I was chewing my lip and thinking when he spoke.

“Tell me anytime. I’ll make it happen.”

A warmth spread through me in an instant. A smile came as though I had everything in the world. I looked at Nicaine and said what I meant.

“Thank you.”

Nicaine frowned for a moment.

“Stop thanking me.”

“Why?”

Nicaine looked at my face with what seemed like irritation, then looked away. He exhaled as though frustrated. Strangely, he never explained why.

I looked at him in puzzlement, and he turned back. His expression was indifferent now, different from before.

“The embezzlement case will be handled through the proxy arrangement as you asked, so you’ll hear news soon.”

I nodded. Nicaine turned and left without looking at me.

In the original novel he hadn’t seemed this unpredictable, but in person he was quite difficult to read.

‘Why does he do that.’

That question kept surfacing. But his words from earlier kept circling in my mind.

“Tell me anytime. I’ll make it happen.”

Was there anything sweeter than that. I closed my eyes in a good mood, thinking only of those words. Perhaps because I had taken my morning medicine, sleep crept over me gently.

*

That evening, I had finished dinner and was looking out the window out of boredom when a familiar carriage pulled up and someone stepped out.

A black uniform and a notably tall figure. Several people followed behind him. Even from a distance, the air around him was unmistakably different.

Nicaine. He drew the eye more than anyone else, without question. I stared at him intently.

‘Why is he coming again?’

He had already told me about the mine manager that morning, and there was nothing left to discuss. I watched him carefully, wondering what it was about.

Then he looked up. Directly at the window where I was looking. I quickly stepped to the side. I didn’t know why I moved. It just felt like I should.

I tried to think of why he was coming. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand it. Was he really coming because he wanted to get closer?

‘Or is it because I seem to want that?’

Unanswered questions drifted through my mind.

A knock came at the door just then. I startled slightly, my shoulders lifting.

I took a breath and walked toward the bed. The door opened shortly after. Nicaine appeared first. Behind him, several people came in carrying things and made their way toward me.

“What is all this?”

They quickly set down bags near my bed.

“I brought fruit that’s good for the heart, and some magic tools.”

A maid beside Nicaine placed a brilliantly white flower on the bedside table. It was bright enough to draw the eye on its own. The fragrance was wonderful too.

“It’s a flower from my secret garden. I heard it’s good for various kinds of pain, not just the heart, so I brought it.”

Come to think of it, perhaps it was the scent I had caught earlier, but my mind felt at ease. More than that, the words “secret garden” had lodged themselves in my ear.

“You brought it from your garden?”

Nicaine nodded lightly. I looked at the bright flower again. It truly had the quality of something grown with magically purified water.

It shone brightly but not blindingly. And the soft fragrance it gave off lifted the mood enough to make one forget the pain.

“There must be many other flowers in your garden besides this one.”

“Why, do you want to see them?”

I nodded immediately.

“Can I visit?”

“Then stay here for a month.”

“What?”

“Even if the illness can’t be cured, you still have to do your best. Don’t you think?”

I felt the frustration building, but spoke calmly.

“Nicaine, I appreciate the concern, but this illness won’t get better just from that. And I want to go home.”

“Why? Is it uncomfortable here?”

“A little……”

“Then I’ll have everything changed and fixed right away. You want red roses all over the walls, don’t you?”

I waved my hands in alarm.

“No! This is fine as it is. And no matter how nicely this place is decorated, I still prefer home.”

“……”

“You’d feel the same, wouldn’t you? Even in a place like this, home keeps coming to mind.”

“No.”

The words stopped in my throat.

“My home isn’t something I feel that way about.”

Right. I had forgotten. Nicaine’s parents had died in that residence. The weight of the slip settled on me belatedly.

I turned it over quickly, searching for something to say. Then Nicaine’s low voice reached my ear.

“If you feel that strongly about it, go home.”

“……”

“But receive treatment here.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m worried.”

Nicaine’s voice had an edge to it. He lowered his head, exhaled briefly, then looked at me.

“I’m worried as a friend, so don’t read too much into it.”

I nodded. Around me I could see the magic tools he had brought, and the fruit on the table. Noticing my gaze, Nicaine explained.

“The magic tool purifies the air. It can also monitor your condition.”

“It monitors my condition too?”

“You might be in serious pain while you sleep.”

“It hasn’t been that bad lately.”

“Still, you never know. You might be in too much pain to call for someone.”

I didn’t argue. Nicaine was apparently this attentive once someone became his friend. Then again, once someone was considered his, they could enter not just the secret garden but his home as well.

The most sensitive thing about Nicaine was his home.

In truth, Nicaine lived in the residence but never slept deeply there. Even so, he didn’t move away and stayed on. The secret garden was likely the reason, but the original novel never addressed it directly.

A brief quiet settled. Come to think of it, Nicaine was wearing the same uniform as that morning.

“Nicaine, aren’t you busy?”

“Why?”

“You’ve been coming so often. Is that all right?”

“It’s not.”

I looked at him in surprise.

“Because of you, I can’t focus on anything.”

Something stirred inside me.

‘He’s saying that as a friend, surely.’

I looked at him carefully, and his gaze was quite rough. He stared at me as though something was bothering him. That eased something in me, and the words came.

“I really am fine, you don’t need to worry this much!”

I felt a little guilty. Nicaine let out a short, disbelieving laugh. The slight loosening of his expression carried a strange quality.

“I don’t even have women as friends.”

Come to think of it, in the original novel Nicaine had no female friends. They were all men. The only woman was the heroine.

“And you had to be the one to save me.”

“……”

“How am I supposed to just not think about you?”

He seemed to be talking himself through it, and there was a slight edge to him. As though the fact itself was something he couldn’t quite accept. The feeling that I had somehow used him wouldn’t go away.

Guilt rose alongside the unavoidable selfishness. To get the pale violet narcissus, I had needed to go this far for him to even agree to be friends.

And strictly speaking, Nicaine hadn’t lost anything. He was unharmed and perfectly fine. I stayed quiet, and Nicaine looked at me intently.

“That said, I will never think of you as more than a friend.”

I nodded at the obvious statement. He kept his eyes on me and continued.

“Even as a friend, I worry about you, think about you, and want to see you.”

I looked at Nicaine in surprise, wondering if I had heard that right.

‘Something’s been a little off for a while.’

A strange feeling grazed the back of my neck.

“I will never have feelings for you.”

Nicaine said it again, as though steeling his resolve. His gaze was still fixed on me.

“I’m being good to you as a friend.”

The vague unease I had felt a moment ago settled somewhat at those words. I nodded and spoke.

“I know.”

“So let them treat you.”

Why did it suddenly jump back to treatment.

“Nicaine, I……”

“I’ll give you whatever you want.”

The words wouldn’t come easily. Whatever I want, he said.

With him saying something like that, refusing felt wrong. Nicaine was worried about me as a friend, and continuing to refuse didn’t seem right either.

I finally spoke.

“Then I’ll stay at the residence and receive treatment here.”

There was no chance the treatment would cure the illness, but with Nicaine saying all of that, this was the best compromise.

His expression had less tension in it than before. Deep eyes beneath sharp features looked toward me.

“Starting tomorrow. The doctors are already here.”

I nodded. It was one more thing to manage, but there was nothing to be done about it.

“And the verdict came in for your mine manager. The manager is already dead……”