“Lily, how are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Um… I’m fine.”

My waist and thighs ached like I had muscle soreness, but it wasn’t bad enough that I couldn’t move.

“Sit and wait, Lily.”

Russell pushed my back and sat me down in a dining chair. I sat there blankly, staring stupidly at Russell stirring the stew.

He skillfully took out bowls from the cupboard and ladled the stew. He also brought out soft white bread from somewhere. I stared at the bread and asked.

“Ru, where did this bread come from? There shouldn’t be any bread in the house…”

“I went down and bought it earlier.”

“What? By yourself?”

“Yeah.”

Russell nodded.

I suddenly wondered if I’d been too quick to assume he wouldn’t know how to do things like this just because he was a noble.

“But I only went to buy bread, yet I ended up getting other things too.”

“You got them?”

“Yeah. They just told me to take them, so I accepted.”

Russell placed various items on the table. There was a small cookie box, several fruits, and even a small bundle of seeds.

“…You accepted all of this?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded.

“They said it was a farewell gift.”

“Ah…”

Hearing those words made my chest feel warm.

“Really… I’m just receiving things until the very end.”

I sniffled, then my stomach rumbled. It was the sound coming from my belly. My face burned at the sound that completely shattered the touching atmosphere.

Russell chuckled and spoke up.

“Check the farewell gifts later and eat first.”

“…Okay.”

I picked up a spoon and carefully took a bite of the stew. The stew was savory and smooth, much more delicious than I’d expected.

“How is it, Lily?”

“It’s really… delicious.”

I stared at the stew with a dumbfounded expression, then hurriedly moved my spoon again. The savory stew paired perfectly with the soft, mild bread.

I quickly emptied my bowl and let out a satisfied sigh with my full stomach.

“Are you full? I can give you more if it’s not enough. There’s still some left.”

“No, I’m full. I ate the bread too… I really ate a lot.”

When I smiled brightly, Russell smiled back at me.

Now it was time to check what people had given me for farewell gifts. I roughly pushed the empty bowls aside and laid out the gifts one by one. There were all kinds of different things. Among them, what I liked most were the flower seeds.

“What kind of flowers did they say these were?”

“They said it was a secret.”

“I guess I’ll have to go plant them quickly to find out.”

I’d been sorry to leave the flower bed behind, so I was glad to have flower seeds.

“I can eat the cookies and things like this on the ship tomorrow.”

Tomorrow I would really be leaving this place.

After finishing all the cleanup, I lay down on the bed again. But perhaps because I’d slept earlier, I couldn’t fall asleep at all. I stared blankly at Russell’s face lying next to me when he opened his mouth with his eyes still closed.

“Can’t sleep?”

“…No.”

“Then should I help you fall asleep using the method I mentioned earlier?”

Russell slyly opened his eyes and grinned. I frowned and raised my hand to cover his eyes.

“I’ll pass on that method, thanks.”

“Really? That’s too bad.”

I felt Russell blinking under my palm. His long eyelashes fluttered and tickled my palm. When I pulled my hand back, Russell grabbed it and lowered it.

“You’ll be tired tomorrow if you stay up all night.”

“I know. I’ll force myself to sleep, so don’t have weird thoughts.”

“I was just trying to help out of goodwill.”

Russell shrugged.

I turned to face the other direction and closed my eyes. Then he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close.

I could feel something bulging through the thin negligee. I pretended not to notice and pulled my body forward a little. But no sooner had I done so than Russell wrapped around me again.

Finally, unable to stand it, I spoke up.

“Ru, it’s stuffy.”

“Why are you trying to run away?”

“…Could you calm that down first before we talk?”

“This is a natural reaction, so I can’t help it.”

He answered matter-of-factly.

“It’s fine. I won’t do anything.”

“Okay.”

I relaxed my tense body. When I leaned comfortably against him, I thought Russell’s embrace was really comfortable. Then, amazingly, I began to feel drowsy.

Then Russell called me.

“Lily.”

“Yes…”

I mumbled in a voice heavy with sleep.

“I love you, Lily.”

I blinked slowly a couple times. I pondered what to answer, then opened my mouth.

“I know…”

I heard Russell chuckle softly at my response.

“That’s your answer?”

I quietly nodded. Russell gently patted my belly.

“Okay. Sleep well, Lily.”

“You sleep well too, Ru…”

I seemed to fall asleep like that, but when I opened my eyes, it was already morning.

I just blinked while looking at the window, then slowly turned to face Russell. He was sleeping soundly with his eyes closed. Just in case, I carefully raised my hand and placed it on Russell’s forehead.

‘No fever.’

I’d been worried about what would happen if he got sick on the day we were leaving.

I was just watching him quietly until Russell woke up when he moved only his mouth without opening his eyes.

“If you keep staring like that, you’ll bore a hole through me.”

“Are you awake? Then let’s hurry and get ready to go.”

When I groggily sat up, Russell got up too. Then he kissed my lips with a smack.

“I haven’t even washed yet…!”

“It’s fine, you’re beautiful.”

There was no way my disheveled appearance could be beautiful. I clicked my tongue at his tremendous rose-colored glasses and got out of bed.

“Ru, hurry up and get ready too. It takes quite a while to get from here to the port.”

“Okay.”

When I urged him, he reluctantly got up.

We finished breakfast simply with leftover stew from yesterday, washed up, changed clothes, and packed our luggage.

“Is there anything missing?”

“No, nothing.”

I turned around to look one last time at the house where I’d lived for a year.

“Why? Do you feel sorry to leave?”

“It would be a lie to say I don’t feel sorry. But I don’t regret deciding to leave here.”

I turned my head to look at Russell and smiled brightly.

Carrying our luggage bags, I went down to the village with Russell. We rented a carriage from the carriage storage and headed to the port. Since it was such a remote rural village, we had to ride the carriage for quite a while.

I was staring blankly out the window when Russell suddenly lay down with his head on my thigh.

“What are you doing right now?”

“There’s still a long way to the port. I’m so tired.”

Then he just closed his eyes. I looked at him with an incredulous expression, then finally quietly offered my thigh.

Whether he was really tired, Russell fell asleep quickly. Even though the carriage wasn’t very good and jolted on rough roads, he didn’t wake up.

“When he’s sleeping, he looks like such an angel…”

I muttered softly while tidying Russell’s hair. Watching Russell sleep peacefully made me feel drowsy too.

‘There’s still a long way to the port…’

Couldn’t I sleep a little too?

Using Russell’s soft breathing and the sound of the rolling carriage wheels as a lullaby, I closed my eyes too.

* * *

It didn’t seem like much time had passed when someone gently shook me.

“Lily, wake up.”

“Mmm…”

“Let’s rest for a bit before continuing.”

I tossed and turned, then slowly opened my eyes. Before I fell asleep, Russell had been lying down and I was sitting up, but somehow we’d switched positions.

I stared blankly at Russell’s face and spoke up.

“Why am I lying down?”

“You looked uncomfortable, so I switched us.”

“But you were sleeping.”

“The jolting woke me up in the middle, and you were sleeping.”

He grinned. I yawned softly and sat up. I took Russell’s hand and got out of the carriage.

“How far have we come?”

“About halfway?”

“It really is far.”

My body felt stiff, so I stretched for a long time. I could see the coachman watering the horses in the distance.

Actually, even though we’d rented the best carriage, it jolted so much that my body seemed to ache a little.

“Aren’t you uncomfortable, Ru?”

“Well… it’s bearable. It’s better than riding horses all day.”

“That’s impressive.”

The coachman said we had about 10 minutes, so Russell and I decided to take a short walk nearby. Since it was a forest path, the sides were full of lush trees. But since it was still bright, it felt fresh and refreshing rather than stuffy or gloomy.

“It would be nice if there were forest paths like this near the mansion too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It feels like my mind becomes bright and clear.”

If I had known what Russell was thinking in his head, I would never have said such things.

Never! No matter what!

Anyway, since I didn’t know what would happen in the future, I spouted such nonsense.

I splashed around in a babbling stream. I even deliberately splashed water toward Russell. When I giggled, he laughed too.

“Lily, wait. I’ll wipe your feet.”

“It’s fine…”

“It’s uncomfortable though.”

Russell sat me on a large rock nearby and took out a handkerchief from his pocket.

“Where did the handkerchief come from?”

“It’s yours.”

“…You’re really shameless.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

He carefully wiped my feet with the handkerchief. I put my shoes back on my now-dry feet and headed to the carriage. Just then, the coachman was finishing the break and tying the horses back to the carriage.

“Can we start again now?”

“Yes. Please get on.”

The coachman gestured, and I took Russell’s hand and got back on the carriage. The carriage started with a jolt, and I waited for us to reach the port soon.

After what felt like eons more, the carriage finally arrived at the port.

“We finally made it…!”

The salty sea smell stung my nose.

Russell paid the coachman extra. Since the distance to the port was considerable, he gave him a tip.

After the coachman left, I took Russell’s hand.

“There are lots of people, so absolutely don’t let go of my hand.”

“Okay.”

Even though being treated like a child should have been unpleasant, Russell just quietly nodded. No, rather, his ears were turning red, seeming to like this kind of thing. His preferences were highly suspicious, but anyway, I pulled him along toward the ticket office.

“Yes, what can I get for you?”

“Two adult tickets to the Rieta Empire, please. The earliest one from now. Oh, and please give us a double room.”

“Yes.”

Double rooms were expensive, but there was no choice. There was no way Russell could stay with other people.

The ticket office employee moved their hands busily, then soon handed me two tickets.

“Here you are.”

“Thank you.”

I paid and received the tickets. I’d been worried there might not be any double room tickets since we hadn’t made a reservation, but fortunately there were. Checking the time, there were only 30 minutes left.

“Ru, do you get seasick?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I was fine coming here too.”

“That’s fortunate. But unfortunately, I do get seasick.”

I pulled Russell toward a general store. I bought several motion sickness medicines there and returned to the wharf.

“The ship to the Rieta Empire is…”

“Lily, over there.”

“Ah, you’re right.”

I could see a large ship in the distance. We showed our tickets to the ticket inspector and boarded the ship early. I checked the room number on the ticket and went up the stairs.

“This way.”

When I opened the door, a fairly spacious room appeared. Perhaps because it was expensive, there were even two single-sized beds.

“Wow, I didn’t expect much, but the room is spacious.”

“Why are there two beds? One would be enough.”

“I don’t know. I’m not the person who built the ship.”

When I shrugged, Russell made a disgruntled expression.

I put down our luggage and drank the motion sickness medicine I’d bought earlier.

“Ru, are you really sure you don’t need any?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“I bought plenty of motion sickness medicine just in case, so tell me if you feel seasick.”

“Okay.”

There was still time before the ship departed. I pondered for a moment, then asked Russell.

“Want to look around the ship?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Every time I suggested doing something, he agreed without showing any reluctance, which made me slightly suspicious.

“Ru, you’re not just saying yes when you don’t actually want to, are you?”

“No. I really want to. When I came to the Florel Empire… I was only thinking about you, so I couldn’t sleep properly and didn’t look around the ship.”

“Hmm… Okay then.”

I took Russell out of the room.

Our room was on the 2nd floor, and the ship had up to 5 floors. The 1st floor had the lobby and restaurant, and the 2nd and 3rd floors were guest rooms. The 4th floor had a lounge and space for playing chess or poker, and finally the 5th floor was a garden.

“Where would you like to go first?”

“…The garden?”

“Okay.”

Unfortunately, there was no elevator here. I climbed up to the 5th floor panting. The unfair part was that Russell walked up without showing any signs of difficulty.

“Lily, should I carry you if it’s hard?”

“I may not have much stamina, but I’m not legless.”

I grabbed the railing and barely made it to the 5th floor.

“Phew…”

I wiped the sweat flowing down my forehead with my hand. I caught my breath and opened the door to the garden.

“Wow…”

The moment I saw inside the garden, I completely forgot about being tired. Actually, I’d been so tense about Russell possibly chasing after me during my trip to the Florel Empire that I’d stayed cooped up in my room. So this was my first time seeing the garden, and it was fascinating.

“This place is huge.”

“Right. It’s more than I expected.”

Russell and I carefully entered the garden.

The ceiling was surrounded by a round glass dome, making it very warm. Best of all, there wasn’t a single person there yet.

“There are all kinds of flowers here. There are so many I’ve never seen before.”

“Be careful, Lily. There might be flowers you shouldn’t touch.”

“Okay.”

I nodded. There were definitely flowers with poison in their petals.

“I guess because they’re poisonous, the flowers are incredibly beautiful.”

Next to the flowers were signs warning that they were poisonous and absolutely shouldn’t be touched.

While looking around, one flower caught my eye.

“Hmm…”

After reading the flower’s description, I called Russell.

“Ru, look at this.”

“What is it?”

He turned to look at me from where he’d been looking elsewhere.

“It says this flower has aphrodisiac effects. The pollen contains aphrodisiac effects.”

“Aphrodisiac?”

“Yes. It’s not poison, but it’s still a somewhat dangerous flower.”

I stared at the flower like I was entranced. Perhaps because it was a flower whose pollen had aphrodisiac effects, its blooming appearance looked somehow lewd.

Then I suddenly came to my senses and shook my head vigorously. Thinking a flower looked lewd – I must have lost my mind.

Next to the flower was a sign with a warning not to touch it because the pollen would spread if disturbed.

After finishing looking at the flowers, I stood up and turned around when my ankle suddenly twisted and I stumbled.

“Ah—!”

“Lily!”

Russell quickly caught me. But something unfortunate happened.

“Oh…”

I turned my head to look at my hand. While stumbling, I’d reflexively reached out and touched that flower with aphrodisiac pollen. The flower writhed, then spewed pollen at me before I could dodge.

“Kyaa!”

“Lily!”

Russell pulled me away, but I’d already inhaled the pollen. I squeezed my eyes shut and coughed violently. He gently patted my back.

“Lily, are you okay?”

I coughed so much that tears came out. My coughing finally stopped and I straightened my bent waist. Russell looked me over with a worried expression.

“Is anything wrong? Do you feel nauseous or anything?”

“I seem fine right now…”

I examined my body this way and that. Though I’d been covered in pollen, there was no visible change in my appearance.

I tilted my head and spoke up.

“Let’s continue our walk for now. Maybe it has no effect on me.”

“Mm…”

“Hurry up. I want to see the rest.”

I pulled Russell’s hand. He followed behind me with an uneasy expression.

While looking around other places, the air seemed to have gotten somewhat hot. I fanned myself with my hand and spoke up.

“But doesn’t it seem a bit hot here? Is it because it’s enclosed by the glass dome?”

“Hot?”

“Yes. It’s a bit hot…”

At first, it was just hot. But as time passed, my physical condition became strange. My skin became sensitive where my clothes brushed against it, making me shiver, and my lower belly felt tingly.