The Engagement of the Baron of Flowers and the Withered Tree Lady.

Chapter 53 Apologizing to Julia

“Yesterday, while tending to the rose garden, the spirit suddenly spoke to me. I have always felt the presence of the spirit around me, but we had never conversed before. Since my childhood, I had been unilaterally speaking to the spirit without questioning or feeling any dissatisfaction. Even without direct communication, I always sensed the spirit’s kindness, and it always helped me whenever I was in trouble.

Regarding my mother… the accident happened when I wasn’t around, so it couldn’t be helped. However, recently, if there’s a chance for my wishes to be heard, I hope at least to be informed about the whereabouts of my mother’s remains.”

“Julia, what do you mean by Margaret’s remains? Doesn’t she have a grave?”

Lady Liana Rudolf grabbed Julia’s shoulders with a surprising expression, a grip so intense it seemed as if it might dig into her shoulders. However, Julia did not shake off the grip; instead, she turned her sorrowful face towards Lady Liana.

“The grave was made by the estate owners. However, inside it, there are only my mother’s belongings. Things like her favorite hairpin given by my father, or the clothes my mother made for me when I was a child…

My mother, the lady of the estate, was on her way to a distant business engagement when the mistress of the estate fell ill. Unfortunately, she encountered a landslide on the way, causing the carriage, along with her, to plummet down the cliff.

The carriage rested on a rock mid-fall, preventing further descent, and both the coachman and the estate guards survived. However, my mother was thrown out of the carriage during the fall. The cliff was steep, with no accessible paths, making it impossible to search for her.

At that time, I unfairly blamed those around me for not rescuing her and deeply regretted my actions. When I actually went to the scene, I realized how miraculous it was that at least the two of them survived.

If only I had made more efforts to understand my own abilities back then, I might have at least found my mother’s remains. Now, I can’t help but think that…”

Tears rolled down Julia’s cheeks.

Until now, Hardis had never discussed Margaret’s story with Julia, or much of anything else, for that matter. There was nothing written about her mother in her daughter’s letters either.

Her daughter lost her beloved mother and stood up alone. Even as an adult, Hardis, upon learning of his wife’s death, managed to hold himself together thanks to his close friend Jade. The fact that he couldn’t be there for his daughter during her difficult times, the feeling of helplessness and guilt, made Hardis even more heartbroken.

Julia was embraced by her father, Hardis, in front, and behind her, Liana, the second mother, placed a comforting hand on her.

Romand also wanted to gently embrace Julia, but he bit down on his molars, realizing that he should withdraw here. If only he could have found Julia earlier, he could have comforted her during those difficult times. That regret gnawed at Romand.

After a while, when Julia’s tears finally subsided, she distanced herself from her father and looked directly into his eyes to resume speaking.

“Yesterday, the spirit apologized to me. At first, I had no idea what it meant because I’ve always received help from the spirit. It turns out the spirit finds it challenging to communicate with humans. Among themselves, they communicate through empathy and shared senses, often not needing verbal language. However, it seems the spirit didn’t mind me unilaterally talking to them. They had been thinking of talking to me for a long time.

Yesterday, with the help of their fellow spirits, especially those connected to the Woodcliff Count’s garden, particularly the rose garden, they gathered. It seems they usually roam around but come together a few times a year, and yesterday happened to be one of those occasions…

So, the spirit desperately spoke words to me yesterday. Thanks to that, I finally learned that the name of my dearest friend is Lord Spati.

And I also learned why Lord Spati apologized.”

✽

The spirit accompanying Julia is apparently named Spati. Well, Romand had heard that name from Filam, but he didn’t know that Spati was the partner of Romand’s own spirit, Pakiran.

When Hardis heard this from Julia, he was so surprised that he fell silent. While he knew they were acquainted, he never dreamt of such a connection.

However, it seems that the concept of a partner for spirits is subtly different from human marital relationships.

✽✽✽

In any case, the green spirit, Spati, knew a lot about Julia’s parents. Even though he couldn’t fully grasp the intricacies of human emotions, he somehow understood that the couple shared deep feelings.

Spati chose Julia as his wielder when she was still a baby, an unusual choice as humans at that stage have not fully developed their own sense of self. Once the choice is made, they must maintain that relationship until the human’s passing.

Due to being the daughter of Hardis, the wielder of Filam, and Romand, the wielder of Pakiran, Julia felt that she was Spati’s place of belonging.

Filam is the Green Spirit King, a figure akin to Spati and Pakiran’s boss, and acts as a parental figure.

Even when Julia had just started speaking, she quickly became aware of Spati’s presence and began talking to him. Margaret, her mother, initially thought Julia was just talking to herself. However, as Julia reached the age of five or six, Margaret began to feel that something was peculiar.

It became evident to Margaret that her daughter was not merely daydreaming but was definitely having conversations with someone or something. Eventually, Margaret, watching her daughter talk to herself with great concern, began pondering the situation.

And on one particular day, while tending to the garden together with Julia:

Margaret asked her daughter the following.

“Hey, Julia, who were you talking to just now? The flowers? The ladybugs?”

“Friends.”

“Friends? What’s your friend’s name?”

“Don’t know.”

“You don’t know your friend’s name? Doesn’t it get difficult when you want to call them?”

“Not difficult. They’re always by my side.”

Margaret furrowed her brows.

“Julia, earlier, the flowers that the cat stepped on seemed to magically stand up again. Did you do something?”

“I didn’t do anything. I just asked the flower spirit. The flower spirit said it hurt, so I asked it to heal. When I ask, the flower spirit always makes the flowers and leaves healthy again.”

Seeing Julia innocently respond with a smile, Margaret turned pale.

For quite some time, Margaret had been entertaining the possibility, but she had been too terrified to confirm with Julia, letting the days pass without addressing it. However, that day, she finally became convinced. Julia was a “Green Spirit Wielder.”

For Margaret, a farmer’s daughter, the words “Green Thumb” and “Green Spirit Wielder” were familiar concepts. Although she had never actually met a “Green Spirit Wielder,” the Laurie family’s farm was reasonably large, and they had servants with the “Green Thumb.” As a result, she had witnessed the use of that power on multiple occasions.

This familiarity allowed Margaret to discern the difference between someone with the “Green Thumb” and a “Green Spirit Wielder.”

If she had merely possessed the “Green Thumb,” she would have vaguely sensed the power of the “Green Spirit” but wouldn’t be able to communicate with it.

✽

“When my mother realized that I was a ‘Green Spirit Wielder,’ she simultaneously sensed that my father was also a ‘Green Spirit Wielder.’

The flowers my father gave her lasted unusually long, and the vegetables that were wilting somehow regained freshness only when my father was around. Moreover, when my father was at home, she felt as if she were in a refreshing forest.

Ah, my mother thought, ‘So that’s why being a ‘Green Spirit Wielder’ keeps him so busy.’ That’s when all her questions were finally answered. Initially, she felt incredibly sad, having been lied to for so long.

Maybe ‘Green Spirit Wielders’ aren’t supposed to reveal their true identity, but even so, she felt a chilling sense of distrust, thinking that she wasn’t trusted despite everything.”

“Ugh!”

Hardis let out a groan.

“However, what immediately overwhelmed my mother afterward was a sense of fear.”

“Fear? Does that mean the fear that Julia might be taken away from the Woodcliff Count’s household?”

In response to Lady Liana’s question, Julia shook her head.

“No, not the fear of being taken away by the Woodcliff family. It was more about the fear that if people knew I was a ‘Green Spirit Wielder,’ I would be burdened with responsibilities like my father and lose my freedom. So, it seems my mother left home with me. It wasn’t because she doubted the relationship between my father and Aunt Cindy, nor did she distance herself.

At that time,

‘I will protect Julia, so don’t worry.’

Spati deeply regrets not being able to convey that single sentence to my mother. Even if it was impossible, he wishes he had at least communicated my mother’s feelings and the difficult situation to my father’s ‘Green Spirit,’ Lord Filam.”