“Flower meaning? Do flowers have some kind of meaning?”

“What? Oh……”

He seemed unaware not only of the meaning of orange roses but even of the concept of flower meanings.

As she realized this, various emotions quickly crossed Giselle’s face.

Disappointment, embarrassment……

“I guess there is such a thing. No wonder the flower shop owner and……”

The maids’ reactions had been strange too. The same went for the ladies invited to the tea party who had been whispering.

“So, Giselle.”

Lucas’s voice reached her ears again as she was trying to soothe her complicated feelings.

“What is the meaning of orange roses?”

* * *

⟨Well. What was it……. I can’t quite remember.⟩

A lie.

Lucas recalled Giselle avoiding his gaze and changing the subject, and clicked his tongue. It was obvious she was lying, but she insisted until the end that she couldn’t remember, making him even more curious.

‘What’s the big deal about flower meanings anyway.’

He had never even heard that such things existed in his life. Besides, it wasn’t knowledge that would be helpful in real life.

‘But I’m still curious.’

What meaning could orange roses possibly have that made everyone react so strangely?

No, even if he didn’t care about others’ reactions, he wanted to know why Giselle avoided answering his question and had been evasive.

“Here are the approval documents to… Ah! President!”

At that moment, the secretary’s voice woke him from his thoughts. Lucas pushed aside the lingering image of Giselle and collected himself.

“Oh, no……”

Having pressed his pen on the document for quite some time, a dark ink stain had formed on the document that needed his signature.

Trying to absorb the ink stain with a sponge wouldn’t restore the soiled document.

“I’ll prepare a new one right away.”

The secretary quickly assessed the situation and reached out to retrieve the ink-stained document. But Lucas’s words stopped him.

“Do you know the flower meaning of orange roses?”

“……Pardon?”

The secretary couldn’t help but ask again despite clearly hearing with his own ears. It was because such words could never come from his employer’s mouth.

But Lucas asked once more, as if to confirm with the secretary.

“The flower meaning of orange roses. Howard, don’t you know either?”

“……Fl-flower meaning, sir?”

The secretary’s voice cracked from shock. There was nothing wrong with his ears. But that made it all the more astonishing.

Flower meaning.

He had seen his young cousin memorizing flower meanings before.

But the person in front of him wasn’t his adorable cousin, but his employer.

“Yes, that’s right. Do you know the meaning of orange roses?”

It was already the third time he had asked. Even in his confusion, the secretary hurriedly answered, thinking that he shouldn’t let Lucas repeat the same question again.

“I don’t know, President.”

“……”

“……Shall I find out?”

Seeing Lucas maintaining a long silence, the secretary opened his mouth with an expression that seemed to say, ‘surely not’.

What he saw next was his employer shyly nodding his head.

* * *

Sparkle.

The bookmark reflected the sunlight, sparkling brightly. Giselle held the small bookmark, turning it this way and that in the sunlight, and smiled softly.

The nanny who was attending to her nearby also smiled, seeing her joy like a child receiving a toy for the first time.

“Are you that pleased, madam?”

“Hmm? Oh, no. ……It’s just pretty. And fascinating too. A glass bookmark.”

The bookmark she held was made of two thin pieces of glass. And between the glass was an orange flower petal.

As fresh as when she had received the gift ten days ago.

“I wonder who came up with such an idea? Making a bookmark by placing flowers between glass.”

“Indeed. It’s nice in many ways, allowing you to keep gifted flowers for a long time.”

“……Yes.”

It felt like holding a memory intact in her hand. Though it would be her memory alone.

Giselle recalled the day of the tea party when Lucas had given her the orange rose bouquet.

She couldn’t help but smile as she remembered the man who had handed over that bouquet so nonchalantly, regardless of others’ reactions.

“If he had known the flower meaning……”

“Pardon? What did you just say?”

The nanny paused from tidying Giselle’s desk and asked. Giselle smiled and shook her head, swallowing the words she hadn’t finished.

‘If he had known the flower meaning, would he have given me orange roses?’

If he had known the meaning: a shy confession of first love.

Giselle gave a bitter smile and opened her ledger again. But soon she frowned as something came to mind.

She suddenly recalled Lucas’s reaction when she told him she wanted to make a bookmark from the roses he had given her.

⟨You’re… going to make the flowers into a bookmark?⟩

When she had casually expressed regret that the flowers from Lucas would wither, the head maid had suggested making them into bookmarks.

Intrigued by this idea she’d never heard before, she mentioned it to Lucas, but he had shown an unexpected reaction.

How should she describe it?

Should she say he seemed displeased? No, rather than that, he seemed embarrassed.

The tips of his ears had even turned red.

‘No way, he couldn’t have been embarrassed. If anything, he was probably disappointed that I was already being extravagant.’

After all, making this small bookmark had cost twice her former monthly salary.

It was something she would never have considered doing before.

Though she had commissioned the craftsman because she couldn’t turn him away due to her position as the mistress of the Taylor family.

‘Was he really disappointed because I was being extravagant? Was he so angry that even his ears turned red?’

Worry clouded Giselle’s small face. Since realizing she was in love, she found herself becoming more sensitive to his every reaction.

It was a perfectly natural response.

After all, everyone wants to look good in front of the person they like.

She wanted to look pretty, and if possible, she wished he would like her even just a little bit.

“……Forget about that. What if he was actually disappointed and angry.”

As Giselle unconsciously muttered to herself, the nanny posed a question to her.

“By the way, about the master. Did he really not know the flower meaning when he bought them?”

“Yes. He bought them without knowing. There’s no way he would know such things.”

When she answered with a smile, the nanny made a disappointed expression.

“Everyone is making such a fuss, saying the master had such a romantic side.”

“Well, ……I was surprised too when I received the bouquet. But what does it matter if he bought them without knowing the flower meaning? They’re still beautiful.”

“That’s true. Besides, regardless, it’s a gift from the master.”

As the nanny nodded in agreement with a smile, Giselle’s face turned slightly red. But she quickly changed the subject as if nothing had happened.

“By the way, I’m glad you’re by my side now, nanny.”

“I can’t be by your side all the time. I still need to get to know people better and… there’s still so much to learn.”

“Learn? What are you learning?”

“Just this and that. Despite my age, I’ve found there’s much to learn to properly serve you, madam.”

The nanny answered, rubbing her cheek as if embarrassed.

The nanny, who had worked at the Anticia household all her life, had her own pride.

The pride of having properly raised a noble family’s daughter.

Although it was a place with nothing but the noble title, she still believed she properly understood aspects like noble family etiquette.

But here, at the Taylor household, her thoughts had changed.

What she knew wasn’t everything. The Taylor family wasn’t a noble family, but perhaps because of that, it was a place that quickly adapted to the changing times.

To serve their masters more comfortably.

Beyond serving meals and baths, there was much work done behind the scenes.

The nanny wanted to learn all of it properly for Giselle, the young miss she had raised.

“Thank you, nanny. But you don’t have to feel too burdened.”

“I’m doing this because I enjoy it. Besides, mingling with people is enjoyable too.”

“……I suppose so.”

Giselle somewhat understood the nanny’s words. Who would the nanny talk to and spend time with after she left for work? Even when working, it’s less tiring to work with others.

Just as Giselle was smiling with gratitude and a sense of guilt toward the nanny, there was a knock at the door.

This interrupted Giselle and the nanny’s conversation. The nanny hurriedly approached the door.

The person who knocked was the butler. After the nanny identified him and stepped aside, Bushin slightly nodded in greeting and entered the room.

“Meow.”

And following behind him, the cat, Elizabeth, entered and meowed as if to announce her arrival.

Bushin, apparently unaware of the cat’s presence, was startled when he turned around, then gave a small laugh.

“Ah, I don’t know when this one followed me……”

“She probably came for food. She plays outside and only comes in when it suits her.”

Giselle laughed as she watched the cat, which had been behind Bushin, jump onto a nearby table. Regardless, the cat meowed again as if demanding food.

While the nanny hurriedly placed a bowl of cat food in front of the cat, Giselle addressed Bushin.

“Actually, I was just thinking I had a few things to ask you. You came at a good time.”