Until The Real One Shows Up​

Caught off guard by her sudden statement, the gardeners could only blink at each other.

No one seemed to understand what Anastasia said.

“Your–Your Majesty… What do you mean…….”

“But we must hurry. The situation is already dire.”

Frowning slightly, Anastasia looked at the gardeners and asked:

“Do you think you can properly execute my instructions?”

From their eyes, it showed that the situation hadn’t sunk into them yet.

But at Anastasia’s question, they quickly nodded.

“Whatever it is– Actually, we already lost hope since we can’t think of any other solution.”

“Because its reproduction rate is faster than us catching them… If there’s any chance to resolve it, we will do it.”

“There is no need to be discouraged. It’s simpler than you think.”

Anastasia beckoned the gardeners to come closer.

Soon, the expressions of the gardeners – once they heard Anastasia’s instruction – were colored with embarrassment and surprise.

“Hwa, Your Majesty, but that…”

“Don’t you think the garden will die faster?”

“Oh, trust me.”

With the Empress smiling confidently at them, the gardeners could only nod, albeit skeptical. Besides, there was no other way.

~~~~

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

At noon, Colton’s cry broke the silence of the quiet office.

Suddenly being interrupted from his work, Wilhelm frowned and criticized the rushing Colton.

“Your behavior as someone who works for the Central Palace is unbefitting.”

“Sorry. I’m sorry, Your Majesty. But… But it really happened.”

“Is it something of great importance?”

“The garden of the Goddess…”

The moment he heard it, Wilhelm’s heart sank.

“…is it dead?”

But unexpectedly, the answer was the opposite of what he was worried about.

“No, Your Majesty. It had been completely revived.”

“What?”

Wilhelm leaped out from his seat at this auspicious news.

“What does that mean? You just reported yesterday that it was turning for worse.”

“That’s…well, that’s true…”

Colton faltered. At the same time, he was still catching his breath from all the running.

“But what I’m saying now is true. I personally… I was on my way to check the situation.”

“No way.”

Wilhelm couldn’t believe it.

‘I’m certain that they were all dying when I inspected it a few days ago.’

If it persisted within a day or two, they would be dead, not restored.

That was why he struggled to come up with countermeasures.

“I need to see it for myself.”

Wilhelm then proceeded to the Goddess’ Garden. Throughout the trip, he felt dizzy as if a thread had been twisted.

‘Did someone use magic?’

In fact, the Goddess’ Garden was no longer in its last legs when the report came in.

This was because, upon receiving Colton’s request for assistance, Wilhelm secretly dispatched a priest from the temple to unleash their divine powers into the garden.

It worked at first. The roses that had withered recovered as if they had never been dead.

However, the bugs surrounding the resurrected roses were still there. After a few days, the roses were attacked by the insects and destroyed again.

With this cycle dragging on, the temple eventually exhausted everything they had. The Emperor realized with dismay that utilizing divine power was not a permanent solution.

“The bugs must be eradicated. But it’s impossible with divine power alone.”

In the first place, the essence of divine power was the power of life, not the power of death.

Goddess Rosenia didn’t wish for her power to be utilized to destroy all life forms, regardless of how horrid they may seem to others.

But having said that, for the garden to prosper again, invoking the divine power to exterminate the pests was necessary.

“At this point, we don’t have an effective way to exterminate those bugs for good.… The only way to save the roses is to relocate them from the garden.”

But this would be pointless.

The garden itself was the symbol of Goddess Rosenia, not the roses. So this was a troublesome predicament. 

‘Unfortunately, I couldn’t find another method to resolve it, so I was going to try that.’

By now, Wilhelm had already reached the Goddess’ Garden; a dumbfounded expression on his face.

And he noticed that someone was already there. A woman in a rich rose-colored dress stood in the middle of the garden, surrounded by numerous red roses.

Wilhelm slowed down his pace.

The fact that someone arrived before him at the Goddess’s garden and checked its condition reminded him to be vigilant.

But as they got closer to the garden, Wilhelm recognized that familiar hair color, and his heart began to beat fast, overwhelmed with emotions other than being cautious.

If he was right, the woman was someone he knew well. With her back towards him, smelling the roses.

He froze in his tracks and his thoughts dispersed into nothingness, temporarily forgetting his purpose to go and check the garden’s condition.

Colton looked at the Emperor’s countenance, thinking it was strange. But when he sensed that ambiguous yet serious atmosphere, he didn’t intervene and waited calmly.

For a long time, Wilhelm just quietly watched the woman breathe in the scent of the roses.

Then, the woman slowly stretched her upper body and turned around.

“Ah…!”

Anastasia’s ruby eyes grew round as she realized she was no longer alone.

But when she realized that it was Wilhelm, a bright smile quickly spread over her face.

And like paint dissolving in the water, her smile instantly colored his heart. 

“Your Majesty.” 

That innocent smiling face calling out to him was both familiar and unfamiliar.

He found it strange. She had never smiled at him like that before.

No. An immaculate smile like that was not something that could be seen on Anastasia Rosenberg’s face in the first place. 

Her soft smile rattled his mind as if he was violently struck by a heavy mace.

While Wilhelm remained stupefied – his gaze fixed on Anastasia – she was slowly approaching him, that smile on her as if she found something amusing

“Greetings to the Sun of the Empire, His Majesty the Emperor.”

“…you.”

He awkwardly said and then came to his senses when her greeting finally came through him. 

“Why is the Empress here?”

“I came out to look at the Goddess’s Garden.”

Anastasia then added:

“His Majesty must have heard the news, too. The garden has been fully restored. You don’t have to worry anymore.”

“…did you do it?” Wilhelm asked. There was a hint of amazement in his voice.

“I heard you made a bet with Miss Lutent.”

“And I’ve heard that you didn’t allow Miss Lutent to be released.”

Anastasia then expressed in an elegant tone.

“Thank you for not undermining my authority. I would have been a laughingstock if His Majesty had released her.”

“…how did you do it?”

Wilhelm inquired. The baffled look on his face was obvious as he scanned the restored garden, no bugs in sight.

“Even with the divine power, the garden was nearing its end. But you… How did you–” 

“I used alcohol.”

“Alcohol?”

“Yes, we’ve spread vodka throughout the garden.”

“Vodka? You mean that poison?”

Wilhelm was stunned at Anastasia’s answer.

Anastasia nodded and continued.

“Of course, I didn’t use the concentrated solution. It’s the diluted kind.”

“No matter how diluted it was, you still sprayed potent liquor on the roses. Are you out of your mind?!”

“Maybe.”

Anastasia smiled and shrugged.

“But, isn’t the evidence here?”

Then, she pointed to the garden behind her.

Wilhelm had nothing to say when he saw the garden had been restored to normal.

However, he still looked unconvinced.

That was because Rosenberg didn’t have the concept of pesticides yet.

‘There was a similar incident before my regression, and everyone was shocked because it was full of nutritional supplements to solve the problem.’

There was a perception that killing insects with a strong liquid like alcohol would kill the plants as well.

So whenever there were bugs, they were picked out one by one.

The gardeners were initially skeptical, having the same sentiment as Wilhelm.

However, Anastasia’s self-assured appearance forced them to carry out her instructions.

And the result was a great success.

“After the bugs died, I gave them the same nutritional supplements and they came back to life. If the problem continues, we can solve it in the same way.”

“…”

“Your Majesty?”

Throughout her explanation, Wilhelm just silently listened and stared at her; Anastasia couldn’t help but call him.

It was at that moment.

“Ah…!”

Wilhelm abruptly approached Anastasia and hugged her.

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