The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 185

—It was my oversight, Your Majesty the King! From now on, I will not say anything other than necessary words!

—I never said to go that far. And you should stay on good terms with the residents.

—I will be careful to ensure that such an absurd situation never occurs again. I swear it on a knight’s honor!

With this, Cassis was completely without fault. That day, her heart, which had frozen with emotions different from when she had been hotly embraced near the roots of the World Tree, naturally melted away.

Evelyn muttered to herself.

‘I know. I know very well, but it’s so difficult to think of comforting words for him and deliver them properly. It would also be a bit awkward to bring it up by saying I happened to overhear…. What should I do?’

With her head deeply bowed, she ignored the pile of luxurious desserts and left the dining room.

Today marked exactly one week since she had completed the task Iel had entrusted to her, so it was time to go to the flower beds and examine how the fertilizer stones had turned out, one by one. In fact, she had eaten even less than usual because she was thinking about this. Worried that the stones might have disappeared, she had packed several extras in her pockets and came outside, looking around.

“The flowers have grown in the meantime.”

During this time—it’s a bit embarrassing to admit—she hadn’t realized there were so many white flower beds in this area. Twenty-two of them. She had been confused when placing the fertilizer stones too, so she needed to count carefully to avoid missing any in between. She checked the flower beds while counting on her fingers one by one.

When she picked up a fertilizer stone that looked like a rhombus cut in half, its size had decreased slightly, which was quite fascinating. The soil had eaten the stone!

‘Hmm, even if I had gotten a job at a botanical garden, I would have done something similar to this. Though the feeling would be different from this…. Good.’

My work. The work I need to do going forward. She really wanted to do well with this newly given task.

‘By the way, when is Lady Nike returning from Macris? She’s late.’

She had left in a hurry, but she had said her return would be much sooner than when she had left the castle before, yet there was no news at all.

They say you don’t know a seat until you’ve sat in it, but you know it once you’ve left it—she was starting to miss Nike a little. Previously, when she tried to gauge her relationship with Cassis, she had been startled and kept her distance, but perhaps her thoughts had changed after being intensively tormented by Rouva.

Her slowed steps only stopped after she had thoroughly examined all twenty-two flower beds.

Finished. All the fertilizer stones she had placed were still in their proper places. She hadn’t flipped each one over to check the reduced portions, but since these stones had a distinctive blue-green color, it was certain that none had been lost. Just as she let out a sigh of relief and raised her head, she heard someone calling.

“Nymph Evelyn?”

“Ah…! Hello, Lord Iel.”

Good heavens, what timing. Right before her eyes stood Iel with his hands clasped behind his back—when had he arrived? Due to his silver hair shining dazzlingly in the sunlight, she couldn’t help but furrow her brow for a moment. Iel asked with his dark eyebrows twitching slightly.

“You were examining the flower beds carefully.”

“You… you saw. Yes. As you instructed, I came out to check at one-week intervals.”

“Hmm. Don’t forget to continue doing this consistently going forward. Everyone starts with great enthusiasm at first, but later they may become lazy and forget.”

Evelyn mustered her courage and willingly handed him the sword hilt pointed at herself.

“If that happens, please don’t hesitate to scold me. The fact that I can enter the castle and preserve my life is all thanks to the World Tree and the elves, so it would be terrible if I forgot such kindness.”

He smiled, raising the corners of his mouth as if surprised.

“Ho, have you already learned to say such embarrassing things?”

“Pardon…?”

“I wasn’t blaming you. Hmm, I suppose that’s careful enough speech. Follow me.”

Iel left those words and walked ahead. Unlike Cassis, there was no escort of holding hands or matching steps, but somehow she felt she had grown a little closer to him.

The place she followed with quick steps was the mansion where he lived, the same one from a week ago. Iel stopped walking near the garden and turned around to speak to her.

“It seems you have several fertilizer stones in your pocket.”

“Yes! How did you know? I brought them in case I couldn’t find any in the flower beds and needed replacements.”

The corners of his mouth curved gently to an appropriate degree, following the warm shape of his eyes.

“This tree can have some mental communion with me, and after smelling the fertilizer stones on you, it’s demanding that you give them to it.”

“This tree? This is…! Could this possibly be an acacia tree?”

Evelyn was somewhat surprised when she looked at the tree Iel pointed to. The sight of countless brilliantly bloomed white flowers covering it was something she had seen before and couldn’t mistake. She remembered it because the village chief had once mentioned that there used to be a colony of acacia trees near the village, and back then, placing beehives there had brought quite good income.

“That’s right. This is my tree.”

“My tree means…. Could it be that?”

“It’s just as you roughly guessed.”