[Episode 68]
However, if the results were outstanding, that wasn’t the case. It was nothing short of modest.
I challenged with 100 flowers, but only 8 seeds were obtained.
Me and Lillian decided to have four of them. Each of them decided to grow in different ways.
So, the real winter has arrived.
“So that dragonia herb doesn’t grow?”
“There is no dragonia in your other herbal dictionaries… the way to grow them is also torn…”
I said in a low voice.
Other than the dictionary he had received from the imperial castle, there was no written description of Dragonia.
However, when he struggled alone, he could no longer find an answer, so he eventually came to Erno Etam.
I asked the Duke of Mirel a little bit, but he only glossed over his words and didn’t give me a proper answer.
“There’s only one left now… Is your dad Ara by any chance?”
I tried this and that, but all the seeds failed to germinate and just rotted away.
All that was left was the one in his hand.
It was after Lillian went home crying loudly, saying that everything she had raised was ruined.
“…”
Erno Etam just kept quiet for a long time at my question.
He seemed to be thinking deeply about how to explain this to me.
“It’s really amazing that I got the seeds, but…”
Erno Etham gently stroked my hair. He didn’t open his mouth for a long time, as if choosing his words.
“The herb no longer grows on this land.”
“…why?”
“Because the most important ingredient to grow it is no longer in the world.”
Erno Etham spoke as if he was sentenced after a long time.
* * *
Dragonia.
The ‘legendary plant’, commonly known as dragon grass, disappeared long ago.
What is needed to sprout dragonia is none other than a dragon.
Dragonia was a flower that only dragons could grow.
No matter how much an ordinary human clings to it and tries, it can never be obtained.
Even getting the seeds wasn’t easy. Because I had to take care of the sensitive creatures day and night, and I had to raise them with great care.
However, even Erno Etam could not have guessed that he had done all of that and came this far.
“Can’t Daddy…?”
“…Yes, I’m sorry.”
Erno Etham looked down at the child holding a potted plant in both hands. His brow furrowed as he looked at his despairing eyes.
‘There was no trace of the dragon at all…’
If there were any buried bones, he would have told them to grind them and use them as fertilizer, and if there was old rotten blood, he would have told them to sprinkle it.
Duke Mirel and Erno Etam, who learned that Eirin was going to save ‘Dragonia’, tried their best out of sight, but in the end, there was no result.
Even those with diluted dragon blood couldn’t grow flowers.
Erno Etham looked at the back of the child’s head, skillfully hiding the scars on his palms.
‘Why did the emperor give me a book like this…’
Erno Etam clicked his tongue inwardly as he tried to soothe the child.
Except for the imperial family, no information about ‘Dragonia’ remained.
The emperor, who gave it away without thinking, even laughed out loud.
“…”
Eirin lowered her head helplessly.
I know that the child has been in and out of the flower bed at any time of the day or night.
I know that I meet and talk to Lillian Daisy every day and cover the dirt together.
“Yes…”
Eirin jumped from his lap. In her arms was a potted plant that still hadn’t sprouted.
“I knew it…”
Eirin lowered her head.
Then, as usual, I looked at him with a wide smile.
The child, who skillfully hid his expression, went to the door with a smile like a bright child.
“I’ll leave the room and go home early, Dad.”
Eirin bowed her head and left the room.
Erno Etham kept his eyes on the traces of the child’s departure.
The limp tail showed signs of dragging on the floor. Erno Etam swept his face once.
He was not a person who could particularly empathize with the pain of others.
So, I also didn’t know how to soothe the child effectively. It’s just a matter of choosing your words a little more and choosing your words carefully.
But when I saw my child down, I didn’t feel very good.
“Terem.”
“yes.”
“How is the second prince?”
“It doesn’t look very good. Maybe it will be fortunate if it passes next spring at the most…”
Erno Etam became quiet at the answer of the man who prostrated himself in front of me.
“Have you inquired about the clinic or the disease?”
“It is said that your naturally weak body cannot do anything about it. He said he did not even know about such a disease.”
I wanted to help, but I couldn’t.
“…So Eirin’s real father?”
“It looks like it’s overseas, so it’s going to take a little longer.”
“It is one month. Looks like you gave it a lot of time already.”
“…Yes, sorry.”
Erno Etham nodded his head as Terrem finished his words. Terem disappeared.
“…I don’t want to see my daughter cry.”
He let out a short sigh.
It felt like the sighs, which I had never had a chance to rest in my life, had increased rapidly recently.
‘It’s unfamiliar.’
It was a sensation I never felt when I was raising Callan or Silian.
“Is it because she’s a daughter…”
I just felt uneasy no matter what I did.
Even if the child’s tail drooped, it felt like my head went blank.
Like someone who doesn’t know what to do.
“I wish there was a living dragon somewhere.”
It would be much more comfortable to catch a dragon and become a dragon slayer than to see my daughter’s gloomy figure.
* * *
‘…that’s no good.’
Somewhere in my heart, I thought it was a story like a dream that was too shady.
Information about a panacea that luckily appeared just when you thought you needed it most.
Wasn’t the timing just right? It was a frightening coincidence.
‘That can’t be the case.’
There was no way I could change the fate that had already been decided.
I blankly looked down at the flowerpot. On the other hand, you must have thought about the probability that it will not happen.
‘In the end he dies.’
It didn’t change anyway.
If there is such a thing as a panacea just because it is in a fantasy novel, the heroine must have already solved it in the first place.
Enosh died because such a sham panacea was not available.
Patter.
Tears dripped down onto the flower pots that had been set to the right amount of humidity.
“My wife…”
I felt sorry for Lillian and Enosh.
Giving false hope to Lillian made her fall into greater despair, and Enosh must have put Lillian into regret because of me.
If I couldn’t do anything, I’d have been better off just pretending I didn’t know. If you couldn’t help, you shouldn’t have met.
It was arrogance.
‘I just wanted to have one more tea party together…’
There was just such a wish.
They were the first friends I made.
I’ve always had no friends, but now I have friends who are like friends. I was so excited about it that I didn’t even think of the other person.
Cries broke out.
It was just tears of powerlessness mixed with resentment, sorry, and pain.
* * *
“Oh my God. miss!”
“Ugh…”
Laurent, who had come to wake me up, opened his mouth in a stunned state.
“My God, what happened all night?! This pretty face…”
She was really contemplative and looked at my face here and there, and then she herself became even more teary-eyed.
Turning my head and looking in the mirror, I wondered what kind of monster this was.
The eyes, mouth, and cheeks are swollen, making you feel as if you are looking at a deep-sea fish.
I couldn’t even open my eyes properly. Even when I look at it, my appearance doesn’t make sense.
‘But today is…’
Lucillion is going to the Hwangseong, so I must visit him.
So…
‘What should I do?’
I just wish we could talk like always. I hope Enosh gets better.
“Oops, I’ll bring some ice soon. What the hell happened all night? Did you have a scary dream?”
Laurent ordered another lady-in-waiting to hurriedly bring ice and a pouch.
“yes.”
If it was a dream, it was a scary dream.
Because my dreams were broken dreams.
‘My body is hot today…’
I think I have a little fever. I felt a little strange. When Laurent brought an ice pack, I felt a little better.
‘Let’s go to Lucillion.’
Maybe it’s because I’m preparing to go out soon.
I stamped my feet, begging Laurent to quickly get dressed.
Laurent, who was unable to cool down my face, could not overcome my strength and dressed me.
‘I’ll have to bring a flower pot.’
I had no choice but to stiffen as I held the potted plant in my arms that I had placed in a sunny place.
Because there was a very small sprout from the seed that Erno Etham had asserted could not be grown.
