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Chapter 47
“Ah, I told you before, right? That I’m raising a baby fox.”
When Mio tried to stand up, Aletheia—who had turned his gaze away—reached out his hand. Mio naturally took it and rose to her feet.
“That’s the one. It’s scared of strangers, so I told it to hurry along.”
While defending Roy and Rosa, who had run off, Mio carefully studied Aletheia’s expression. But seeing him up close, he didn’t actually look to be in a bad mood.
‘Was it just my imagination that he looked upset, just because I couldn’t see his face?’
But just as that thought crossed her mind, he furrowed his brow again.
“What were you doing while I was gone, exactly?”
So he was in a bad mood after all. Mio awkwardly tugged at the corner of her lips and replied,
“Um… playing with the fox?”
“Looks like you were rolling around on the ground together.”
Aletheia grumbled as he brushed off Mio’s sleeve.
“Oh, this is because Jamie and I planted flowers over there today.”
Mio pointed toward the area of land where Jamie’s “garden project” was underway. Seeing it, Aletheia said,
“…You did that yourselves?”
“Of course. Flowers don’t find their own places to grow. What do you think? Do you like it?”
Even if it didn’t really suit the place. Still, wouldn’t seeing something planted bring a positive change, like a sense of peace of mind?
‘But no matter how I look at it, it really doesn’t suit it…’
While Mio was distracted by the discord between the garden and the tulips, Aletheia lifted the hand he was holding and slowly brushed it. When he noticed the dirt clinging to her fingertips, irritation welled up again.
“You don’t need things like that.”
“That’s nonsense! A garden needs flowers and butterflies fluttering around for it to feel like a place where people live.”
“Then I’ll get you a gardener. Don’t do anything that could hurt your hands.”
“Oh, please. There was a poisoning incident not long ago, and you want me to let strangers into the house? I’d rather not put Lete in danger.”
“I don’t like seeing you act like a servant either. I’d rather do it myself.”
Huh? Aletheia doing it himself? If he helped, the work of tending the garden might go faster. Momentarily tempted, Mio quickly corrected herself.
‘No. If the vault is going to recognize me as its master, it’s better if I don’t let him touch anything.’
Until everything with Tararia was settled for good, it was better to maintain the original stance. Acting as though she had not a speck of ulterior motive, Mio continued calmly,
“How could someone who’s sick come outside and work? Lete, just sit over there by the window and watch the garden being completed. I’ll take care of everything. You haven’t forgotten that you entrusted the house’s decoration to me, right? More importantly, did anything happen outside today? Tell me. No one tried to hand you anything suspicious again, did they?”
“Nothing happened. I didn’t eat anything.”
“Really? Good job.”
With a gesture of praise, Mio lightly tapped Aletheia’s cheek. He looked briefly flustered, then, as if giving in, tilted his head slightly toward her. Mio freely squished and kneaded his cheek, thinking,
‘This might actually be kind of addictive.’
It was fairly soft, and his skin was nice—pleasant to touch, you might say.
Watching him accept her touch so docilely even made her feel as though she’d gained another baby fox. In a good mood, Mio took Aletheia’s hand and tugged him along.
“Come here. I’ll show you the flowers we planted earlier.”
Since Jamie’s garden project had started around a small wooden bench she had made, the red tulips were planted nearby.
If you didn’t focus too much on matching the mansion, it wouldn’t be bad to sit on the bench and look at the tulips.
‘If he comes to appreciate the beauty of flowers, maybe he’ll feel like tending the garden even after I leave.’
And if, someday far in the future, rumors spread that Moro Manor had a beautiful garden, perhaps some young lady would grow curious and want to meet Aletheia?
As her thoughts went that far, the impatient Mio found herself running toward the bench without realizing it. Aletheia, being pulled along by her hand, said,
“Be careful, Mio. You’ll fall at this rate.”
Half-listening, half-ignoring him, Mio didn’t stop and ran straight to where the tulips were—letting go of his hand entirely. As a result, Aletheia was left staring at his abandoned hand with lingering eyes.
“Here, look. Aren’t they pretty?”
“…Yes. They’re pretty.”
“Sit down and really take a look. Come on.”
At Mio’s urging, Aletheia sat on the bench and watched her with only his eyes. Mio was flitting back and forth between the small clusters of flowers.
“From now on, flowers will bloom in this spot every year.”
“…Do you like flowers more?”
Like them more? She must have misheard him asking whether she liked everything more.
It was a question that surely meant Aletheia had developed an interest in flowers. Mio hesitated for a moment before answering.
‘For now, it’s probably best to have him plant flowers in the garden without worrying about the type.’
That way, eventually, he’d find the flowers that suited this mansion. Having finished her brief deliberation, Mio answered,
“All the flowers I’ve seen so far have been beautiful. So I can’t help but like them all. Liking beautiful things is a natural reaction, isn’t it? Even if you plant flowers other than tulips, they’ll surely be beautiful.”
Aletheia nodded. He murmured quietly,
“I thought you liked jewels more.”
Why did Tararia on her ankle suddenly feel so conspicuous? Aletheia’s gaze also seemed to be directed downward. Mio replied while walking carefully so her ankle wouldn’t show.
“Jewels are beautiful too. They have an unchanging kind of beauty. The opposite of flowers, really.”
“The opposite?”
“Flowers disappear when the season passes. If you cut them, they wither…. But that’s exactly what I think their charm is. The fact that you have to cherish the moment. And besides, if you let them take root in the ground like this, you get to see new flowers every year—how wonderful is that?”
So, do you feel even a little like tending a garden now?
‘If I’m being honest, I’m personally more drawn to jewels.’
Ideally, the true master of Moro Manor would be someone who loved flowers more than jewels. Only someone who could make a better choice than tulips might brighten up this gloomy mansion even a little….
‘Above all, Lete is so naive that if a bad person set their mind to it, he’d be completely cleaned out.’
It was obvious just from the fact that he was being deceived by someone like her. Of course, that was only the story of Aletheia while he had lost his memories. If he regained them after she left, well, that couldn’t be helped.
Aletheia, sitting on the bench and looking at Mio, slightly crinkled the corner of his eyes and said,
“So what do you like more? Sometimes I can’t understand what you’re saying. Even when I’m listening, it feels like I’m not hearing anything.”
“Do I really have to choose? I’m just saying they both have their own kinds of beauty.”
“From the sound of it, the jewels’ advantages seem greater.”
Oh no! His interest in flowers was fading! Mio hurried toward Aletheia.
“Flowers—flowers are….”
Wait. Would someone be more swayed by a man who brings only flowers? Or by one who brings jewels along with them?
‘There’s no question—it’s obviously the latter.’
From observing countless romances in high society, Mio knew that gifts of courtship were more effective the more numerous and varied they were. Recalling lovers who had screamed with delight at overwhelming gifts, Mio smiled triumphantly.
‘Hehehe. I’m teaching Aletheia something very important.’
Who else in this world would teach Aletheia such useful information? No one, she could say with certainty—and there would be no one in the future either.
“What I mean is that both flowers and jewels are good! It’s impossible to rank them…. You could say they both make the recipient happy? Ahaha….”
Mio thought that answer would clear up Aletheia’s doubts. But he still looked dissatisfied. No—if anything, he seemed even more dissatisfied than before…. Why?
‘Did I say something wrong?’
To the confused Mio, Aletheia asked in a lower voice than before,
“Has anyone ever given you a gift?”
