TTCF 17

Chapter 17

No Return
2023.08.17.

Count Hessen, Lowell’s father, truly loved his youngest daughter, who had come late in life. To save her, he searched high and low for renowned herbs and exceptional doctors. Because she was physically weak and couldn’t play outside, he even built a massive glass greenhouse for her.

Advisers repeatedly suggested reducing its scale, citing the enormous cost, but Count Hessen was adamant.

“My daughter’s world, at an age when she should be exploring, is nothing more than a single room. Do you mean to say that as her father, I can’t even show her a world this size?”

The reason Count Hessen wanted such a large greenhouse was astonishingly simple: he wanted Lowell to have more space to move around. It was a blind, almost foolish love—but the kind that most parents give.

So Lowell always spent her time in the greenhouse. Even before Peter arrived, she did, and afterward, they played various games together there.

It didn’t matter that her parents couldn’t come see her often.

She had Peter, and the land she walked on was proof of her parents’ love.

And that proof was burned away with the fire at the Hessen estate.

“I’d forgotten after that…”

Lost in thought, Lowell walked further into the garden. Unlike the cold air outside, the lukewarm air inside, heated enough that she didn’t need a coat, felt strangely unfamiliar. Like a fish that had forgotten how to swim, she sank into the space of her memories, forgetting even to breathe.

“The tea table, the fence… everything is the same.”

The only change was her own height. Now an adult, the greenhouse’s furniture, arranged for a child’s perspective, seemed small to her. The chairs and tables that once seemed just right, and the fence that once seemed high, now felt tiny.

Even so, it all felt painfully nostalgic to her.

“Wow! Anna, the new flowers have bloomed!”
“Don’t run, Miss! What if you fall again?”
“This little bit should be fine. Let her be. Take care walking, dear.”

Memories that had faded over ten years came back vividly. The nanny offering afternoon tea, the father picking her up when she fell asleep while playing, the mother who watched from afar, unable to enter the greenhouse, the older brothers making crowns, rings, and bracelets from flowers…

“Roses suit you best, Lowell.”

…And always by her side, Peter.

Originally, the Hessen estate’s greenhouse had a wider variety of flowers, as its warm temperature allowed anything to grow. But after listening to Peter, Lowell insisted on filling it with roses, creating a vivid rose garden.

Among them, red roses dominated. Other colors like pink and white existed, but Lowell wanted red roses because Peter liked them.

Her little joy was taking a handful of thornless roses from the gardener, making a flower crown as her brothers had taught her, and placing it on Peter.

Peter’s bright blond hair made the deep red roses stand out beautifully.

She would place the crown on him and gaze at him, eyes sparkling.

“Beautiful. You’re the prettiest in the world.”
“…That’s not true. You’re prettier than me…”
“Come here, Peter. Let’s try this one too!”

Peter was like her doll at that time. Lowell didn’t like her own black hair and eyes but loved Peter’s golden hair and bright blue eyes—they looked more beautiful than any high-quality doll.

In truth, Peter could have pulled off a feminine look effortlessly. And since no one at the Hessen estate could resist the stubborn youngest daughter, Lowell played as she pleased, dressing Peter up however she liked.

“Try this too! And this! Oh, do you want to try the shoes too?”
“…Okay.”

Peter was the only one who could stop her, yet he always nodded obediently to her wishes. In reality, all that mattered was that he liked Lowell.

After their play, the servants would always express concern.

“Miss! How can you waste roses like this! Your clothes are ruined, the branches are torn, and even your ladyship’s cosmetics…”
“Haha, it’s fun!”
“Fun? How will we ever clean this up? If the master or mistress knew, they would scold us terribly!”

The nanny’s warnings weren’t misplaced. That day, Lowell was scolded severely by her father—a rare event. But it hardly troubled her, for Peter was by her side.

“It was my idea. I suggested it because Lowell seemed happy. Please don’t scold her.”

Count Hessen rarely lost his temper. That day might have ended in tears, but Peter’s intervention prevented it. After Peter spoke, Count Hessen could never properly scold Lowell, only sighing instead.

“Haa… Don’t do that again, Lowell.”
“Yes, sorry, Father.”

Pretending to repent, Lowell lowered her head and muttered an apologetic voice. Count Hessen shook his head and left. As the door closed, Lowell peeked up with a mischievous smile.

The girl giggled, delighted that she hadn’t been scolded harshly, and hugged Peter tightly.

“Amazing, Peter! How did you do that? Father’s scary.”
“It’s nothing. Just promise not to do it again, and he’ll forgive you.”

Peter brushed it off with a casual explanation, yet thinking back now, it was strange. Count Hessen, so strict at other times, could never move Peter.

“Father must have known who Peter really was.”

Though a provincial noble, Count Hessen wasn’t entirely cut off from the royal court. Considering Peter spent time in the Hessen lands, it was unlikely Count Hessen didn’t know his identity.

“Then why did Father rebel against the royal court?”

Almost nothing is known about the destruction of the Hessen estate. Count Hessen had opposed the former emperor, who punished him by burning the estate. Other details were so thoroughly concealed that even Operta had no record.

Once she confirmed there was no proper information, Lowell stopped being curious about why the Hessen estate burned.

“What matters isn’t why it burned.”

All that mattered was that the estate and everyone inside were destroyed. Nothing else was necessary. Revenge needs no reason; seeking one only stirs emotion. What good comes from knowing the perpetrator’s circumstances?

Yet for the first time, Lowell questioned:

“Peter spent a lot of time close to Hessen, and Father knew who Peter was. So why did Father have to rebel after Peter left?”

What could have happened? Had Hessen truly plotted rebellion?

“Does Peter know the truth behind this?”

She plucked a rose petal. Preserved by magic, it was vivid red with no blemishes. Looking at it in her hand, it felt as though blood welled up at her fingertips.

The color of fire. The color of death.

“What was Peter thinking when he created this garden?”

Living in the red-filled garden, Lowell now disliked the color red.

Growing up in Operta, she had faced death too often. Raised in a world with no fear of darkness, she now couldn’t sleep in a room without light. A child unaware of even small threats until fifteen had learned to anticipate violence. The girl had become a woman, and time had changed much.

Yet in this garden, as if she had traveled back in time, Lowell felt a thought other than revenge for the first time.

The glass greenhouse, once proof of Count Hessen’s love for his youngest daughter, now stood as proof of Peter’s affection for Lowell.

The petal in her hand fell to the floor. Watching it, she felt a strange emotion.

It was as if she had returned to the life of Lowell Hessen, a life she thought she could never return to, a life that no longer existed.

It felt as if she wasn’t the only survivor of a life filled with love.

As if someone still remembered her, and she wasn’t left with only this ragged existence…

“……”

Confused, Lowell reached for the fallen petal.

At that moment:

“……!”

The heavy sound of stone moving against stone reached her ears. The door was opening.

The moment she realized, tension surged through her body.

There was only one person who could open a garden sealed by imperial decree.

“Peter!”