“WHOA. So, he gave you the whole plot of land?” Raven asked with raised eyebrows.
“The way he demolished the building was amazing. I’ve never seen anyone do anything like that before. He opened this little glass bottle, then the building melted and got sucked inside,” she recalled, digging her shovel into the earth where the storehouse once stood.
Raven looked on awkwardly, as though he didn’t know what to do with himself.
Rather than the pale evergreen dress Sirius had gleefully gifted her, Marialite was wearing work clothes specifically designed for gardening. In all honesty, the drab clothing looked a little strange on her; her gentle, buoyant personality suited elegant garments far better.
Hidden from view, several palace maids intently watched Marialite work, curious about what she was doing. They all had a look of bewilderment in their eyes.
Marialite herself, however, was continuing her work with just as much energy and vigor as usual. Raven’s first impression of her was that she always carried herself with a mellow, cheerful attitude, but he was surprised to find out she was pretty strong, too. Gardening took a lot of stamina, and she was by no means frail.
“It’s been a while since I grew anything just for fun, so I’m really excited,” she said with a grin.
“Humans sure are strange,” Raven said with a strained laugh. “I can’t really understand why you’d want to invest so much time into something that’ll just wither up and die if you get it wrong.”
“I think Sirius feels the same way,” she nodded. “Still, he gave me permission to do this right away. I didn’t even need to persuade him.”
“That’s ’cause he’d do anything as long as it makes you happy…”
Not to mention the fact that Sirius was under a lot of pressure to cater to the future empress’ wishes—especially since she was a saint.
“Actually, the fact that a Jade Saint loves growing plants makes a lot of sense,” Raven hummed.
“Oh, yeah, Raven, I wanted to ask you about that,” she said with a tone of realization, pausing her digging. “What other kinds of saints are there?”
“Those with the power to control fire are Ruby Saints, Aquamarine Saints can control water, and Moonstone Saints have healing powers. There’s a pretty broad range of ’em.”
“I’ve never even heard those titles before…”
“That’s ’cause humans don’t know anything about the Book of Reschmun. I’d be more surprised if you had heard of them.”
“What’s that?” she asked. However, before Raven could answer, a soldier came sprinting towards them, shouting in the distance as he approached.
“Saint Marialite! I’m back! I got you some seeds!”
As he drew closer, an expensive-looking box decorated with jewels came into view. The soldier dropped to his knees in front of Marialite and offered up the box to her.
Marialite, however, had no idea what was going on. She stared at the soldier blankly.
“What are they?”
“They’re topazios seeds. Didn’t Lord Sirius tell you about them?”
“Well, he did say that once I started on the garden, I should absolutely plant some topazios seeds first. But I didn’t realize that they were… Um…”
That they were the sort of thing to arrive in such a fancy box!
“Anyway, thank you,” she smiled, finally taking the box from the soldier and flipping the lid open.
Inside, sitting atop a soft, plush cushion, was a cluster of little brown seeds. Marialite stared down at them with curious eyes and tried to recall what Sirius had told her.
Topazios was originally the name of a Jade Saint who lived in ancient times. Apparently, it was possible to grow other plants around the topazios plant, but Marialite was a little worried that it might hinder their growth. However, according to Sirius, it would have the opposite effect; having topazios seeds in the vicinity prompted plants to grow faster.
That was how the seeds got their name; it was believed that the power of a saint resided in each one.
“I wonder what the flowers will look like,” Marialite mused as she studied the seeds.
“It’s different depending on who plants the seed,” Raven chimed in. “People with strong personalities bring forth large, bright red flowers, while the more pessimistic types sprout little blue ones…and so on. I bet you’d grow some lovely, vivid pink ones.”
“You think so? Shall we find out?” she said with a clap of her hands. She knelt down to the freshly dug hole and sowed the first seed.
She held her palms towards the earth and offered up a simple prayer. The moment she finished speaking, a green shoot heaved its way above ground. Silence fell around her as Raven, the soldier, and all the maids hiding around the corner watched curiously.
Holy power surrounded the bud as it began to rapidly shoot into the air. It grew and grew until it was about three feet tall and little buds began to sprout from the stem. The buds seemed to be tinged red, but…
“Wait, hold on a sec! Something’s not right!” Raven started to panic—and he wasn't the only one. The soldier wore a puzzled look on his face, and the maids reacted similarly.
It was the furthest thing from a dainty little flower. It was utterly enormous.
Marialite was the only one not panicking; she simply watched over it as it grew with a casual smile on her face.
“It reminds me of how Lord Sirius grew so big so suddenly,” she laughed.
“I don’t think anyone could call that thing ‘lovely’…” Raven said with a strained laugh, side-eyeing the monstrous plant.
“Who cares?” Marialite countered. “It’s growing up strong and healthy. That’s the most important thing.”
Then, finally, the topazios flowered.
The petals unfurled to display a deep, brilliant crimson. That much was expected. However, what sprouted in the middle of each flower was another matter altogether.
It was the face of a rugged-looking man.
“Aaaaaaaah!” the maids screamed in terror.
Strictly speaking, the entire plant was in the shape of a man. Nevertheless, it was huge. The plant was as tall as a real man, he was wearing heavy-looking leafy armor, and something like a sword sprouted from his hand. It looked like something that had stepped straight out of someone’s nightmares.
“Ooh! I’ve never seen such a handsome plant!” Marialite admired gleefully. However, she was the only one to do so. Everyone else was fearfully looking between her and the sinister-looking plant and cowering pathetically.
“Th-This has to be some kind of mistake!” Raven yelled, his features stiff with fear. While Marialite’s skin was flushed pink with excitement, Raven had almost turned blue.