134. Spring Outing (2)

Those who show a steady interest in the garden of the count’s residence can be counted on one hand.

A place where only a few gardeners and a few servants come and go. Since the Countess doesn’t care much about garden maintenance, the garden is tended with little budget and the gardener’s thorough work ethic without much support from the Countess.

Therefore, the garden was desolate during the winter, as there was no means to overcome the bitter cold of the pretty orchids.

It’s much more profitable to pay for the wages and equipment of several knights than to buy expensive artifacts just to have flowers bloom all year round.

In the garden of the count’s house, which inevitably went through a severe winter, the place where flowers were densely and profusely bloomed became empty and only a desolate landscape remained.

And the state of such an empty garden must have been an unpleasant sight for Shione, who likes flowers quite a lot.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen flowers during the winter.

Shione was very excited about the fact that she would be able to see flowers for the first time in a long time.

“Hmm~”

Starting with pretending not to and singing her hum. Her mood, strangely brighter than usual, clearly showed that she had been looking forward to this day.

“It’s been a while since Maehwa.”

“Certainly there are no plum trees around the count.”

Shione nodded her head as she lightly kissed her.

“When I was young, on a spring day, I held her older sister’s hand and looked at it once. Since then, I have never seen plum blossoms outside of books.”

Shione smiled a little with her face immersed in her memories. Her gaze shifted to the thick book on the table. It was a dictionary with illustrations and explanations of various flowers.

A soiled book. An object that helped her to lock herself in her room and develop her love for her flowers.

Shione picked up the book slowly and skilfully turned the pages. For her, this dictionary is a book she has already perused several times. She skillfully opened the page with the content she wanted without hesitation.

She whispered as she gazed at the plum blossoms depicted in her book.

“… A real plum.”

Feeding.

Shione let out a small bashful laugh, closed the book without hesitation, and put it on the bookshelf.

“If it weren’t for you, I would be buried in my flesh by now… I must have been staring blankly at the plum blossoms with the book open in the field, saying that spring had arrived again.”

I was silent at Sione’s self-deprecating words.

“Everything has changed thanks to you being by my side. Like seeing her magnolia again, or being able to talk to her long-awaited older sister again like the old days.”

Shione slowly approaches me.

“So-“

One step. Two steps. Distance slowly approaching.

“I, Sionesia Nella, will repay this favor throughout her life─”

With an alluring smile.

Even so, she herself also thinks that she is not a woman in this gender-reversed world.

That hand gesture that suddenly puts a hand on my collar and boldly drags me by the collar.

‘… ….’

Perhaps the switch was turned suddenly, deep in the pupils of which secretly shady inner feelings were revealed.

The moment when she suddenly tried to kiss her with me, before I had time to say anything.

Smart.

“Shione, are you ready?”

“… Hey!”

Siabelle knocked on the door at the perfect timing.

“Uh, sister? Huh… ! hehehe… !”

Shione started to hiccup while blushing as if she was taken aback by Siabelle’s unexpected appearance.

“Yes… ….”

Thanks to Shione’s strong grip on my collar, her collar is quite disheveled.

Seeing Shione’s flushed face and the crumpled collar on her side, anyone would know that the two of us were fighting in her room.

I casually stroked Shione’s hair moderately, spread her distance, and tidied up her clothes.

Shione stood dazed in her place, trying to cool her hot face and calm her hiccups.

Of course, I became the one to greet Siabelle.

“Ah, Ray. Sione too, are you ready?”

“Yes. Everything is ready to go out right now.”

Not only is Shione neat and pretty in street clothes. She also put her hooded robe on the bed, saying that she didn’t want to see the young people burdened by sleeping just like last time.

I am also Shione’s attendant, and even if I go out with her while fulfilling the role of her escort. There is Siabelle next to her, who mixes magic and does not take a single shot at her, even if she cuts her with a knife. I thought there would be no danger, so I finished preparing to go out with a sword on my waist and matching the assortment of escorts.

“Then it looks like everything is almost ready, so let’s go out now.”

After saying that, Sia Bell looked around her room and finally saw Shione’s condition.

“Huck… ! Boo… hi! Eww… !”

Shione, who keeps her mouth shut and struggles with the hiccups that pop out even if she tries to hold it in, is raising her fever.

Sia Bell looked at her brother and let out a wild laugh.

“Ray, why is Shione doing that?”

“That is… ….”

I pointed to a plate with only cookie crumbs on the table.

“You seem to have a problem while eating cookies in a hurry.”

“Ah-“

At my words, Sia Bell nodded her head and she immediately agreed.

* *

Where the cold wind from the north had gone, a warm breeze lingered and melted the snow that covered the ground.

Life is born, and it is the season of new beginnings.

Yeongji, where spring has arrived, is gradually regaining the vibrancy of the past.

Even though the aftermath of the war may remain deep in people’s hearts, they also carry out their duties in order to survive. Merchants show off their wares and attract customers. Mercenaries and chores are looking for suitable requests for their livelihood.

Shione was happy enough just to walk these peaceful streets with her loved ones.

It’s like walking around and having a conversation with her longing older sister. The very existence of Ray, who silently stands by me sometimes behind me and sometimes by my side. The situation itself contained something that excites me.

‘Even in the past….’

My sister and I looked around the territory like this and talked about doran doran.

At that time, I remember that we talked and laughed together while experiencing all the different kinds of food sold on the street.

Her older sister and her own body, which were just small girls, have suddenly grown bigger as time goes by. .

Unlike this mature body, Shione’s spirit was until she met Ray. With time stopped, she repeatedly recalled and remembered the same day, the same place, and the same situation.

One of the wishes of such a girl is, of course, one of the happiest times in her life.

She was adventurous and ran around the streets with her older sister and younger brother. Like the days in those memories, it was to spend a good time with her older sister or younger brother.

‘I thought it would be an impossible dream.’

I never thought this would happen in the end. Deep happiness sweeps through her mind.

For a while, she was sometimes petted by her sister, played trivial pranks with Ray, looked around her city, went to the restaurant her sister introduced, and filled her stomach and played again ─

“Shione, let’s go see plum blossoms now.”

“Maehwa… !”

Finally, I went to see the plum blossoms I was looking forward to.

It was quite a distance, but Shione continued to work her feet without showing any signs of tiredness, and eventually was able to see the plum blossoms.

It’s not even, it’s uneven, and sometimes there are angular stones protruding from the road. A plum tree stood on the side of such a long road. On the branches of the tree, the plum blossoms that were in full bloom were shining brightly.

It was beautiful. I’m sure you’ll regret it if you miss the time to see this scenery.

Maybe that’s why this ugly road was bustling with people in its own way, and Sione naturally stuck to the side of the trustworthy Ray.

Sia Bell stood a little further away, her arms crossed, admiring her plum blossoms.

After checking on her sister, Shione glanced at her sister, Lei.

‘… The flower language of plum blossoms.’

Noble heart, fidelity, perseverance, clear mind.

Who could be more suited to plum blossoms than this?

At least to herself, Rei was the person who was infinitely closer to plum blossoms than anyone else, so Shione liked her plum blossoms even more.

She told her that plum blossoms were not just flowers. It was her fondest memory, her own innocence that had bloomed since the spring of her last year and was in full bloom by the end of the year.

Because of that, Shione took a step closer to Ray.

Shione had no doubt that she believed that today would be a more fulfilling day for her than ever.

“Shione?”

“Shhhhh….”

She just held Ray’s hand tightly without Siabelle’s knowledge.

* *

After viewing the plum blossoms, we decided to head to the largest church in the count family.

There is no particular reason. It was the destination decided upon by Siabelle’s opinion to go in and see Zion Cianella’s face before returning to the count’s residence.

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We were able to reach the front of the church by walking slowly and resting.

“Uh… ?”

Shione lowered her voice.

When she checked the person in her gaze, she could see a person standing in front of the church who could never have been here.

“It’s been a while, young lady. And… ….”

Long ears. Blue-green eyes. And the sun-kissed golden hair.

“Cianella’s spiritist too.”

A great forest on the eastern border of the kingdom.

Friel Arielt, the dwarf who should have been stuck in that great forest, was smiling at me.