Chapter 3 – Part 5

‘Let’s briefly turn our attention to another lucky individual.’

Rohayden had a meeting this morning. For once, there weren’t many items on the agenda, so the meeting ended earlier than usual.

With an unexpected gap in his schedule, he thought for a moment before deciding to stop by the garden. He was curious about how the tree he had pruned recently was doing.

As he headed to the garden, Rohayden spotted the back of Mail’s head.

‘Remarkable.’

He couldn’t help but be impressed. The moment he saw that familiar figure, he was genuinely astonished. The frequency with which they happened to meet in the garden was already amusing, but what surprised him even more was her resilience.

‘It’s only been two days.’

The fact that she had returned to the garden meant she had already overcome the embarrassment of her previous antics.

Rohayden thought Mail was truly extraordinary. She deserved applause. Her recovery was the kind of thing even high priests would envy.

‘I’m quite lucky, too.’

He lifted his hand to touch his face, making sure his mask was still in place. It made sense now—why the meeting had ended early, why he had wanted to visit the garden, and why he had felt like wearing the mask today. It was all for this fated coincidence.

Realizing his good fortune once again, the lucky Rohayden began to ponder a trivial concern.

‘What should I say to start a conversation?’

He discovered Mail, but she still did not seem to recognize his presence. By her demeanor, it appeared she thought no one was around, just like last time.

Rohayden, deep in thought, decided to conceal his presence for the moment. He hadn’t even settled on what line he would use to tease her yet, so he couldn’t afford to be caught.

At that moment, Mail spoke up.

“Velvet tree, I think being human is quite exhausting.”

As expected, she was talking to a plant. After gossiping about Marigold, it seemed she was now pouring out her complaints to the Velvet tree.

Rohayden nearly made a sound but managed to stifle a laugh, continuing to hide his presence while gazing at Mail. He wanted to hear what she was saying.

“Flowers have better luck than people, don’t you think?”

Just then, a timely gust of wind rustled the leaves and branches of the Velvet tree, as if responding to Mail’s words. Despite knowing it was a coincidence, Rohayden couldn’t help but feel a slight start of surprise. Was it some sort of communion?

“Ahh, it’s truly sad. Flowers only need to be pretty, but for people, if you’re pretty and your brain is naive, your future falls apart, your family falls apart, and your country falls apart…”

‘A naive brain?’

A look of incredulity briefly crossed Rohayden’s face. To say the brain is naive because there’s nothing pure about a person—it seemed to imply ignorance or lack of knowledge, a refreshingly unique expression he hadn’t considered.

While the emperor marveled at this new usage of the word “naive,” Mail continued speaking.

“Velvet tree, what do you think? Does our princess have a chance?”

Princess. He remembered there had been mention of a princess in a previous conversation. Rohayden recalled the praises Mail had heaped upon the princess. She had said she was purer, cleaner, and more innocent than anyone else in the world.

…Hmm? Wait a minute.

An assumption suddenly formed in his mind, causing Rohayden to hesitate. No way. At that moment, Mail uttered something that confirmed his suspicions.

“It would be great if the measure of beauty in the empire were ignorance.”

Ignorance.

A naive brain, our princess. And ignorance.

“……!”

He realized. The praise he had heard earlier was not the complete version. The introduction that described her as clean, pure, and innocent had actually omitted a colossal word.

As Rohayden grasped the truth, he momentarily lost control and burst out laughing, unable to hide his presence anymore.

“Not the person, but the brain… Kugh! Hahaha!”

“……?!”

From Mail’s perspective, she was, of course, utterly shocked. After believing she was alone in the space, suddenly hearing a human laugh was enough to startle anyone. Mail turned around in surprise, only to freeze in place.

‘Ugh! Of all times!’

If there were a god who governed coincidences, he must have a personal vendetta against her. There was no other way to explain this perfectly timed, silent encounter.

Thinking this, Mail stared at the person she definitely did not want to meet at that moment, the number one individual on her “never want to meet” list. The plain white mask seemed to shine even more brightly today.

‘Why is he laughing again?’

Mail frowned disapprovingly, her brows knitting together. Her counterpart was holding his stomach and laughing heartily at something.

It was a familiar sight, and for some reason, it irritated her. The way he laughed so freely was unnecessary, and she thought maybe it would be better if he just stopped breathing altogether. Just as Mail was having this grim thought, something unexpected happened.

As Rohayden was about to laugh again, he playfully slapped the tree. In his mirth, he had hit whatever was around him, and it just so happened to be the tree. Mail’s eyes widened in shock.

“Ah! Our Salot tree! Don’t hit Salot!”

“Puhuh… what did you say?”

“Don’t hit Salot!”

Mail dashed over like a squirrel, spreading her arms wide to embrace the tree in a protective manner. Rohayden learned something new because of this. The name of this tree was Salot. Even its owner hadn’t known.

“What? Hitting it? Ahem. I was just tapping Salot a bit to share a laugh.”

“You seem to love sharing. But Salot didn’t want that kind of sharing at all!”

“How do you know? Can you read Salot’s mind?”

If anyone overheard, they would think Salot was a person. Mail looked directly into the red eyes of Rohayden, whose color had changed because of the mask.

“I can tell that much. Salot is my friend!”

“Salot is your friend?”

“Of course.”

“Marigold is going to be jealous.”

“Why are you bringing Marigold into this? And Marigold doesn’t get jealous.”

“Marigold is more of a grand person than you.” Mail added coolly. It was something she could say without a hint of knowledge about her counterpart’s true identity.

Rohayden, suddenly reduced to being lesser than a flower, couldn’t feel offended. Perhaps it was because he knew that in front of Mail, everyone was considered inferior to plants. He found the current conversation quite enjoyable and continued.

“Unfortunately, I know more about Salot than you, my friend.”

Having just learned its name, he spoke with such nonchalance. Mail countered.

“Why?”

“Because I grew it myself.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve tended to half of this garden, so Salot is naturally included in that.”

This was true. To be precise, it wasn’t just half; it was all of it. However, since Mail would think he was just an ordinary person, Rohayden chose to split it and mention half. Mail’s eyes widened in surprise at his statement.

“You tended… half of it? By yourself? Here?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not a lie, right?”

“Oh ho. You don’t believe the god of truth who only speaks the truth?”

“……”

“I mean, you even said it three times.”

Mail hesitated for a moment. That guy.

“I was a little moved when you raised your hands to the sky.”

“Let’s not bring that up. If you keep bringing up the past, people will call you petty.”

“Me? Who dares?”

“Dares? Oh, your choice of words is quite serious. You must be of significant status, right?”

She asked sarcastically, but she was genuinely curious. With a mask on, showing up in the garden at will, and having connections to the emperor—what kind of person could he be? From what he was doing, he looked like a slothful noble who had only received a title, but considering the color of his eyes and hair, it was a confusing situation.

While trying to conceal his fluster at the mention of status, Rohayden casually responded,

“Are you curious about my status?”

“If you tell me, I’ll listen.”

“Hm, I can tell you something even more impressive than my status.”

“What’s that?”

“This garden is mine.”

“Oh, is that so… huh? What? Didn’t you say it was His Majesty’s garden?”

“It was, but I received it.”

‘I give, and I take.’ Mail, who had no way of knowing the truth, exclaimed in surprise. What did you just say?

“You mean you received ownership of the garden? Directly from His Majesty?”

“Correct.”

“Really? No lie?”

“Don’t you think you’re doubting the god of truth too much? This is too much.”

“Uh…”

Shocked, Mail closed her mouth instead of replying. Her feelings had become complex. The person she felt like hitting every time she saw him was the owner of this place.

‘No way!’

This was troublesome. What was troublesome was that as a garden enthusiast, one of the commandments she had to uphold was ‘to respect the owner of the garden.’

Especially if the owner wasn’t just a nominal figure but someone who personally tended to and managed the garden—such a person would indeed meet that criterion.

In other words, it meant that from now on, Mail had to regard the masked man as an object of respect. Unless she wanted to break the essential commandments of being a garden enthusiast. Until now, Mail had diligently followed all the commandments, but this was her first conflict.

“Ugh.”

“What’s wrong? Your expression is quite intense.”TL NOTE: More advanced chapter of this story is already up to the site. Visit dusk blossoms for more advanced chapters and stories