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327. Childhood Ep – Floral Arrangement

Reb left everything behind and headed out. When Leah asked, “Why? What’s going on?” he replied, “I don’t know either.”

But he had a hunch.

For Lerriana to ask me to play the ‘opponent’ in her little soldier game meant her talent had fully blossomed. Reb let out a sigh.

‘Did I raise her wrong again?’

That possibility was quite high.

The beggar siblings scenario was especially finicky. Lerriana was notoriously difficult to raise.

It’s not that Lerriana didn’t listen. She eagerly followed Lean’s words.

However, she was like a child gripping a sword. If she grows up wrong, the repercussions would be unmanageable, and that’s why she was asking me for help, Reb concluded.

Catching Oriax was tough, but now he just wanted to return home with Leah and live comfortably…

Yet, it was unavoidable.

In Reb’s heart was a sword that he had thrust into Lerriana’s chest, leaving a deep wound. He had to do everything his younger sibling asked.

When Reb and Leah arrived at the Baron Monarch’s territory, it was summer. Although they were on the border with the war-torn Belita Kingdom and Aisel Kingdom, the front lines were much farther north, leaving this area peaceful.

A slight tension was all that lingered.

What he would later learn was that Count Peter had refused to participate in the war, allowing this region, the border of three kingdoms, to escape the fires of war.

And it was there he met Granny Grinen Monarch.

She was the sister of Barik Monarch, the lover of Cardinal Berg, and the mother of Count Gustave Peter… Quite a complicated woman. Now a dignified grandmother, she was leading a simple life after all her hardships.

Reb confessed and apologized for kidnapping Cardinal Berg. Granny Grinen chuckled, saying, “Was it you?”

It seemed she wasn’t too worried.

Reb and Leah waited for Lean to arrive, learning floral arrangements from Granny.

“I liked them when I was young, but it seems I like them even more as I age. Flowers thrive on attention.”

He thought it seemed like a pastime better suited for the elderly.

Just picking some and putting them in a vase would count as flower arranging, wouldn’t it?

But as with most things in life, floral arrangements required a lot of care.

The starting point for arrangement is ‘cutting.’

Not all parts of the flower are used in arrangements; it’s done to keep the flower beautiful and preserved for longer.

So, you cut away thorns, side branches, and leaves attached to the stem. Those only consume the flower’s lifespan and bring nothing but pain.

Reb held a sprig of Swarbia. Being a fall-blooming flower, it still bore no blossoms, just spikes.

Cutting isn’t just a mindless chop; there are rules to adhere to.

When cutting leaves and thorns, you have to do it vertically, and when trimming the tip of the stem, you must cut it diagonally.

Since cutting itself wounds the flower stem, the goal is to keep that injury as small as possible. This way, the flower’s lifespan is extended.

Meanwhile, cutting the bottom part of the stem diagonally helps widen the surface area to absorb water.

“So then, keeping the water preserved is key?” Leah said.

That’s why most leaves are trimmed away. It’s so that the flower, about to bloom, won’t waste moisture on leaves.

“Exactly. Plus, if leaves remain submerged in water on the stem, the stagnant water will spoil quickly. We mustn’t let the flower drink rotten water; otherwise, it won’t work.”

“So do we cut everything?”

“No. Leave a few leaves at the base of the flower. They look nice. If any of them is damaged, then you have to trim those.”

“What about this one?”

Reb showed the Swarbia he was holding. Surrounding the bud were tiny, delicate fingers reaching out, looking as if they wanted to be held.

“Cut it.”

Granny Grinen said firmly.

“Only water, and it will hinder the flower from blooming. Even if they look cute, you have to let go of what needs to go.”

Though it looked pitiful now, hanging on like that could not go on forever.

Reb cut the delicate fingers.

“Good job. Now fill the vase with the cut flowers. It’s nice to tie them, but it has its pros and cons. Tying them keeps the shape, but the stems might get damaged, and if not tied, it gives a natural feel but becomes hard to style. What do you want to do?”

“I won’t tie them.”

Leah said. Reb thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to tie them?’ and asked the question.

“Can’t you just tie them gently so they don’t get damaged?”

“Then that’s worse than not tying at all. If you’re going to tie, do it tight. If you’re really worried, use something like cloth instead of rough twine.”

Reb complied. With Granny Grinen’s help, he neatly arranged them in the vase, adjusting their heights.

Some flowers sat low along the rim of the vase, while others rose high in the center.

The main flower in Reb’s arrangement was Swarbia, which hadn’t fully bloomed yet and stood the tallest.

Now they just had to wait.

Reb dutifully changed the water in the vase every day, trimming the bottom of the stems a bit (otherwise, bubbles would form, preventing water absorption) as he cared for them with great attention.

And when the Swarbia buds opened in the autumn, Lean arrived.

He brought Lerriana, who was on the verge of full bloom. She looked around the Baron Monarch’s estate and said:

“Hmm… this land is decent enough. Thanks, brother. It’ll do.”

Lerriana didn’t even glance at Reb.

*

“What the heck happened?”

While Lerriana joyfully roamed about, Reb sat Lean in front of him and asked.

“It’s been a while.”

“Enough with the greetings; just tell me what’s going on. Did it fail?”

“Umm… where to start? Well, it didn’t fail, and you’ve had a hard time too. You caught Oriax.”

“Did a message pop up?”

“Yeah. Ah, you wouldn’t see it, would you? So you didn’t catch that.”

“What?”

“The message related to Leah. Speaking of which, where is Leah?”

“In her room.”

“Why didn’t she come with you? Did you guys fight?”

“Not at all. She suddenly said she wasn’t feeling well. I told her to take a break.”

“Really? That’s strange. Does a priest imbued with divine power get sick?”

“Seems so. But stop dodging the topic and tell me what’s going on already. What’s happening?”

Lean stood up and said.

“It’s a bit long. Since I’d rather say it to Leah as well, let’s go.”

Soon, the two moved to a different spot.

The lord’s castle of the Baron Monarch. They went to Leah’s room, where Leah faintly resisted, claiming her stomach hurt, but eventually opened the door upon Reb’s urging.

As soon as the door opened, Leah dove into bed and hid under the blankets.

“Leah, what’s wrong? Are you really sick?”

“Don’t pull me!”

“Don’t you need to greet him? This is Lean, remember? You saw him through the mirror last time, right?”

Ugh ugh…

“Oh, hello. I’m not feeling well at the moment…”

“That’s alright. Just relax. So… where do you think we should begin discussing this?”

“Where should we start? From the beginning.”

Lean shrugged and sat on a chair. Reb sat on the bed, while Leah blushed with embarrassment, hiding as she listened.

“After I contacted you through the mirror…”

‘The story of Lean Peter’ filled the cramped room.

+ + +

– Clop clop clop.

The sound of hooves tearing through the earth mixed with the scratchy sound of a quill pen being used.

It was a rather nice carriage.

Though it couldn’t compare to the one Count Peter used, the inside was covered in reddish-brown cushions, and even had a table, making it quite cozy.

But no matter how cozy the carriage was, it would still tire anyone out during a long journey, yet the three people inside were engrossed in writing and reading.

“This looks like a lowercase L(l)…”

“Tian, no. I think it’s a lowercase B(b). Right, brother?”

“…It’s a lowercase F(f), you fools.”

“Waah! They all look so similar!”

Lerriana wailed.

Lean was teaching his younger sibling and Santian Rauno letters.

Even a child from the family boss’s lineage, like Santian, knew a bit about letters, and Lerriana had learned in class too, but Lean was teaching the letters used by the nobility.

There weren’t any readable books using commoners’ letters.

Thus, Lean decided to teach them letters on their way to the Sauer Marquisate.

Since his younger sibling’s talent had already sprouted, rather than wishing, ‘Please just be calm,’ he decided to actively nurture it this time.

They were heading north.

(As expected) They had rented a good carriage with the support of Count Peter, and the coachman was a knight from the House of Count Peter.

As they were heading to the Sauer Marquisate, it was to uphold a promise made to Marquis Tatian. He had boasted that he would help establish a trade route between the Jerome Holy Kingdom, Belita, and the Asran Kingdom using Ray’s name.

While he thought Ray would handle it well… he also wanted a brief escape from Oberg due to his overly famous name.

He didn’t know how Brother Eric would react… for now, he’d have to wait for Reb to solve this, so he had to keep a low profile till then.

It was a pity that he couldn’t bring Ksenia to pretend the engagement was still intact, but the upside was that it allowed him to focus on his younger sibling.

Their carriage traveled all day, stopping for the evening. Lean quickly took a look at a rural village.

‘This place…’

“It’s just a small village.”

“Indeed. There doesn’t seem to be much to see here.”

As Reb and Santian got out of the carriage and stretched their bodies, they rated the location they’d arrived at.

It was undoubtedly a small, ordinary village, barely a hundred households, like the Beggar Sibling scenario’s Demoss village.

However, Lean seemed to be lost in thought. Planning on resting quietly for a night, he reconsidered and called for the village chief.

“Wh-what brings you here, my lord?”

Commoners often trembled before nobles. If it were Minseo, he would have said, ‘This area is low-level,’ but Lean spoke with formality.

“I plan to stay for a day and would like to have a bit of fun.”

“F-fun, you say…?”

Could it be that this noble is…?

The village chief’s face turned pale. This nobleman, who looked like a rogue, was gazing longingly at one of the young women in the village.

The suspicion quickly morphed into certainty. The nobleman pulled out a packet of money.

“Ah, no! Noble sir! Please, have mercy…”

“Hm? What are you saying? Didn’t you hear me? I’ll give you money, so slaughter a cow. And if you could bring out some drinks and light a fire, I’d be grateful.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m asking you to throw a feast. Let our kids run around a bit.”

“I’m not a kid!”

“Eh?”

The village chief dazedly accepted the money. Realizing there was a girl and a little one mixed in with the noble group, he sighed in relief, thinking, ‘Phew, he’s not planning anything strange.’

Indeed, nobles are quite generous.

Soon the villagers got busy.

Though it was sudden, they happily prepared a feast, and despite some shortcomings, the noble didn’t seem to mind. He looked at everyone with a gentle smile.

No one knew, but this village was one that Lean had owed a debt to in the past.

Long ago, when he had fled from Marquis Benard Tatian, he had stopped here. Back then, all he had was his charming looks, and he had sweet-talked that girl over there to hide away.

He might have said he loved her.

Yet the tightening encirclement drew near.

It was after he had barely escaped from here that the chase had picked up again, so the girl who had hidden him, along with the village, surely ended up in quite the mess.

Though it was a thing of the past now… he felt truly grateful and sorry. ─ Lean made his way through the villages he had once benefited from, dispensing (Count Peter’s) money.

Though this would vanish too, he provided them with drinks and meat. On the road to the north, the villages were swept up in an unexpected autumn festival.

At that moment, Reb interjected.

“Alright, alright. Just cut out the small talk and give me the conclusion.”

+ + +

“Seriously, I asked you to start from the beginning, and you’re sitting here recounting everything from the top.”

“Why? I find it interesting. Oh…”

That was Leah.

A girl who enjoyed listening to stories, Leah peeked out, eager to listen but ended up blushing when she locked eyes with the prince.

She claimed she remembered everything.

Reb, Ray, and Lean each shared everything that had transpired.

Leah promptly squeaked, “Eek!” and hid away again, while Lean continued his story.

“Don’t interrupt the flow. Where was I? Right. So, with Lerriana and Santian, they arrived at the Sauer Marquisate. But guess what? The marquisate…”

“…Right. You do what you want.”

Reb laid back on the bed.