CH 64

“Your Highness~! Is this?! Could this be?!”

It was when I had just taken a sip or two after Mika handed me a cup of hot tea. Gislette’s excited voice rose from the distance, and the happy tone of her voice caused me to breathe a sigh of relief.

There seemed to be something she wanted to know about in the area she was pointing at, so I put my cup down on the table and headed over.

Mika asked me, “Are you alright?” and it made me feel a little embarrassed. I gave a small nod to him and walked toward Gislette.

(Really, I can’t imagine that she has this side from how quiet she had always been…)

As I approached Gislette, I gradually realized what it was that was making her eyes sparkle. Gislette then asked, her hands trembling with panic.

“Pa-pardon me for calling you all the way here, Your Highness! Umm, I was wondering if this plant might be the Rainbow Rose.”

“Impressive, Gislette. You noticed it so well.”

“I-I knew it! The light rings floating on this leaf gave me a hunch!”

She excitedly pointed to a single light green bud. At first glance, it appears to be just a rosebud. I’m impressed by the fact that she noticed it so well, even though there was only one flower in this greenhouse, and it was not particularly conspicuous. The potted plant was placed among other trees.

If one looks closely, one can see that the leaves are distinctive, with a ring-like pattern emerging from them. The light rings disappear when the flower blooms open, though. I don’t know the details of the Rainbow Rose either, only a few words of them in rare books.

“I thought…it was only…a product of fairy tale fantasies. Have you ever seen it bloom, Your Highness?”

“Yes, once when I was young.”

“No way! Um, i-is it true that…a rainbow appears?”

“Yes. I remember how beautiful it was.”

I chuckled as I looked at Gislette, who was shaking as if she had met a fairy tale prince. But, I also understand her excitement. When I saw it, I couldn’t believe it either.

This Rainbow Rose, if one only hears the name, feels like it’d be made up of rainbow-colored petals. However, this magical plant has an extraordinary way of blooming. At the moment the beautiful light blue rose blossoms, the light rings that had been floating on the leaves move to the petals as if absorbed, creating a real rainbow bridge from the center of the flower.

It appeared in an old fairy tale in the kingdom of Pluvia, but not many people had ever seen the real thing.

I could see that Gislette’s eyes were slowly blurred with tears.

I would love to be able to show her when it blooms someday, but it’s placed in this greenhouse, after all. If I get married to Gislette, I could easily show her one day. But, that’s not going to happen, I smiled with a troubled look on my face.

A voice sounded from next to her.

“What’s that, is that so amazing?”

“Yes, it is. Please listen to me. Don’t talk to me right now.”

“Ah, is it tuna?”

“Yes, yes it is. It is tuna.”

It was a conversation between Renalge, who was still as sleepy as ever, and Gislette, who was standing still with her hands on her face. But, I didn’t understand any of it, what’s tuna? Mika and I looked at each other. Gislette, who had remained still, finally began to worship the Rainbow Rose. Then when I spaced out, Renalge gave an unexpected explanation.

“Gislette loves tuna so much, you see.”

“Huh, you mean the fish…?”

“When she’s eating tuna, I can’t talk to her because she’s savoring it. Even now, it’s tuna.”

“Ah… Oh, I see. So it means she’s savoring it.”

Indeed, fresh fish are not available in the royal capital very often, so I can understand how Gislette feels. Still, I laughed because I thought she and Renalge were very close. As I was looking at the Gislette worshiping the Rainbow Rose, wishing I could see her eating tuna next time, Renalge stared at me and said.

“You’re cute when you smile, Your Highness.”

“Huh, ah…thank you.”

Cute… I’m not sure what to feel getting told that by a man, I thought to myself. Mika often said such things to me, perhaps a habit from his childhood. But I had never been told such things by other men, and so my face twitched slightly.

Rather, I was surprised on the inside that Renalge would say such a thing.

“Did you find any magical plants that interest you, Renalge?”

“Nothing in particular. Are there any magical plants that Your Highness finds interesting?”

“Huh. Ah, they’re all very interesting to me.”

“All of them… If so, what’s so interesting about this plant?”

Renalge seemed to have a hard time with talking politely. There are times when he speaks properly and when he gets stumped with it. As I thought about that, I looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a flower with yellow petals and red polka dots. That ‘s— the Clown Vine.

“This plant makes a trumpet-like sound only when a child touches it.”

“It doesn’t make a sound like that otherwise?”

“No. Oh, but maybe it’ll make a sound with you, Renalge. Try touching it.”

“Why?”

He ended up asking me why. It almost made me burst into laughter. I’m a little curious as to what kind of criteria the plant has to define a “child”. After I talked to him for a bit, Renalge seemed pure, so perhaps it might work? I was excited at the thought and waited for him to touch the plant.

*buuup*

“Pfft.”

“Ahaha! It really made a sound.”

“Huh, wait! Are you the one who did that, Renalge?! Does this mean you’re recognized as a child by the plant?!”

As the silly sound rang, Mika burst out laughing and I laughed along with him. Gislette finally stopped worshiping the plant from earlier and looked back at us after hearing the trumpet-like sound. She reached out to try it herself, but as expected the Clown Vine did not respond. I could see Renalge biting his lip in annoyance.

(Ah… Oh no. He’s kind of irritated!)

I thought that this was not good, but Gislette didn’t seem to mind at all and started talking about the flowers next to it.

I wondered if it would be okay because Renalge is still my senior even if he’s like that. I felt nervous on the inside, but he seemed to be talking to Mika about something, so I decided to look at the flowers with Gislette.

“Your Highness, could this be the Uneven Lily?”

“Yes. In fact, I was thinking of breeding these Uneven Lilies.”

“Is that so? I can’t remember if there is any benefit to it. Oh, this is the Pluvia Dandelion. It’s very cute.”

That’s right. As a matter of fact, the Uneven Lily is not considered to have any particular benefits. And because it looks too uneven for a lily, it is not suitable for ornamental use, so it is not seen very often. I’m surprised that Gislette knows so well.

—However.

A few years later, the amazing benefits of the Uneven Lily would be discovered, and everyone would buy it, causing quite a stir. So, I can’t say the true reason why I’m trying to breed them for now.

“Umm, Brother Seth likes this flower…”

“Huh?! I see. But, I can understand why. It feels good to the touch, making you want to touch it again and again.”

I just said something random out of desperation, but I wonder if it was okay. But unexpectedly, Gislette was tactful and cooperative. So, it feels good to the touch… I couldn’t help but laugh at her observation, thinking that I had never touched them yet because I had only just started growing them.

As I was talking about that, I turned around and noticed that Renalge was looking at an ephemeral white flower bud.

Oh? Is he finally interested in magical plants? I decided to try talking to him.

Renalge was looking at a slender, tall, white flower bud. It’s not as rare as Rainbow Rose, but it’s also a rare flower called Tsukuyomi.

“This plant only blooms on the night of a full moon. It’s very beautiful, and people called it the moon goddess in Pluvia.”

“Hmm…”

The only person I’ve ever shown this plant to when it bloomed was Mika, as there were not many people at the royal castle in the middle of the night. I had wanted to show it to my brother too, but I couldn’t possibly wake him up in the middle of the night and bring him here, as he is a very busy person. So, we had been the only ones who could see its beauty, which I thought was a waste.

(Perhaps I could hold an evening tea party here someday? …No, it’s too late in the evening for unmarried men and women to gather.)

Gislette’s smile from earlier had crossed my mind for a moment, but it was a bad idea after all.

I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be able to show it to Renalge either, even though he seemed interested in it. I dropped my shoulder. But then Renalge continued the conversation, and my heart filled with a warm glow of anticipation.

“What’s so interesting about magical plants in your opinion, Your Highness?”

“Huh? Well, they made me feel so amazed that I’m at a loss for words. Ordinary plants are amazing as is, but magical plants are said to have been created by ancient sages who were able to hear the voices of plants and grant the wishes of each plant.”

“The wishes of each plant…?”

“I don’t know if that’s true, though. But we can dream, right? That’s why, I’m sure that even the clown vine from earlier must have wanted to make children laugh. And then, fufu, maybe…it wants to make you laugh too, Renalge.”

After I said it, I remembered Renalge’s grumpy look from earlier, and I panicked. Yet, when I fearfully looked at his face—

(Huh? I’ve never seen this expression on his face before…)

I saw Renalge with his mouth open and his eyes blinking, and it made me blink my eyes too. But after a moment, I was relieved to see Renalge muttering, “Hmm,” curiously and looking back at Clown Vine.

Then he stared at me and asked.

“…What time will it be?”

“Huh? Oh, you mean about the Tsukuyomi? Right, that reminds me, it’s a full moon today. —It blooms just exactly at midnight.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Saying this, Renalge walked quickly toward the tea cakes.

Hm? I tilted my head.

As I looked off at his robed back, I thought it would be difficult to get to know him. Still, like Gislette, this was the first time I had seen Renalge in conversation with other people, and I thought I had talked to him quite nicely.

No, maybe I just wanted to think on a brighter note because I had just been told something disturbing. I glanced at Mika and saw him smiling at me again. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

(I think…I feel a little better now.)