“Conpagno? Near the market?”

Hearing a familiar name unexpectedly pleased Stella. Her voice rose involuntarily, but she quickly composed herself and continued to look at him.

“What’s your name?”

“D-D-Doodle, ma’am.”

When the royal figure asked for his name, Doodle felt a sudden twinge of insignificance. Never before had his name felt so trivial.

“Doodle?”

“Yes, Princess.”

“I’m counting on you, Doodle.”

Stella beamed and extended her hand, which Doodle, in a daze, lightly grasped with his chubby hands, looking honored.

Stella then grabbed Doodle’s hand firmly and shook it up and down. Just because he was a gardener, she felt as if she had met an old friend, and she was endlessly delighted.

Stella wasn’t the only one happy to see Doodle.

“I like this human. He really loves the earth.”

“Yeah, just looking at him makes me feel good.”

“Stop being so dramatic.”

“Then, Oton, you don’t like him?”

“He’s not bad, I guess. Just that much.”

As Ark and Esta made a fuss, Oton snorted briefly and reluctantly agreed. Listening to the earth fairies’ conversation, Stella was convinced that Doodle was the perfect gardener for Verdura.

“There are five types of seedlings we have now, and Darren brought five types of seeds from the market. Let’s start by organizing and planting them in sections.”

“Yes, Princess. If you give me the seeds, I’ll find suitable places to plant them.”

“No, I’ll decide the locations. You just need to plant them where I tell you.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Doodle found it curious. Usually, nobles would delegate garden landscaping to the butler or household staff, who would then explain the plans.

Once the landscaping was done, nobles would come out to inspect it briefly and then leave. Sometimes, if they weren’t pleased, they would ask for it to be redone or refuse to pay.

But no one had ever come out with a pickaxe like Princess Stella.

“Please give me that pickaxe. It’s too heavy for you, Princess.”

Doodle politely reached out for the pickaxe Stella was holding. However,

“No way. Darren will give you yours.”

Doodle didn’t quite understand what was going on.

“The Princess doesn’t let anyone touch that pickaxe. It’s something she cherishes.”

“She cherishes it?”

It wasn’t a jewel, just a farming tool. Was he being teased? But it didn’t seem like that.

Darren handed another pickaxe to Doodle, as if it were a big secret.

A little while later.

“My goodness! This soil is amazing. Anything planted here will thrive.”

He was so absorbed in feeling the soil that he momentarily forgot about planting the seedlings. It was the first time in his life he had encountered such fertile and rich soil.

Stella was busy planting the seeds she had bought from the market. Interestingly, all the seeds she had bought from the old man were mentioned in the Noble Farming book.

The book detailed not only the names of the seeds but also the planting times and cultivation methods.

“Princess, what kind of seed is this?”

Brynn asked curiously, holding a round, large seed.

“It’s called a sugar peanut. Have you heard of it?”

“Is there really such a thing? Does it mean sweet peanuts?”

“I’m not sure, I don’t really know. We’ll find out once we plant it.”

As Stella was about to plant the seeds according to what she had read in the book, Ark, standing nearby, suddenly stopped her in alarm.

“Stella! You can’t plant sugar peanuts like that.”

Stella couldn’t ask why, with Brynn beside her, so she simply widened her eyes.

“You need to dig deeper with the pickaxe and plant the peanuts at wider intervals. You have to dig a bit deeper than what’s written in the book.”

Understanding, Stella lifted the pickaxe again.

Thunk!

The blade of the pickaxe sank deeply into the soft soil.

Though it was the cold metal of the pickaxe that cut through the earth, it felt as if the soft soil was wrapping around her hands, caressing her arms, and warmly embracing her entire body.

The indescribable warmth of the earth spread through Stella’s body.

Doodle, who was planting seedlings in the distance, frowned as he observed Princess Stella wielding the pickaxe. Her technique was clumsy, like someone farming for the first time, and her grip on the pickaxe was all over the place.

“Gripping it like that will give her blisters in no time.”

Doodle worried that the delicate hands of the princess might get hurt. Since she wouldn’t relinquish the pickaxe, he thought he should at least show her a way to hold it that would be less painful for her hands.

But this thought vanished before Doodle could take a few steps.

“My goodness.”

It was just pickaxe work. But what Doodle saw was the burgeoning life force of the earth and the perfectly beautiful image of Princess Stella.

She wasn’t wearing any makeup or a pretty dress, but seeing Princess Stella digging with a pickaxe made his heart swell, as if he were looking at a goddess.

Doodle stood there, dazed as if he had been struck on the back of the head, then returned to planting the seedlings with a reverent heart.

It felt as though coming here wasn’t just about earning money, but his destiny.

“Mister, why are you crying?”

Darren, who was helping plant the seedlings, was surprised to see Doodle crying and asked. Doodle covered his face with his dirt-covered hands and sobbed for a while before answering with a face smeared with tears and dirt.

“I’m just happy to be here.”

“Oh, I see…”

Darren awkwardly smiled, guessing that Doodle’s life had been tough, and continued to diligently plant the seedlings.

“But no matter how I look at it, this flower seems wilted. Its color is strange.”

Following the princess’s orders, Darren planted it, but he tilted his head at the peonies that had turned brown. It wasn’t just one or two peonies that had changed color like old apples.

“Could it be? Did Princess Annette send these on purpose?”

Suddenly, Darren thought that Princess Annette from Müiget Castle might have deliberately sent such poor seedlings as a gift to slight Princess Stella.

But everything else was of top quality.

“Oh well, if they die later, we can just pull them out.”

As Darren mumbled while planting the seedlings, Doodle, who was still sniffling beside him, replied in a voice still filled with awe.

“They will never wither or die. A goddess resides in this garden.”

Doodle’s gaze moved to Stella, who was furiously digging with the pickaxe in the distance.

The blade of the pickaxe shone brightly with each powerful swing. The more he looked at it, the more fascinating the pickaxe seemed. Despite digging into the soil, the silver blade never got dirty. In fact, the more it was used, the more it gleamed and sparkled.

The nutrient-rich, fertile soil made the pickaxe work incredibly easy. With each firm thrust of the pickaxe into the ground, instead of getting tired, Stella only felt more energized.

Brynn, who was standing by, worried that the princess might get hurt, watched Stella enthusiastically digging and quietly closed her mouth.

It was clear that the princess was a natural-born farmer. Even someone who had never been interested in farming would feel an itch to try their hand at it after watching the princess work, just like Brynn did now.

Thinking that she too wanted to try using the pickaxe, Brynn planted the sugar peanuts in the soil Stella had dug.

As she planted the seeds, the sweet scent wafted from her hands, just as it had when she handled the seeds. She imagined how sweet the sugar peanuts would be, especially after the carrots the princess had planted turned out to be so delicious, and she felt excited.

Before she knew it, Brynn’s shoulders started to move with excitement.

Besides the sugar peanuts, Stella also planted spinach, tomatoes, pumpkins, and chickweed. Except for the chickweed, the crops were surprisingly ordinary.

While planting the seeds, Stella was filled with anticipation about how special they would taste.

The fairies had explained many times that the reason the fairy carrots were so uniquely delicious was not only because they were seeds given by the fairies but also because she was blessed by the goddess of the earth.

The fieldwork was completed well past lunchtime. When Lianne announced that the meal was ready, those working in the field paused and dusted off their hands.

Brynn quickly ran to fetch a wet towel so Stella could clean her hands.

Watching the people walking together back to the castle, Doodle hesitated, unsure of what to do. He hadn’t prepared a lunchbox in his rush to get here.

Going home for lunch would take too long. Yet, he was too hungry to skip the meal.

“Mister, what are you doing? Aren’t you coming inside?”

At the back door on the east side of Verdura Castle, there was a staircase leading directly to the kitchen. Darren paused on the stairs and waved to Doodle, who stood awkwardly at the entrance.

“I’m, uh, fine.”

He couldn’t bring himself to admit he hadn’t brought a lunchbox.

“What do you mean fine? Hurry up, mister. If you’re late, Mrs. Lianne will get annoyed, saying the food doesn’t taste good if it gets cold.”

“But I…”

Seeing Doodle stammer and hesitate, unable to come up the stairs, Darren finally understood the reason. He smiled brightly and came down the steps.

Darren warmly took Doodle’s dirt-covered hand and said, “We all eat together after finishing work.”

“But I’m just a gardener.”

“I’m a servant. But the princess often invites us to eat with her, especially after working in the fields like this.”

Doodle blinked in disbelief at Darren’s words, and just then, the impatient Lianne came outside and shouted at the two of them.

“What are you doing, standing around? Are you planning to keep the princess waiting?”

—
T/N: Doodle must be protected at all costs.