T/N : Hi~ Sorry for the wait! A lot of things happened irl and I forgot couldn’t find the time to post this chapter.
Translator : KuRuuRuu
Editor : Z
It was not long since then that Arche received a request to become the caretaker of the Head of Royal Magician’s garden.
(It’s that person)
She immediately knew. It didn’t take long for her to. In the first place, it was stranger for her not to realize it at that time.
When talking about the current Head of Royal Magician, there was no one who didn’t know about him.
Eguiédills von Lancent. The unparalleled magician who possessed astonishing jet black hair and beauty.
There were a lot of rumors shrouding him, and within those, there were overwhelmingly more of the bad ones than good ones. But each of them reeked of fear and fright, some of them even include things that couldn’t be thought as the work of man anymore, thus there was even rumors that doubted and thought of the existence of Eguiédills as fake.
Similarly, Arche was also one who believed such rumors. However, he really did exist, and that short encounter with him was enough to convince Arche that he really was someone worth those numerous rumors.
She couldn’t understand why that person…or perhaps she should rephrase it as ‘that esteemed individual’, would nominate a fledgling young gardener like her. Moreover, he even politely gave a note “It’s fine even if you refuse”.
Her father and colleagues were all paled up and unanimously said, “Please refuse”. Since the other party has especially said “I won’t ask for the impossible”, they said. Even she herself thought that it was what she should do. She should refuse.
However Arche’s mouth spoke of the complete opposite thing. Which is, “I accept it”.
Then she met with Eguiédills again at the gazebo in that medicinal plant garden. On their second meeting, his jet black hair captivated her eyes and his beauty fascinated her, to which he said provokingly,
“What. So you didn’t refuse?”
…Even though she had prepared herself to challenge this place, it was still too much for her. Who could blame her for thinking such, though?
Anyway, Arche’s battle began since then.
Eguiédills’ medicinal plant garden was by no means a vast one. Nevertheless, because of that there were lots of carefully selected varieties of plants. They were not just the typical plants like the one Eguiédills was pruning on their first meeting, there were also difficult plants that needed special care and attention. Fortunately, there were lots of plants that she had learnt the basics of from her father, but for those that she didn’t know how to raise, she would ask her senior colleagues or search it up in the books. It was like fumbling within the darkness.
To such her, Eguiédills did not say a word. It didn’t mean that he had no criticism or warnings, he simply didn’t say anything to Arche.
He would only speak concisely, saying the minimum of what needed to be said. For example, “Collect the necessary amount of the plant”, or, “Raise this herb”.
She couldn’t feel any emotion from that indifferent voice, and that beautiful face seemed as usual like a doll, but she thought that this was still better than the first day of their meeting. Even though she was told things with sarcastic remarks and attitude openly. She thought that she herself was strange.
Then, when she realized it, she would sometimes peek at him reading books in the gazebo through the gaps between the plants and herbs. It was impossible for her to not feel any fear towards that black hair, but even so somehow she couldn’t avert her eyes.
And then one day─
“What’s this?”
Regardless of how indifferent that beautiful voice was, it could be heard clearly. However, no matter how many times she had heard it, as expected she still couldn’t get used to it.
While Eguiédills was confirming Arche’s harvest as usual, there was a faint emotion unusually put in his voice as he looked and questioned Arche.
While startled by his morning glow eyes gazing down at her, Arche answered her employer’s query.
“It is a fruit called Delia”
“Delia?”
“Ye, yes. Recently it’s very popular with women, and my family also cultivates it. If it’s fine with you, please take them”
The small red fruits vividly showed themselves off among the familiar medicinal plants and herb inside the basket.
The Delia fruits were actually not something that Eguiédills had ordered of Arche. It was purely Arche’s own decision to slip them among the harvested plants.
Arche’s house had quite an unusual vast land despite being commoners, and they were cultivating several vegetables and fruits on it. Delia was one of them.
No one had really paid any attention to it before, but recently with it being highly nutritious, good for beauty, and having a sweet taste, this red fruit could be said as ‘killing three birds with one stone’, and as mentioned before was especially popular among young women.
The fruit was so popular that even nobles had a hard time obtaining it. And when Arche was eating that same fruit as much as she liked at home, suddenly the face of her employer floated into her mind. If that person eats such a sweet and delicious thing, what kind of face will he make? Her little curiosity then grew bigger.
She once again looked at the pile of fruits on the table and stopped her hand that was delivering it to her mouth. Then before she knew it, she had stuffed the fruits carefully into a small basket so they wouldn’t get scratched or squashed, then presented them to him like this.
If he’s okay with this, she thought as she brought them, but perhaps he was one that hated sweet things. Lancent House was one of the distinguished nobles and surely had eaten things way more delicious than Delia fruits. If she thought about it a little, she would surely understand it, yet she had failed to realize it. She was ashamed of her own imprudence.
“…Aah, so this is Delia”
As the conflict within Arche’s heart went on, for some reason Eguiédills nodded in consent. Then he gazed at the small red fruits. Just like that, her employer kept his silence while Arche was just being herself and couldn’t utter anything. As a result, silence fell on that place.
However there was no way they could keep that situation forever. And the one running out of patience first, sure enough, was Arche.
“Umm, I apologized for doing an unnecessary thing! I will properly take it back home!”
She bowed her head with vigor and tried to take the fruits away. But, the transparent-like fair hand stopped her from doing so.
“No”
That faint beautiful voice reached Arche’s ear, making it tremble.
“I thank you.”
It was a short sentence. It was a whisper-like voice. The beautiful voice appropriate of his beauty, was unusually filled with emotion. Even though she usually only heard his indifferent voice, but his voice this time clearly was filled with joy.
However, what shocked Arche more than that was─
(He, smiled?)
That was a really faint smile, so faint that one could even go without noticing it at all. However, for Arche who had met with him numerous times, Eguiédills’ expression at that time was a drastic change from his usual one.
His indescribable beauty didn’t change at all. However, the beautiful face that was often thought as belonging to a doll or fairy, certainly became that of a human’s. It was just like the day they met for the first time, the moment they both opened their eyes wide in surprise.
At that moment, Arche realized.
That before she knew it, she had fallen in love. That the existence before her, was the one she loved.
She didn’t know when did it all begin.
When they first met, the moment she saw his human-like expression, she couldn’t remove his face from her mind. She had thought that it was because he was a black bearer, or if that wasn’t so, then it was because he was unbelievably beautiful.
Around the time when she first tended to his medicinal plant garden, she was caught and thoroughly scorned by a noble who loved wearing ornaments that displayed their high standing. That noble then paled up when that person appeared in the middle of it, saying an outrageous sarcastic remark, “This girl is not someone that you should be minding, isn’t it? Aah, or perhaps do you still not have a clear understanding of your own position? Then, feel free. If you can, that is”.
Although it was a remark that wasn’t only belittling the noble, but also Arche, she realized it later. That he was actually helping her.
“This girl is not someone that you should be minding, isn’t it?”. “Do you still not have a clear understanding of your own position?”. Thinking about it again, it could also be interpreted as him saying that Arche had more worth than that noble. The thing he said at the end, “If you can, that is” was in other words, “If you do it then there’ll be no mercy”. She might be too self-conscious about it. In fact, he told her with a bothered expression, “don’t make me waste my time”.
However, as he pulled her arm until they reached the garden, his walking pace was slower than usual. After they arrived, he told Arche who was looking downward, “If there’s anything just say my name. Most of people will run away. There are people who will approach you instead, but they’ll soon get tired of it anyway so just keep silent and listen”.
It was not only that. After she said “Thank you very much” to him, even while saying “Not only your ears, but is your head a decoration too?” his morning glow eyes somehow seemed to be swaying perplexedly.
She didn’t know which was it. Perhaps they were all true, or perhaps there were other reasons. But anyhow she was glad. That she liked this person, that as long as she had this clear fact, she was glad.
No matter if he was a black bearer, if he had beauty that didn’t seem to belong to a human, or if he was an existence that gathered fear from the whole kingdom. Even so─
(I like that person)
Since that day, Arche changed.
She became conscious of her own appearance, to a point that she never would have thought of before. She, who could have never been said as having neat and long hair, now started growing her red hair, combing it numerous times, and smoothing it with scented oil.
Unlike before, she began to pay attention to the freckles on her face that were caused by basking under the sunlight almost every day. She would buy popular lotion and foundation in the town with her salary, which had risen sharply since becoming the caretaker of Eguiédills’s garden.
She began to apply cream to her hands that had gotten rough from gardening, and also wore more feminine clothes that wouldn’t hinder her job as a gardener.
She wanted to become beautiful. The only human that could stand by that beautiful person was surely only this kingdom’s princess. However, despite knowing well that it was presumptuous, she still wanted to get closer to him.
She didn’t think of any of it as a bitter or painful thing. Rather, she couldn’t help but enjoy it.
When will he come to the garden next? When will he sit at that gazebo? Even the times spent thinking about such things was enjoyable.
Meanwhile, for some reason she began to receive invitations for tea by the royal palace guards or receive trivial presents from young men around neighborhood. However, for Arche all of them were but a trivial things. “Have I become a little bit prettier than before?”, she thought, although she didn’t think of anything about the next step from that.
Rather, Arche was more concerned since the number one person that she wished to notice her was just like usual, only ordering for Arche’s help in gardening and harvesting and was practically not noticing any of her changes at all.
It must be because he’s that kind of person, if I work harder maybe someday he’ll say something to me. As she thought about such things, she put more effort into tending the plants and beautifying herself.
It was around that time.
The Demon King that should had been sealed was revived, and the dispatched knights ended up in crushing defeat. Young men from all over the kingdom were gathered, and finally a Hero appeared. And Eguiédills was chosen as a companion in that journey.
The news that he was chosen as one of the Hero’s companions immediately spread to the people around Arche, and even she herself accepted that as a fact.
The Hero party was called the world’s hope. However, some anxious voices still whispered, “What if they are also defeated?”.
However, if it’s that person, then everything will surely be okay, Arche believed.
His glossy black hair was the proof itself, that the magic power he possessed was higher than anyone.
To be honest, she was still afraid of that hair. She was ashamed of herself for thinking so, but even though it has gotten better than before, sometimes she could still get so scared that it was unbearable and ended up having such expressions while gazing at him through the gaps of the plants. Each time, it seemed that he didn’t notice anything as he kept reading his books silently, which made her feel relieved.
It might be an impossible thought, but no matter how much he laughed, cried, or got mad, no matter how much he showed his humanity, there would always be a kind of power that made one feel unsurpassable fear towards that black color. As the bearer of that black color, he was beautiful yet frightening, he was frightening yet beautiful, an existence that could hardly be thought of as the same human as her.
Nevertheless, it was for this reason that he was strong. It was for this reason that he was the Head of Royal Magician. It was for this reason that he was chosen as a member of the Hero Party for subjugating the Demon King.
He is that kind of man. It’s impossible for him to die. He will surely defeat the Demon King together with Hero, and then return safely to this medicinal plant garden, to me.
Believing that, she saw him off at the end with her best smile, “Take care!”[1].
That’s why when Arche heard the spreading rumor in the Royal Palace that Eguiédills lost his life in the middle of the battle, that’s impossible, her mind went blank.
It’s just a rumor, there’s no way it’s true, she said it to herself countless times. However, for just a rumor it was whispered with too much credibility, and when she heard that the young boy who was Eguiédills’s apprentice went on a journey to follow the hero party, she knew that the rumor was true.
She was so dejected it was unbearable. More than anything, Arche became so depressed that she even almost ended up neglecting Eguiédills’s garden that she had put so much effort into taking care of. Sensing her serious condition, her father even said, “Just rest for awhile”, which actually made her even more depressed.
The days without that person went by. When will that person come to the garden next? She couldn’t even look forward to anything now. It was so saddening, but she couldn’t keep on drowning in sorrow. Then, it was around the time that she began to become accustomed to such a daily life.
Suddenly the shrouding dark cloud dispersed. Every one could see a shining light beaming in the far north direction. It was just like the time before the hero was chosen, when a pillar of light was pointing at the holy sword. The light shone bright as if tearing open the sky, nevertheless it was not the kind that hurt the eyes, instead, it was a dazzlingly beautiful light.
From then, there were several things questioned by the people. What was that light about? Why has the dark cloud suddenly dispersed? Perhaps, possibly…
When such speculations began to spread around the whole kingdom, there was a big announcement from the Royal Palace, proclaimed by the King himself. That there was a notice coming from the Hero party. And that the content was about how they had managed to defeat the Demon King.
By that news, the whole kingdom, the whole world rejoiced.
However Arche couldn’t be honestly happy about that news. Even though that person died. She couldn’t help but to think so.
But, it was for this reason that when she heard the news announced right before the parade for the Hero Party’s return that Arche could be truly happy. That the magician, namely Eguiédills von Lancent, who was thought to be dead, had actually survived.
She lined up on one side of the spectator seats for the returning parade with her friend, but I should have chosen a better seat, she regretted it so much.
Together with the official announcement about the success of the Demon King subjugation, and how Eguiédills’s survival was kept in secret until the last moment, it was also told that he had pushed himself during the time he was thought to be dead and had even received a heavy injury in the last battle, thus he was in a condition that couldn’t be clearly seen being properly [alive]. All doctors and magicians were doing their best in the deepest part of the Royal Palace, and today he was finally getting better. However they still couldn’t be relax yet, and so it was reported that he still wasn’t in a condition to appear at the parade. Although Arche was worried about his condition, she also thought that it was a pity. And as much as that disappointment was, no, it was even greater than that, she was also extremely glad.
Then, it was a few weeks after that. Finally the man that Arche loved came to his garden which was taken care of by Arche.
(It’s really, really Eguiédills-sama)
Her heart spontaneously leapt, and she couldn’t stop her face from blushing.
His black hair was just as usual. Together with his violet orange eyes, those morning glow eyes.
Eguiédills' figure she hadn’t seen in a while was as expected, really fascinatingly beautiful. Even if there was now a scar under his left eye, it didn’t ruin his beauty at all.
(…eh?)
Besides that scar, there was also some change in Eguiédills that Arche had realized. Perhaps that change was not something that could be noticed by everyone, but it really felt like the smile he once had that had caused Arche to realize her love.
(What could it be? Somehow, his atmosphere changed?)
Until just before his journey, he would always emit a kind of rigid atmosphere that rejected other people, even when he was just reading books alone in the garden’s gazebo.
Despite that, his atmosphere right now, how to say it. There was still that kind of rigidness, but compared to before, it had certainly become calmer. It had turned into a soft, gentle one.
I wonder if it’s because the world is finally at peace now? Arche thought.
He had finally finished his short yet long journey, where he had borne an important task of subjugating the Demon King. That much should be more than enough for him to rest his mind.
Moreover, the enmity he got as a black bearer had a complete change and now he was praised as one of the heroes who had saved the world. Despite saying all kinds of rumors and cursing Eguiédills before, they have all now started saying good things about him. Towards those kind of people, it was impossible for Arche to not resent them for their selfishness, but more than anything, she was happy and proud that he was praised, as if she was the one being praised.
Since Arche who was an outsider even felt like that, the person in question must feel even more happier. Perhaps that was what had eased his atmosphere.
(…but, perhaps)
Or maybe, perhaps, such thought passed on her mind.
This is, because I am in front of him? Could it be that Eguiédills only showed this side of him in front of Arche, and only said this king of things to Arche? (T/N : Preposterous!)
“Co─ congratulation on your triumphal return─!”
“Yeah. You’ve worked hard too”
“─!”
Hearing the appreciation phrase that she had never received up to now, she bowed her head panickedly. If not for that, surely her blushing face would be found out by him.
Perhaps. If by any chance it was true, if perhaps, Arche’s existence was really something that healed Eguiédills' heart─ (T/N : Preposterous II!)
(Uwawawawa─! What am I thinking about─!)
It was such an impertinent thought that she wanted to shake her head. But somehow, she felt that that thought was tinged with an unusual truth. [I love you], if something like that were to be said with that beautiful voice, just by thinking that, it was already unbearable for her. She felt like she would faint.
“Umm, these are the tea leaves, herbs, and plants that I grew when Eguiédills-sama was absent. I couldn’t grow all of them, though…”
Arche gave a paper bag filled with dried leaves, divided according to their variety, to Eguiédills. Even before the journey, Arche had carefully selected the leaves and herbs that were frequently ordered by Eguiédills . It seemed like there was a special recipe for herb tea. One day I would like to try to drink it.
As he took the paper bag from Arche, Eguiédills directed his morning glow eyes to her. Arche’s heart jumped and made a loud noise in a startle.
“…you really know it well”
“Even like this, I am Eguiédills-sama’s gardener after all!”
Hearing a hint of admiration on that voice, Arche puffed up her chest with pride. That’s right. The gardener of this beautiful person. Some might say that she was just a gardener, but Arche knew well how difficult that position was for this person. Having a position beside the loathed black bearer was extremely difficult. However, she managed to do that even before he became a hero. She was allowed to become one. And surely from now on too. She would be able to stand by the side of the person she loved. She loved him. Day and night, she loved him so much it was unbearable.
While sending off Eguiédills' retreating figure as he went away holding a bag full of medicinal plants and herbs, Arche’s heart overflowed with happiness.
Next >>
E/N : Author-sama… why did you do thisssssssss! While a part of me is super annoyed, I also feel bad for her ahahha
T/N : ISN’T IT??? I don’t feel bad for her though……
[1]Itterasshaimase!↵
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