episode_0175

The idea of using embroidery and flowers was a good one, but I ran into a snag while drawing.

“Hmm… Should I put a geranium here…?”

I can’t figure out how to combine them.

They’re pretty flowers, so it wouldn’t be bad no matter how I combined them.

But some flowers have flamboyant shapes, while others are plain, so the style feels unbalanced, and the color combinations are so flashy that even a slight imbalance feels like a stain.

Is this really the best I can do? I don’t think I could readily nod my head.

There clearly seems to be a combination that could extract 100 worth of beauty, but it feels like no matter how hard I try, 80 is the limit when I touch it.

Am I being punished for being too fixated on conveying meaning and only considering the flower meanings, neglecting the appearance of the flowers themselves?

“Haa… This isn’t it either…”

I looked at the sixth combination up close, from afar, and turning my head, but it’s still subtle.

I slid the paper slightly to the side, placing it next to the other five drawings I had drawn earlier.

Frowning and leaning back in my chair in a rather poor posture, I carefully examined the drawings and analyzed what the problem was.

Is the problem centering on anemones?

Or is it just that this combination doesn’t suit?

It feels like there’s a bit of a lack of green compared to the flashy colors…

I feel like if I mess with it a little more, I could get something decent, but it’s already 2 AM.

If I get more engrossed here, I might have to pull an all-nighter and go to work.

Then Emily would scold me because of the gift.

I didn’t want to experience being scolded for trying to do something good.

“Let’s scrap it.”

Let’s abandon the arrogant idea of perfectly combining flower meanings.

Let’s pick pretty and matching friends first, and then create the meaning like a puzzle.

If not, we can just treat it as having no meaning.

As long as I don’t use pure white chrysanthemums or lilies to utilize harmony, or bright red roses that seem to have an obvious meaning to anyone, I’m good.

“Let’s see…”

First, let’s create a soft feeling by combining yellow or purple centered on light pink, without being too flashy.

Personally, I like flowers with many petals, so let’s make light pink roses the center.

Since the meaning of roses is somewhat diluted with light-colored roses, there’s no reason to interpret it that way.

Among the yellow flowers…

Freesias are safe.

Not too intense, and the petals are moderately plain.

Since the flower meaning was clearly eternal friendship, it’s easy to vaguely package it as continuing a good relationship in the future.

But when it comes to design, yellow hydrangeas feel a little more fitting, but the slight negativity of the flower meaning is a flaw.

But would one be okay?

Lavender or cornflowers are pretty for purple…

Should I just put both in?

If I feel like there’s a lack of green, I can decorate with olives…

“Oh…”

As I stare into space, drawing a combination of flowers in my mind, I feel a very clear impression slowly emerging compared to the first combination.

As expected, it’s the rose, the king of flowers.

The flower called the king differs from person to person, but it’s not like there can’t be several kings, not emperors.

Originally, I get to choose the king I want to serve myself.

Regicide isn’t a concept that exists for nothing.

Or is this a bit different?

Well, that’s not what’s important right now.

“Tsk.”

I lightly clicked my tongue and took out a new piece of paper.

And this time, with faith and expectation that it would work out, I sacrificed about 30 more minutes of sleep.

The result is, regrettably, about 95 points in my mind.

It’s not a bad result, but regret swept over me.

I feel like I could have made it 100 points if I had just one more day…

“Aish…”

I don’t know who reported me, but I hope they get struck by lightning twice while walking down the street.

_

“Huh?”

What made me notice something different than usual was when I saw that the study door, which I had clearly closed, was open just a crack.

It’s not strange for someone to enter the study.

A maid might enter for cleaning, the Young Count might enter because he’s busy finishing up the succession work, or the Count, who is busy going back and forth between the estate, the magic tower, and the capital, might have entered.

However, the only person who would bother to enter the study late at night when everyone is asleep is just one person here.

It’s the young master.

Since the study in the townhouse in the capital is decorated according to the young master’s tastes, the others do not keep books or documents that need to be found urgently in the study.

They keep them separately in a room used as an office, or they don’t bring such things here in the first place.

And decisively, the only person who would close the door so carelessly is the young master.

The servants would open and close the door for the others, so they would not make such a mistake.

He must have closed the door carelessly, thinking he was moving around secretly at night.

“Haa…”

I sighed deeply and closed the study door.

Then, I narrowed my eyes and glared at the young master’s room.

When I got slightly overwhelmed with emotion last time and did something slightly embarrassing to the young master, he acted like he would never stay up all night again, but as soon as I focused my attention elsewhere, he immediately went back to his old ways like this.

He listens to everything else so well, so why is he so negligent when it comes to getting enough sleep…

Now, I’m just at a loss as to what to say to get him to change his behavior.

Is this a problem that will only be fixed if I stay by his side 24 hours a day and manage him?

Someone is anxiously worrying about him ruining his health, but the person in question is just carefree, so if my patience reaches its limit like this, I might suddenly spread out a blanket and lie down in the young master’s room.

“That might not be bad…”

The young master as soon as I wake up in the morning, it seems better than I thought.

He always shows a prickly expression when he’s awake, but when he’s asleep, he shows the soft, round impression of his childhood, and if I can see that as soon as I wake up, my motivation for life might increase just a little.

I idly thought, ‘Should I suggest putting a small bed in the young master’s room?’, and slowly moved my steps towards the young master’s room.

Even if I bring it up, the young master would tremble his eyes and be horrified, so I won’t bring it up.

He’s strangely conservative in these areas.

I’m a little annoyed with the young master.

He’s already done plenty of things he shouldn’t have…

“Ahem…! Hoo…”

I lightly cleared my throat with a cough containing displeasure and embarrassment, and gave my body and face a slight tension, and put my hand on the doorknob.

A peaceful, calm, and benevolent face and gesture.

The actions I must show the young master are always determined by that.

Having finished preparing to greet the young master’s morning, I put strength into my hand, carefully turned the doorknob, and opened the door.

The sun had already poked its head above the horizon, but the room was dark because of the meticulously drawn curtains.

The first thing to do in the young master’s room is to drive out this deep darkness and bring in the bright atmosphere of the morning.

So, I walked silently through the room that I can now walk through with my eyes closed and went straight to the window.

Then, I grabbed the curtains, shaped them nicely, bundled them up, and tied them with a string.

Bright light illuminates the interior of the room, and the scenery of the room, which had been hidden in the darkness, is revealed brightly.

Unlike usual, I moved my gaze to the desk first.

“Ha, really…”

Papers scattered messily on the desk, and a few books.

My suspicion turns into certainty, and my gaze turns to the young master who is sleeping soundly with narrowed eyes.

Even if such bright light shines on his face, he should at least frown, but he’s sleeping so peacefully without any of that.

The culprit who entered the study was definitely the young master, and it’s certain that he was doing something until late at night and went to sleep late.

I took out a clock from my pocket and checked the time.

The hour hand is pointing between 7 and 8, and the minute hand is pointing near 9.

Although it’s only a few minutes, he had a little more time to sleep.

“Tsk…”

I inhaled a disapproving breath and headed to the desk with the intention of tidying up the desk and preparing his clothes in advance and waking up the young master.

“… This is.”

And when I saw the things on the desk, my body had no choice but to freeze.

「Making Bookmarks for Special People」

「Flower Language Culture of the Romaiion Kingdom」

Meaningful book titles and various flower paintings.

It looks like he’s preparing something as a gift for someone.

The word ‘special’ written in the book keeps catching my eye.

Madam, the Count, or the Young Countess or the little Madam, or Her Highness Princess Elizabeth.

There are so many people that the young master would consider special, but this arrogant head inserts the name ‘Emily’ between them.

That’s because tomorrow is a special day for me.

He always took care of it until last year, but this year there have been so many things going on that I had given up hope.

Seeing those things makes me expect the things that will happen tomorrow for no reason.

Looking at him planning flower meanings or various flower combinations, it seems like he’s not just going to suddenly give me something that looks good like last year, but he’s going to give me a special gift with some meaning.

“Heu…”

I barely held on to my face, which was about to loosen like a fool, and let out a breath that didn’t become a laugh.

It would have felt burdensome normally. I was a little ashamed of myself for so easily allowing this with just one word, ‘special,’ but I learned that human emotions are inherently vulgar.

I slightly raised the corners of my lips and turned my body around.

The young master, who had felt so annoying and bad just a moment ago, now felt so lovely and cute.

Originally, this shouldn’t be happening.

But just for today, I should pretend not to know about the young master’s bad habit.