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~Chapter 41~
Cold sweat formed on the back of her neck without her realizing it.
It felt like the faint, metallic smell of iron was drifting up from somewhere.
‘Where? Who is it?’
Shariette searched through the crowd with her eyes.
Among all the curious and admiring gazes, there was something different—something strange.
At that moment, she caught sight of a man’s back, calmly leaving the tearoom on the opposite side of the crowd.
“……!”
Like she was bewitched, she suddenly jumped up and ran.
“Wait, Shariette!”
She didn’t hear the people’s startled voices, nor Nixia calling her name.
Shariette ran after the man moving farther away—without even knowing why she was chasing him.
He’s dead.
There’s no way he could still be alive.
But the sensation was far too sharp and real to be a mistake.
“……Huff, huff, I’m sure he came this way.”
She pushed through people and reached a dead-end alley.
There was no place anyone could have escaped.
“…Did I see wrong?”
But the feeling had been too clear.
“Say it, Shasha. You can make a sound now.”
Shariette gasped for breath.
Maybe it was because she had eaten so much tart and cake before running—her heart pounded, sweat dripped, and her chest twisted painfully.
“…It was just a mistake. Think rationally. There’s no way he could be alive.”
She muttered to herself.
When she calmed down and thought again, the blurry figure she had chased didn’t even match her memory in build or silhouette.
They’re all dead.
Death is irreversible.
A past that ended forever, completely cut off.
Shariette listed to herself ten, twenty rational, scientific, medical reasons why a decapitated, rotting corpse could never return to life.
Phew.
Her head felt clearer, and her chest lighter.
She turned back out of the alley—then froze.
“…Where’s the way out again?”
“Shariette! You scared me so much!”
Of course, the ones who rescued her—lost in a street she had never seen before—were knights sent by Nixia.
Led back obediently, Shariette met Nixia, who had rushed after her. She lowered her head.
“Sorry, Nixia. I thought I saw someone I knew.”
Someone she knew?
Nixia hid her unease and studied Shariette’s face. As usual, it was calm and expressionless.
But—
When Shariette had run out just now, she had looked nothing like her usual self.
It had been like someone overwhelmed by fear and shock at seeing something that should not exist.
Nixia wanted to ask more, but held back.
“From now on, never disappear alone. Especially when you don’t even know the streets.”
“I won’t.”
She raised both hands in surrender so obediently that Nixia couldn’t scold her further.
Instead, she sighed and changed the subject.
“We came out today to refresh our mood, but the day ended with something big. You worked hard, Shariette.”
“Did I play my role as your friend well today?”
What she had done all day was bargain for medicine, change clothes, eat, drink, and give emergency treatment.
“Role? There was no role. Just coming out together and enjoying ourselves is enough.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Of course. Though you surprised me a little.”
Nixia grinned mischievously and pinched Shariette’s cheek lightly.
“Well, Shariette became more famous than I expected. Thinking of how Noxian will hate it—it’s kind of funny.”
“Why would… the young duke hate it?”
Nixia chuckled.
“You’ll see soon enough.”
These siblings… were they close, or not?
Shariette thought of another brother and sister she knew—Blanche and Mathias. Their last words she remembered were:
“Poor little sister. Didn’t I tell you? Use it only as a toy or only as a lab rat.”
“Argh! Are you mocking me now!? Just take it! Take it and do whatever you want!”
Hmm. I guess they were similar, too.
Speaking of Noxian—he hadn’t shown up at breakfast this morning.
Shariette had seen Josef and a knight guarding his door, but since Nixia had dragged her away, she hadn’t heard what was happening inside.
What is he doing in there? Does he like locking himself up?
That didn’t fit with what she remembered of him in Argen.
Lost in thought, she returned to the carriage—and spotted a flower stall.
White, red, blue, yellow—bright flowers still remained.
She hadn’t noticed them earlier when she ran through the streets.
She stopped, and Nixia followed her gaze.
“Do you like one of those flowers?”
Instead of answering, Shariette picked up an armful of white ones.
“Two bundles of lily-of-the-valley, 5 luca! They suit you so well, miss!”
The young girl at the stall called cheerfully.
“This flower has poison, so it doesn’t sell well.”
“That’s why you make money by selling what others won’t.”
Wow. Quite a child.
The former White Crow clapped in admiration at the girl’s boldness.
“Here’s 10 luca. Keep the change. With how dangerous it is, that’s the right price.”
“Bless you, pretty sister!”
As Shariette looked quietly at the girl’s hands—skin peeled and swollen—she added:
“Go to Baraine Apothecary and ask for ointment for contact dermatitis. Tell Manager Anderson to put it under Shariette’s name.”
“Contact… what?”
“Skin rash. From now on, always wear gloves when you gather plants. And never, ever put wild ones in your mouth. You’ll die.”
The girl looked again at the white-haired lady.
To live off street selling, you had to judge people well.
That black-haired lady behind her is obviously a high noble.
But this white-haired sister—who is she?
She looked noble, yet spoke differently. Nobles usually bought all the flowers in pity, but they never told sellers to change prices, or to use gloves, or to put ointment on their hands.
The girl stared into those green-glass eyes and asked:
“Who are you, sister?”
“An old herb-seller.”
The strange answer left the girl speechless. Nixia burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! Who says it like that?”
“Herbs are plants, and flowers are plants. It’s the same.”
Still laughing, Nixia asked:
“By the way, why lily-of-the-valley?”
From her view, it was the one thing Shariette seemed to truly like today—out of everything she had seen, worn, eaten, or touched.
“Do you like them?”
“Yes.”
The calm answer surprised Nixia.
She had heard knights like Josef say the apothecary lady sparkled when she liked something—but hearing it directly was new.
“They can be used for both medicine and poison. Since the line between them is so thin, we usually don’t recommend them as medicine.”
Shariette explained seriously. Nixia chuckled. As expected.
“Very apothecary-like taste.”
“That’s not the only reason.”
“Oh? Then why?”
“….”
Shariette hesitated.
Noxian had once asked her a similar question.
“By the way, your shop’s name was ‘Mayrilly.’ Any reason for that?”
“I just named it that. Why?”
“Well, I thought it was a strange coincidence, that’s all.”
She remembered his face, darkening alone as he fiddled with flowers.
What did he mean by that ‘coincidence’?
“What is it, Shariette?”
She weighed her own embarrassment against the kindness Nixia had shown her all day—introducing her as a friend, treating her warmly.
Conscience wins.
“…If you have these flowers, you’ll be happy.”
She couldn’t explain it with logic or evidence, but to her, it was an undeniable truth.
Like the sun rising in the east, like night following morning.
No one taught her, no book told her—but she had simply known it, always, without a doubt.
“If you have these flowers, you’ll surely be happy.”
“…Really?”
Nixia’s eyes widened at the unexpected words from someone so rooted in science and knowledge.
The flower girl clapped her hands and added weight to the white-haired sister’s words.
“Ah! She’s right! That’s the flower’s meaning.”
“Meaning of a flower?”
Shariette blinked. Her plant encyclopedia in her head had scientific names, but no flower meanings.
The girl, well-versed in sales tricks, explained brightly:
“‘Happiness will surely come.’ That’s the meaning of lily-of-the-valley.”
