TPFB 09

Chapter 09

Dream

My destination lay in a corner of the detached palace tucked away behind the castle.

Just as my brother had said, renovation work was underway. Craftsmen moved busily around the building, rebuilding scaffolding and repainting walls, filling the air with constant noise.

However, it seemed that only the residential areas were under construction. In the direction of the gardens and the spring, there were barely any people to be seen.

(…At times like this, I want to go somewhere quiet.)

Stepping over the grass beneath my feet, I walked along a path that gradually grew more deserted. Once I left the neatly refurbished walkways, muddy earth appeared, along with trees that had received only minimal care.

Deeper still—

The spring lay there, just as it always had, wrapped in a hush that felt untouched by time.

There was no one around. The trees swayed gently in the breeze, and faint sounds of flowing water reached my ears. The clamor of construction faded into the distance, and here alone, time seemed to flow more slowly.

Sunlight glinted off the surface of the water, clear as a gemstone—yet so dark that the bottom was impossible to see.

I approached quietly and knelt at the edge. The scent of grass and damp soil tickled my nose.

(…In the end, Brother still turned me down.)

Realizing that a part of me had been hoping otherwise left a faint sting of frustration.

But if that was the case, then I would just have to do it myself. If there was no one I could rely on, I would hone my own abilities and increase what I could do.

“Right! I mean, Lilybell can use magic, after all!”

That alone was incredibly exciting.

My situation might be bleak, but being able to use magic was truly amazing. I didn’t understand how it worked, but I had definitely used water magic back then!

If I could, I wanted to get better at it.

(But… how do you even start training magic?)

My gaze fell to the spring before me.

Its clear surface was utterly still, like a mirror reflecting one’s heart.

That’s it. If I was going to try, this might be the perfect place.

Water magic probably worked better near water—and more importantly, no one would see me here.

I knelt at the edge of the spring and slowly held out my palm.

“Alright… let’s try making ripples.”

My throat tightened with nervousness.

I imagined the feeling of skipping a stone across water.

Something warm and light rose from deep within my abdomen—and careful not to let it slip away, I gently directed my awareness toward the surface of the spring.

Then—

Plip.

The water trembled ever so slightly.

Small ripples spread outward, forming gentle rings that gradually covered the entire spring.

“I did it…!”

A smile broke across my face before I could stop it.

“Huh…? Is something reflected there?”

For just a brief moment, I sensed something strange within the wavering reflection.

Pink hair.

A girl the same color as me appeared—then vanished.

“…Was that just my imagination?”

I muttered as I lifted my head. Maybe it had just been my own reflection. Yes, that had to be it. I really hoped so—because the alternative was terrifying.

Shaking it off, I looked around.

Several wild plants were growing near the spring.

One of them caught my eye.

“This… I’ve seen this before.”

Lilybell had carefully cultivated medicinal herbs in the detached palace.

And I was fairly sure this plant had been listed in the herbal encyclopedia she used to read with her mother.

Before I knew it, I was crouching down.

“There’s some growing here too… and over there.”

I gently brushed the surface of a leaf with my fingertips. It looked healthier than expected, its roots firmly anchored in the soil.

Looking closer, I noticed several plants half-buried beneath weeds.

Carefully, I reached out and began pulling the weeds away, one by one.

(If possible, I want to take proper care of them.)

I wasn’t entirely sure why I felt this way.

But the plants growing here felt as though they were calling out to me—I’m here.

And since Lilybell had once cared for them, I wanted to cherish them too.

“Um… I’d like to water them, but…”

There was no watering can in sight. All the tools must have been put away.

I stared at my palm.

If I used this power, maybe I could water them myself.

The amount of water I could create on my own would be small—but there was a spring right here.

“…I’ll just borrow a little.”

Holding my palm out, I imagined lifting just a small amount of water from the spring.

Using water magic, I formed several tiny spheres and gently let them fall around the roots of the herbs.

Drop by drop, the soil darkened with moisture.

At the edge of the quiet spring, traces of my small efforts were left behind.

Before I realized it, dusk was approaching. I had promised Rosalina—I needed to head back.

“I’ll come again.”

A quiet murmur meant for no one in particular.

The wind softly brushed my cheek, sending faint ripples across the surface of the spring.

◆◆◆

That night, I dreamed.

The scent of swaying flowers.

A familiar yet subtly different place—beside the spring.

Pink hair stirred in the wind.

Standing there… was me.

But it wasn’t the current me.

Her small shoulders were hunched, her complexion pale, one hand covering her mouth as she coughed.

“…kh, cough—cough…”

The dry sound shattered the stillness of the spring.

The girl—so much like me—clutched her chest and sank to her knees, struggling to breathe.

Beside her stood several potted plants, their leaves limp and lifeless.

She must not have been able to keep up with their care. The grass had grown wild, and they looked less like medicinal herbs and more like ordinary weeds.

The girl murmured softly to them.

“…It’s alright… Mother’s flowers… they’ll still bloom…”

Her voice was hoarse—yet somehow, she was smiling.

My eyes burned.

Why was she smiling, when she looked to be in so much pain?

There was no one else around her.

Only the pale glow of dusk stretching her shadow long across the ground.

(Is that… me?)

And yet, something was different.

But I couldn’t tell what.

A frightening unease churned in my chest.

“—!”

The girl suddenly gazed into the surface of the spring.

Her eyes seemed to look straight at me—

I jolted awake.

Outside the window, the sky—still far from morning—was dyed a deep blue.

“Hah… hah…”

My breathing was shallow. A heavy weight lingered in my chest, like a stone dropped into water.

(Was that… just a dream?)

Pink hair. Blue eyes.

It was me—and yet it didn’t feel like me.

Coughing, suffering, and still smiling.

(It was as if… that was the real Lilybell.)

I knew my thoughts made no sense.

But in that dream, I had been tending medicinal herbs alone, in a place no one noticed.

I clenched my fist tightly.

Had Lilybell always been in poor health like that?

And yet, I couldn’t recall such memories—and that confusion only unsettled me further.

A chilling sense of reality pierced my chest, as though I had glimpsed the future.

(What if that’s what lies ahead for me?)

Withering away alone before the spring in the detached palace—

No. I refuse that ending.

No matter what my brother says, I will study medicinal herbs.

Absolutely.