21. The Garden is Finished
21. The Garden is Finished
“Aurantia gave up without a fight!” Mr. Fisalis told me when he returned home, quite pleased. What the heck happened these last two weeks?!
After telling me he’d explain in more detail with Father Fisalis, he led me to the salon.
“What do you mean? What happened?”
“After the incident, we summoned the king of Aurantia here and had a gooooood talk with him. Basically we said: your kids pulled a quite the little stunt here—what should we do with them?”
“Little” is totally underselling it! “I see,” I replied, nodding.
“Their king seemed to understand the situation, so he begged for his children’s lives and offered to abdicate his royal authority.”
“It seems that since his queen died early in his children’s lives, he spoiled them rotten out of pity. I understand wanting to do everything you can for your children, but you do need to keep some control over them,” Father Fisalis explained, heaving a sigh.
“Control, hmm?” repeated Mother Fisalis with a sigh, glancing over to Mr. Fisalis. He looked a bit embarrassed in return. Oh, it’s okay—your son is fine now!
But it was great to hear they were able to talk with the king! He seemed quite different from those kids of his who ignore everything they hear. If the king of Aurantia was so reasonable, he should have stopped them from starting a war in the first place.
“It’s been agreed that Flür will be detaining both the crown prince and princess who stirred up a fuss this time, and the second prince in charge of their military who started the war in the first place. Then comes deciding what to do with them. With the country itself, the connections we made there during the war won us an easy and bloodless surrender.”
“Connections?”
“Yep. Corydalis and my other men worked hard to gather allies during the conflict, and they really helped us out.”
I see... So that’s how that all went down. It was easy to imagine Corydalis and the other knights running around on Mr. Fisalis’s orders. Thanks for all your hard work, knights!
“This time, our victory was mostly thanks to the Aurantian prime minister capitulating so readily. Our allies convincing people probably helped too, but the prime minister honestly seemed to have his head screwed on straight.”
According to Mr. Fisalis, there were many nobles and military members sympathetic to the royal family these days, so all it took to solve the problem was winning them over alongside our other allies. The prime minister seemed to prioritize the country’s survival over the comfort of the royal family’s, and when Flür’s envoys answered their call, he and everyone else who wasn’t completely in the royal family’s pocket greeted them obediently. Flür had soldiers at the ready in case it was a trap, but there had been no need for them in the end.
I had been convinced the whole country had been annihilated, but actually it was just changing rulers. Aurantia would be merged with Flür, and our country would be sending a margrave to govern it.
“That prime minister is probably the whole reason the country kept afloat. It looks like he had his work cut out for him,” Mr. Fisalis commented with a faraway look before muttering, “I couldn’t handle going completely bald over some dumb royals...”
So the Aurantian prime minister is completely bald? As in, the royal family caused him enough trouble that his hair actually fell out?! Wow... I guess that makes sense, with those royal siblings. Dealing with them must have been awful.
“Whatever the case, the incident is over. You don’t have to worry about anything anymore. I want to say you can go outside again, but...first, how is your ankle?” Mr. Fisalis asked.
“The doctor checked it today and said I could try walking on it. No one let me, though,” I replied with a bitter look towards all of the servants, who nonchalantly looked away.
“Her ankle isn’t swollen anymore, so shouldn’t it be fine? Vi’s going to get depressed if you keep her in bed for too long,” Mother Fisalis piped in, flashing a wry smile.
“That’s right... But I’ve been having a great time taking care of her lately. On one hand, I want her to get better soon, but on the other, I don’t want her to get better at all. What a dilemma...”
“Jeez! Cercis, don’t joke like that!”
“Ha ha ha! Do you want to practice walking a bit again?”
“I don’t need any practice to walk!”
“Then let’s walk.”
“Okay!” Taking Mr. Fisalis’s offered hand, I stood on my own feet for the first time in weeks.
“Look! Vi stood up!” Mr. Fisalis cried happily, but I wasn’t sure why he was making a big deal of it.
I could put weight on it without any pain or discomfort, so it seemed to be fully healed!
“That’s great! Since the Aurantia incident is over and Viola’s ankle is better, it might be time for us to head back to the territories.”
“You’re right! We haven’t seen our manor in Le Pied for an awfully long time.”
“We need to start doing something about public safety there.”
“You’re right. I’ll leave the matter of the community watch to you.”
Noting that the timing was good, my in-laws decided to head back to the territories. They’d been staying here with me since the war began, so knowing they’d be leaving made me feel a bit lonely. I miss back at the beginning of their stay, where I was worried about them catching me working with the servants (or did I just enjoy the thrill?). Next time, I’ll be the one visiting them.
A few days later, they gathered all of their things together and set off, back on the way to the territories. After Mr. Fisalis and I watched their carriage ride off, we were about to go inside.
“The garden renovations are finished. Would you like to go see it?” Mr. Fisalis asked, suddenly inviting me out for a walk.
Oh yeah, he did say it’d be finished around when my ankle was healed. “Wow! It’s done already?”
“Yep. I think you’ll love it, Vi.”
“Let’s get going then!”
“Ha ha ha, you don’t need to rush,” he laughed as I hurriedly pulled his hand towards the gardens.
I was super excited to see the gardens again after so long—and after massive renovations, too! I looked all around with curiosity, but... At a glance, it didn’t look very different at all. Certainly not enough of a change to justify all the holes I’d seen everywhere, at any rate.
“Cercis—is it just me, or has it not changed much at all?” I asked Mr. Fisalis as we walked together hand in hand.
“We didn’t do much here—or rather, we didn’t do anything at all here. The renovations were over there.”
“Over there?”
“Yep.”
Where was “over there,” though? I wanted to ask, but it seemed like Mr. Fisalis was avoiding the question, because he wouldn’t tell me directly. He just quickly walked towards the cottage.
Wait, if they weren’t renovating the entire garden, shouldn’t it have been fine for me to go out? I glared at Mr. Fisalis suspiciously, but kept quiet and followed along.
“Ah, you can see the cottage better!”
Up until then, it’d been surrounded by high trees so you couldn’t see it well from outside, but they’d been uprooted and replaced with shorter trees. Now there was a clear view of the castle from both the garden and the manor itself. It had always seemed like a secret, secluded little cabin thanks to the tall trees, but now it had transformed into a wonderful, brightly-lit cottage.
Ah, so this was the bit he got renovated. I see. Digging up and replanting all of those old trees must have been an ordeal.
The view was wonderful, especially the bit of lawn facing the pond in front of the cottage—yep, that used to be a wooden deck! Mr. Fisalis won’t be able to do anything untoward here! Wait, that’s not what I should be focusing on.
“You can see the entire cottage from the gardens. Can you see it from the manor now, too? It’ll get a lot more light now.”
“Yep, and you can see the garden from the cottage now, too.”
“It’s harder to secretly peep...ahem, I mean, sneak a look at it now.”
“...What are you talking about, Vi...?”
I said it with such a serious look that Mr. Fisalis just awkwardly smiled back.
Next, we went around to the back of the cottage. This was where my little garden was. My overgrown, wonderfully sloppy garden. I’d had a lot of fun in my modest little spot in the corner of Bellis’s wonderful garden, and...
“Huh?! What happened, it’s all nice now!”
What I saw there completely shocked me. My garden had been upgraded!
The first thing I noticed was the size. It was about twice as big as it used to be, maybe even more than that. Anyway, it was definitely bigger!
Before, it had just been a random little open spot, with no enclosure around it; I’d just been planting whatever I had after I’d gotten permission to do it. Now it had some proper shrubbery around it, so it looked like a real garden for once.
Plus, it had fresh soil in it so I could plant new seeds or bulbs whenever I wanted. And of course, the flowers that I’d filled it with were still blooming beautifully. It actually looked like they’d been left alone specifically for me.
There was a patch of grass for some space to relax in, and...
“There’s a gazebo.”
“Yep. Now you’ll have somewhere to kick back in comfort.”
The lawn was just the same as it had been before, but there was a gazebo in it! The octagonal structure didn’t have walls, but instead had a waist-high fence around it with a triangular roof. The whole thing was decked out in classic white and looked quite cute.
“It’s a wonderful gazebo! Oooh, there’s a sofa, too.”
Taking a leisurely look around the inside, there was a fluffy sofa. It was interestingly shaped to match the three sides of the octagon, and was more than big enough for three people to sit comfortably. I’ll be able to take an afternoon nap here when I get tired from working!
Since the roof was large, there was lots of space under the eaves. I’d probably be able to avoid getting soaked during sudden rain showers underneath it. Despite the roof’s size, it was still quite high to let in a lot of light.
As I looked all around the gazebo curiously, Mr. Fisalis (who had already taken a seat on the couch) pulled me by the hand and sat me down beside him.
“I figured it might be nice for you to take it easy in here. Of course, you can still lay on the lawn if you want to.”
“Yay, that’s great!” I liked the lawn already, after all. I was glad he had it left for me.
“Do you like it? I had it made with you in mind.”
“Of course I do! Thank you so much!”
I could take a little break in the gazebo, and have lunch or tea outside. Mr. Fisalis, thanks so much for having such a great spot made for me! I was so happy that I gave him a big hug.
“Calling it a large-scale renovation was a lie to keep you from going out into it before it was finished. I’m sorry, Vi. I only kept it a secret because I wanted to surprise you,” Mr. Fisalis told me, stroking my hair gently.
Oh, I get it now! Dammit, I’m gonna have to forgive him!
“I was surprised, but in a good way. Really, thank you so much, Cercis,” I thanked him from the bottom of my heart, looking up at him.
He smiled happily back down at me before giving me a kiss on my forehead. “Now that I’ve got you glad about the garden reno, it’s time for my next surprise,” he said, standing up and pulling me with him.
Hm? Another surprise? The first one was the gazebo, right? What was the second one? I had absolutely no idea, so I was practically radiating huge question marks.
“Take care of Vi,” Mr. Fisalis ordered, addressed to someone outside of the gazebo.
Who is he talking to? Rohtas? Dahlia? But wait, we should be the only ones here right now, shouldn’t we?!
And then, voices rang out all around us.
“All right! Leave it to us!”
“Now Madam, let’s get you back to your room for a little bath.”
“Then we’ll give you the best massage.”
“We’re going to get you looking beautiful today, too!”
All of those voices belonged to the happy little Spa Squad! Wait, where were you all hiding?! I know we’ve been alone up until now! “Okay, okay, let’s get going, Madam,” the smiling maids said, trying to pull me off somewhere.
“Huh, wait—wait just a second, what’s happening? What’s gonna be happening? Someone, explain please!” I panicked, trying to resist. But no one gave me any explanation at all. While I was all flustered, the maids got a good grip on me and dragged me away.
Most of the time, the Spa Squad was deployed for evening parties or social get-togethers. But today, I had no plans. All I was gonna do was take a walk with Mr. Fisalis in the gardens! Oh no, is there some secret party or something coming up?! No, no, no—I’ve never heard of anything this last minute before. Really, what on earth is going on?
“Cercis?!”
“Everything’s fine, Vi!” Mr. Fisalis said in response to my cry for help, smiling and giving me a little wave. While I was still busy panicking, he gave the Spa Squad some serious orders. “I’m counting on you. Viola is always cute, but make her look exceptional today.”
What’s with the extra special plan? “Understood! We’ll work extra hard to doll her up!” the maids gladly replied to Mr. Fisalis’s order.
What, are they all working with Mr. Fisalis? Am I the only one out of the loop? What’s going to happen?!