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As Pascal, walking ahead, asked curiously, she quickend her step without replying.

She was walking more lightly than before.

“Sophie, Sophie! Did you hear me? ”

“Ugh…? ”

“Sophie! Where are you looking at so intently?

When Sophie, who was laughing hard for a while, could not take her eyes off of a man and a woman walking away in the distance, the boy who played with her asked curiously.

“Oh, I think I saw someone who looked familiar to me.”

“Who?”

“…The woman who gave me black food. ”

“What is black food? Burnt food? ”

“… ”

“Did she give you burnt food? That’s not good for you.”

“No, just black in color, not burnt.”

“Really? I’ve never heard that.”

“Yes, it was very good for me. I regained energy after eating it.”

The girl muttered, looking back and only to find the woman gone. In no time, there was a bright smile on her face. She played again with the boy like before. She was not sick anymore.

That afternoon, at about sundown, after she was done cleaning up the shop with Pascal, Wendy left with Martin Bishop who came to escort her back to Lard’s house.

The imperial knights protected her thoroughly while she was coming and going to the flower shop though it was only a short distance between the house and the flower shop.

Though she didn’t feel good about their tight escort, she did not complain about the denial of her freedom because she knew the situation too well. She felt awkward about such a tight escort now, which she had never experienced when she was staying at the Hazlet house.

After she quickly glanced at the face of the sturdy imperial knight walking by her side silently, she turned her eyes awkwardly. She felt more awkward when she was escorted by Martin Bishop than any other knight. It was because he exceptionally found it hard to deal with her. Obviously, the incident involving an unidentified assailant breaking into her house and attacking her left a trauma in his mind because he was not there to protect her.

“I wanted to say thank you, Miss Wendy,” Martin said, who never spoke to her first.

She was surprised and looked at him.

“Well, I mean about the night of our vow.”

He was referring to the day when the crown prince’s palace collapsed. His face looked serious and resolute as if he recalled the day the knights vowed to keep Wendy’s miraculous work secret.

“Oh, that expression of yours makes me ashamed.”

When she said that, he suddenly blushed. Obviously, he was trying to mobilize beautiful expressions to describe her great achievement on that day, but it seemed he delved into the emotions of recalling her work back then.

“Ah… I think I was so excited because I met Sir Dylan Lennox. ”

Unexpectedly, Martin brought up a topic about Dylan, which she never expected.

“… Did you meet him? ”

“Before I came to escort you, I checked on Sir Dylan according to the captain’s order. He got better enough to move around. He needs more time for recuperation, but I don’t think he will have a problem with full recovery.”

As if he already knew all the episodes about Dylan’s injury and recovery, Bishop looked at her with amazement and respect.

She silently nodded, avoiding his burdensome gaze. She felt greatly relieved at Dylan’s quick recovery. If he could move around, he was recovering far more quickly than she thought.

As things stood now, she hoped that he could hold the sword again someday.

“As there are doctors who saw his serious injuries, it seems he wanted to recuperate at his house. He is going to refuse all outsiders’ visit for some time. I’m sure he also didn’t forget the night of vow.”

Martin again mentioned the night of the oath hesitantly. She replied shortly that Dylan made the right decision. Martin said, seeing eye to eye with her, “Yes, that’s a good thing.”

She wanted to keep reciting the word ‘fortunate’ like him. But instead of repeating it, she took a deep breath and looked into the orange sky. As if to conceal her overwhelming emotions, she took a deep breath with her heart full.

Back at Lard’s house, she prepared a late dinner with him. As he spoke to her several times to shake off awkwardness, she didn’t feel uncomfortable. Leaving him behind on the first floor, she went upstairs and spent the rest of the evening alone.

She brought some personal belongings from her home, but there were not many leisure activities she could do here.

So, she sat beside the window of Lard’s room and began to read a thick illustrated plant book.

Then she closed the book after reading it for a while and sighed ‘Whew!’. Although she was reading about the growth of plants, she was distracted with other things. She thought about the girl Sophie and Dylan. Her thoughts about them kept dominating her mind for a while. She came to appreciate the power of her index finger once again.

In the end, she shook her head as if to stop thinking, and put down the thick book on her lap to the side of the window she was leaning against. Then she suddenly noticed a small pot by the window. She smiled, looking at the familiar tree with tightly branched stems.

When she tried to lift it, it was firm as if it took roots well. The short ash tree was growing well, though it was only a span tall.

She naturally recalled the memories on the day she first kissed him.

‘Why did I grow this tree on his clothes?’

She looked out the window as if she was tracing the young ash tree standing at the far end of the alley. The illusions that seemed like a dream in the rain passed through her mind, the dying tree soaking up water and shooting out buds.

Did she want to shoot out buds like that tree? Or did she want to revive her dead mind?

She wrapped her arms around her knees while putting down the small flowerpot.

Although she could grow a plant with the power of her index finger, she could not revive a dead tree. The Bahazman she grew had healing power, but it could not revive the dead again.

Her mind was the same way. No matter how much money she made from the Bahazman fruit, it could not revive her dead heart.

But her lost heart was back at some point. It was an amazing miracle. It was not her who accomplished this miracle. She came to think about the power that changed her mind, in addition to that of her index finger.

“… ! ”

Her gaze, floating in the darkness beyond the window, stopped at one point. She saw Lard walking in the alley. He was returning home late.

She heard him opening and closing the door downstairs. While listening to the sound of him climbing the stairs, she came down from the windowsill and adjusted her dress.

“Come on in.”

As the door opened, Lard entered the room. He smiled brightly as he saw her face. It was the smile that brought back her lost heart.

“Did something good happen?”

“I extracted the confession of Joseph Yass, the owner of Helena Store. I found out who masterminded the manufacturing of the gunpowder, ” he said, walking to her immediately.

It was unexpected good news. She swallowed, waiting for his next words.

“It was the Scholters family.”

As expected, the Scholters family was responsible for the explosion. The suspicious conversation she heard on the day the prince’s palace collapsed was not something to pass over.

“I mean, Earl Scholters you mentioned to me,” he said with a smile, as if he read her mind.

“Scholters is the first who can reveal Duke Engre’s crime. As I’ve revealed their crimes, Duke Engre won’t be safe.”

“… I guess the Scholters family will be in a bloodbath.”

“I already arrested Earl Scholters and his successor. Other suspects related to him are being arrested one by one.”

She recalled Altarin of the Scholters family. Even though Wendy had a bad feeling for her wicked actions, she felt sorry when she thought that Altarin would have to go through a hardship. She was set to experience suffering because of her parents’ crime.

“I hope everything goes well… How about His Majesty? ”

“Oh, he is very upset about it. Today, he called the botany professor of Jeddah Academy.

He also has considerable knowledge in medicine.”

Lard spoke, recalling the professor wearing thick pince-nez. He had to be stationed at the imperial palace because of the ongoing investigation of the late emperor’s death. He would not be free until the mastermind who supplied cigars to the palace was arrested.

“According to him, it is impossible to precisely find out the timing of death, even if the late emperor continued to smoke cigars and became addicted to bentoxique, but…”

He paused for a moment as if he was lost in thought. She didn’t press him to continue, patiently waiting for his next words.