Chapter 85
“Be careful. Don’t do anything weird. Don’t touch anything or wander off alone.”
“Boss, I’m not a kid, you know?”
“You lost to Liazell.”
“….”
Harnen shut his mouth tightly, stopping mid-bite of his stew.
At that moment, Liazell, who was looking at the spirit scroll, spoke up.
“Philome, don’t tease Harnen. It’s only natural for him to lose to me.”
Liazell patted Harnen’s shoulder playfully.
“Don’t be too down, Harnen! You’re not the only one who lost! Of course, you’re the first spirit master to lose to me!”
“Yeah, thanks for the consolation, kid…”
Seeing this, Philome stifled a laugh.
Not long ago, Harnen had asked if he could use the training grounds to warm up. In response, Kaien suggested he spar with Liazell.
At first, Harnen refused, saying, “How can I spar with a kid?” But after hearing that Liazell was on par with a decent knight, he accepted the challenge. Ultimately, Harnen was thoroughly defeated by Liazell.
“That’s right. Beating Liazell is impossible.”
And it was the first time Philome saw Liazell’s skills.
Liazell had been in an unstable state due to not meeting a suitable match for a long time. Because of this, Bear and Emma had been diligently helping her become more adept at handling her aura.
As a result, Liazell was able to suppress her aura most of the time, even while having seizures.
So, defeating Liazell, who had nearly perfected her aura at just 10 years old, was impossible even for a physically capable half-elf.
“That kind of talk isn’t comforting at all.”
Harnen pouted his lips.
Philome stood up, holding Liazell’s hand, and said,
“Have a good meal and be careful out there.”
“What are you doing today, boss?”
“Everyone is busy with the ongoing cultivation, so we’re going to help Lady Natasha.”
“Oh, that’s why you’re wearing those clothes?”
Harnen replied, looking at her shabby outfit.
“Yeah. There’s no need to wear nice clothes while working.”
“Have a good time in the snowy field, Harnen!”
As Liazell waved her hand, Harnen flicked his fingers.
A small spark appeared in the air and began to swirl around Liazell.
Seeing the fire spirit, Liazell’s eyes sparkled, and she burst into laughter.
“Be careful out there.”
“Got it. Do I really have to take advice from someone much younger than me?”
“How about thinking about whether you’re acting like the elder you are?”
As Harnen fell silent, Philome added,
“Anyway, be careful.”
“Don’t worry.”
After finishing their conversation, Philome left Harnen’s room with Liazell and headed straight to the greenhouse.
The greenhouse was bustling with those who had started working early in the morning.
“Lady Philome, Miss Liazell!”
“Sir Dale.”
Turning at the call, Philome spotted a familiar face: Dale, the head manager of the greenhouse.
Dale looked just as he had a few days ago, covered in dirt from head to toe.
“I heard the message from Lady Natasha. Thank you so much for helping out.”
“I’m worried that I might be more of a distraction since everyone is busy.”
At those words, Dale waved his hands dismissively.
“Oh, no way. On the contrary, everyone is touched. We are very grateful for your willingness to help, even with small tasks.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Dale took Philome and Liazell to a spot in the greenhouse.
“You can sort the potatoes by size. The small ones go here, the medium ones here, and the large ones over there.”
There were three large baskets set up, and next to them was a bigger basket piled high with unsorted potatoes.
Philome realized that Dale had intentionally guided them to a task that required less physical labor. Noticing his thoughtful consideration, she quietly smiled and said,
“This is something Liazell and I can definitely handle. Until when should we do this?”
“Even though it’s warm in the greenhouse, working for too long can make you sick. You can stop before the afternoon.”
“We have plenty of time, then.”
“It’s not urgent, so you can take breaks and work slowly.”
“Yes, thank you, Sir Dale.”
Once Dale stepped back, Philome and Liazell put on gloves.
“Liazell, do you think you can do well?”
“Yes. It looks easy, and I’ve done this kind of thing before.”
“Really? When?”
“I used to tend a small garden at the villa.”
“What did you plant there?”
“Um, tomatoes, strawberries, and I also tried planting potatoes.”
“Wow, that’s impressive! Wasn’t it hard to take care of them?”
“Not at all. It was actually satisfying and enjoyable.”
Philome and Liazell continued their conversation as they began to sort the piled-up potatoes one by one.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
Natasha paused while putting potatoes into a basket and looked somewhere.
Most of the people in the greenhouse, including her, were glancing at a certain spot.
“By the way, do you remember how the birds ate the strawberries two years ago?”
“It seems Liazell’s strawberries looked really delicious. Maybe it’s because Liazell took such good care of them.”
“I was a bit sad at first, but Bear told me the same thing as Philome. The birds were happy eating my strawberries.”
This was the place where they sorted the potatoes by size.
Philome and Liazell were sitting side by side, chatting quietly.
Liazell, excitedly talking, was moving her body along with her words, causing her to become breathless and her face to turn red.
Philome responded to Liazell’s words from time to time, guiding the conversation.
“Since Liazell took such care of her strawberries, the birds must have been really happy.”
After finishing her sentence, Philome handed her some water. Liazell took the cup with both hands and gulped down the water.
“So the next year, I planted even more strawberries! I hoped the birds would eat a bit more.”
“Did the birds come often then?”
“Yes. They came every dawn. So during that time, I would wake up and watch the birds eating the strawberries from the window.”
Natasha watched them with a warm smile.
When she first met them, she thought they were close because Liazell was hiding behind Philome, but their bond seemed even closer than she expected.
Despite frequently meeting Kaien, Liazell appeared to be more comfortable with Philome.
To be honest, Liazell liked Philome more than Kaien.
“They seem to have a really good relationship.”
Natasha turned her head at Dale’s words.
“It seems she really likes Lady Philome.”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
This morning, Natasha told Dale that Philome and Liazell would come to help.
In fact, Dale and the other vassals had a hard time believing that the two were close.
Philome, whom they had met a few times over the past few days, was certainly a good person. However, it was not easy for her to be kind to Liazell, who was destined to become the Duke of Wintbell instead of her own child.
But as Natasha said, the two really did seem to get along well.
“We must have misunderstood.”
“It’s only natural to become more guarded in a place like this.”
Having lived among themselves for hundreds of years, it was natural for their vigilance to increase. Of course, Theodore and Natasha’s vassals had not been in the North for long, but it was true that their wariness had grown even more than before.
Dale smiled awkwardly.
“It seems I need to apologize separately to Lady Philome.”
“If you do that, I would appreciate it.”
At those words, Dale’s eyes widened.
“Natasha, do you like Lady Philome?”
“How could I not like her? She is the woman my son loves, and I find her very admirable as a person.”
“Wow, it seems like it’s the first time in years that I’ve seen you so pleased with someone.”
Aside from her broad-mindedness, Natasha had quite high standards.
The fact that Philome met those standards in just a few days indicated how much she liked her.
“It feels like everyone is in a good mood now that there’s some liveliness around.”
Natasha said as she looked around.
Everyone was smiling as they listened to Philome and Liazell’s conversation.
“That’s true.”
Dale was also watching them with a warm smile.
Just then, as Natasha noticed a presence and turned her head, the greenhouse door burst open urgently.
“Natasha! It’s a disaster!”
The one who was panting added,
“A monster… a monster has appeared!”
