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Chapter 5
Rozien gently wiped the water from the top of Prim’s feet and then dried them with his hand like a fan.
Then, following Prim’s gaze, he looked at the bouquet and suddenly exclaimed,
“Hey! Prim! Look at your hands too.”
“Ah, this is fine.”
“It doesn’t look fine at all!”
Rozien stared at Prim’s hands, which were covered in little scratches from the rose thorns.
He opened his mouth in disbelief, glanced at the bouquet, and then seemed to swallow whatever he had originally wanted to say.
“…Did you do this because you wanted to make this?”
“Yeah.”
“I see… Still, next time, wait for me. You know I’ll come right away if you call me.”
“It’s fine. They’ll all heal by tonight anyway.”
Her curse did not allow her to develop calluses.
“That’s not the point.”
Grumbling, Rozien checked that all the blood had been washed from Prim’s feet.
Then he turned his back toward her.
Prim stared at that familiar back, which she had known for so many years.
It was much smaller now.
She rubbed her eyes.
They quickly became red.
“Prim?”
“Mhm.”
She stretched out her arms and leaned against his back.
Rozien picked her up and stood up with her on his back.
Rozien was bigger and stronger than most children his age, while Prim was smaller than other children her age.
He always said carrying her was not difficult at all.
“Should I bring the bouquet too?”
“No. I’ll leave it here.”
Rozien left the bouquet on the altar.
Then he adjusted Prim on his back and walked briskly out of the old temple.
“Prim, guess what I did today.”
“What did you do?”
“Want me to show you?”
“Yeah.”
Prim already knew what Rozien had done that day.
But she did not tell him that she knew.
Rozien began walking even faster.
The orphanage attached to Varin’s temple was one of the poorest places in the already impoverished Sanvertal Territory.
Even so, it had a few advantages.
One of them was the beautiful view from the low hill behind the orphanage.
Rozien carried Prim up the hill by a slightly longer route.
The first thing they saw was a huge tree.
And something was hanging from it that had not been there until recently.
“Can you see it?”
“…Yeah. I can see it.”
It was a swing.
There was no way an orphanage this poor could afford such a strong, long rope and a smooth wooden plank.
Rozien had spent an entire year after arriving at the orphanage helping with all kinds of work just to obtain the rope and plank.
And putting it that high on the tree could not have been easy either.
“It’s called a swing.”
Rozien spoke cheerfully.
“Even if it moves around a little, it’s not scary. It’s really fun.”
“…”
He carefully placed Prim on the swing.
The swing was a little too high for her, so her feet could not reach the ground.
Prim’s feet could not touch the ground…
“Prim, hold tightly to the ropes. I’ll push you.”
Rozien quickly ran behind her and gently pushed the swing.
It slowly moved back and forth.
The scenery repeatedly moved farther away and then came closer again.
The air around them was filled with the scent of wild grass, wildflowers, and the fresh fragrance of leaves rustling in the breeze.
“How is it? It’s fun, right?”
“…”
“If you want to ride the swing again, just tell me. Okay?”
Perhaps he was worried that Prim might be frightened.
Rozien kept pushing the swing gently as he spoke.
Yet he never once told her how hard he had worked to make it.
He never mentioned how long he had struggled to obtain the sturdy rope and wooden plank.
To Prim, it felt like being gently rocked in a cradle.
She did not know who her parents were.
She was an orphan with no one in the world.
So how could she know what being rocked in a cradle felt like?
And yet…
It somehow felt like this.
In her previous life, even after receiving this gift, she had not been happy.
She had only thought about her inability to walk.
She had believed that the swing was merely reminding her of her unfortunate situation.
Even though she thought that way, she could not bring herself to get angry with Rozien.
Because she believed that without him, she would have nowhere to go.
So instead, she had carried out a quiet, spiteful revenge.
She never once told him that she wanted to ride the swing.
Rozien seemed to understand her feelings.
Even while the swing he had worked so hard to make remained untouched for years, he had continued to smile.
But he must have known.
Only now did Prim understand.
Just as Rozien had thought about so many things when he saw that she had been walking around alone, he must also have wondered why she had never once mentioned the swing.
This time, Prim decided she would no longer make Rozien interpret her feelings from her silence.
“Rozien.”
“Yeah? What is it?”
When the swing moved backward, Rozien tilted his head and answered.
Feeling the gentle motion of the swing, Prim slowly spoke.
“I want to become a perfumer.”
At those words, Rozien abruptly stopped the swing.
Then he ran around to the front and practically jumped with excitement.
“Really?”
“Yeah, you have talent! Let’s ask the priestess to teach you!”
“Then you can take the perfumer qualification exam next year!”
“Do you need a recommendation letter from a temple to take the exam? Maybe the priestess can arrange that?”
“We’re lucky we’re orphans, right?”
It wasn’t even particularly funny, but Rozien burst into laughter.
Seeing him laugh, Prim also smiled faintly.
Then she slowly took a breath.
Her decision to become a perfumer was not particularly important.
She was simply doing again what she had already done in her previous life.
But there was another, much more important reason why she had returned.
Prim carefully chose her words, trying not to let Rozien notice how nervous she was.
“Rozien, you know…”
“Hmm? Should we try to find a fragrance book first?”
“When the merchant caravan comes this time, I’ll ask them. We don’t have many books left in our temple.”
“Until then…”
“I’ll become a perfumer, and you’ll become a knight.”
“I’ll practice… Huh?”
Rozien’s eyes widened.
Then he pointed at himself.
“Me? I… become a knight?”
“Yes.”
Prim nodded.
Rozien rolled his eyes uncertainly.
“But… I don’t think I can. I’m an orphan.”
In reality, becoming a knight was something generally possible only for children from reasonably wealthy noble families.
Raising a knight required an enormous amount of money.
A knight’s shining honor and authority were earned by fighting magical beasts.
But the weapons and warhorses needed to keep those knights alive cost an unbelievable amount, fitting for lives that depended on them.
Learning swordsmanship and other martial arts was not easy either.
Such advanced techniques were not taught to just anyone, and the price paid to a master could be enormous.
Prim knew all of this.
Even so, she spoke firmly.
“No. You can do it.”
“Really? …I can?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… How exactly is that supposed to work?”
Rozien spoke hesitantly.
When Prim had announced that she wanted to become a perfumer, he had immediately come up with all kinds of ideas.
But when suddenly faced with the dream of becoming a knight, it was as if someone had glued his mouth shut.
He could barely say anything.
Instead, Prim explained everything for him.
“You have talent.”
“You have good physical coordination, you’re strong, and you’re tall.”
“You can become a passing knight’s squire, learn swordsmanship by watching and practicing, build up a record of achievements, and eventually earn a knighthood.”
“It’s completely possible.”
Even though Rozien had grown up in such poverty and hardship, the adult Rozien from her previous life had become tall and powerfully built.
He could casually use enough strength to match five or six grown men.
He had never formally learned swordsmanship, yet he had once defeated a knight simply by imitating techniques he had seen.
The conflict caused by his red hair, which other people rejected because it resembled the hair of magical beasts, had also not lasted forever.
The holy knights serving under the Radiant Grand Elector, who was a high-ranking cleric, had tried countless times to recruit him as a holy knight.
The knights serving under the Earth Grand Elector, a noble, had likewise tried to recruit him into their knightly order.
If it had not been for Prim, he would probably have become a knight long ago.
He could have lived in the light and enjoyed glory.
But he had rejected every one of those opportunities.
He had kept Prim in the brightest place in the world.
Then, so he could give her the things she wanted as quickly as possible, he did not hesitate to plunge his own hands into filth and darkness.
But this time, Prim would not let him live that way.
After hearing Prim’s confident plan, Rozien simply blinked at her.
Then he scratched his head and opened his mouth in disbelief.
“How in the world is that supposed to work?!”
