My Secret Flower - Episode 29

Perhaps he is the only person in this world who can soothe my heart so easily. It strikes me anew that his presence is like a beautiful flower garden spread out on a vast land.

I like him. I love him as much as that unreachable high sky. It’s definitely not the kind of feeling that will fade away with such words.

I turned towards the voice. He was holding a candlestick that illuminated the dark backyard, and when he saw me, he smiled brightly, revealing his neat teeth.

Then, he noticed the dagger in my hand, flinched, and stopped in his tracks.

“Why that sword…? Did something happen?”

“I had it just in case. I was meeting someone.”

“…Whom did you meet, at this late hour?”

He must have thought I was just out for a light stroll. There’s no reason to hide it from him. If you tell one lie, it keeps piling up, and eventually, it will be discovered.

“Pavilion called me, so I met him briefly. I told the knight to call you if I was delayed for too long, just in case.”

He quickly looked around, wary, then came closer to me and carefully examined my complexion.

“Did that fellow say or do anything disrespectful?”

“I brought this in case he did. It’s for defense.”

I shook the sword slightly, and the moonlight reflected off the blade, dazzlingly. It felt amazing that he had survived such a terrible injury from such a sharp weapon.

“Pavilion asked why you can call him ‘hyung’ but not him. People’s hearts don’t work the way they want them to, and it’s not like my heart will change just because he complains to me.”

“I didn’t think he would give up easily. His affection for you is quite strong.”

“Mine is strong too. The love that fills my heart is so big that there’s no room for anyone else.”

I stared up at Ash and smiled contentedly, and he seemed to realize the meaning of my words, looking a little embarrassed. I’m always the one who’s shy and squirming, so it’s so exciting to see him make such a face, which is very rare.

“And he said something really strange too.”

“Strange?”

“That you were seriously injured and got on the carriage I was riding in, and that it wasn’t a coincidence.”

His face, which had been soft and relaxed, hardened in an instant. His expression, so chillingly frozen, was so fierce that my heart momentarily dropped.

“Ash?”

“What exactly did he say?”

“I don’t believe that. I just think he was trying to slander you and me in a fit of anger, saying ridiculous things. There’s no one to blame.”

“Tell me. I need to know. What he said to you.”

He must be angry. I understand. Following Rainyd, Pavilion is trying to manipulate us, so he must be curious about his intentions. There’s no reason to hide it. I have no intention of protecting Pavilion, and if I were going to hide it, I wouldn’t have honestly told him that I met Pavilion in the first place.

“Then listen without getting angry. That expression is a little scary. It feels like being hit head-on by a blizzard mixed with a freezing wind in the middle of a hot summer.”

I hunched my shoulders and shivered, and he quickly relaxed his hardened expression, closed his eyes tightly, and slowly opened them. The murderous intent was reduced, but it was still scary.

I quickly hoped that he would smile kindly and continued to answer.

“I told Ash that my meeting with you was an unchanging destiny ordained by God. To that, Ash said that it was no coincidence that he got on the carriage I was riding in, half-dead.”

“…Continue.”

“That’s all. He asked if that was really destiny. He also told me to ask you directly if I was curious.”

“Haa…”

He let out a deep sigh that seemed to make the ground sink, and his face was full of anguish. Even when he’s frowning, he’s just pretty, so it seems like I’m really wearing thick rose-colored glasses, just like Evelyn said. I’m just excited even in this situation.

More than that, I was happy enough just to be alone with him at this late hour. I can’t waste this precious time.

“Ash, shall we take a walk?”

I headed towards the garden, and Ash walked silently beside me. I held his hand tightly, and his light brown eyes, which had been struggling in a sea of thoughts, turned to me.

It was a look of repentance. I don’t know what he wants to be forgiven for.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t tell me, what Pavilion said is true? You deliberately injured yourself to seduce me?”

“I hate being in pain. Unless I’m crazy, why would I hurt myself? I don’t have such hobbies.”

“Then explain it now. Why were you so covered in blood that day?”

Just like when Rainyd tried to drive a wedge between us in this way, he will inevitably have to pick up the words thrown by Pavilion and explain.

That was something everyone was curious about. Those who had seen his excellent swordsmanship skills were even more puzzled. What great opponent did he fight to get so injured?

Now that I can solve that curiosity, I feel a little excited.

“I haven’t seen them recently, but in the past, there were quite a few people who were after my life. That day, I was ambushed by them while traveling with Pavilion, and I was seriously injured then.”

“Who is after you?”

“People whose identities I don’t know. They are not around now. I killed them all back then.”

Hearing the story of killing to survive directly makes me feel a little eerie. I didn’t like the fact that someone was after his life either.

“So, Pavilion was with you then?”

“That fellow left me behind and ran away like a dog. Haa, if that fellow hadn’t run away, I wouldn’t have been injured so badly.”

It’s the first time I’ve heard such harsh words from his gnashing teeth. He didn’t spit them out in the end and held back, but I can guess how great his anger must have been.

People who are after his life are threatening him, and he runs away alone. Did he really want Ash to die? I trust Pavilion less and less. I’m also suspicious.

“So, you led your injured body and stopped our carriage to survive.”

“If I had kept bleeding like that, I really thought I would die. I was too upset to die, so I did that.”

It doesn’t seem like a big deal when you hear it, but I don’t know why Pavilion said that our meeting wasn’t a coincidence.

“But why did Pavilion say it wasn’t a coincidence?”

He closed his mouth tightly again as if choosing his words, and his eyes moved busily. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk, but he seemed to be choosing how to explain it.

“To be honest, at that time, I was staying in the royal capital.”

That time was when the epidemic was spreading. The day I met him was also the day the kingdom’s capital was sealed off due to that terrible epidemic.

“I’ve been wondering before, Ash, are you from our kingdom?”

“…No.”

“Then can you tell me where that ranch that you inherited from your father is?”

Evelyn said so too. Even if he had cleared up his past life, you should know his basic personal information as a matter of course so that there would be no problems later. I had only vaguely heard that he was an aristocrat of the empire, but I didn’t know his exact origin.

I was a little excited because I thought I would learn more about him now, but he couldn’t answer easily. Such an honest person only moved his lips slightly before giving up and closing them tightly to chew on them.

He showed an expression that he was pathetic for not being able to open up easily.

“Are you perhaps working in the shadows? Like a mercenary or an assassin or something?”

“That’s the side I hate the most in the world. I swear, absolutely not. It’s terrible even to imagine being involved with such bad things.”

“Then that’s a relief. Then a precarious family that was caught up in treason and then recovered its honor?”

“…”

“Oh, did I hit the nail on the head?”

Recently, I thought that he might be the eldest son of the family that shook hands with the new emperor of the empire. That emperor wouldn’t have just let such a talented person go, and he might have made a condition to cooperate in succeeding in the usurpation of the throne in exchange for freedom for himself?

…Maybe I’m writing too much of a novel.

“Lishua. What if, as you said, my family was falsely accused of treason and I was a fugitive?”

He looked at me with a face full of worry and asked carefully. I guess what I expected was right. That’s why he couldn’t open up easily and was so busy hiding it until now. I understand that feeling enough.

“Are you still falsely accused of treason? Is that something you did?”

“Absolutely not to both.”

“Then it doesn’t matter, does it? It would be a problem if you were a wanted criminal now. If you’ve cleaned up everything recently, I don’t think there’s any problem at all, not even a little.”

Maybe even if he was a fugitive who hadn’t cleared his name, I wouldn’t have been able to give him up. He doesn’t know how relieved I am just that it’s not that.

Somehow, complex emotions surged like waves, and I felt overwhelmed for no reason. It’s silly, why was he holding such worries alone?

“You’re really bad, Ash. Were you doubting my heart? Did you think I could easily clear my mind just because you had an indelible stain?”

“I didn’t doubt it. If my problem harms you, I probably won’t be able to forgive myself.”

“You wouldn’t have come back if you hadn’t resolved that problem?”

“…Yes.”

It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t disappointed. But I understand his heart enough, so I decided to let it go. Anyway, he is currently by my side, there are no people who will harm him, and no one has a justification to separate him and me.

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