Chapter 25
[I saw when he was changing clothes—there wasn’t any kind of sore on his right elbow. No spots on his back, either.]
“No sores… no spots…”
Listening to Garrett’s message, Lizzy crossed two items off the long list of side effects Eriblaman had sent her.
Tap, tap.
The list still seemed endless, but she had steadily managed to eliminate quite a few symptoms over the past three days.
[His eyes looked moist. Oh, and I also saw him swat a fly in mid-air with a dagger.]
“No dry eyes… motor reflexes normal…”
Tap, tap.
[It’d be good to watch him eat. You never know about food allergies.]
“Oh, I already asked Jeffrey about that. He said there’s none.”
[Jeffrey?]
“He’s a servant. Works in the kitchen, delivers food. Doesn’t seem all that strong, though…”
Tap, tap.
“Well, he’ll manage.”
[…….]
As Garrett wondered if there was anyone Lizzy considered physically strong, she went ahead and struck off the food allergy section.
Some of the questions were redundant anyway, so the list was shrinking faster than expected—
BANG!
“W-what was that?!”
The thunderous crash startled both Lizzy and Garrett.
They turned toward the sound—there, a tiny bird slammed into the window mid-flight.
It was Edward, the robin.
BANG! BANG!
“All right, all right! I’ll let you in! I said I’ll open it!”
Lizzy practically dove off her chair to open the window. The moment she did, Edward flew in and grabbed her by the collar.
[Are you trying to get yourself killed, huh?!]
“No, wait, just hold on—”
[You gave me a job and then didn’t open the door?! I knocked, okay? Once… twice… three times! THREE! You heard it and ignored me, didn’t you?!]
In the middle of his outburst, Edward released her collar, counted with his claws, then grabbed her again.
Lizzy calmly looked at the tiny robin flapping at her collar.
“Calm down, please—”
[Calm down? Don’t make me laugh! Just ‘cause you’re a druid, doesn’t mean I can’t win a fight! Let’s go! Right now!]
“…Cat repellent!”
[Excuses won’t work—wait, what?]
“I’ll make cat repellent for you when this is over. Spray it near your territory, and no cats will show up for at least three months.”
[…….]
Edward rolled his tiny head as if calculating the deal. Finally, he released her collar and coolly stated,
[I just saw something strange.]
“……”
Lizzy resisted the urge to mutter that this robin didn’t have territorial issues but anger management problems instead.
“What did you see?”
[While that human was gone, another human came and cleaned the study. Then the first human came back, and the other one bumped into him trying to leave—]
“And?”
[He looked like he was going to puke.]
“…He looked like he’d puke? You mean he looked upset, or—?”
[No, I mean he literally looked like he was about to vomit. What’s weirder is…]
That person immediately ran to the bathroom next door and started dry heaving.
“……”
[…….]
A heavy silence settled over the little cabin.
The Next Day
Cyrus Blanchard had come to a realization:
This wasn’t something that would go away if he just waited patiently.
If it had been something simple, he would’ve already cut it off cleanly. But he didn’t understand why he was still here—and he certainly couldn’t understand why that obsessive gardener kept tailing him, even knowing the risks.
The idea that this would be over in a few days had long since faded.
Now on the fourth day, the surveillance was even more intense.
It felt like his every move was being watched. It wasn’t pleasant.
Especially after firing the maid he had collided with the day before.
She always cleaned the fourth floor with a blank, calm face.
But the moment they touched, Cyrus realized—
That expression was just a mask.
She was terrified of him.
So terrified she nearly vomited from a single interaction.
And surely the gardener was no different.
He had caught an assassin trying to kill him, revived a dying garden, and greeted him with a smile so normal it was unbelievable.
Things Cyrus had never experienced before in his life.
But in the end, the gardener would be no different. The moment they faced each other directly, emotions would overwhelm him too.
And once that happened…
Cyrus pressed a palm to his chest, which ached with a dull throb.
“…I have to resolve this.”
He had to set everything right.
Even if it was irreversible.
Because he no longer had the patience to endure this cruel false hope.
When the Galloway eagle screeched, the crow declared it was going out to have fun, and the robin went off on his patrol, the cabin quickly became quiet.
“Hm?”
In that silence, Lizzy Atkins was quietly eating stew and bread when she suddenly sensed someone outside the door.
The presence was too obvious to be a bird. And the eagle wouldn’t hesitate like that. It had to be a person.
She’d been to the kitchen often lately and gotten familiar with the staff, so an occasional visitor wasn’t strange.
She was just curious why this one was hesitating.
Knock knock.
The hesitation ended, and someone knocked.
“Coming, coming.”
Dusting her hands, Lizzy casually opened the door—
BANG.
—then slammed it shut again.
Cold sweat ran down her back.
Wait. That couldn’t be right.
Grabbing her braids, she stared in disbelief. Then, as if to confirm what she’d seen, she slowly opened the door again—
BANG.
—And slammed it shut once more.
It was those violet eyes.
Cyrus Blanchard.
He was standing at her cabin.
“…What exactly are you doing?”
Came the cold voice from outside.
Lizzy tore at her braided hair, panicking.
If he was bothered by the surveillance, she thought he’d call her in or pretend to scold her—then she could observe him at his desk or something.
She never expected him to come here himself.
‘Seriously, why now of all times?! You never even leave the house!’
She had forgotten that Cyrus Blanchard, on the farm, was an awkward but diligent man.
—Just wait a second.
The disheveled, carrot-haired gardener said this and closed the door for a third time.
CRASH! THUD! SMASH!
“….”
Cyrus stood there, listening to what sounded like her destroying every piece of furniture inside.
He regretted coming on impulse.
Besides, what was he even supposed to say?
‘I know you’ve been spying on me with the crow and the robin.’
He couldn’t say that.
Imagining her confused reaction—‘I did what… with who?’—gave him a headache.
All he had was a gut feeling. No evidence.
There were no people in the world who could command animals.
And she knew that too.
If he said it out loud, he’d sound completely insane.
“….”
Maybe I should just leave.
As Cyrus stood frozen at this rational conclusion—
CLACK.
She threw open the door again, clearly afraid he might walk away.
Now looking visibly drained, the gardener said, “Phew. You can come in now.”
And that’s when Cyrus realized—
The casual tone she used that day hadn’t been a hallucination.
“….”
Where do I even begin fixing this?
Or—does she even want to fix it?
Like someone facing an impossible problem, Cyrus frowned deeply as he stepped into the cabin—
And paused.
This place had been abandoned for ages.
Even if she cleaned it up, he expected a mess.
But instead…
From the hearth, where ashes had been swept away, a soft blue flame flickered.
A little pot above it simmered something sweet and fragrant.
Her few pieces of clothing were neatly hung in a doorless wardrobe. Nearby, shelves held jars and dried herbs. A big basket was filled with strange tools.
The cabin looked like the garden he had once created.
Not extravagant, but quietly, beautifully alive.
“Phew…”
With a sense of déjà vu, Cyrus exhaled.
Then immediately clamped his mouth shut.
His breath had trembled.
Why?
Even when meeting the emperor for the first time, he hadn’t shaken like this.
Cyrus didn’t understand.
It was anticipation.
He had never wanted something so much before—
So he didn’t recognize the tension that came with it.
He wasn’t even sure what he was hoping for.
But what he could vividly picture… was the crushing disappointment if this all ended the way he feared.
His chest throbbed again.
And as his eyes darkened into deep amethyst, the gardener casually asked,
“Want some tea?”
“….”
He almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
Cyrus Blanchard didn’t drink tea.
Not anywhere.
After vomiting blood three times from sipping the wrong tea, even a fool would learn.
There was no tea in the world he could drink safely.
And yet, the refusal that had been on the tip of his tongue—
Melted in the warmth of the cabin.
“….”
As he stood there, unable to speak, Lizzy shrugged and headed for the hearth.
“Well, okay then.”
No answer meant she’d just brew whatever.
She mixed in a few herbs good for sleep and brushed back her carrot-orange hair.
The sudden visit had startled her, but it wasn’t necessarily bad.
She had planned to observe him again anyway for side effects.
It was a shame it wasn’t inside the mansion where she could see his routines. But this cabin allowed for closer, one-on-one observation. Not bad, really.
She poured the brewed tea into two cups and returned to the table.
Cyrus was still standing.
Looking at his dark hair brushing the cabin ceiling, Lizzy asked,
“Are you going to stand there forever?”
“You…”
Aren’t you afraid of me?
Cyrus swallowed the question and looked into her eyes.
He searched for the emotions he always saw in others:
Fear, anxiety, disgust, hostility…
But oddly, there was nothing.
Only a bottomless depth.
‘So there’s only one way.’
Just as his eyes dropped to Lizzy’s small, white hands—
She reached toward him.
As if asking him to take something.
And that was exactly what she meant.
“What are you waiting for? Take it.”
In her hand was the teacup.
“….”
Cyrus held his breath.
Between the gentle crackle of the fire, he could hear the soft thump of his own heartbeat.
I can touch it.
An odd mix of fear and hope swirled at his fingertips.
At last, he would have an answer.
Even if it wasn’t the one he wanted, at least this unbearable uncertainty would end.
Like he was in a trance, he reached out.
His pinky brushed hers beneath the cup—
Her warmth spread over his cold fingers like fire.
And in that moment—
Cyrus realized.
“…Impossible.”
He felt nothing.
