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Lady Lucille Gustelanola was notorious in the capital for being a despicable, foolish woman. Despite being engaged to the prince, she had been too lazy to complete her princess training, overtly looked down on others, spent money extravagantly, and wore gaudy makeup and clothing. All this had led to the prince breaking off their engagement and palming her off here to Leeuwenhoek. From what I’d heard, the announcement had sent her into a furious, indignant rage. Her pride couldn’t take the blow, and in the end, she had fainted. No matter how you looked at it, this woman spelled trouble.
When she first arrived here, I observed that while her appearance wasn’t improper, it was certainly flamboyant. Adding to that, her display of arrogance to smile in response to my deliberately contemptuous glare had convinced me that the other rumors were not far from the truth either.
So what was this scene unfolding before my eyes?
“Grandpa Randy, does this go here?”
“Yup, that’s perfect! You’re a really fast learner, Lucy!”
“Heh heh! I know, right?”
Uh, who is that?
No matter which angle I looked at her from, the woman standing in the garden soil, puffing out her chest, was clearly the wicked Lucille Gustelanola. Wearing work gloves and a plain dress, she appeared to be planting flower seedlings.
Wait, was her face always like that?
She looked much younger than when I’d first met her. Her excessive ostentation had been replaced with an air of innocence reminiscent of a small animal. Speaking of which, she also seemed smaller in stature.
While I did recall her being slender, I could have sworn she was taller and curvier than this. Did the lack of a maid mean that she was starved to the point of malnutrition, causing her to shrink? No, if anything, I could already tell from a distance that her skin was glowing, and she looked healthier than before. In fact, the broad smile on her dirt-stained, makeup-free face was positively brimming with energy.
“Grandpa Randy, I’m starving. Can I have a tomato from the veggie garden?”
“You’re such a glutton, Lucy! Fine, but you only get one.”
“Yay!”
Hold on. I was so distracted by the difference in Lucille Gustelanola’s appearance, I didn’t realize the person grinning at her was my gardener, Grandpa Randolph.
Leeuwenhoek’s gardener had been working there for three generations now. He was known for being stubborn and hard to please. It wasn’t only the maids who avoided approaching him but the knights too.
“Lucy, I think I’m getting hungry as well.”
Who is that kind-looking old man, and what has he done with Randolph? Also, this is late, but is he calling Lucille Gustelanola “Lucy”?!
Randolph’s behavior was baffling as it was, but the fact that Lucille Gustelanola of all people was allowing the gardener to call her by a nickname was utterly impossible to believe.
“Grandpa Randy, your hands are still covered in dirt, aren’t they? I cleaned mine with magic, so I’ll feed you. Say ‘aah’!”
Wh-What?! She’s going to feed him with her own hands?! N-No, Randolph would never stand for such—
“Aah!”
He gladly accepted it?! Wait, first of all, since when have we had a vegetable garden? Where were those tomatoes growing? They just sprouted up when she waved her hand, didn’t they? I mean, this land...is cursed, just like me.
The proof of this curse lay in the fact that, despite Randolph’s decades of continuous care, this land could support beautiful flowers but remained unable to produce crops.
First Randolph’s unfathomable behavior, then the sudden emergence of tomatoes... What in the world has Lucille Gustelanola done?!
My head was full of question marks.