01. First Step

“Do you like the name Olive?”

Olivia’s hand, which was crushing red berries, froze momentarily. As she quietly raised her head, she saw the boy Kale sitting in a chair waiting for medicine, looking at her with sparkling eyes. Thinking ‘He must be at a curious age,’ in response to the innocent question from Kale, who appeared about fourteen years younger than herself, Olivia tilted her head.

“It’s a bit old-fashioned, but not strange, right? Hmm, or is it?”

“Isn’t it too common? The name Olive.”

Actually, it’s Olivia. After hesitating and mumbling, Olivia swallowed the rest of her words. Then, like the boy, she too looked out the window at the olive trees filling the yard. Well, Olive or Olivia, they’re pretty much the same. Spending all day surrounded by olive trees sometimes made them feel like family. As if she had truly become an olive tree.

“Does Olive like olives and that’s why you’re Olive?”

So Olive is Olive because of olives, huh? With her mind going blank from the repeated olive attacks, Olivia shook her head to regain her focus and continued making medicine with a slight smile.

“Not me, but my mother loved them. All the olive trees in the yard were planted and cherished by her. Besides, aren’t olives cute? They’re so round.”

“Ah. But why not lime instead of olive? There are lots of lime trees too.”

“That’s my brother’s name. I’m Olivia, my brother is Lime. Easy to remember, right?”

Ah. Kale nodded immediately at her clear answer. He looked relieved to have finally resolved his curiosity about the olive and lime trees that filled the yard larger than the cottage.

‘Well, it’s natural to be curious if you’ve just moved to the village.’

Actually, this question was one Olivia heard quite frequently, so she didn’t find Kale’s interest burdensome or offensive. Besides, Kale seemed genuinely curious about their similar naming situations rather than having any ill intentions, so she had no reason to be upset.

When she was younger, there were times when mean-spirited children teased her for having an old-fashioned name, which made her sad, but such incidents had mostly disappeared, so she didn’t have major complaints about her name anymore.

Of course, she couldn’t argue with the assessment that it was somewhat old-fashioned and too common, as it was often used as a generic name in textbook examples like Person 1 and Person 2. So occasionally, very occasionally, she did feel a tiny bit of regret in a corner of her heart, wondering if it wouldn’t have been better if her mother had liked cherry or lemon trees instead!

After collecting juice from the crushed berries and completing the medicine, Olivia handed the beautifully packaged medicine to Kale, who had been waiting patiently for quite some time. Already familiar with receiving the same medicine for several days, Kale offered payment and stood up.

“After giving all this medicine, would you bring Ricky to the cottage? I think I need to check his condition again and adjust the medication.”

“He seems to be getting better, but I’ll do that. When should I come next week?”

“You can come anytime, oh, no, wait. Can you come in the evening? That day I have a scheduled visit out, so……”

“Sure. But do you make house calls too?”

Kale asked with confusion, having heard that she didn’t make house calls except in emergencies to treat everyone fairly. That’s what I’m wondering too. Olivia murmured quietly and unconsciously let out a small sigh. Even the consistently cheerful woman had occasional moments of gloom.

“To the administrator’s mansion……”

“Ah! Olive, hang in there.”

A brief sigh beyond his years. Though he hadn’t been in the village long, the administrator’s notorious reputation was already well-known, and Kale immediately understood the situation, looking at Olivia with sympathetic eyes. He might have first thought it unfair that the special privilege of a house call from a capable healer was reserved only for the administrator, but everyone in the village pitied Olivia, which spoke volumes about what kind of person the administrator was.

And with the administrator involved, it was actually better for the villagers if she quietly went on these house calls. Since ancient times, that administrator had been the type to pick fights over anything that slightly displeased him, using any excuse to cause trouble. Like a prime example of a corrupt person with power. Rather, the villagers quietly expressed their gratitude to Olivia for her sacrifice in making house calls to the mansion, preventing the administrator from frequenting the village under the pretense of visiting the hospital.

“Why did such a person have to be assigned to this region……”

A heavy, solemn silence fell between the two. Thoughts of the gloomy fate and future of the village under the administrator filled both their minds simultaneously.

“But this is a duchy, so why is there an administrator? What is the Duke doing?”

“Um, could you, once more, recall the name of this territory?”

Though they were alone in the cottage, Olivia looked around cautiously before leaning close to Kale and whispered in a very careful, quiet voice.

“What? It’s Schraien, oh!”

A deep sigh followed by another silence. If the administrator was the notorious figure who had swept through the territory for the past few years, Schraien was the protagonist of a legend that had marked a significant chapter in the empire’s history spanning hundreds of years. While the administrator at least had a clear presence, Schraien was more dangerous in the sense that, like a ghost or monster in a horror story, there were only ominous rumors with no way to approach the reality.

‘A duke who turned into a monster after being cursed for slaughtering people in his greed for the emperor’s throne.’

The tragedy that had supposedly turned the imperial palace upside down long ago was a famous story throughout the empire.

“Olive. Really, hang in there.”

Fighting! Kale finally offered his encouragement in the only way he could—by raising a clenched fist. You absolutely can’t abandon us, okay? At the boy’s earnest gaze, Olivia couldn’t help but smile, nodding with an expression that was neither crying nor laughing.

Kale left after talking at length about the importance of olives, but Olivia remained busy throughout the day. She made medicines without rest, organized ingredients, and cleaned until she finally threw herself onto the sofa long after sunset.

Ugh…… An involuntary groan escaped her lips. Though the day had been filled with worthwhile tasks, feeling accomplished was one thing, and being tired was naturally another. Her slippers, carelessly kicked off onto the soft rug, lay scattered messily.

Olivia, who had practically collapsed onto the sofa, looked like melted jelly with her pink hair. The kind of jelly that would burst with sweet peach flavor when put in your mouth. Her moderately curly hair was the primary contributor to her youthful and soft appearance. Thanks to this, Olivia’s goal of looking like a charismatic, impressive professional had made no progress for years.

Absentmindedly entertaining useless but amusing thoughts while becoming one with the sofa and just quietly breathing, Olivia glanced at the letter on her desk.

“I should reply too……”

It wasn’t just any letter, but one from her brother who had left home to work elsewhere. She knew she needed to reply, but being busy with work all day had unintentionally led to procrastination. Considering her brother’s personality, she knew she should send a reply soon.

Her heavy eyelids moved increasingly slowly. The blinking vision gradually lengthened its intervals, and finally, with an unfinished murmur of “I should write a letter……” Olivia drifted off to sleep.

It was a tiring but rewarding day, not particularly bad. Olivia’s ordinary and peaceful day came to an end, not much different from yesterday.

* * *

Knock knock. At the persistent knocking, Olivia hastily gathered the ingredients she had been carefully checking and stuffed them into her bag.

“Just a moment! I’m coming out soon!”

Afraid that forgetting something might unnecessarily prolong her stay at the mansion, she packed her large bag tightly. She even included rarely used herbs for emergencies. Groaning under the weight of the heavy bag, she left the house to find the coachman impatiently opening the carriage door.

“Hello?”

Again today, there was no response. Quietly reading the atmosphere, Olivia boarded the carriage with her bag, and once it started moving, she finally let out the sigh she had been holding in.

Though she had met the coachman frequently enough to be familiar with his face, they had never exchanged pleasant greetings. His attitude was completely different from the villagers who waved and greeted her from afar just at the sight of her pink hair. From their first meeting until now, he had consistently looked at Olivia with contempt, annoyed at having to escort her. For a while, she persistently tried to greet him first and make small talk, but by now, Olivia had almost given up.

Today was the day for her visit to the administrator’s mansion. From the start, it was going just as poorly as any other visit. The administrator’s coachman, who had come early in the morning, rushed her and drove the carriage roughly.

‘Ugh, I feel like I’m going to be sick.’

Olivia hugged her heavy bag closer. While sending a carriage to her doorstep could be seen as kind, the hidden meaning was more like ‘Don’t think about running away and hurry up to treat my babies,’ making this moment in the carriage far from comfortable.

Throughout the journey to the familiar room in the mansion, loud barking echoed from the corridors. The cries of multiple beasts mixed chaotically, making it difficult even for Olivia, who could understand animal language, to interpret their meaning. It was no different from people gathering in a square, shouting and fighting. Her grip on the bag tightened. Taking a deep breath in anticipation of the scene she could already imagine, she carefully opened the door, and sure enough, the first thing she could see was an enormous iron cage reaching the ceiling.

“Oho, yes. Welcome.”