CH 80

Medicinal Herb Garden

The promise to visit was fulfilled unexpectedly early.

Wilfrecht, who couldn’t wait to see Sheila, came to invite her to join him. He was apparently a little excited to have made a new friend.

“Sheila-san, may I ask what your plans are for today?”

But when Wilfrecht himself came into the common room, Sheila wanted to scream inside.

It was apparent. He stood out particularly. The eyes of the people in the common room were all on him. The lively atmosphere instantly quieted down to watch Sheila and Wilfrecht.

All the 4th graders had planned to gather together and had another strategy meeting for the competition, but their decision was made too soon. Sheila was quickly summoned before Wilfrecht. She felt like a calf being sold.

Sheila knew that she couldn’t refuse the prince’s invitation. Her friends who avoided eye contact with her were also innocent. If Sheila were in their shoes, she would have done the same. The best thing to do was to not get involved.

She walked along the mountain path while remembering the shocked expressions on her friends’ faces. Just imagining that Zechs would scold her when she got home made her steps heavier.

‘I know His Highness doesn’t mean any harm at all, though……’

Even his guards, who didn’t approve of his familiarity with commoners, were staring at her, and Sheila felt incredibly uncomfortable. The herb garden seemed to be a special place that even the escort knights weren’t allowed to enter, and they were even more vigilant to keep suspicious people away from the garden.

As Sheila made her way along the reasonably well-maintained mountain path, she realized now that it was for Wilfrecht’s sake that the path had been made easier to walk on. The blue sky peeked out beyond the overgrown trees. The sun shining through the trees was stunning.

“Wow, it’s chamomiles. They really grew a lot, didn’t they? Let’s harvest them quickly.”

After walking for a while, she suddenly had a clear view.

“Wow…”

With no tall trees in the vicinity, the medicinal herb field was sunny. The first thing Sheila noticed was the purplish-pink blossoms of yarrow and the lovely oregano, which bloomed with its head to the ground.

“I see you have chives, thyme, and mint, too.”

“I grow them, but I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t really know what they are used for. That’s why I sell them to the pharmacy.”

“You can use all of them in cooking. Mint can even be used in tea.”

“I see.”

The basil, which she had picked on her own before, was also thriving. Following Wilfrecht’s lead, they arrived at a field where small white flowers were growing.

Switching to foraging mode, Sheila quickly rolled up the sleeves of her arms and faced the chamomiles. She had brought a large basket just in case, but would it be enough?

“Can this also be put in tea?”

“No. This is a species that is probably not suitable for herbal tea because the leaves and stems as well as the flowers are fragrant. It has a slightly bitter taste. However, this species has benefits not only for the flowers but also for the whole plant. That’s why I pick them all from the stems.”

Freshly picked chamomile gave off a florid scent with a hint of sweetness. They said it smelled and tasted like an apple, but Sheila had never tasted apples. To her, chamomile was the scent of chamomile.

Wilfrecht stared in amazement at Sheila who skillfully shredded and put them in the basket.

“U-um, your gloves…”

“It’s okay, look, it smells so good even if it gets on your hands.”

“Y-yes, it smells good, but you’re a little close, Sheila-san.”

She put the flower she had picked close to the tip of Wilfrecht’s nose. For some reason, he recoiled in bewilderment.

Sheila tilted her head questioningly and returned to work.

“Please call me casually, Your Highness.”

“Eh? But to call a woman casually by her name….”

“You have to treat me like a man. Putting Seiryuu-senpai aside, you call Leidyrune-senpai and Regress-senpai by their names, too, right? We’re roughly the same age.”

“Same age….”

Wilfrecht fell silent, and Sheila, who had been dutifully picking the chamomile, looked up in wonder.

“Your Highness?”

“Ah, no…. It’s certainly true, but…. It takes a lot of courage to call Leidyrune.”

“That’s true. His face looks scary, right?”

Remembering his stony face, Sheila couldn’t help but blurt it out. When she was questioned about her gender in the infirmary, she felt as if her life span had been shortened by the sheer force of the situation.

Wilfrecht, who was crouching next to her and started working with unfamiliar hands, turned his gaze to her.

“Sheila-san…. is very friendly with Leidyrune, even though he is also the son of a duke.”

He muttered somewhat disgruntled as if he had seen her talking to Leidyrune before. It seemed a little absurd for him to complain about her politeness, though.

“My relationship with Leidyrune-senpai has been changing little by little. In the beginning, he treated me like I’m a monkey, and I couldn’t imagine becoming friends with him.”

After all, they had a bad encounter. Leidyrune despised the common people, and Sheila had antipathy toward the haughty aristocrats.

But strangely enough, the relationship had now changed to one in which he cooperated so that Sheila wouldn’t be discovered as a woman. Perhaps it was because they had crossed blades before.

‘I didn’t expect him to say that he would cooperate with me.’

Sheila was delighted. It was as if he had accepted her dream of becoming a knight. In addition to her family and Clauschezade, she now had more people to push her forward. All of this was because she had studied hard, practiced hard, and worked hard.

Perhaps it was the clear scent of chamomile, but her mind was very calm. Sheila would like to continue to work hard and gradually gain recognition from those around her. If she did that, would she be able to alleviate the pain of deceiving those around her, even if just a little?

When she looked up after picking most of the flowers in the vicinity, her eyes met Wilfrecht’s eyes. He was staring intently at Sheila.

“… I wish I could be that close to you.”

Wilfrecht declared as if to express his determination.

Sheila couldn’t help but smile wryly when she felt his desperation. He was so kind that she was sure he would have eventually made a wonderful friend, even if not with her.

“I think that His Highness and I are already pretty good friends. I’m glad we’ve become friends.”

Hearing Sheila’s words, his delicate face flushed with anticipation.

“D-does that mean Sheila wants to be friends with me too?”

His blonde hair, loosely tied and swept over his shoulders, wagged like a puppy dog’s tail. Smiling at the cuteness, Sheila nodded back firmly.

“Yes. Because Your Highness is very beautiful.”

“………. Eh?”

“You look so beautiful and pretty that it feels like I’ve made a girl friend. Since I came to the royal capital, I haven’t had much opportunity to talk to girls my own age.”

Sheila remembered one of the few female friends she had when she was in Denan Village. For some reason, she always took care of her even though they didn’t get along that well. She tried to teach her about femininity and talked about love.

Sheila even missed the way she scratched her head and bemoaned the fact that her efforts were fruitless.

Sheila, who was lost in reminiscence, tilted her head at Wilfrecht, who remained motionless as if frozen. She realized, belatedly, that no man would be happy to be told that they looked like a girl. She hurriedly tried to make things right.

“Ah, erm, so I would be happy if I could continue to be friends with His Highness, yes, that.”

“Yes…. I feel the same way….”

The weak reply made her realize that her follow-up was completely meaningless.

Wilfrecht continued to pick chamomile as earnestly as ever. However, there was a hint of melancholy on his back, and Sheila couldn’t stop breaking out in a cold sweat.

Desperately searching for a topic of conversation to somehow change his mood, Sheila spotted a basket full of chamomile. Right. She could ask what he was going to do with them.

“U-um, what do you usually do with the herbs you picked?”

The beautiful Second Prince slowly stood up with a rather fragile smile on his face.

“… There is a hut over there, so I usually keep them there. Shall we go?”

“…. Yes.”

Sheila silently followed Wilfrecht, who walked across the field without saying a word. After all, for Sheila, who often slipped up, the burden of being friends with His Highness the Prince might be too heavy.

She was feeling down, but when she looked into the hut she was guided to, Sheila’s eyes began to shine instantly.

The complex scent of various medicinal herbs wafted through the air. A large worktable and a sofa for resting. The rest area was covered with long-legged rugs for relaxation. The space was designed in a cozy yet comfortable manner.

“Wow, you can hang the herbs to dry.”

A thin rope was stretched across the ceiling, and several bundles of medicinal herbs were suspended from them.

“This hut seems to have been arranged to make it easier for the librarian to work. I am allowed to use it as it is.”

Wilfrecht was somewhat more cheerful than before. Perhaps he was happy to have found someone who shared his love for this hut.

Sheila, too, was pleased and smiled.

“Let’s let them dry here for a while and then bring them to the pharmacy. It is well known that the scent of chamomile has a calming effect, but it is also effective against various ailments, such as gynecological disorder. Since Your Highness worked hard to raise it, it will surely become a good medicine.”

Wilfrecht finally smiled, and the two smiled gently at each other.