4

“Noel-sama, is it this child this time? Would it be good if it bloomed?”

Beth said that and casually took the flower seed in the beautiful box from Noel’s hand, just as usual.

The usual request.

Noel handed over a seed, and Beth made it grow.

Naranda appraised the plant that had grown, and Noel received it.

Then Noel happily crumpled his face and said thank you to Beth.

It was Beth’s favorite face of Noel’s.

“Yes. It is a variety that only germinates inside ice. Rodney will come every day to apply ice magic, so give him instructions.”

Noel’s voice itself had its usual light tone, but Noel had also noticed that his voice was strained.

“However, the flower is troublesome after germination. If you let your guard down even for an instant, it will wither right away. I have succeeded as far as germination before, but beyond that is unknown. What do you think? Does it look possible?”

Beth never asked more questions than necessary, no matter what request she received. Today too, Beth asked nothing about Noel’s strained voice.

Beth did not even know just how much of a salvation that was to Noel.

—No matter what happened now, Noel could no longer let Beth go.

Without Beth, Noel could not go on living.

If he could wish for it, he wanted to welcome morning beside this precious girl, sleep peacefully at night, and live that way.

Noel sighed.

(I only want Beth to stay beside me forever.)

And yet, before Noel could tell Beth the feelings in his own heart, Noel, as a magician, threw a major request at Beth. And it was the heaviest job in the life he had lived as a magician.

His body seemed to have rebelled against his contradictory heart.

He felt his whole body growing stiff.

While bewildered by Noel’s pained state, Beth stared intently at the slightly large seed inside the box.

“…This child is terribly difficult. It might be a little impossible. It takes too much effort.”

“It might be impossible even for you? You managed to bring the Perennial Grass to bloom all by yourself. Are you saying this is harder than the Perennial Grass?”

Beth’s words made him flinch.

Beth said,

“This child really is difficult, so it would be impossible for me to care for it alone. If we are truly going to make this child bloom, it seems at least two more people will have to stay constantly devoted to this child. I have never met such a difficult child before.”

“The Perennial Grass was difficult too, but this child is far, far harder. This child’s flower seems to harbor a special power. That is exactly why making it bloom seems to require especially careful care. It would be impossible for me to care for it alone.”

(So that was all.)

Noel let out a deep breath of relief.

Noel had been afraid she would say its growth required a dragon’s claw, or a unicorn’s front hoof, or, if things went badly, human lives as nourishment.

“Beth. If it is only that much, then it is within expectations, and within acceptable bounds.”

Noel wanted to make this job succeed and return to being only Noel and only Beth, freed from the karma of being a magician.

And there were feelings he wanted to tell her as soon as possible.

“Understood. Eloise and Rodney will support you from behind with magic, and I will be in charge and care for it together with you. I will arrange maids to look after your personal needs. While you are focused on this flower, Naranda will take responsibility for managing your greenhouse.”

“Eh, even if you do that much for me… Everyone is generally so busy, so that’s… And even if you all cooperate that much, I cannot promise that this flower will bloom. This child really is a little difficult.”

Then, after hesitating, she murmured.

“If the flower does not bloom and Noel-sama is disappointed in me, I will not know what to do.”

As Beth looked down, feelings he could not suppress unexpectedly overflowed from Noel’s mouth.

“…Beth. To begin with, the reason I brought you here from your rural mill was because, at first, I had been searching for someone who had even a one-in-a-thousand chance of making this flower bloom. But now, I am instead grateful that this flower guided you to this greenhouse.”

He looked straight into Beth’s eyes and spoke.

“There is no possibility that I would ever be disappointed in you. I think that no matter how much I thank you, it would never be enough. Of course, making this flower bloom is my long-cherished wish as a magician. But now, I think meeting you was the far more precious encounter.”

Beth looked at Noel anxiously.

“Truly, even if I fail, you will not be disappointed in me?”

“I promise, Beth. Everything is my responsibility. It is no longer possible for my feelings toward you to change. Whether this flower blooms or not.”

Noel gently clasped Beth’s hands as though they were precious.

(I want to grant Noel-sama’s wish.)

Beth thought.

Noel was always trying his hardest for something other than himself.

Even though Noel looked pained as he was always pursued by dizzyingly busy work, when he came to Beth’s greenhouse, he showed her a relieved smile. When she handed him a plant of good quality, he crumpled his face and was happy.

In the middle of such busyness, he had gone out of his way, just for Beth, to show her the grand magic she had always admired.

Her initial aversion toward the arrogant Noel had, before she knew it, changed into sympathy for the overworked Noel.

Then, after learning that Noel worked himself to the bone creating potions every day to save someone’s life, those feelings changed into respect.

Beth had realized that respect had, just as it was, changed into admiration for Noel.

The honest smile, like that of a boy, that tired Noel occasionally showed Beth had slowly become a joy in Beth’s heart.

That Noel was wishing so earnestly for this flower to bloom.

If there was something Beth could do, she would not even spare her life.

In Beth’s mind, the beautiful profile of Noel as he had unfolded that great magic that night came to the surface.

Noel’s figure overlapped with that of the brave magician in Beth’s beloved book, who had risked his life for his beloved princess and unfolded grand magic.

(If I were beautiful and noble, like the princess in that story…)

Beth was not so much of a dreaming child that she would think of the words that came after that.

But in the world of imagination, Beth was free.

Beth, transformed into a noble princess, had her hand taken by Noel, the brave magician, and the two of them set out on an adventure around the world. Beth dreamily surrendered herself to the world of imagination.

Beth had promised to return to the countryside by the autumn festival.

For a noble man like Noel, showing Beth magic, teaching Beth about all sorts of worlds she had not known, and occasionally showing her that crumpled smile was probably nothing more than a whim in his life.

However, to Beth, every bit of it was a treasure that had become a memory like the brightest star shining in her life.

Once Beth returned to the countryside, surely Noel would no longer even remember Beth.

Beth would use the memories of this greenhouse as sustenance, return to the countryside surrounded by mountains, take books as her comfort, and grind grain for the rest of her life. The two of them would probably never cross paths again in life. The worlds they lived in were different.

But if she could wish for just one thing, it was that Beth could grant even one wish for this noble and precious person.

(I wonder if Noel-sama will remember me.)

Beth slowly aligned her consciousness with the seed.

The seed was alive. However, it apparently seemed to be dormant.

Beth was able to understand that it was the type of thing that awakened from sleep using the magical power of ice as its medium.

(This seed is a kind that grows using the magical power of ice as a catalyst, and if even one thing is wrong with the temperature, it goes into hibernation. Let me see, after that too, it will require management and care so constant that we will not be able to catch our breath. You really are quite the princess, aren’t you?)

Beth matched her breathing with the seed.

It was dormant, but alive.

It was breathing.

She matched her breathing with the seed, and little by little, she let go of the boundary of her consciousness. Beth became the seed. The seed became Beth.

The border between the two lives gently melted away.

Beth quietly asked the seed.

(Do you want to try blooming with me?)

She felt as if the seed had smiled.