Chapter 24
“All these flowers are fresh and beautiful. But I wonder, do they usually only grow these kinds? After all, they’re all flowers meant to be sold.”
“Could it be…”
Areph, who had a guess, asked.
“Because of the language of flowers?”
“Yeah.”
Soles nodded, agreeing with that.
“All the flowers here are…”
Kids!
At that moment, Kaleo called the children.
The kids paused their conversation and headed toward the adults.
“…Huh?”
Nibelia suddenly felt a gaze and turned around.
There was an old warehouse set in a corner of the farm.
At the top of the warehouse was a very small window.
“……”
As she stared at the worn-down warehouse, someone appeared, blocking her path.
It was Mrs. Plaud.
“Lady Deiamor.”
Startled, Nibelia flinched.
“What’s the matter?”
Because of the backlighting, Mrs. Plaud’s face was shadowed.
“Oh, you saw that? It’s a warehouse. It’s where the tools for planting and growing flowers are kept. There are many dangerous things, so you shouldn’t go near it.”
Though Mrs. Plaud spoke, Nibelia couldn’t really hear.
Her heart was pounding.
Thump-thump, the heartbeat pierced her small ears, drowning out all surrounding noise.
“Your parents just called for you, my lady. Shall we go?”
Mrs. Plaud slowly reached out her hand.
Just as Nibelia hesitated to step back…
“Miss!”
Areph, who had come running, blocked the hand reaching for Nibelia.
Startled, Mrs. Plaud withdrew her hand and smiled gently.
“Nothing happened. I was just trying to take the lady to the marquis. Right?”
“Miss.”
Ignoring Mrs. Plaud’s words, Areph tightly held Nibelia’s hand.
“The marquis and marchioness are calling. We have to go.”
“……”
“Miss, let’s go.”
“…Okay.”
Nibelia headed toward her family with Areph.
But out of curiosity, she glanced back.
Mrs. Plaud was still standing with a kind smile. She was slowly following Nibelia and Areph.
“……”
However, Nibelia’s gaze remained fixed on the warehouse behind Mrs. Plaud.
“Then let’s draft and send the contract that day.”
“Thank you.”
“Or we can visit the capital ourselves. By chance, we’ll be going to get the herbal medicine for our daughter.”
The investment contract was successfully secured.
The main investment would proceed under the names of the Deiamor family and Lubeo Corporation.
Nibelia’s funds were still tiny, so they decided to invest alongside her parents’ large sum.
“You’re really amazing. How did you find such incredible information?”
“Surprised? I’m not just the head for nothing. I have my own sources too. Not quite on the level of Mrs. Della, but close.”
“No, I think you actually surpassed Mrs. Della today.”
Unlike the adults who were pleased with the unexpected success,
“……”
“……”
“……”
Nibelia, Areph, and Soles remained silent, showing a strange discomfort.
Kaleo and Seletina, feeling a bit awkward about their children’s presence, subtly stepped back.
“Well, it’s not that we forgot you guys…”
Kaleo awkwardly tried to explain, but—
“Dad.”
Nibelia spoke up.
“Nini doesn’t want to invest…”
“Huh?”
“Oh my, why all of a sudden?”
Surprised by the unexpected words, Kaleo and Seletina looked shocked.
But it wasn’t just Nibelia.
“I think the same as Nini. It feels a bit off.”
“Me too…”
Soles and Areph expressed the same sentiment.
The startled adults asked why.
Soles was the first to speak.
“I hope it’s just my imagination, but the flowers were all very gloomy. Really, I hope it’s just how I feel.”
“Gloomy?”
“All the flower meanings were sad and depressing.”
Soles added a clearer explanation.
“It’s a flower farm, right? And people usually buy flowers when something good happens.”
Flowers are often gifts for celebrations or to show affection.
Therefore, flowers with positive meanings like congratulations and love sell the most.
Flower farms cultivate mainly those kinds.
“…That’s strange.”
Seletina recalled why the Plaud couple was growing flowers.
“They said they plant flowers to show to their sick daughter, but it’s strange they only planted flowers with gloomy meanings.”
“Could they not have known the meanings?”
“That’s impossible. A farmer selling flowers wouldn’t be ignorant of such basic knowledge.”
Seletina dismissed the idea outright.
Even if the Plaud couple really ignored such basics, it would make the investment worthless.
Thinking that far, suspicions began to surface.
“Good opinion.”
“Mom and Dad will seriously think it over.”
Soles felt great relief.
She was very thankful her parents seriously listened to her opinion.
Seletina asked Areph too.
“Areph, do you think the same?”
“Yes…”
“Why do you feel uneasy? Be honest.”
Hesitating, Areph carefully opened his mouth.
“Because it feels the same…”
“Same? What is?”
“It feels similar to the orphanage teacher, something about her…”
“……”
Seletina looked at Kaleo with a stern expression.
Kaleo’s face momentarily darkened but he quickly composed himself and smiled.
“I see. So it felt like something bad was there?”
“Yes.”
“Instincts built on experience shouldn’t be ignored. Thank you for your opinion.”
Now it was Nibelia’s turn.
Kaleo asked in a gentler voice.
“Nini, why don’t you want to invest?”
“The warehouse.”
“The warehouse?”
Nibelia recalled the shabby warehouse crudely built in the corner of the farm.
“There’s someone there.”
She had clearly seen.
Through the dusty window.
Though blurry, something was moving.
“Pink. I saw something pink like a poisonous mushroom.”
Upon arriving at the mansion, Kaleo and Seletina went straight to the study.
“……”
Nibelia walked wearily with the corners of her mouth drooping.
“What’s wrong?”
Soles asked with concern.
“Brother…”
“Yeah?”
“Nini won’t be able to make money again…?”
Nibelia had high hopes for this investment.
She had the weed-like resilience to get up again after every failure, but that didn’t mean she was unaffected.
All the failures were quietly stored in one corner of her heart.
So this time, she really wanted to succeed. She had her parents’ support, so she was confident.
But it seemed it wouldn’t work again.
“…Waaah!”
Sad, Nibelia burst into tears.
A startled Soles hugged her tightly.
“It’s okay. It’s not a failure yet.”
“Waaah! Waaah!”
“We’re just checking, right? Your money is still the same, and there’s no debt. This isn’t failure.”
Right?
Soles sought Areph’s agreement.
“Y-yeah, that’s right.”
Areph said.
Nibelia stopped crying and sniffled, looking at Areph.
Round, clear tears rolled down her chubby cheeks.
Areph wracked his brain.
Though he still didn’t know much, he wanted to prove Nibelia hadn’t failed.
“Th-that…”
After a long moment, Areph remembered something.
“The contract!”
“The contract…?”
Nibelia repeated.
“The marchioness told us at the department store that day.”
“…Right! That’s it!”
Soles also recalled the same thing and smiled triumphantly.
“Nini, that’s it!”
“What is it? Tell me quickly!”
“The compensation clause!”
Areph nodded like that was definitely it.
“Areph, you’re amazing! You remembered that just in time?”
Soles praised Areph, ruffling his fine blonde hair, instantly messing it up.
Areph chuckled shyly but quickly straightened his expression, realizing it wasn’t the time for laughter.
Seletina said to the Plaud couple:
“Then let’s draft the contract and send it that day.”
The contract hadn’t been written yet.
“When we went to Lubeo, the marchioness said that the contract must always be written no matter what. So that if harm comes, we can prepare.”
“Harm…”
Murmuring to herself, Nibelia’s eyes widened.
Then she stamped her foot hard.
“That! A promise! A promise!”
“Right, a promise to compensate if either side causes harm!”
Soles smiled, saying that was it.
“Since the contract isn’t written yet, we’ll put in the promise that if harm happens, a large sum must be paid.”
Then, no matter what happens at the farm, Nibelia can make money.
“Nini hasn’t failed yet!”
She can make money!
Nibelia smiled brightly, having found hope.
The children hurried toward the study where their parents waited.
“Oh?”
But then—
“Nini?”
A familiar voice grabbed Nibelia’s leg.
The children stopped running and looked to the side.
Through the wide-open door of the reception room, an elderly woman covered her mouth with both hands in overwhelming emotion.
The woman called again.
“Nini!”
Nibelia shouted back.
“Della!”
