Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The Lumina Flower
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***
Elbadin entered the glass garden and walked toward the fountain in its center. The clear sound of water filled the empty space.
He gazed at the streams of water falling from the fountain for a moment before carefully stroking the top of the iron table beside it. Beneath the cold touch of the metal, he had the illusion that the warmth of that day faintly remained.
This was the place.
The place where he had invited Radia to the grand ducal estate and proposed to her.
Her gaze as she sat at this table, looking up at him, her blue eyes shimmering in the moonlight.
Her voice, smiling boldly as she said, ‘Show me your world, Your Highness,’ was still vivid in his ears.
Radia had been the daughter of a baronial family he’d never even heard of, one that had fallen long ago and was barely clinging to its name, but that hadn't mattered to Elbadin in the slightest.
Neither did the opposition that naturally came from the branch families and his vassals.
Elbadin had been ready to fight his own family for Radia’s sake.
But…
*I was wrong.*
Elbadin slowly closed his eyes.
He had lost both her and their child in the end, so that belief had been nothing more than the arrogance of his youth, a blind faith in his own power.
For eight years, not a single day had passed where he was free from the guilt of failing to protect the ones he held dear.
This beautiful glass garden, built for her, might have become a place of solace for someone else.
But to Elbadin, at least, it was no different from a massive prison that proved his failure.
It was then.
His fingertips, which had been sorrowfully stroking the iron table, paused. It was because of a small sound coming from outside the glass garden.
Opening his eyes again, Elbadin turned his head toward the entrance of the glass garden.
The soft, chattering voice grew clearer as the glass garden door opened.
“Ah, so I’m saying, just one hour.”
It was the voice of a child, seemingly talking to someone.
“Don’t be greedy, Cookie. No, not more than an hour. Gosh, I’m telling you, we have to be back before dinner.”
*Ahem?* Are you going to keep talking back? Do you want to be locked in a cage?! The bold and firm voice was sternly scolding a parrot smaller than herself.
It was Lucillea.
Elbadin turned, perched on the edge of the table, and crossed his arms over his chest.
*Them again.*
Elbadin’s narrowed eyes seemed to say as much.
Elbadin quietly stared at Lucillea, who was chattering away, not yet having noticed him.
Brown hair and brown eyes.
He couldn't find a single trace of Radia in her, yet he didn't know why just looking at that child reminded him of Radia.
Was it because of her gaze, which refused to look away? Or was it her sharp, unabashed retorts?
At that moment, Lucillea, who was tapping Cookie’s yellow beak with her fingertip, locked eyes with him!
“Gasp!”
Startled, Lucillea clamped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders jumping. Cookie, who had been perched on her shoulder, was startled too and flapped into the air.
[I-It’s the Grand Duke!]
He’s gonna eat meeee!
Cookie shot up toward the glass garden’s ceiling in an instant. Seeing this, Lucillea screamed internally.
*You traitor! This is the second time! You hear me?!*
[What was that?! I can’t hear you very well, Lucy! Huh? What did you say?]
*You little…!*
Lucillea watched Cookie's tail feathers disappear into the air and gritted her teeth.
As infuriating as Cookie was, Elbadin, standing right in front of her, was the bigger problem.
In the brief moment it took to slowly turn her head toward Elbadin, Lucillea’s heart had already plummeted to the floor and shot back up.
Then, with a brazen smile, she put on an expression as if she weren’t surprised at all.
“Hello, Your Highness. Fancy seeing you here again! Ahaha.”
Her awkward laughter echoed through the glass garden.
Smiling sheepishly, Lucillea sized him up and stealthily took a step back.
“I didn’t know you were here. If I had known—”
“You wouldn’t have come.”
“That’s righ— …pardon?”
Lucillea’s startled gaze flew to Elbadin.
“Why? Did you think I wouldn’t know? You’ve been avoiding me.”
“…”
*H-how did he know?!*
Lucillea’s pupils darted back and forth.
*I thought I got away quickly enough!*
As if reading her expression, Elbadin spoke again.
“You probably thought you got away as fast as you could.”
*Gasp!* Lucillea fumbled at her own head with both hands.
*What! Can he see inside my head?!*
Lucillea lowered the hands that had been on her head and forced the corners of her mouth up. They trembled slightly.
“I-I think you’ve, you’ve misunderstood. Why would I have any reason to avoid you, Your Highness!”
“Exactly.”
Elbadin asked, striding closer.
“You have no reason to avoid me. You’re not even afraid of me. So why have you been avoiding me?”
“Ahaha… No, really. I haven’t been avoid—”
Just then, Lucillea averted her gaze from Elbadin’s sharp eyes, looking down. Then, seeing the tip of his foot, she suddenly yelled.
Aack!
“Don’t step on that!”
“?”
At her shout, Elbadin’s foot, which had been in mid-stride, froze just above the ground.
Lucillea quickly ran over and crouched down at Elbadin’s feet.
*Hooooo.* Letting out a long sigh, Lucillea pushed Elbadin’s foot aside.
There, between the cracks of the stone path, a blue flower with small petals was blooming.
“Wow, why is this blooming here?”
Seeing Lucillea’s expression suddenly brighten, Elbadin asked.
“What’s so special about that flower?”
Lucillea answered as she gently dug between the stones.
“It’s a flower called a Lumina. It’s small and lovely, so it’s often used for decoration, but it’s actually more famous as a medicinal herb.”
“You must have learned about herbs. From your grandmother.”
Lucillea giggled and nodded.
“Yes. My grandmother and I used to go up the mountain to gather medicinal herbs to sell.”
Lucillea was talking about the origin of the name Lumina and its meaning when she spoke as if something had just occurred to her.
“Ah, what was it… Ah, that’s right. She said it’s a valuable herb because you can dry it to make painkillers.”
She added that, in truth, she didn’t know much about that part, since sorting, drying, and selling the herbs, or making medicine from them, was Briola’s job.
“My grandmother dried this flower, and when she sold about a handful, she got two whole silver coins for it, you know?”
Then, *gasp*. Lucillea’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise, and she looked around the garden.
The child who, just moments ago, had been darting her eyes about, plotting her escape, was now shining them like a miner who had discovered a jewel mine.
Whatever she was thinking, she swallowed hard again and again.
Then, her hands began to dig faster between the stones.
“I-I’ll just move this 2 silver—no. I’ll move this Lumina first.”
“…”
*I think she just called that flower ‘2 silver’…*
While Elbadin watched Lucillea with narrowed eyes, she diligently dug between the stones, lifted the flower, roots and all, and moved it to a flowerbed.
Her movements were incredibly delicate and skilled as she covered it with soil again, found a nearby watering can, and even sprinkled it with water.
Elbadin watched the scene in silence.
A child who, far from fearing him, had stopped the Grand Duke in his tracks, grabbed his foot without hesitation to push it aside, and then tended to a flower blooming between the paving stones.
Elbadin looked at Lucillea with a somewhat bewildered expression.
Just then, Lucillea straightened up, a satisfied grin on her face.
As she wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, the dirt on her hand transferred to her forehead.
Unaware, Lucillea just beamed brightly.
“There, that’s better. Why was a flower that should be in a flowerbed blooming in the middle of the garden path? Did a seed get dropped? Anyway, it was in great danger. It was almost crushed to death under Your Highness’s foot.”
“…”
Elbadin simply looked down at the child without a word.
For some reason, the sight of her smiling so proudly after saving a single small flower, with dirt smudged on her forehead, once again reminded him of Radia.
Without realizing it, Elbadin reached out his hand.
And with his fingertips, he gently wiped the dirt from Lucillea’s forehead.
*Gasp!*
Lucillea sucked in a sharp breath at the unexpected action.
As she stared up at him, her eyes wide like a rabbit’s, Elbadin let out a small, unconscious chuckle.
Pulling his hand back, Elbadin flicked his fingertips and asked.
“So.”
“…Yes?”
“Why have you been avoiding me?”
“…”
The question had returned to square one.