SMLYSI 02

Now that I’ve been given a new life, I needed a new life plan.

After regaining my memories, I spent several days outlining my future.

How to become friends with the male lead and how to part ways beautifully—I decided to figure that out later.

Anyway, the male lead had already left for the northern forest on a monster reconnaissance mission.

He probably wouldn’t return until about two weeks from now.

So for now, I should focus on planning what comes after that.

After all, once I’ve had my beautiful farewell with the male lead, I’ll still need to survive somehow.

Under no circumstances would I ever return to the count’s estate. If the male lead gives me a decent settlement, I’ll take it and settle down somewhere.

But what should I do once I’ve settled?

……Should I go into business?

“……What did you say you needed?”

“A shovel. A trowel would be fine too. And if you could also get some herb seeds, that’d be great.”

“Herb seeds?”

“Yes. Just find the herbs listed here—they grow well even in poor soil and are very cold-resistant.”

The maid stared at me blankly.

Only after I waved the note in front of her a couple of times did she snap out of it and take it.

Even then, she kept casting strange glances my way.

Yeah, I guess it is weird.

After spending every day locked up in my room, I suddenly started acting completely normal—going about daily life, and now even asking for herb seeds.

But what can I do?

I’m changing now, so they’ll just have to adapt.

When I gave her a bright smile, she awkwardly smiled back.

“I’ll tell the steward and try to get everything as quickly as possible.”

The maid bowed her head slightly and hurried away.

She’ll definitely be gossiping about me behind my back.

I just hope she doesn’t say something like, “That woman’s clearly gone mad.”

Her promise to get things fast turned out to be true—within just a few days, the trowel and herb seeds were in my hands.

“These are the items you requested, my lady.”

It was Barhan, the steward himself, who brought them to me.

Since he’d taken over a task normally left to maids, he must’ve found my transformation quite fascinating as well.

“May I ask, my lady… what do you intend to do with these?”

“What else? I’m going to plant and grow them.”

“……Herbs?”

“Yes. Herbs.”

Seeing his utterly bewildered expression, I dragged him out to the garden.

Actually, this worked out perfectly—I’d been wondering which spot to claim as my plot.

This was exactly the kind of issue I should discuss with the steward.

While walking him toward the secluded corner I’d scouted earlier, I took the chance to answer his questions.

“It was my childhood dream.”

“Growing herbs, you mean?”

“More precisely, my dream was to make and sell desserts and teas infused with herbs.”

It was a dusty old dream I’d almost forgotten, but it resurfaced when I recalled both my childhood and past life.

I rather liked this long-lost dream I’d rediscovered.

After all, it carried memories of both my mother and my grandmother.

My mother and grandmother came from a minority tribe that the imperial court forcibly relocated under the guise of “protection,” seizing their ancestral lands.

The tribe, who cherished nature and lived harmoniously with plants and animals, struggled to adapt to life in the empire.

Even those who somehow managed to adjust could never shake their deep-rooted love for nature.

〈Nature generously gives us so much. Nothing loves us more selflessly than nature does.〉

Among all the gifts nature offers, herbs have the most direct impact on humans.

My grandmother was an expert in both medicinal and poisonous herbs, and my mother, having learned directly from her, became equally skilled.

As for me, I only inherited half their knowledge—enough to be “crispy,” if not exactly “savvy,” about herbs.

My knowledge of herbs might be “crispy,” but in my past life, my hobby was baking.

I already had all the necessary conditions—now all I needed was practice cultivating herbs.

After all, if I wanted to sell consistent menu items, it’d be best to grow the herbs myself.

Ah, here it is.

While lost in thought, I’d arrived at the spot I’d previously scouted.

“I’d like to use this area—would that be alright?”

“……So you intend to plant herbs right here?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“No, not at all. The garden belongs to you by right, my lady. Please feel free to use it however you wish.”

It belongs to me by right?

Now that he mentioned it, I vaguely recalled that gardens were usually managed by the lady of the house.

I looked around, surveying my surroundings.

To be honest, the vast garden of Richter Mansion was rather underwhelming—

just barely meeting the basic expectations, without any real charm.

Thinking back, that neglect probably stemmed from the indifference of previous ladies of the house.

Even if none had secluded themselves due to depression like I had, clearly no one had ever cared enough about this estate to lovingly tend its garden.

“Would it be alright if I turned the entire garden into an herb field?”

After scanning the area for a while, I asked—and Barhan flinched.

“……Is that… is that truly your wish?”

“No. Just kidding.”

At my reply, Barhan let out a long, relieved sigh.

Was his relief really that obvious?

For a brief moment, I considered actually turning the whole garden into an herb field—but held back.

“This place will be full of flowers and trees someday.”

“What? Is that really possible?”

Instead of answering, I just shrugged at Barhan, whose eyes shone with excitement.

I couldn’t very well say, “Later, the female lead will show up and plant tons of flowers and trees here.”

I looked down at my allotted patch—

a secluded, rectangular plot that got decent sunlight.

This would be my farm.

And that would be the female lead’s garden.

“……It really is incredible.”

Sienna, who’d been scrubbing the window, muttered in a daze.

At the far end of her gaze was Serphina, busily digging in the garden.

“How can someone change so drastically overnight? Is that even possible?”

“I suppose she must’ve had some kind of change of heart.”

“But still—even so…!”

Sienna clamped her mouth shut at Mari’s stern glare.

Hmph. Such a stickler.

Yet her eyes kept drifting back to Serphina, unable to look away.

No matter how many times she watched, it remained utterly fascinating.

The mistress, who’d been wasting away like a shut-in, suddenly burst out of her room one day and started digging the earth with a trowel in hand.

Even more amusing—just a few days after she started digging, her little plot was already beginning to take shape.

She’d cleared away the big stones, scraped off the nutrient-poor topsoil,

watered the ground, thoroughly turned the soil, applied fertilizer, and even made neat furrows.

How could a noblewoman till a field so skillfully?

“Oh, there’s Markops.”

Jina, who’d been wiping dust off the window frame next to her, pointed outside.

Markops was the gardener—

responsible for keeping the garden, ornamental as it was, from looking too neglected.

Ever since Serphina first took up a shovel, he’d been hovering nearby, glaring darkly.

As the gardener, he probably felt uneasy about letting the mistress get her hands dirty.

“Oh, the steward’s here too.”

Soon, Barhan the steward quietly approached Serphina and Markops.

His reasons were similar—

though curiosity and interest drove him slightly more than duty.

He was deeply intrigued by the sudden transformation in their mistress.

Sienna kept scrubbing the same spot over and over, her eyes fixed on the scene outside.

Two men standing awkwardly, and the mistress diligently turning the soil.

Sienna’s eyes sparkled.

“Alright. My skills haven’t rusted at all.”

I proudly surveyed the plot I’d cultivated.

All that frantic digging—scraping together every scrap of memory I had—had been worth it.

Now it was time to plant the herb seeds and seedlings Barhan had procured for me.

Truthfully, the real battle started here.

“My lady, please—it really is fine if I handle this. No, please let me do it.”

Markops, the gardener, seemed to think so too, almost pleading with me.

But I shook my head firmly.

“I’ll do it myself.”

After all, I’d personally turned the soil, made the furrows, and spread the fertilizer just for this moment.

Handing over only the best part—the planting—to someone else would be like asking them to sing only the climax of a song while you skip everything else. It’s a shamelessly selfish way to “help.”

Even if my voice cracks on the high notes, I’ll be the one singing that climax myself.

With renewed determination, I fetched the seeds I’d pre-soaked in water.

“Here’s your trowel.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll leave the watering can right here.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“‘Thank you’?”

“That’s how you say ‘thanks.’”

“Ohhh!”

……Wait, whose voice was that?

I turned toward the bright, unfamiliar voice—and met the eyes of a young woman standing beside me, half-bowed.

Despite her cheerful tone, her face looked familiar.

“You’re……”

“Sienna. I’m a maid.”

Ah, now I remembered.

She was one of the maids who’d stared at me in shock the day I’d regained my childhood and past-life memories and declared I was starting my second life—

the very moment I’d burst out of my room.

“I’d like to help you with your gardening, my lady.”

“We already have too many helpers.”

There was Markops, and Barhan too.

“I’ll just handle the watering can and pass you any tools you need. I’ll keep it filled with water ahead of time, and bring anything else you ask for. If you need any other help, just let me know.”

“Oh, that sounds pretty appealing.”

“I was here first!”

At my remark, Markops jumped in, startled.

“The world doesn’t run on ‘first come, first served’—it runs on competence. What matters is whether you can deliver exactly what your superior needs.”

Damn it. That’s infuriating.

As Markops gritted his teeth, Sienna gave him a look like a concubine who’d just borne the emperor a son.

What are you two even doing?