Rewriting the Story: Hello, René!
“Waa… Nice to meet you.”
Following right behind me, Lene exchanged greetings directly with Alraune. She gave her a curious look, then pouted when she saw Alraune standing beside me. Her expression was clearly displeased. Alraune, who had been tilting her head in confusion along with me, decided to cheer Lene up and promptly shoved her own hand into her mouth.
“What on earth are you—”
Before I could finish my startled question, Alraune pulled her hand back out and revealed the tree fruits we had all enjoyed together last summer during our vacation at the villa. [Here. Eat up.]
“…I’ll just accept the sentiment.”
[Then what about René?]
“I’ll accept the sentiment too.”
The fruits she produced were all perfectly fresh, as if they had just been picked, but my sister and I both shook our heads and took a step back. Alraune looked puzzled by our refusal, then simply popped the fruit she had just taken out back into her mouth and swallowed it whole.
Watching her, I carefully asked Alraune to refrain from such behavior in the future, as it didn’t look very pleasant. [If René doesn’t like it… I’ll be careful from now on.]
“Thank you for understanding.”
Fortunately, Alraune didn’t seem offended and simply smiled brightly at my relieved sigh.
“Phew, seeing that just now made me miss Undine again.”
“I think you just want to see the things Undine grows.”
A moment later, Lene, who had been mumbling while moving her mouth, tried to say something in response to my narrowed-eyed remark, then just laughed and kept quiet. Alraune, who had been quietly watching us, gestured to me later that afternoon while I was looking at the fish in the pond during our garden walk. She led me to the empty spot where she usually kept fertilizer and other supplies, then suddenly turned her back.
“What are you trying to do…? Ah.”
When I tried to ask what she was doing, I ended up laughing at the sight of her pulling out one apple after another—the same fruits she had shown earlier—and lining them up. Remembering what I had said before, I felt grateful for her consideration and quietly approached her, offering a handkerchief. Alraune accepted it, neatly wiped her hands and mouth, then folded it carefully and returned it.
“Sniff sniff… Ow, okay. Sorry. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Just as I was about to put the returned handkerchief away, Alraune suddenly grew curious and leaned in to smell it. She immediately smacked my legs with her hands as if to say “don’t do that.” The surprisingly painful slaps made me quickly wave the white flag and tuck the handkerchief away. Only then did Alraune stop hitting me. She narrowed her eyes at my awkward smile before skillfully dividing the fruits she had taken out and planting them in the ground.
“Are you trying to grow those?”
[Grow them?]
“I mean… are you going to let them grow into trees?”
[Yeah. That’s right. Correct.]
Wherever she had learned it, Alraune raised her hands above her head and drew a circle, looking just like a doll. I chuckled at the sight, rolled up my sleeves, and helped her with my hands. Lene, who had wandered off and returned, saw us and came running over to lend a hand as well.
“Young ladies! You’re already ten years old—you really should stop playing in the dirt!”
“We touched dirt, but we weren’t playing with it.”
“This is no way for proper young ladies to behave… Haah, I’ll prepare fresh clothes and bathwater right away.”
After the three of us finished planting all the fruits in the clearing and returned to the mansion feeling proud, the servants were shocked and made a fuss. However, seeing our expressions that clearly said we wouldn’t listen to anything, they gave up and didn’t bother saying more.
“Oh my… The sprouts all look different.”
A few days later, when we saw small sprouts growing in that spot, our eyes widened. We seriously decided to cultivate them and marked the area with string and stakes. “Miss Lene, Miss René. What are you growing over there?”
“Hehe, that’s a secret!”
“You’ll find out if you just wait a little.”
The gardener, who had noticed our efforts and moved the fertilizer storage area for us, approached with a smile and even brought us small shovels and watering cans we could use without difficulty. Thanks to that, Lene and I abandoned our plan of sneaking out cups to fetch water from the pond and instead took our task more seriously.
“Is this enough water?”
[Hmm, a little more.]
“How about this?”
[That’s too much.]
Perhaps because she was a grass spirit, Alraune knew far more than the gardener. With her help, we watered them in just the right amounts every day and gently wiped the dust from their tender leaves with handkerchiefs so as not to damage them.
“Haah, I was worried seeing you two running around every day… but I guess you really are girls after all.”
Mother, who quickly noticed what we were doing in the garden, said it reminded her of when she used to tend flower beds as a child. With a pleased expression, she provided us with everything we needed so we wouldn’t lack anything.
“This… doesn’t look like flowers. It looks like trees.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Do you have any idea what kind of trees they are?”
“From what little I know… that one appears to be a raspberry bush, and over there seems to be an apple tree.”
When Mother saw how quickly they were growing day by day and already taking the shape of young trees, she grew curious. She asked the gardener what we were so devotedly caring for, and upon hearing the answer, she let out a sigh. We could only smile awkwardly as she shook her head, saying it figured. She remarked that it was absurd for us to be growing fruit trees instead of pretty flowers like other girls, but added that it somehow suited the Lorelei family perfectly, and continued to look after us.
“Whew, I’m glad that went smoothly.”
“Yeah. When the fruits grow later, let’s bring some to Mother first.”
Our time spent in the garden had increased, and as a result, we ran around causing accidents and trouble far less often than before. Still, I swallowed the words that would have brought more harm than good.
“What kind of rain is this…?”
“Phew… It would be nice if it poured properly and then stopped.”
After that, summer brought days of continuous rain, so we gave up on going to the villa for vacation. Instead, we read books with Alraune in the study while listening to the rain tapping against the windows. [Lene. Hurry up. It’s your turn.]
“Ugh, I’m still thinking, so wait.”
Even that quickly bored Lene and Alraune, who began playing by stacking books, but since they were playing relatively quietly, I glanced over at them occasionally while continuing to read beside them.
Later, when a loud thunderclap sounded and I spotted the shadow of a large bird beyond the clouds, I was startled and asked Lene if she had seen it. When she simply tilted her head to the right, I decided I must have imagined it and let it go.
Thus summer passed, and my sister and I grew quite a bit. Still, we couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed that the trees wouldn’t bear fruit this year, and we tidied up around them.
“Um, Father.”
“Hm? Do you have a question, René?”
“Yes. Aren’t we holding the festival this year?”
Unlike last year, the mansion had been quiet with no preparations or commotion for the festival. At dinner, I carefully asked the question, and Father gave a bitter smile and nodded. He explained that frequent rain this summer had reduced the harvest compared to last year, so they had decided to focus on preparing for the coming winter instead of holding the festival. Lene, who had been wondering the same thing, understood and moved on.
“Receiving this all at once feels strange.”
“Hehe, but at least we graduated safely.”
Near the end of autumn, a notice arrived at the mansion regarding Arlan and Aran’s graduation ceremony. It also mentioned that Arlan had graduated second in his class at the academy. Our parents read it several times with complicated expressions.
A few days later, Father and Mother decided to attend the graduation ceremony in person to congratulate them, saying that while not placing first was disappointing, achieving second place among students from across the empire and even foreign exchange students was still an impressive feat.
“The academy, huh… Well, it wouldn’t hurt to see it in advance.”
After returning to my room, I thought it would be a good opportunity to get a glimpse of the place Lene and I would attend in a few years—the very stage from the original story—and began making various plans.
As winter approached again this year, I secretly brought some sweets and offered them to Alraune, who was listlessly drooping. [Not this… something sweeter…] “…This is all we have for now, so just eat it.” [Okay…]
When she asked for even sweeter sweets, I chuckled and brought her some the next day. “No wonder she was eating dessert so strangely fast…” Lene, who noticed soon after, followed my example and brought some dessert to Alraune as well, helping the three of us spend time together even in winter.