Unchanging Days and Changed Things 1
Author's Note: Along with the novelization, there are some changes from
chapter one.
·
Ashren 's older brother is a diplomat. He usually goes abroad and is
rarely at the Naturi Marquis residence. Mainly, the Director
and Karin live in the main residence together.
·
Flora and Tick got married!!
The second spring I am welcoming in the Kanista Kingdom.
The cloudless, cheerful weather makes one sweat just a little, but the
breeze coming in through the window is pleasant.
As soon as I arrived at work and opened the laboratory window, Ashren-sama
was piling up a massive amount of documents onto Tick's desk.
「Isn't that a bit too much?」
「Since he took a whole week off, this much is to be expected.」
Flora-san and Tick, who had taken
marriage leave, are coming to work today for the first time in a while. They
said the destination for their honeymoon was a seaside town, and they were
looking forward to eating delicious food.
But, no matter how you look at it, this is... As I lowered my eyebrows
and looked at Tick's desk, the door opened, and the newlyweds appeared
together.
「Ashren-sama, Layla, thank you for the
time off.」
「Not at all. Flora-san, was it fun?」
「Yes, there were many shops serving foreign cuisine, so we went eating
around.」
「Ah, these are souvenirs, sir.」
Saying so, Tick handed me two small bags.
「One is cufflinks for Ashren-sama, and the other is a hair
ornament for you, Layla-san. Both are foreign goods that Flora
picked out.」
Oh my. His way of calling her changed from "Flora-san"
to "Flora". While tightening my cheeks that were about to
break into a grin, I spoke up.
「Thank you. Ashren-sama, we received souvenirs.」
Feeling from the outside of the bag, I handed the one that seemed to be
the cufflinks to Ashren-sama. He received it while saying "Thank
you" to Flora and the others. Opening it immediately, a hair
ornament made of silverwork with an ice-blue stone, the same color as Ashren-sama's
eyes, came out.
Which means... Looking at Ashren-sama's
hands, there were copper-red cufflinks. Matching my eye color always ends up
looking somewhat subdued, no matter what. And yet.
「It's a good color.」
Ashren-sama narrowed his eyes as he held the
cufflinks up to the light streaming in from the window.
「Right? I think so too. A ruby-like red is nice, but since your
appearance stands out, Ashren-sama, it's better to wear calm colors.」
「Agreed.」
As always, he seems to have no intention of denying his good looks, but
seeing him happily swap out his cufflinks makes me somewhat happy too.
「I will put yours on for you, Layla.」
Having changed his cufflinks, Ashren-sama took the hair ornament
from the palm of my hand and, while still facing me, reached his arms around to
the back of my head. Eh, I am happy you are putting it on for me, but
normally, wouldn't you step behind me first?
In a posture as if I were being embraced, Ashren-sama's collar
came right up close, and I could feel the scent of his perfume stronger than
usual.
「Alright, done.」
Reflected in those smiling ice-blue eyes was my figure, standing
rigidly at attention and blushing bright red. This is...
「You did that on purpose, didn't you.」
「Hm? Did what?」
~!! Because I carelessly said I wanted to do things like lovers do, Ashren-sama
has started to enjoy teasing me like this from time to time.
The newlyweds grinning and looking at us makes it even more unbearable.
As I was flapping my hands to send a breeze to my cheeks, I heard Tick's
voice say, "Uwaa." Wondering what happened, I directed my gaze and
saw him staring blankly at his own desk.
「Ashren-sama, you aren't going to say this is
due by the end of the day, right?」
「Of course it is due by the end of the day.」
「No, no, that's impossible. Overtime is guaranteed! Look, I'm a
newlywed, so I have things to do if I go home early...」
「I could do it within regular hours.」
Being asserted to like that, Tick slumped his shoulders and
glared bitterly at the documents placed on his desk. As expected, this is
pitiful, I thought, and looked at Flora-san, but she was leisurely
sitting down in her own chair.
「Flora-san, shall I also say something to Ashren-sama?」
「It's fine, don't worry about it. Thanks to this, I can take it easy
tonight.」
Stretching with an "Uuun," she began to look through the
research logs from the past week. If Flora-san is fine with it, then I
should also get to my own work, I thought, but as if remembering something, she
raised her face and mischievously raised the corners of her mouth.
「You are getting married in the summer too, right, Layla? Do your
best.」
「Haa...」
What could she mean? Tilting my head, I picked
up a basket at the edge of the laboratory.
「Well then, I am going to the medicinal herb garden.」
「Are you going now? ...Well, I suppose that's fine. In that case, could
you stop by the Pharmaceutical Department on your way back and receive some
documents from Reizan? The clinical trial documents regarding the hay
fever medicine that the Director requested the other day should be
completed today.」
While feeling a bit concerned about the slightly strange pause, I
answered "Yes" to Ashren-sama's request, opened the heavy door
of the laboratory, and went outside.
This winter, the Director asked for my opinion a few times
regarding a hay fever reagent, and it was completed after some trial and error.
In the case of allergies, the severity of symptoms varies from person to
person, so we asked Reizan-sama to have people suffering from hay fever
cooperate in clinical trials, and it seems the document compiling those results
has been completed. I am also curious about to what extent it was able to
alleviate itchy eyes and stuffy noses, so I will ask to read it later.
Passing through the backyard of the castle and slipping between the
winding trees, a lush medicinal herb garden with green leaves spread out there.
There are many types of medicinal herbs in spring. The people from the
Pharmaceutical Department take care of them, but all of them had large leaves
and fresh colors.
No matter how perfect a recipe you create, if the quality of the raw
medicinal herbs is poor, the effect is halved. Everyone in this country is
meticulous in their work.
There are several types of medicinal herbs I am after. There is a
greenhouse at the edge of the medicinal herb garden, but I don't have to go
there today. It was nice and warm in the winter, but recently it feels hot. In
the summer, I'll be dripping with sweat.
On the soil, the medicinal herbs that had been sleeping during the
winter were rapidly growing taller, some already reaching around my knees. The
medicinal herbs were planted by type, with small plates set up. Of course, I
can tell without looking, but as I collected them while confirming just in
case, I saw silhouettes flickering under a distant tree.
Was there something over there? This place is
even further in from the castle's backyard. The only thing here is the
medicinal herb garden, though... as I thought that, another silhouette
appeared. It seemed to be a man and a woman, and as I watched, the hand of the
man with slicked-back red hair touched the woman's blonde hair.
Beyond the medicinal herb garden is the castle wall. If it's a man and
a woman meeting while hiding in the shadow of the eucalyptus tree near there...
This might be what they call a secret meeting. If that's the case, I had better
retreat quickly.
I am often told that I am dense when it comes to romance, but even I
understand that much. I quickly put the necessary medicinal herbs into the
basket and tried to leave, but when I stood up, I ended up seeing the woman
push the man away.
Eh, a fight? Moreover, the woman started
running right toward me just like that. What should I do? I shouldn't need to
hide, but thinking I mustn't be found must be because I am a coward.
I hurriedly crouched down and tried to hide behind the leaves of the
medicinal herbs, but the leaves, which only reached knee height, weren't very
helpful. Having no choice, I hugged my knees and made myself as small as
possible, and a pair of pink shoes passed by in front of me. Thank goodness,
she didn't notice me, I thought, but for only a brief moment; the shoes
stopped perfectly and changed direction.
Oh no. The shoes that were supposed to have
passed by took a few steps toward me and stopped right in front of my eyes.
Even though I haven't done anything wrong, I wonder why I feel a sense
of guilt as if I had been peeping. If it were Ashren-sama, he would have
shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and smoothed over the situation, but I
cannot do that. Having no choice but to raise my gaze, what I first saw was an
expensive red dress. Her wavy hair reaching her waist was chestnut-colored, and
her eyes were a beautiful ice blue, the same as Ashren-sama's. Eh,
could it be.
「...Her Royal Highness Princess Stira?」
「Layla!」
Looking at my face, the Princess suddenly turned pale and directed her
gaze to the tree where she had been until just a moment ago. The man was still
there, looking this way. Because it was from a distance, I couldn't really tell
much other than that he had red hair, but it seemed as though he was also
bewildered.
「U-Um... I came to pick some medicinal herbs...」
And there, my words got stuck. What should I say? Is "I will keep
quiet" alright? In this situation, would "I didn't see anything"
pass?
As I opened and closed my mouth like a fish wondering what to do, the
Princess bit her lip tightly, and then, unbelievably, crouched down to meet my
gaze. Taking the hand of the flustered me who was watching her red dress get
dirty with dirt, she furrowed her brows, directed tearful eyes at me, and
pleaded, "Please, keep this a secret."
I nodded silently over and over again to say I understood, but Princess
Stira deepened the wrinkles between her eyebrows and emphasized it
further.
「Keep it a secret from Ashren, too.」
「...Understood.」
Ashren-sama, it seems you are not
trusted; did you do something?
Of course, I couldn't say that and nodded, but Princess Stira's
gaze still wandered as if she wanted to say something more.
However, she seemed to judge that it was better not to talk any
further, stood up, and left briskly, saying, "I mustn't let my guards find
me."
To think she would even ditch her guards to have a secret meeting. When
I looked toward the tree again, the man who had been there had also
disappeared. It wasn't a knight's uniform, but he was dressed neatly, so I
wonder if he is a civil official.
Perhaps I might have seen something outrageous. Eventually... getting
silenced. Surely it won't come to that, right. Probably.
The first time I met Princess Stira was in the audience chamber
when I reported my engagement to His Majesty the King and the others together
with Ashren-sama. Considering Ashren-sama's position as second in
line to the throne, it was only natural, and I was trembling with fear
wondering if something would be demanded of me as someone joining the lowest
seat of the royal family, but the audience was peaceful from beginning to end.
His Majesty the King praised my research up to now, and told me that Ashren-sama's
right of succession to the throne is strictly for unforeseen circumstances, so
there is no need for education as royalty, and that we should just live our
lives as usual.
Since then, I have spoken with Princess Stira a few times, and
she seemed to be a strong-core woman who, while modest, thinks deeply about the
country.
That is exactly why it is surprising that she would have a secret meeting.