Chapter 4. Blossoming I

Flora, being inherently strong, was back on her feet and returned to her daily routine in just a few days.

From that day on, all the servants, including the head maid, were completely replaced. Mary smiled brightly, saying that those who had bullied the weaker maids were gone, but Flora simply continued to do her work silently as before.

If there was anything she had gained, it was that she had found something she could do relatively well.

“Michael said he’d make pie for the first time in a while, but everyone’s busy and slipping away.”

Mary grumbled, recalling the servants who had quickly slipped away when asked if they could pick some oranges.

The chef wanted to show off his skills after a long time and needed oranges to bring to him, but the servants pretended to be busy and slipped away one by one.

As a result, Mary had been staring at the tree with eyes full of regret. Another maid beside her giggled and added,

“They’re probably scared of climbing trees.”

“That must be it, right? Anyway… such pathetic men. Don’t you think so, Flora?”

Flora looked up at the tree bearing luscious oranges to welcome spring.

There were many trees with lush green leaves in the back garden facing the main gate of the ducal mansion, and among them were fruit-bearing trees like this.

It seemed like just yesterday that she had picked tangy pomegranates, but now it was spring after a year had passed. The time Flora had spent in the ducal mansion had already flowed by for half a year.

There were changes for Flora, who had entered the ducal mansion last autumn when the cold winds started to blow.

Her platinum blonde hair, which barely reached her chest, had grown to her waist, and she had become quite comfortable with Mary’s kindness, which had once felt awkward.

At the pleading of her colleagues who found it uncomfortable to hear, she had changed her way of speaking and was now able to converse to some extent with the newly arrived maids. It was all thanks to her colleagues’ efforts.

The maids suggested bringing a ladder that had broken a few days ago to try climbing. Flora, who had been standing quietly beside them, thought there was no need for that and approached the corner of the tree.

“I’ll climb up.”

“What? It’s dangerous, you can’t.”

“That’s right, Flora. The tree is higher and rougher than it looks. You’ll get hurt before you can even climb it.”

Mary and the other maids tried to dissuade her, saying it was nonsense, but in fact, it was no problem at all for Flora.

After loosening her hands lightly, she started climbing the tree skillfully before the maids could stop her. Perhaps because it was quite an old tree, she could easily find her footing.

“Oh… oh…”

Mary, who had rushed over in surprise, looked up at Flora, who was climbing the tree skillfully, craning her neck.

Using her two legs as support, Flora was moving up effortlessly without much exertion. Then at some point, she stretched out her arm, and hanging from a large branch, she swung around once and sat down securely, even attaching her bottom to it.

“My goodness.”

Mary, whose mouth had fallen open, let out an exclamation. Beside Mary, who now looked much more relieved, came boisterous cheers.

“Oh my, Flora! How can you climb trees so well?”

“I thought you were a squirrel carrying an acorn in its mouth and scurrying up. Aren’t you scared?”

“It’s not as high as you might think.”

Flora, who had now become quite adept at using ordinary vocabulary, shrugged her shoulders lightly.

Having secured her position, Flora cast her gaze towards the open sky. The entire view of the ducal mansion, with its back to the Yohant Forest, came into sight. The mansion, with the red sunset half-descended upon it, was quiet.

Her blue eyes, having left the mansion, passed over the cluster of peonies cultivated in one corner of the back garden and stopped at the bed of hydrangeas blooming in clusters. The subtle fragrance of the pale blue petals was refreshing.

Flora’s hair, swaying in the spring breeze, lightly brushed against her cheeks, which bore a gentle smile.

She raised her hand to block the clear sunlight pouring through the leaves and took a deep breath of the higher air into her lungs.

A leisurely and peaceful life.

Flora began to grow fond of this unfamiliar and ticklishly peaceful place in her own way.

She, who had become quite accustomed to the life of a maid — which seemed absurd for a soldier who had roamed the battlefield — picked a fresh orange and threw it down.

* * *

Claude sat in his office chair, smoking a cigar while basking in the warm spring sunlight. It was a habit he had naturally developed during his extended period of commanding the southern front.

For some reason, it had been a tiring day.

Claude, who had risen from his seat, blew out the smoke he had deeply inhaled through the open window. As he watched the smoke that had escaped quickly dissipate into the clear sky, his gaze suddenly turned downward.

Not far away, near the garden wall, several maids in identical attire were gathered.

Among the brown-haired women, there was one with platinum blonde hair that particularly shone, soaking up the sunlight.

Claude, who was watching Flora through the window — now quite capable of smiling among the seemingly excited maids — muttered to himself without realizing it.

“How strange.”

Commonly, those who had spent a long time on the battlefield were rough and violent, regardless of their original nature. Anyone who had been in such a terrible place would naturally have their mind damaged, so they couldn’t be blamed.

But Flora, although she occasionally resorted to physical solutions, was quiet rather than causing trouble.

More precisely, she was pure. She was merely clumsy because she hadn’t been influenced by others, not the merciless killer without mercy in her hands as rumors suggested.

Her original temperament must have been gentle, no doubt.

She didn’t try to use her power for anything if she judged that someone wasn’t going to harm her. This was quite different from other knights who tried to flaunt their prowess.

He leaned crookedly against the window frame, intently watching the woman who nimbly climbed the tree, picked oranges with one hand while holding onto a branch with the other, and dropped them down.

Why did this woman keep catching his eye? It was more than a little unsettling.

The suspicion that something was strange had arisen a few days ago.

‘This is a letter sent by Count Fernando. It says it’s an urgent matter, so I brought it instead of looking for the butler.’

Like she said, the outer envelope was marked as urgent. He just raised his eyes to look at Flora.

‘Can you read?’

‘Yes.’

Flora nodded calmly. He opened the sealed envelope with a paper knife in one swift motion and pushed the contents towards her with a skeptical look.

‘Read it.’

Flora blinked quietly, hesitating whether it was alright for her to read such sensitive content. When he gestured with his chin as if it was fine, she finally began to read aloud.

‘Duke Heinst. We have identified a location suspected to be where extremists are secretly gathering. Among the individuals who have entered and exited that place so far…’

‘That’s enough.’

Claude, who thought it impossible, hurriedly retrieved the message, interrupting Flora who was reading fluently. After all, it was confidential information, and he had no intention of exposing the names of important figures to her.

He crumpled the letter into the desk drawer and asked with evident suspicion on his face.

‘Who taught you to read?’

But he realized it was a pointless question.

The woman had no memories, didn’t she? Indeed, Flora was looking at him with eyes that said she didn’t know either.

Just in case, he probed a few more times after that, but the only answer was that she had known from the beginning. She guessed she had learned it before losing her memories.

“Hmm… She can read and write.”

Commoners who could read and write the imperial language were extremely rare. In reality, when people were struggling just to make ends meet, where would they find time to learn letters?

Even submitting reports was entirely the responsibility of knights from noble backgrounds. During his stay on the southern front, it was difficult to find soldiers who knew how to read and write.

From the moment he saw Flora reading fluently, Claude realized that there was something unclear about her identity, which he had not considered significant before.

Once one doubt arose, there were many suspicious points that followed.

For a woman who had lived with soldiers for 8 years, she had many static aspects that could be considered calm in terms of behavior.

She was so quiet that she almost lacked presence, and except for a few points where she was occasionally stubborn, she was quite obedient.

Whether had learned from others, she had even developed proper table manners since that day. She changed a lot from her initial aloofness, as evidenced by how she was now interacting with others.

His thoughts, reviewing each point, were scattered by the clear sound of laughter ringing out.

“Wow, it’s already done. This is all thanks to you, Flora.”

It seemed the harvest was already over.

He could see the woman coming down, holding onto the tree trunk, over a basket full of yellow oranges. The faint smile that had seeped onto her face was clearly visible even from his distance.

No matter how he looked at her, she seemed utterly ordinary now. Heriot often grumbled that the woman who had become so quiet it was almost bland was strange, but Claude rather welcomed it.

Because the past was not at all visible in Flora, who had now abandoned her sword and was living as an ordinary woman. Thus, he felt a sense of satisfaction somewhere in his heart.

However, because he had only seen such a docile appearance for about 6 months, he momentarily overlooked something.

It didn’t take long for him to realize once again how a woman with no backing like a family had developed into the subject of rumors about such a formidable person.

* * *