Episode 16 – Salvia Flowers

*

It was a perfectly clear afternoon, just past lunchtime, in ‘Shioland,’ the capital of the Empire ‘Shionisia.’

The afternoon sunlight poured down, unblocked by clouds, yet wasn’t too harsh. The sun’s rays felt pleasantly warm on the skin.

Among the grand mansions in Shioland, where nobles and officials who attended the Emperor resided, the mansion of Hero Robin stood out.

In this mansion, adorned with magnificent sculptures, there was a place that often went unnoticed.

A small patch of red salvia flowers in a corner of the backyard, and a gazebo, just a roof and pillars on a small platform.

Under the simple, unadorned roof, there was only a coffee table for one and a single chair.

A woman with long, orange hair and snow-white skin was slowly walking through the salvia flower patch.

Despite her appearance, which suggested she was in her thirties or late twenties, her light brown eyes were incredibly deep.

Her gaze, hinting at countless stories and experiences, combined with her melancholic expression, created a lonely yet mysterious atmosphere around her, even in her still-present beauty.

Her name was Mella.

She was the wife of Hero Robin,

And the saintess of the Hero Party.

Mella spent most of her time in this small garden on sunny days.

Mella slowly walked through the flower patch, bent down to pluck a few flowers, and then headed towards the table.

As the number of tables and chairs suggested, this salvia flower patch was entirely her space.

She even felt uncomfortable when her husband, Robin, entered this garden.

This was where Mella recalled her own memories.

Mella took a sip of the black tea on the table, then picked up a salvia flower petal and lightly bit the back of the flower with her lips.

As the sweet nectar of the flower melted on her tongue and spread throughout her mouth, Mella felt as if she had traveled to a point in the past.

To the time when she was happiest.

Sareureu.

Mella closed her eyes and recalled her memories.

She remembered a boy she used to play with every day in her small village when she was seven years old.

He taught Mella how to suck the nectar from salvia flowers.

She couldn’t even count how many flowers she had picked and eaten that day, tasting sweetness for the first time in her life.

She vividly remembered the day the boy laughed as he watched her, and Mella shyly smiled back, showing her teeth.

Mella picked up another flower.

Sareureu

Her hometown was destroyed by a monster attack, and she didn’t know if the boy was dead or alive.

Fortunately, she survived with her parents and left her hometown, but her parents, unable to raise a child while begging in a strange place, tearfully sent Mella to a convent that day.

After arriving at the convent, she remembered picking a salvia flower planted in a pot, sucking its nectar, and crying, yet the taste was still sweet.

Another flower,

Sareureu

Mella became a novice saintess a few years later. Maybe when she was 15.

She rescued and treated a man who had collapsed on the street after being beaten badly.

And she found out that he was the infamous thief who had been making headlines recently,

And that he was the boy she had been separated from in her hometown when she was young.

He was growing from a boy into a young man.

He didn’t look much like he did when he was young, but they both remembered picking salvia flowers together.

In order to save him from being forcibly bound to a violent organization, she carried out a dangerous operation without the knowledge of the convent people, and at the moment he was in mortal danger,

She remembered the day she awakened her power as a saintess for the first time.

She remembered the smile the boy gave, saying he would repay her kindness for the rest of his life.

Another flower

Sareureu

As the representative of the Order and a saintess, she devoted herself to the Hero Party, but the progress of their adventures was slow.

Everyone in the party was getting tired.

She remembered the day that boy, no, that man, joined the party as a new member through harsh training and discipline.

The first day he joined the party.

She remembered the sweet flower he secretly handed her, saying he had picked it on the way.

She also remembered that the flower tasted especially sweet that day.

The last flower.

Sareureu

She remembered the lake on the night she heard his confession.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t remember the exact words, but she remembered that his voice trembled, and she couldn’t say anything.

She just remembered Mella staring intently at his reddened face without blinking, wanting to see him more even though she was looking at him, and him avoiding her gaze before finally meeting it as if he had made up his mind.

The nights in the forest. When everyone took turns standing guard,

When she leaned her head on his shoulder as he stayed up with her even after his shift was over,

Those nights when she had thoughts that a Hero Party member shouldn’t have, wishing this adventure wouldn’t end,

Those nights when she had thoughts that a religious person shouldn’t have, wanting to give up everything as a saintess and become his woman in his arms.

All came flooding back at once.

Mella smiled happily and slowly opened her eyes.

She felt sorry for her husband, but recalling her memories with him was still the happiest thing for her.

She still missed Edgar.

The only regret was that too much time had passed, and she couldn’t remember his face very well.

About two years after Edgar died, she started to not remember his face in detail anymore.

Every day, as his face became more and more blurred, she screamed and wailed like crazy, crying enough to soak all the blankets.

She also learned then that crying with tear ducts completely empty would cause her to cry blood.

Those painful days when her body and mind seemed to have broken down, and the salvia flower she put in her mouth no longer tasted sweet at all.

Fortunately, she overcame it with the help of her current husband, Robin, and her colleague, Lara, but even 20 years later, not all of the sadness from that time had disappeared.

Mella took a sip of her tea and took out a coin from her pocket.

A commemorative coin with Edgar’s face on it that Edgar gave her on the day he died.

It was Mella’s treasure, something she wouldn’t trade for anything, but in fact, she hated Edgar’s face engraved on this coin.

Because the atmosphere didn’t resemble Edgar at all.

Edgar didn’t look so dignified.

He had a more playful face, and he was a man who was better at making innocent expressions than serious ones.

But now, this was the only thing left to remind her of Edgar’s face, and even that had become almost worn out because she had polished and cared for it so much over the years.

Now, her own face reflected in the coin was more visible than Edgar’s face.

Mella looked at the coin and quietly murmured.

,Look at me. Edgar, I’m completely old.

Mella smiled sadly.

Covering the coin in her right hand with her left, she closed her eyes.

,Edgar… You wouldn’t recognize me now, would you?

Mella quietly closed her eyes and felt the warmth of the sunlight shining on her.

Because the weather was so nice today, Mella felt a little less sad.

Then.

A maid was approaching Mella in a bit of a hurry.

,Miemu. Why are you in such a hurry?

It was clearly strange for Mella to use polite speech with her maid, Miemu, but she always started conversations with servants in polite speech.

When she used polite speech,

,Madam, you shouldn’t use honorifics with someone like me, who is below you.

If she got that kind of answer, it meant that she was free to engage in conversation.

Otherwise, it meant that she was incredibly busy.

It was a way to check whether she could chat with the servants or ask them to do errands without bothering them when they were busy.

Miemu replied to Mella in a hurried voice.

,J… Jennifer-nim has returned.

The maid, who was breathing heavily from how much she had rushed, got straight to the point without correcting her polite speech.

Something big must have happened.

Judging that, Mella finished the tea left in her cup and waited for the maid to catch her breath.

Miemu took a deep breath and continued.

,Y-You need to come right away. Master-eo-reushin called for you.

,Oh my, Robin did?

,Yes, well… I don’t know the details, but,

Miemu approached Mella and put her trembling hand to Mella’s ear.

Even though there was no one around, she was whispering as if she was worried someone would hear, so it must be something serious.

Mella waited for her words with a slight tension.

Miemu slowly opened her mouth.

,… That Daniel-doryeonim and Rose-agassi…

,…

,…

,… I-Is that true?

,J… Jennifer-nim… said… so,

,Oh, my god, Goddess-isiyeo, what is this…

,I… I don’t know the details either,

,Yeah, I’ll ask Robin about the details. Thanks for hurrying over.

Leaving Miemu, who was bowing her head, Mella got up from her chair and hurried out of the backyard.

Poor Jennifer, how heartbroken she must be.

Jennifer was clearly a strict mother, even from the sidelines, but she was still a ‘mother.’

How painful must it be for a parent to lose a child first.

Mella could imagine how Jennifer must feel.

What would it be like if she lost her son and daughter?

Having wandered for a long time after losing Edgar, it wasn’t difficult for Mella to imagine what she would become.

Mella hurried her steps, hoping that Jennifer wouldn’t break down as much as she did when she lost Edgar.

,It’s my turn to help this time.

Despite the terrible news, the weather was still so clear.

*

After leaving the city of Plavis, we were heading to the capital in two carriages.

I was sitting in the driver’s seat, driving the carriage with Lara and Lily, and behind me, the coachman I hired was driving the carriage carrying the bodies of Daniel and Rose.

Since Plavis was a port city, the road to the capital, which was in the center of the empire, was very long.

Even though we had been running non-stop for three days, exchanging horses at stables or horse merchants along the way, we still had about two days left to reach the capital.

This horse had already run quite a long distance without rest.

Moreover, since I didn’t know when the next stable would appear, I signaled the coachman driving the hearse behind me to stop.

The empire’s horses were enchanted from birth to continuously restore their stamina, but even so, they needed to rest once.

I slowly stopped the horse and got out of the driver’s seat.

Before I could open the door, Lara opened it first and jumped out of the carriage.

,Ugh, my back hurts so much.

,It’s been a while since you’ve ridden in a carriage, right? We used to ride them often when we were adventuring.

,I only liked the nostalgia for the first day, ugh. Lily, you should get out and rest too.

,Yes…

Lily staggered out of the carriage.

I was worried about her since she had been in the hospital room until right before we left, but she said herself that she didn’t have any particular problems except for her back hurting from the bumpy carriage ride.

Lara put her hands on her hips and stretched from side to side, saying to me.

,Our Baron-nim – aren’t you tired? Should I sit in the driver’s seat for the rest of the way?

,No, just ride inside.

,Doesn’t your back hurt?

,You know I don’t hurt.

,Oh, right.

,I’m going to go talk to the coachman.

,Okay, go ahead.

,Ugh, Mom, my back hurts so much.

Leaving Lara, who was patting Lily’s back, I approached the coachman who was driving the hearse.

Even for a coachman who had been driving carriages his whole life, this long distance was a struggle, and he was patting his back after getting out of the carriage.

,You’ve worked hard.

,Ah, Baron-nim. Thank you for your concern. You’re quite skilled at driving a carriage.

,Haha, I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve.

,By the way, maybe it’s because I’m transporting the bodies of promising young people, but my body and mind are more tired than usual.

,I didn’t realize it would be such a tough journey either. It must be hard for you to go back after we arrive, so I’ll add a little more to your payment.

,Hehe, I’d appreciate that.

Well, let’s keep the light conversation to this point and slowly get to the main point.

I walked towards the back door of the carriage carrying the bodies and said to the coachman.

,Could you open the carriage for me?

,… Baron-nim? You might not know because you’re a foreigner, but in this country, you shouldn’t disturb the sleep of the deceased, even if it’s a carriage.

,Ah, of course, I’m not trying to look at the bodies. Don’t worry.

I took out a small pouch made of cloth from my pocket.

Inside the pouch were various medicinal herbs, herbs, and incense.

,Isn’t that a sachet?

,That’s right. It seems like it will take quite a while to travel, and I was worried that the smell of the bodies might get into the carriage.

,Hehe, that’s kind of you. But I don’t know if it’s okay to open the hearse before showing it to the undertaker… This is a bit of a problem.

The coachman seemed to be hesitating for a moment.

Touching the body before the undertaker or priest confirmed it was a taboo among taboos, but this carriage was the coachman’s property and livelihood.

If the smell of the body got into the carriage, the bad smell would be a problem, and he might lose all his business because it was bad luck.

The coachman made a hmm sound and hesitated before approaching the back door of the carriage.

Afraid of making the bodies uncomfortable, the coachman tried not to look inside as much as possible, opened the door, and then went back to the front.

I slowly got into the carriage containing the bodies.

I looked down at the bodies of Daniel and Rose, wrapped tightly in cloth.

,There are three corpses in this carriage.

I chuckled.

,Baron-nim, you shouldn’t do anything disrespectful to the bodies.

,Yes, don’t worry.

Even though both bodies were wrapped in cloth, it was easy to tell which one was Daniel’s body.

Rose’s body was so deformed that it was jagged even though it was wrapped in cloth,

Daniel’s body was so bloated that it was large even though it was wrapped in cloth.

I hung the sachet roughly inside the carriage and put my hand on Daniel’s body.

How big is the sorrow of losing a child?

I don’t know. I probably never will.

But I know the size of the sorrow of losing a loved one. No, the sorrow of having someone taken away.

My sorrow, and the revenge that stemmed from it, was not alleviated by the sorrow of a parent losing a child.

I can’t end it like that.

,Robin… Jennifer… It won’t end that easily.

Black magic rises from my hand.

My cold hatred and ominous magic flow into the corpse through the hand that touched it.

,Baron-nim? What are you doing that you haven’t come out yet?

,Ah, I’m done now.

Answering the coachman who urged me at a precarious timing, I got out of the carriage and closed the door.

The coachman was giving the horse a carrot he had taken out of the saddlebag.

,Let’s leave in about 30 minutes.

,Yes, let’s do that.

,I’ll give you more for your hard work. Thank you.

,Hehe,

The coachman scratched his head and got into the driver’s seat.

When I turned my head and looked at our carriage, Lara and Lily were lying down on the grass, resting.

It had only been three days since Lara confessed to me at the festival and was rejected, but she didn’t seem to care anymore.

No, I don’t know.

I, who had been surprised by the fact that Lara liked me, decided not to overestimate my ability to read her mind.

As I was about to move towards them,

I saw a familiar red color on the side of my vision, at the end.

When I turned my gaze towards it, salvia flowers were blooming on the grass next to the road.

,Oh,

I picked a flower and bit the back of the flower with my lips.

Sareureu

The nectar of the flower spreads in my mouth.

I liked this taste.

The pseudonym Salvia Baron was also a name I made because I liked this flower.

The salvia flower, which I tasted after a long time, was still sweet.

This welcome taste always made me reminisce and created a nostalgic and pleasant feeling.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

,Haha, I feel good for the first time in a while.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a clear sky.

The weather was as clear as my refreshed mood.

.