Chapter : 7
“Miss, will this be enough?”
Edel returned from the flower market carrying a huge basket piled high with wilted flowers.
“This is more than enough. Thank you, Edel.”
“It’s nothing. If you need anything else, just tell me. I’ll do everything for you.”
“Then I also need an hourglass. I want to train while measuring the time. And please prepare some filling snacks too.”
“Snacks?”
“Yes. If I want to succeed, I need to eat properly too.”
Deeply moved, Edel covered her mouth with both hands.
“Oh my goodness, Miss is actually asking for food first…! You always said you had no appetite before. I’m so happy right now!”
Her eyes sparkled emotionally, and soon her face filled with motivation.
“What would you like to eat? Should I prepare sandwiches, soup, steak, and even dessert?!”
“I don’t need that much. Just something simple is fine.”
“Please wait a moment! I’ll bring it right away!”
Edel hurried out of the bedroom as if she were preparing a full buffet. Valley watched her with a smile before looking at the wilted flowers she had bought.
“When the Duke held the flower, it dried out even worse than this. I need to practice restoring even more moisture.”
It felt like she would need to revive five wilted flowers to equal the one Wayne had burned.
Valley flipped the basket over onto the floor and began her serious training.
“Ha… I still can’t revive the flower before all the sand runs out…”
Half a day had passed since she began training. Sitting on the bedroom floor while reviving flowers, Valley let out a long sigh and collapsed backward.
Around her were flowers that had only partially regained moisture.
Wayne’s condition had been two minutes.
But Valley still needed three and a half minutes to revive one flower.
Tomorrow was already the third day of their agreement, yet she still couldn’t get under three minutes.
She was exhausted from not sleeping properly, but anxiety kept her mind restless.
As she pressed her fingers against her tired eyes, thinking only about how to shorten the time—
“Oh my, Miss. You’ve already revived this many flowers?”
Edel entered carrying a third round of snacks and gasped in admiration at the flowers surrounding Valley.
“No matter how many times I see it, it’s amazing. How can you revive wilted flowers like this?”
“It’s nothing compared to Rina…”
“To a commoner like me who can’t use magic at all, you’re already incredible.”
Edel placed the tray of snacks in front of Valley and gathered the revived flowers together.
Then she began arranging them in a vase on the table.
Her hands moved smoothly, and soon the arrangement looked so lively that it felt like the flowers might bloom further at any moment.
“What do you think? Don’t the flowers you revived look even fresher like this?”
“Yes, they’re really pretty… I think you’re more amazing, Edel.”
“Me?”
“Even without magic, you make flowers come alive with just a few touches.”
Wanting to look more closely, Valley stood up and walked over.
Edel had used the taller flowers in the center to create balance, then decorated around them with flowers of different colors.
“I’m good at designing flower beds, but arranging flowers like this is difficult for me.”
“Maybe it’s because you’re good at using large spaces, Miss. I like adding highlights to smaller spaces.”
“So you imagine the whole design first before moving your hands?”
“Hmm, rather than planning the whole thing, I think about the center first. If I try to plan everything perfectly from the start, it actually becomes harder for me.”
Hearing that, Valley suddenly felt like the fog in her head had cleared.
All this time, she had obsessed over reviving the flowers perfectly in order to pass Wayne’s test.
Valley returned to her seat, flipped over the hourglass, and grabbed one wilted flower.
She focused her magic mainly on restoring the large stem, the flower’s center, and the petals.
“…Done.”
She had used less magic than before, yet the flower revived properly.
And after restoring the large stem first, the magic naturally spread slowly through the rest of the flower, bringing life back to it.
Amazed, Valley quickly turned to check the hourglass.
Not long after her gaze landed on it, the last grains of sand fell.
“I-I did it! Edel, I finally revived a flower within the time limit!”
Succeeding for the first time, Valley threw her arms around Edel and expressed her joy with her whole body.
“I kept failing, but thanks to you I succeeded! Thank you so much!”
“Me? I didn’t do anything though.”
“No, thanks to you I finally understood how I should use my magic.”
“I don’t really understand what happened, but if I helped you, then I’m happy too.”
For the remaining time, Valley continued reviving flowers using the same method.
Since she was using her magic more efficiently, her recovery time naturally became shorter as well.
Feeling as though she had finally found the perfect answer, a smile of success already appeared on Valley’s lips.
Very early the next morning, before the sun had risen.
Valley stood by the window looking at the dim purple sky.
Even the final wilted flower in her hand had been fully revived.
“Miss…? You’re already awake?”
Hearing movement and seeing the bedroom light on, Edel entered after knocking.
When she saw Valley’s reddened eyes, she hurried closer.
“Miss, don’t tell me you didn’t sleep?”
“Yes. I couldn’t fall asleep.”
“Isn’t it because you trained your magic too much? At this rate, your body will suffer.”
Edel grabbed Valley’s hand and tried leading her toward the bed, but Valley refused to move.
“Miss?”
Sensing something unusual, Edel carefully looked at Valley’s expression.
“Edel, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
Valley looked like she had already made up her mind completely, and Edel immediately became serious too.
“Battery is coming this morning.”
“The fiancé who visited while I was gone?”
“Yes. And before he arrives, I’m leaving this estate.”
“You’re going somewhere?”
“No. I’m leaving and not coming back.”
Edel’s eyes widened.
“I don’t want to marry him. He’s all talk with nothing real underneath. I already know exactly what my life would become if I married Battery.”
One marriage with Battery had already been more than enough.
“Wouldn’t it be better to tell the Master you refuse to marry him?”
“Then my parents will just find another nobleman and sell me off again.”
“M-Miss…”
“So I decided I’ll abandon this family first.”
“Where will you go?”
“To the Biterad Ducal House.”
Clearly shocked by the unexpected answer, Edel’s eyes grew round.
“What? Biterad? You mean the Duke known as the Last Flame? Are you planning to marry him? You can’t, since you two have different attributes.”
“No. I’m not marrying anyone. I’m going to Biterad so I can do the work I want to do.”
Edel quietly listened before eventually nodding.
“If it’s something you truly want, then you should do it. I don’t want to keep watching you suffer in this house anymore either.”
As if encouraging Valley, Edel gently held both of her hands tightly.
“What should I do?”
“Bring me a maid uniform like yours. I’m going to leave wearing it.”
“You’re planning to pretend to be a maid because of the house restriction.”
“That’s right. And Edel, may I ask you something too?”
“Me?”
Valley looked at Edel with firmer eyes than ever before.
“Once I disappear, my parents will suspect you first since you’re my personal maid. They might even beat you to make you tell them where I went. So… leave this estate with me.”
“M-Me too?”
“I can’t take you directly to the Biterad estate right away, but with the money I saved, I can at least let you stay at an inn for about two months.”
Listening carefully, Edel blinked her eyes in surprise.
“Of course, you can refuse if you don’t want to. But I want you to come with me. You’ve been the only person on my side in this place.”
“Miss…”
“I’ll work as hard as I can so we can be together again quickly. So… will you run away with me?”
Tears soon filled Edel’s eyes, and she nodded emotionally.
“Yes! I want to go with you too, Miss!”
