episode_0001

“Chris, are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”

My father looks at me with a worried expression. I smiled at my father to show that it was okay.

How many questions is this in the first place? Now it was starting to get a little annoying.

“I’m fine.”

I deliberately exaggerated this and showed my father that it was no big deal. But was it actually poisonous to act like this?

“Umm… No matter how much I think about it, I can’t do it. After all, let’s go together.”

My father suddenly changed his mind about taking me with him.

I said hastily.

“I really don’t mind if I don’t go. Do you really need to take me with you?”

It was sincere without a single lie.

but-.

“If you think about the time to travel and the time to be there, it would take about a month. Do you think I can leave you alone for that long? I’m so worried I can’t do it!”

The problem is not me, but my father himself. It was a difficult statement to respond to.

But I was really okay. Because I had someone to take care of me.

“There is Deacon Rachel.”

Even if I didn’t go with my father, Rachel would take care of me. My father’s worries were really for nothing.

My father didn’t have to worry about me, and there was no need for me to follow him.

“No matter how trustworthy Rachel is, I still can’t help but feel worried. Because this is the heart of a parent. And since I, your father, said I would go with you, you have no choice but to go.”

The father’s firm words.

A firm attitude that would not allow any refutation was evident.

In the end, I followed my father’s wishes and ended up curling my tail.

“… okay. You can just go.”

“I thought well. We’ll be leaving tomorrow, so pack only the necessary items.”

So my father was satisfied and left the room.

A room left alone.

Exhausted from the conversation with my father, I sat down on the bed helplessly.

“I really don’t like it… !”

I really didn’t want to go.

Really, seriously.

It wasn’t that I hated having to leave the house. I also like traveling, and I don’t particularly get motion sickness from carriages.

However, the problem was that the purpose of leaving this time was not travel.

The purpose this time is business.

The destination was another noble family, and I didn’t like that.

The family we will be doing business with this time is the Count Ruber.

It was one of the few high-ranking noble families in the Holy Eimor Empire. To put it more simply, the origins of the Ruber family are linked to the beginning of the empire.

I can’t believe I visited such a well-known family. I hated it so much.

The Counts of Ruber, a deep-rooted noble family. What kind of attitude will children who grow up in such a family show? Even if we didn’t meet, it was clearly visible.

Even though they were just born as children of nobles, they probably brag about how proud they are. I hated it so much.

“If it were a family with a history, it would have added more, not less.”

If you were a noble with a deep history, it was clear that you would show off even more. They must be intoxicated with their lineage.

It was clear that they would tout their own lineage and look down on other families, especially nobles who were commoners like me and my father.

That’s why I didn’t want to go.

Because I don’t want to be looked down on again.

But in the end, my father forced me to go, so I decided to do one thing.

“… I’m still young, so even if I commit a certain amount of rudeness, they’ll forgive me!”

If you are the child of a high-ranking noble and show disrespect to my father or me, then I will punish you.

.

.

.

Inside the rattling carriage.

It was very uncomfortable at first, but once I got used to it, it became okay.

And even now, he has adapted wonderfully.

one week.

I rode the carriage for a week, so I had enough time to get used to it.

Feeling a strange sense of comfort in such an uncomfortable ride, I leaned my back against the wall of the carriage. And closed my eyes.

however-.

“How about it? Isn’t it great?”

My father spoke to me as I was trying to take a nap.

When I open my eyes, I see my father’s happy expression.

My father was pointing out the window of the carriage. Following my father’s gesture, I moved my gaze to the carriage window.

A wide open meadow visible through a narrow window. A gentle hill.

and-.

“There are so many flowers?”

Lots of flowers.

There were really a lot of colorful flowers blooming. This is what the flower garden means.

Although I wasn’t particularly interested in plants, I could say the scenery was truly beautiful.

“The Ruber family estate has been famous for flowers since ancient times. So, it was also known as a tourist destination in the surrounding territories.”

“Hmm… , What are the differences between Louveryeong’s flowers?”

“It’s very different. So, I am taking this opportunity to pursue a flower-related business with the Ruber family.”

“Business with flowers… ? Can’t we do that in our territory too?”

Flowers bloom in any field, so why bother coming here to do business? I thought it was a bit of an unnecessary effort.

“It’s not just any flower, we need the skill to handle flowers that only the Ruber family has.”

“I see… .”

To be honest, I wasn’t really interested.

It’s a business using flowers… .

‘I don’t think I’ll make much money… ?’

I didn’t think it was a very good business.

But my father seemed to think differently.

“If we join forces with Count Ruber this time, we will be able to make a lot of money.”

My father was confident that this business would be successful.

The merchant’s senses were activated or something.

My father’s intuition was certainly trustworthy.

He grew the upper class with his own strength and even bought the title of baron with money.

However, even if that were the case, I don’t know.

I leaned back again and closed my eyes.

And some time passes.

When I opened my eyes again, I was just about to arrive.

Now the city of Ruberyeong is visible. My father said, pointing to a city in the distance.

“What you see over there is the city where the Count Ruber family is located.”

“Hmm… It’s really spacious.”

Although the territory itself was large, the city was prosperous. At least compared to our Lord Fletcher.

“Someday, we should make Fletcher Territory into a big city like that. By then, he might be called Earl Fletcher instead of Baron Fletcher.”

“I’ll support you!”

“What about cheering? You should help too. I can’t do it alone. I guess I don’t have much time.”

Although my father had high expectations for me, I wanted to reject his offer.

To be honest, I don’t think well of nobles. I didn’t even like the fact that I was a noble.

Therefore, my dream was to one day give up my title and become an ordinary citizen.

For that reason, I gave an ambiguous answer to my father’s words.

“… I’ll think about it.”

***

After arriving at the mansion of Count Ruber.

We were naturally guided to the VIP room.

And not long after, my father went out after being summoned by Count Ruber. After my father left, I was left alone and could no longer bear the boredom.

“Tch, Dad, I’ll take you with me.”

Of course, taking me with me was realistically difficult.

It would be impossible to bring a child who is only ten years old to talk about business.

I was lost in thought for a moment.

“Umm… What should I do?”

Since there was nothing else to do, I left the VIP room for now. But there was not a single person who stopped me.

It’s not that there was no one to stop it, it was that there was no one. Compared to the size of the mansion, there were very few attendants.

The hallway that leads out of the VIP room.

Quiet hallway.

I walked down the long hallway without thinking.

‘It’s somehow interesting… ?’

Walking alone in an empty hallway. I started to feel like I was exploring something and somehow became happy.

I was wandering around like that for a while.

I found a place.

As if a refreshing wind was guiding me, I unconsciously walked there.

and-.

“Wow… !”

I was so surprised that I let out an exclamation without realizing it.

I finally felt like I understood what my father said.

The place I was heading seemed to be a garden. No, it had to be a garden.

A place full of various types of flowers. But the flowers here were different from ordinary flowers. Flowers each trying to show off their beauty.

The Ruber family’s flower handling skills that my father mentioned. It was clear that this was what he was referring to.

So I looked around the garden and observed the flowers.

“Uh… , I think I saw this in a book?”

There were many flowers that looked like ones I had seen in an illustrated book.

However, the flowers were blooming so beautifully that you couldn’t believe they were the same flower.

It’s the same flower, but it’s organized well.

Even though it was a flower that was nothing special, there was an atmosphere that made it feel like it had something special.

While observing the flowers in the garden…

There was a hint of popularity coming from one direction.

I was intrigued, thinking that I was definitely the gardener who arranged these flowers.

‘I’d like to see how you manage it.’

I walked to a place where I felt popular.

and-.

I came across a fairytale-like scene.

A garden with various flowers blooming.

It was clear that this was the center of the garden, as it was decorated with flowers that were several times more colorful than those I had seen so far.

The center of the garden.

Among the colorful flowers that each raise their heads in the warm light of the sun.

A girl came into my field of vision.

A girl who looks like a picture in harmony with flowers.

The girl’s golden hair sparkled reflecting the sunlight, and her clear blue eyes reminded me of a lake.

Did this girl also sense my popularity?

He turned his gaze towards me.

The moment I made eye contact with the girl, only one thought lingered in my head.

‘She looks like a real princess… !’

It was the first time in my life that I saw a girl who matched flowers like this. If there was a princess in the land of flowers, wouldn’t she look like this?

It really seemed like something from a fairy tale had come to life.

A situation that feels so unrealistic.

The longer I made eye contact with the girl, the more I felt like time had stopped.

Because the girl didn’t move even a single eye blink.

‘Is it not an illusion and has time really stopped? ?’

But I was wrong when time stopped.

Soon the girl’s mouth moved.

“Who are you?”

I was silent for the moment in response to the girl’s question.

What should I say?

Those worries made my mind complicated.

But soon my thoughts were organized.

I asked, ignoring the girl’s question.

“You… Count Ruber’s daughter, right?”

Even at first glance, she is a girl of noble lineage. Not only his appearance but also his clothes made him look like a nobleman. And there was important information that could not be overlooked.

Information that this is a garden in the mansion of Count Ruber.

The answer that was deduced was that the girl was the daughter of Count Luver. The girl frowned at my words.

As if I had made a mistake.

“You should call me Count Ruber, not Count Ruber.”

The words of a girl questioning etiquette.

It may be true that I was wrong, but I felt a strange sense of discomfort.

We already figured out why.

As befits her noble lineage, she is a girl who has a noble attitude and respects manners. That sight must have touched my heart, which is why I hate noble kids.

I glared at the girl without saying a word.

And the girl also looked at me without saying anything.

The image of a girl looking at me with an expressionless expression. Even though I thought it was beautiful, I didn’t bother to say it out loud.