After stepping out from his carriage, Cyril Ashley was greeted by the sight of the magnificent towering structure of the royal palace of the Ridill Kingdom. With mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement, he walked along the cobblestones, heading toward it.
Walking ahead of him was his adoptive father, Marquis Highon, who was stroking his mustache as he glanced at Cyril.
"Are you nervous?"
"…no, I'm fine."
"Your right hand and right foot moved forward at the same time, though."
When Marquis Highon pointed that to Cyril, he suddenly stopped his walk.
Cyril would be officially introduced as the successor of Marquis Highon at this New Year Ceremony. Any mishaps were unforgivable—or so expressed Cyril with his stiff expression and body due to his nervousness.
Ever since he was adopted by the Marquis, he has been invited to social events on many occasions, except to the royal palace.
He has seen many extravagant mansions, but he still felt overwhelmed by the austere castle in front of him which was extravagant yet steeped in history.
‘Hm,' commented Marquis Highon with a pensive look. Cyril was worried, wondering if Marquis was feeling exasperated or disappointed because of his conduct… and so Marquis Highon proposed a suggestion to him.
"Have you visited the palace garden before?"
"Eh, ah, no…"
"It is a wonderful garden. You should go take a look at it. I'll be waiting for you here."
Marquis wanted him to take a stroll in the garden to relieve some tensions.
He might be feeling bad for making him worry about him, but he still took at his word.
"…I'm sorry for making you worry, father."
"You are still young. I think a boy around your age should be expressing some excitement when visiting the royal palace."
With a calm and gentle voice, he added, ‘go ahead.'
In response, Cyril bowed to his adoptive father and walked heading to the garden.
＊ ＊ ＊
Cyril let out an exclamation as he stepped into the castle garden.
Despite in winter season when its temperature was cold enough for snow to fall at any moment, the garden was still filled with flowers in full blooms.
Especially the winter roses, the word ‘fascinating' was not enough to describe their beauty.
There were only a few kinds of roses that could bloom in winter, not to mention it would only bloom with one or two flowers, but in this garden, as if ignoring the changing seasons, they all were blooming like in the peak summer season.
Every rose came with big petals and was brighter in color. Cyril has never seen roses bloom so vividly in winter.
As he walked down in amazement, he noticed a tree with dark green leaves blooming with bright flowers.
The tree itself didn't seem very tall, but the contrast between the reddish-pink petals, yellow stamens, and its deep green leaves made it stand out against the pale sky blue of winter.
While he was admiring these flowers he had never seen, a voice came out suddenly.
"Aren't they beautiful? They are the new flowers brought from a foreign country. It's called camelia."
He seemed to hear a voice from above. Above? He tilted his head up and saw a man sitting on top of a tall tree with a cat in his arms.
If this man were a suspicious person or a trespasser, he would not bother to call him out. He was probably the gardener of this garden.
As Cyril was pondering about this, the man, stroking the cat, greeted, ‘Heya~' in a friendly manner.
"I climbed a tree to save this cat, but now I can't get down. Can you help me?"
What kind of gardener can't get down from a tree?
While that thought crossed his mind, Cyril still chanted a short spell. It was a shortened incantation he just learned recently to make an icy slope from the tree where the man was to the ground. The man exclaimed in admiration as he slid down the icy slope smoothly.
"Man, you really help me there. Honestly, I'm not good at high places."
"…It makes me wonder why you still dare to climb a tree when not good at high places."
"It can't be helped, my mind was too occupied helping this guy down."
So he said as he stroked the cat in his arms.
If he looked closely, the man surprisingly had a good-looking face, if nothing else.
As far as Cyril knows, the only person who excelled in appearance was the person he most respected, Felix Ark Ridill, but the man before him had the appearance that would not lose to his prince.
His rose-colored wavy hair and dark green eyes were especially beautiful, so beautiful that if someone told him he was the spirit of this rose garden, he would believe it.
He seemed to have similar age as Cyril. Wearing trousers with suspenders topped with a plain-colored shirt, a hand towel around his neck, and a straw hat on his head, an appearance that screams of a gardener.
In addition, despite the winter season, the man did not wear his jacket properly but wrapped it around his waist with his sleeves rolled up. Unlike his handsome face, the arms peeking out from the sleeves were muscular.
For Cyril who has never been able to build muscle no matter how hard he works out, his impressive muscle made him feel envious.
When his beautiful face was paired with a muscular body and farm attire, it made his appearance seemed out of place.
As Cyril pondered this, the man smiled amiably as he stroked the cat.
"Are you attending the New Year Ceremony? It's rare to find someone as young as you. Which family heir are you from?"
Cyril was a bit miffed when asked with a frank tone but still replied.
"I'm the oldest son of Marquis Highon, Cyril Ashley."
"Marquis Highon!?"
The man's eyes sparkled at Cyril's words, and his smile widened.
"I've always been indebted to the Marquis Highon. He invested a lot in our project."
"My father did?"
"Yeah, did you see these flowers?"
The man looked at the garden which was full of blooming flowers as if ignoring the changing season.
"Our family had been tending this garden for generations."
His tone when talking about the garden sounded somewhat proud and his eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"Are you wondering why there are so many flowers blooming here when it's not inside a greenhouse? Actually, there's a secret to all of this. It's the fertilizer, we mixed the fertilizer with mana."
"What? Doesn't the country prohibit the act of injecting mana into plants and animals?"
"More accurately, the country prohibits the act of injecting mana into living things within a certain limit that would not harm the human body. In other words, it's allowed as long as it doesn't exceed that limit."
Just as humans are born with a specific amount of mana, animals and plants also possess a bit of mana. Apparently, he had been experimenting with a way to strengthen the plant by changing the ratio of elements that make up its mana without increasing its capacity.
"If a human has 100 points of mana, then this flower will have 1 point of mana. In order not to exceed that 1 point of mana, we adjust that subtle balance of mana in 0.01% increments through fertilizers. In doing so, we can create varieties that are resistant to cold, and these flowers are the prime example. Right now it's just the houseplants in this garden, but eventually, we'd like to be able to do the same thing with other plants."
Cyril was honestly impressed by his explanation. Now he understood why his adoptive father was investing in this project.
If this cultivation development allows vegetables and medicinal herbs to be grown on rough land, it will contribute greatly to solving the food problem and medicine shortages.
"…it's very groundbreaking, indeed."
"It's actually not as easy as it sounds. Most of them ended up failures. Even the slightest mistake will cause the soil to accumulate too much mana, making it unusable, and as a result, the plants are dying. Plus, we have to examine whether the altered vegetable would affect the human body. And our country is lagging behind in this regard."
Indeed, taking an excessive amount of mana can be harmful to the body. Cyril, who had this illness, had learned the hard way before understanding this fact.
Especially applying that method to something edible, it must have taken an enormous amount of time and effort before it can be consumed safely.
In all honesty, Cyril wanted to support this project.
"This research is quite brilliant. Perhaps when famine and other food shortages arrive at some point, we can save tens of thousands of lives with this research."
"I'm happy to hear the future Marquis Highon praising our project!"
As he grinned cheerfully showing his white teeth, he took a thin carrot from his pocket and offered it to Cyril.
"As a token of our friendship, I'll give you these vegetables from my garden! Oh, they're cultivated with regular fertilizer, so you don't have to worry about its side effect!"
"I appreciate the gesture, but I would have to refuse since I have to the castle later."
"You can eat it here if you want."
So said the man as he bit the raw carrot like candy.
His face might look like a prince that many girls had dreamed of, but his mannerism was completely crude.
"Anyway, do you still have any spare time? It's rare to have the future Marquis visit here. If it's okay with you, I can show you around the garden."
"…well, if you insist."
Cyril hesitated for a bit before deciding to take the man's offer.
In fact, he found his stories quite intriguing, but more than anything, talking to this friendly man made him feel a lot less nervous.
The man with a cat in his arms gave a smile to Cyril before he walked through the garden as he continued munching on a carrot.
