after looking around carefully, was in fact no garden. There were plants that had been planted with such order and organization that even she, a gardener by occupation, couldn’t help but praise it as magnificent. The plants were medicinal plants or herbs, and the trees planted low to the ground were either medicinal or tea trees too. They were all plants used in magic, that Arche didn’t know much about.

——This was a medicinal plants garden.

She realized that rather late. And then, the relief she’d just felt suddenly disappeared like it’d never been real, her face turning as pale as it could.

In this palace, the only ones allowed to use a plot of land for a medicinal garden were the White Lily Court where the medical officers gathered, and one more. The Black Lotus Court, where the magicians gathered.

‘What do I do now…?’ Despair filled Arche’s chest. Coming and going from the royal palace, Arche knew very well that the courts whose names began with a color and a flower were considered very important even within the royal palace.