#46

After a moment of awkward silence, Balzac bid farewell.

“Thank you for the flower. Ahem. Well, then, I’ll be off.”

Cersia quietly watched Balzac’s quickly retreating figure.

‘I’m the one who should be leaving, right?’

Why did Balzac leave?

Seeing him hastily fleeing to his room, it seemed he had gotten embarrassed. The sight made her laugh involuntarily.

“Pfft.”

At that moment, Ivan, standing beside her, rubbed his nose and explained Balzac’s behavior.

“My father, despite appearances, is quite shy.”

At that moment, Cersia was startled as if she had heard something unbelievable.

“Father? You’re joking.”

Cersia naturally blurted out her thoughts and then closed her mouth. Ivan narrowed his eyes in response.

“….What do you mean?”

“……”

“Answer me, Lady Cersia.”

“I, I didn’t mean anything!”

Cersia naturally averted her gaze and then pulled Ayla’s arm.

“A, Ayla, let’s go.”

“Where are you going in the middle of a conversation, Lady Cersia Jabis!”

Ivan’s words echoed through the hallway as he cupped his hands around his mouth.

Cersia fled without looking back.

To think that such a playful person could come from such a stern man.

Feeling the mystery of genetics, Cersia moved to her next destination.

* * *

The place I headed to was Zakari’s study. In my hands were flowers, one each for Zakari and Zerakiel. Ayla had already taken care of mine.

“Oh, Lady Cersia, what brings you here?”

Herman, who was working alone in the study, greeted me warmly. Confirming Zakari’s absence, I asked.

“Where is Mr. Zakari?”

“He went to the secret garden for a while.”

“The secret garden?”

Was there such a place in the Jabis castle?

With the name sounding so secretive, I tilted my head in curiosity, and Herman explained.

“It’s a garden only direct family members can enter. It holds the history of the Jabis family.”

“History?”

“We haven’t seen it ourselves, so we don’t know much. All we know is that it’s a place containing the essence of Jabis’ power. Without Jabis pheromones, entry is impossible.”

“Ah.”

If it was such a place, there was no way I could visit it. Besides, I had a rough idea of where it might be.

‘The secret garden…’

I remembered that Zerakiel often visited a certain garden in the original story.

In fact, calling it a garden was questionable. It was rather eerie.

The garden that appeared briefly from his perspective did indeed have flowers.

The problem was that the flowers were each encased in glass, blooming alone. Or rather, there were only remnants left long after they had withered.

In the novel, except for one flower, all that remained were withered calyxes and flower stalks.

Zerakiel would silently gaze at the one blooming flower and then leave.

Unfortunately, that flower was also withering. There were only a few petals left.

‘There wasn’t any description of what kind of flower it was.’

It was only described as a completely black flower. Just like the black rose in the Jabis emblem.

‘Yes, it looked like a graveyard for flowers.’

A garden filled with dead and dying flowers.

It was hard to believe that the essence of Jabis’ power lay there.

Lost in thought, I extended one of the flowers in my hand. It was a pity that I couldn’t deliver it personally, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Please give this to Mr. Zakari.”

“Is this a flower?”

“Yes. The spring flowers were so beautiful, I brought one. It has a strong scent, so I thought it would be nice to have in the study.”

“Thank you. I’ll put it in a vase.”

Herman accepted the flower with a pleased expression. At that moment, Zakari entered the study.

“Hm?”

He had a look that clearly said, ‘What are you doing here?’ Herman explained on my behalf.

“Lady Cersia came to gift some spring flowers.”

“You picked this yourself?”

I nodded and continued speaking.

“Well, I realized I hadn’t properly thanked you.”

Though I was forced to stay by Zerakiel, the current master of Jabis was Zakari.

He must have felt uncomfortable with me staying in the castle without permission, but he had only grumbled without driving me out. He had every right to do so.

Besides, according to Ivan, Zakari was the one who suggested accepting me as a direct member.

Zerakiel caused trouble, and Zakari had to clean it up. Although Zerakiel probably did it with that in mind.

Anyway, getting along with the head of the family was crucial for living well here.

Although our first meeting wasn’t great, there was no need for our future interactions to be bad.

I bowed my head respectfully, with the manners I learned from the Eastern countries.

“Thank you for taking care of me in many ways. I heard you’ve been looking out for me without my knowing.”

“Ahem. It’s nothing.”

“I look forward to your continued support!”

I spoke with a bright smile, and Zakari, after a moment, coughed and took the flower from Herman.

The pink petals gave off a fragrant scent filled with spring.

He stared at the small flower for a while before speaking.

“You’ve brought something that suits you.”

What did he mean by that?

“Is that why that boy went mad?”

The mad boy he referred to was likely Zerakiel. I felt indignant and wanted to stomp my feet.

No! It’s not my fault he’s mad!

He was already half-mad when we first met. Zakari, who should know this better than anyone as his father, was shifting the blame onto me.

As I fumed to myself, Zakari pointed at my hand.

“Is that flower for Zerakiel?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t bother. He doesn’t like flowers.”

Huh? That can’t be right.

How many times did he visit the secret garden in the original story?

When I tilted my head in confusion, Zakari spoke meaningfully.

“Jabis doesn’t like flowers. Especially him.”

“Why?”

“Seeing flowers makes him furious. The sweeter the scent, the more dangerous the poison.”

This coming from Zakari, who had just accepted a flower, didn’t sit well.

Even though he was from Jabis!

Besides, it was absurd for a family with a flower emblazoned on their emblem to say such a thing.

Flowers naturally have a fragrance. What’s this about poison?

When I made a slightly annoyed face, Zakari continued.

“But this flower is harmless, almost tickling. He might actually like it.”

It seemed like he was trying to make up for his words.

“The tickling is from the pollen.”

When I retorted grumpily, Zakari just agreed and chuckled.

“Yes. It’s all because of the pollen.”

Then suddenly, Zakari tousled my hair. It was more like messing it up than a gentle pat.

“Ah! Why are you doing this?”

“That’s why I said you brought something like yourself. You’re perfect for that rascal who drives people crazy.”

What is he talking about, seriously!

I took a step back to avoid Zakari’s hand. He looked at me briefly before muttering meaningfully.

“Where did such a cheeky brat come from?”

I was captured after walking in here myself, thank you very much.

Ignoring him, I stormed out of Zakari’s study with Ayla.

* * *

“It feels like a storm just passed. She really has a knack for wearing people out.”

Zakari quietly looked down at the flower in his hand. It was impressive that such a small hand had picked it.

Despite his gruff words, his lips couldn’t help but curl up. Herman responded as he watched this.

“It seems you’ve taken quite a liking to Lady Cersia.”

“Liking? It’s just amusing because she keeps doing cute things.”