“Wow, this building is truly beautiful.”
“Right? This glass greenhouse is the pride of the castle.”
Ah, so this was the rose garden Butler Squawk had mentioned. I’d been eager to visit anyway, so this worked out perfectly. Seeing it firsthand, I finally understood why Butler Squawk had recommended it so highly. The greenhouse, crafted entirely from delicately shaped glass panels, was practically an ornament itself.
However, the structure resembled a gently sloping burial mound, and aside from the central area, the ceilings were annoyingly low.
Ah, so this is why they brought me here.
I stood slightly bent at the knees, trying to avoid hitting my head on the ceiling, nodding in realization.
“Exactly. Trim around the roses and shape the branches into neat circles. Make sure no leaves stick out.”
“Like this?”
“Perfect! You’re surprisingly good for your first time.”
Jack, instead of squeezing his long body into the greenhouse, stuck only his neck inside. Because of that, I had to follow his instructions without a demonstration. Luckily, my pruning skills didn’t seem too shabby. After all, I’d never heard anyone complain about my work.
“Sorry to leave you doing this alone. I’ve tried pruning myself a few times, but it’s really tricky. There’s a limit to how well you can prune while lying down.”
Imagining a giraffe pruning branches while lying down—I had to admit, I kind of wanted to see that.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help. Besides, it’s actually pretty fun.”
“Haha, really?”
I laughed lightly, trying to reassure him, and Jack responded with a cheerful chuckle. With his face close to mine, at least my neck didn’t hurt like it had earlier. Those gorgeous eyelashes of his, however, were admittedly a bit distracting.
“But why did they design the greenhouse like this? It’s beautiful, sure, but obviously inconvenient.”
“I heard it was originally built as a gift from a previous lord of the castle to his young child, but I’m not totally sure. Even so, they could’ve considered the gardener’s convenience a little. Or maybe a higher ceiling would’ve ruined its aesthetic? People do say smaller ornaments look better in gardens, after all.”
Wait, that explanation sounded oddly familiar…
“Well, not that I’m any good at judging aesthetics! Haha!”
“Ah, hahaha…”
He’d definitely heard me. He’d heard everything I muttered that day! And it seemed he’d remembered it all this time. I felt both guilty and oddly intimidated, especially considering how carefree his laughter was.
I should apologize. It wasn’t as severe as my blunder with Marianne, but it was still rude. I steeled myself and opened my mouth—
“Looks great! Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m going to quickly water the garden outside, so please handle the rest of the roses. You don’t need to finish everything today, so don’t overdo it. Just head back when you’re ready!”
“Ah, okay. See you later.”
Ugh, of all the moments to leave! Given his casual tone about finishing whenever I felt like it, it seemed he wasn’t planning on returning today at all.
Oh well. I’ll apologize next time we meet. Hopefully, seeing the tidy greenhouse would at least put him in a better mood. Resolving to make things right, I focused again on pruning.
“At least there aren’t too many roses, so it isn’t too difficult.”
Maybe it was because the blooming season had passed. There were still a few blossoms here and there, but overall, the roses were sparse compared to the size of the bushes.
But these roses… were they really not magical at all? In the movie, the roses definitely had magical properties. But considering they’d left pruning up to a newbie without supervision, these probably weren’t very important.
“…Should I try cutting one, just to see?”
If it truly was magical, surely something would happen. But what if something went horribly wrong? It wasn’t like I particularly liked that lord guy, but it wasn’t as if I wanted him dead either. Still, if magic and roses were connected, it’d be useful information for later.
Torn between curiosity and caution, I hovered the shears over the stem, pretending to snip it several times.
Should I cut it or not…?
“Taking a break?”
“Ack!”
—Snip.
Damn it, I actually cut it!
Startled by the sudden warmth of breath against my ear and that familiar low voice, my hand jerked instinctively, slicing clean through the rose’s stem.
I spun around to confront the unwanted intruder and shouted indignantly.
“Why would you sneak up on someone like that?! Look what you made me do!”
“What’s with the sudden shouting?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? What about the rose?”
“What about it? Just clean it up. Pruning off a flower or two is normal when gardening.”
Yet it seemed I was the only one panicking. He merely looked confused by my reaction, utterly unconcerned about the rose.
“You’re serious? It’s actually fine?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? The master of this castle just said it’s fine.”
Well, he had a point there.
If cutting the rose caused magical trouble, he’d be the one suffering the consequences anyway. Come to think of it, there really was no reason for me to panic. Great, I stressed myself out for nothing.
“Then maybe I’ll cut a few more and put them in a vase. Is that alright?”
“Do whatever you like.”
“Are you sure? Really cut them? Cut a whole bunch?”
“Didn’t I just say you could do whatever you want? I never knew you liked flowers so much.”
Wow, he really didn’t care at all. There went the best clue I had about the Beast’s possible weakness. Oddly, Kalz’s indifference toward the roses annoyed me more than it probably should have.
“By the way, what brought you here?”
“That’s a surprisingly obvious question. There’s only one reason someone would come to a greenhouse.”
“To see the flowers? You’re sure it wasn’t just to check on my work?”
“…Let’s just say both.”
Well, at least he didn’t outright deny it. Perhaps even that hairy lion-heart of his had some shred of conscience. Still slightly irritated about accidentally cutting the rose earlier, I couldn’t help but complain.
“If you’re going to wander around, at least make some noise. How can someone your size sneak around so silently?”
“You sound prickly today. Yesterday, you seemed so cheerful and friendly.”
“Well… yesterday was yesterday. Today is today.”
I felt a pang of guilt immediately. It’d only been a day since he’d generously cleared my debt. Maybe I was acting too grumpy.
But honestly, Kalz constantly dropping by made me uneasy. It wasn’t like he came to see me personally, so it was probably part of his evaluation to decide whether I’d stay permanently. Curious, I decided to subtly ask about it.
“By the way, how exactly will the decision about permanent employment be made after three months? Is there some kind of test, or is it performance-based?”
“Ah, about that… nothing’s decided yet, but probably… Wait. Why should I tell you in advance? I’m under no obligation.”
He’d begun to answer casually, but abruptly stopped himself.
Wow, that’s transparent. Clearly, he intended to choose whatever method would give me the worst outcome.
“Anyway, aren’t your hands idle right now? Ignore me and get back to work.”
“Yes, yes, whatever you say.”
Despite my confident reply, my hands holding the pruning shears hesitated slightly. Carefully, I cut two more roses, constantly glancing at Kalz to gauge his reaction. But his expression remained as calm and indifferent as ever.
“Only three roses? You’re more restrained than I expected.”
“They’re going to wilt quickly anyway, so this is enough.”
I wasn’t particularly attached to roses. I’d only wanted to check if they had magical properties. Having lost interest, I quickly stripped away the thorns and tucked the flowers into my pocket.
“Where are you planning to put them?”
“Maybe the dining room?”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
Wait—something else had been bothering me for a while now.
“…Do we even have a proper vase left?”
The greenhouse ceiling was low even for Kalz. With him awkwardly hunched beside me, his face ended up level with mine. His low voice gently brushed against my ear, making my skin tingle uncomfortably.
When Jack had leaned close earlier, it had felt slightly awkward, but nowhere near this unsettling. Kalz wasn’t actually touching me; just the equal height made me instinctively want to lean away.
Seriously, why was this so uncomfortable?
“Seems we’re running short on vases at home. Someone broke one not long ago.”
“It was only one vase! You talk as if I broke ten.”
Ah, that must be it. Kalz had a ridiculously petty heart, narrower than an anchovy’s spine, constantly waiting for my mistakes. No wonder having such a boss hovering around felt so stressful.
The pruning sessions continued for the next several days. Fortunately, as I moved toward the greenhouse’s center, the ceiling got higher, finally letting me stand straight. As a result, my work became much easier and quicker.
Unfortunately, the higher ceiling meant the Beast now lingered around even longer.
“You missed a spot over there.”
“It’s just your imagination. I trimmed them all evenly.”
“No, I clearly see something sticking out. Trim it again.”
“…Fine, fine.”
Honestly, the nagging was worse than dealing with a cranky old man. Kalz even began bringing a drink with him, settling comfortably into a chair, watching my every move.
Here I was, pruning until my fingers felt numb, while he casually lounged in front of me, sipping his drink and reading a book. And seriously, why was he wearing such casual clothes today? That bright yellow shirt—did he think he was on vacation?
Damn, I was jealous.
My only consolation was that the roses to prune were dwindling fast. Motivated by the goal of finally getting the Beast out of the greenhouse, I finished even quicker than anticipated.
“Haha! Great job, Briel! Honestly, without your help, I doubt we’d ever have managed to tidy up this greenhouse.”
“Oh, it’s all thanks to your good teaching, Jack.”
“With this done, we shouldn’t need extra help around the gardens for a while. You’re still a trainee, right? I genuinely hope everything works out and you stay permanently.”
“Thank you. I hope so too.”
Actually, I just wanted to go home, but there wasn’t much choice in that matter. Still, Jack seemed pleased, so this was a good moment to apologize for my earlier slip-up when we’d first met.
“By the way, Jack, I’m really sorry about what I said that first day in the garden.”
“Something rude? What do you mean?”
“You know… about having no sense or something?”
“Hmm? Did you really say something like that?”
Jack tilted his head, looking genuinely confused. Did he truly not remember? Had I worried over nothing all this time? But what he’d said before had matched exactly what I’d muttered. While I stood there in bewilderment, Jack laughed cheerfully as always.
“Haha! I’m not sure what you mean, but don’t stress about small stuff like that! Just be careful in the future!”
“Ah, yeah… thanks.”
He really didn’t remember, right? With a lingering sense of awkwardness, I waved Jack goodbye for now.
