As she turned to the side, Siervian saw a strange status window.
[ Cybelle Erveldote ]
Mood: Nervous
Thoughts: What are you planning to do that there's suddenly a spring picnic…
In this tranquil atmosphere, the empress was feeling tense all by herself.
The spring picnic was Siervian's request, so this was strange.
What's going on with the empress?
"Mm, hm, mm."
Humming the tune of a song that Jane frequently sang to her, Siervian closely looked at the sephinel flowers to her heart's content.
The lush garden was filled with the scent of the refreshing sephinel flowers. Just the scent alone would make anyone smile.
Whenever the wind blew, she affectionately watched the white leaves flutter in the breeze.
'I knew it, it's really familiar, and it's so nice.'
She really did like sephinel flowers.
This was because, in her previous life, she saw a fairy inside the bud of a sephinel flower.
There's a legend saying that the Mana Fairy lived inside a sephinel flower. Maybe she actually saw a fairy there, maybe not.
'I've come back to the past though, so maybe there's a fairy here, too!'
She didn't completely dismiss this all as a dream. There was a time when she told herself that she had only deluded herself into thinking that she saw a fairy because she was desperate to be comforted, that's why she had such a fanciful imagination.
However, after she had returned to the past, she could now be more certain.
'Can't we meet each other again?'
She felt faintly nostalgic from the memory, and she felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
It was a fairy that she had been able to meet only once.
"Do you like the flowers that much?" her father asked.
"Yees!"
As Siervian was preoccupied with looking at the flowers, she left the macarons alone for a long time, and the emperor carefully approached her.
Here he was, just wanting to spend some time with his children, yet there the empress was, hellbent on finding out her husband's 'plans'.
It was a political marriage, but meeting people from her ducal family a lot lately was tiring.
"Hmm. Isn't this similar to the flowers in the Imperial Palace?"
"Nooo!"
Siervian sulked for a moment with her cheeks all puffed up as she turned around.
The emperor thought he didn't say anything wrong though, but he looked at the sephinel flowers again.
Still, he just saw the same thing.
[ Alderuan Erveldote ]
Thoughts: Mmh. It's a purple flower. The ones that Siervy always looked at for a long time in the palace garden were also purple flowers.
"..."
Her father nodded, but she could clearly see what he was thinking.
What she was looking at in the palace garden were hydrangeas though. How could he say that they were the same!
Despite that, Siervian continued her sephinel sightseeing. No touching with the hands, just look with the eyes.
'Even though there's some bad memories, the flowers are still pretty.'
In her previous life, the crown prince had given a sephinel flower to a noble lady.
That noble lady in question was none other than Siervian's enemy in high society.
Back then, it's been a few years since the millenary garden had not been open to the public, so the appearance of that sephinel flower inevitably became a hot topic.
'I was a bit jealous before.'
The crown prince giving the sephinel flower to a different young lady instead of his younger sister had been talked about for a long time.
And it was even more talked about because, of all people, the crown prince had given the flower to the noble lady who was always compared to Siervian in every way possible.
To the point that more rumors were incited that she was a villainess who was inevitably shunned even by her own blood relatives.
"I'll plant some in the palace."
The unexpected remark shocked Siervian completely. She looked up at her father.
It was a very serious decision, just as she could see from his status window.
She didn't know what kind of flower it was, just that she liked it. Her father proposed this just for that reason alone.
"Nooo. That's not allowed."
"Then just take one."
Her father's simple suggestion once again brought up those memories to the surface.
Her jealousy for that rival for receiving a sephinel flower—and the transgression that she shouldn't have done.
She had secretly tried to sneak into the millenary garden in her first life.
"But I can't."
Though she snuck into the millenary garden at night back then, it had been no less beautiful.
And that's when Siervian met the Mana Fairy.
'Just one flower. Can I take just one?'
With a nervous heart, Siervian pleaded. She thought that it would comfort her so much to have even just one flower by her side.
The fairy let out a peal of laughter and gave her permission. She couldn't understand the fairy's language, but it was clearly permission.
So, she brought the sephinel flower back to the imperial palace with such excitement…
'I didn't expect that to happen.'
The very next day, the imperial family was turned upside down.
The sephinel flower bed, the very pride of the millenary garden, had been completely ruined.
'Here is the recording of the last person who went in, Your Majesty!'
There were many magic circles for security measures installed at important spots around the palace. They were magic circles that recorded the likeness of people who came and went through those places.
And, of course, there was a recording of Siervian going into the garden alone at night.
'Who else could it be but that villainess!'
'She must have gotten jealous of Lady Yphta!'
She had taken only one flower from the garden, but before she knew it, Siervian had become a villainess who ruined the entire flower bed just because she had gotten jealous of her rival.
It was certainly true that she went there alone in the middle of the night without asking for permission.
That's why, despite the many accusations and criticisms, she remained silent.
Amongst them, what hurt her and made her sad the most was her father's ferocious anger.
'I must stop it this time.'
She clearly remembered the date it happened, too.