Chapter 8 – What Should One Do If Their Husband Becomes a Plant

When Cecia opened her eyes in the morning, the first thing she felt was the cold.

Perhaps the fire in the fireplace had gone out, as she felt a chill on her shoulders.

She hadn’t stayed here long, but after a few days, she learned that every morning, before Cecia woke up, the maids would quietly enter the bedroom and add firewood to the fireplace so the fire would last until noon.

The maids entered carefully to avoid disturbing Cecia’s sleep, only adding firewood without making noise, then leaving.

Around noon, they would return to clean out the ashes and add new firewood.

At that time, Cecia was usually drinking tea on the southern balcony, so the bedroom was empty.

“The fire in the fireplace is out……”

But today, for some reason, the air was cold.

And when she woke up, Adam, who always embraced her every morning, was nowhere to be seen.

Adam had always been by her side when Cecia opened her eyes, and even until dawn, Cecia could feel Adam holding her.

In fact, Cecia had tried to witness Adam’s transformation.

She deliberately stayed awake until dawn, but at some point, sleep must have overcome her.

‘Did he change and leave quickly?’

Today was the day Adam’s form changed.

‘I don’t care what form His Lordship changes into.’

In truth, Cecia had greatly enjoyed being with Adam in his bandit-like form.

At first, she was scared, but after she got used to it, those moments were happy. If, because of those happy feelings, Adam’s curse had been lifted—

‘If His Lordship form remains the same today, then the curse has been broken.’

Until yesterday, she had truly been happy.

‘If the curse is broken, he’ll live in that form forever. I don’t dislike that form……’

She didn’t dislike it, and if it was Adam, any form would be fine, but she couldn’t deny there was a bit of lingering regret.

She still had some attachment to the handsome face she saw at the wedding.

Cecia pulled the gown beside her and wrapped it around herself.

The gown was padded for warmth, so even wearing just the gown over her bare skin, the cold faded somewhat.

Cecia opened the bedroom door and came out into the hallway, where she saw maids whispering downstairs.

‘Did something happen?’

As Cecia slowly descended the stairs, her gaze met that of a maid who happened to look up.

“Ah!”

As soon as their eyes met, the maid cried out in surprise.

“Hm?”

It was Cecia who was more startled.

Why did the maid react with surprise upon making eye contact?

“M-Madam!”

All the maids who had been whispering bowed respectfully.

Cecia finished descending the stairs and approached them, unable to contain her curiosity, and asked,

“Is something the matter? Why are you all surprised to see me……”

“It’s not that……”

“We weren’t surprised because of you, Madam……”

“We didn’t know you were awake…… Oh, and the fireplace……”

Clearly something was wrong.

Otherwise, the maids wouldn’t be so flustered.

Surely something unexpected had happened.

‘Could something have happened to His Lordship……’

The fact that Adam was nowhere to be seen was strange.

Increasingly ominous thoughts filled Cecia’s mind.

“Where is His Lordship?”

The moment Cecia asked about the Marquis, the maids’ faces turned pale.

Their faces turned pale, and Cecia’s heart sank.

‘Something definitely happened!’

Unless something had happened to the Marquis, the maids wouldn’t be so startled.

It was clear that something other than a change of form had occurred.

“Has something happened to His Lordship?”

That must be why they forgot to add firewood to the fireplace.

“T-that……”

“Where is His Lordship now? I must see him immediately!”

“Madam.”

At that moment, a calm voice called Cecia.

It was Thompson, the butler of the house.

Thompson’s expression wasn’t good either.

“Please take me to His Lordship immediately.”

Cecia, convinced something had happened to Adam, spoke firmly.

She didn’t know what had happened, but she had to see it with her own eyes.

“Madam. I will guide you.”

Thompson led Cecia to the southern balcony.

This mansion had a spot where sunlight especially poured in—the southern balcony.

Now, with snow falling, sunlight couldn’t be seen, but according to Adam, during the short summer or on clear days in winter, sunlight would stream through the glass windows onto the southern balcony.

Perhaps because of this, all kinds of plants grew there alongside the tea table.

It was a sort of balcony greenhouse.

“Madam. His Lordship is here.”

Thompson pointed toward the glass window.

But Adam Sinclair, the Marquis, was nowhere to be seen.

Even if he had changed form, at least a person should be visible, but there was no one.

In the spot where there was no one, a large vine plant appeared, which hadn’t been there before yesterday.

“Where is His Lordship?”

Cecia tilted her head and looked at Thompson.

Thompson, with a troubled expression, raised his hand and pointed at the vine plant.

“So, His Lordship is……”

“Where exactly is His Lordship……”

Cecia turned her head to where Thompson pointed and froze.

“No way……”

No way. It couldn’t be.

Changing forms was supposed to mean remaining human.

Surely he wouldn’t change into something non-human.

Surely that unfamiliar plant wasn’t Adam. It couldn’t be.

“Yes, Madam.”

As Thompson sighed deeply, Cecia collapsed on the spot.

She didn’t know how to react in such a situation.

“Y-Your Lordship?”

The moment Cecia called him, the vines on the plant began to move.

It was as if it was expressing joy at being recognized.

Adam Sinclair, the Marquis, might be happy that Cecia recognized him as a tree, but Cecia herself was half out of her mind.

Her husband had become a tree.

What should she do?

***

“Your Lordship?”

When she called him, the vine with green leaves shook.

“You can understand me, right?”

The vine shook again.

Cecia was now having a conversation with a tree.

It was a tree, but still her husband, Adam Sinclair, the Marquis.

Fortunately, Adam, though transformed into a tree, seemed to understand human speech.

He just couldn’t speak.

‘Like this for five days……’

Of course, after five days, he would return to human form…… he would, right……? 

Anyway, until then, she had to communicate with the tree.

“Is it uncomfortable? ……No, that’s a silly question. Of course it must be uncomfortable.”

The vine shook back and forth, clearly indicating it was not uncomfortable.

“It’s alright. After five days, you’ll return to normal. Until then, I’ll stay by your side.”

Cecia asked the maids to move her bed here.

For the next five days, she planned to eat and sleep by Adam’s side.

She moved her bed here, and even her meals, so she wouldn’t leave Adam’s side for a moment, wanting to be the first to greet him when he returned to human form.

“Your Lordship, what does it feel like to have your roots in the ground?”

Adam’s roots were now planted in a large pot.

Of course.

He was a plant, so his roots couldn’t survive without soil.

After becoming a vine plant, Adam absorbed water three times a day instead of meals.

When Cecia had dinner, Adam drank six buckets of water.

Rather than watering the soil like with other trees, she brought buckets of water and placed them nearby, and Adam would put his vines in the buckets and absorb all the water through the ends.

After absorbing plenty of water, the leaves on the vine grew lively and began to shine.

“Ah.”

Cecia was startled.

The vine swayed toward her and suddenly bore a bright red fruit.

More precisely, Cecia witnessed a flower blooming, then wilting, and a fruit forming where the flower had been.

It was like magic.

“May I pick it? Would it hurt if I do……?”

The vine shook gently.

It meant she could pick the fruit.

Cecia carefully picked the fruit.

With a pop, she picked the fruit from the vine and took a small bite.

Crunch. It made a sound.

“It’s delicious.”

When Cecia responded that it was tasty, the leaves on the vine shook as if blown by a carriage wind.

Cecia sensed that Adam, now a tree, was smiling.

Having spent the day together, she felt she could now understand the language of trees.

“Should I put out the candle? I heard plants shouldn’t see light at night.”

Cecia knew a little about how to care for plants.

She had once worked briefly as a gardener’s assistant.

The gardener had said that plants should see sunlight during the day and darkness at night.

So, plants that grew in the mansion under bright light all day weren’t healthy.

Of course, Adam wouldn’t live as a plant forever, just five days, but Cecia hoped he’d be comfortable during those five days.