“My lady, if you’re tired, would you like to add sugar to your tea? Sugar is said to soothe exhaustion.”
“Hmm… No, I’m fine drinking it this way.”
“I see. Now that I think about it, you’ve always taken your tea straight, my lady,” Ruvik said, smiling sentimentally. Leticiel looked at the small jars of sugar and milk lined up on the tray. Apparently, Drossell also drank her tea plain.
Noticing her maid’s absence, Ruvik asked, “Is Nicole not with you?”
“She went to the warehouse to get trunks.” After she finished drinking her tea, Leticiel rested both hands on the sofa. Her fingertips brushed something. It was the diary she had been holding earlier. Staring meaninglessly at her toes, Leticiel murmured, “Hey, Ruvik…”
“Yes? What is it?”
“Do you know anyone named Alec?” she asked, referring to the name in the letter. Ruvik had served Drossell as her personal butler for a long time, so she hoped he might know something.
“Alec…?” the man repeated.
“Yes. A letter with that name was tucked inside an old diary.” Leticiel showed him the envelope.
Taking it from her, he carefully removed the letter inside and opened it. He took his time staring at the words in the letter, but finally he returned the letter to its envelope and shook his head, handing it back to Leticiel. “I’ve never heard that name before. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of assistance.”
“I see. Don’t worry about it, I just thought I’d ask.”
“I’m sorry. I started serving you when you were six, so perhaps Alec is your friend from before then.”
Placing the letter back in the diary, Leticiel hid her surprise at how long Ruvik had been serving Drossell. Still, if even Ruvik, who knew Drossell best of all, didn’t know who Alec was, she had her work cut out for her. All she had to go by was a name. She didn’t even know if Alec was a boy or a girl.
“However,” Ruvik continued, “the stationery and envelope used in the letter are of an extremely high quality, so I’d assume they are the son or daughter of a noble family.”
“Ruvik, you can tell how high quality stationery is?”
“I simply felt that it was similar to the feel of the paper used here in the manor, so it’s just a guess. Most ducal manors use high quality paper.”
“I see…” Rising from the sofa, Leticiel stood in front of the open window and spread both arms wide. The wind blowing against her face was slightly warm and smelled of grass in early summer.
“Oh?” While resting her elbows on the windowsill and staring blankly at the garden below, Leticiel noticed the soil in the flower bed furthest from the front was bare. If she wasn’t mistaken, the flower bed had white carnations in it a week ago. But now the only flowers planted in it were two light pink flowers that she didn’t recognize. “Ruvik, why is that flower bed unnaturally empty? Only a few flowers of some kind are blooming in it.”
“So it seems. Perhaps it’s an order of new flowers?” Standing beside her, Ruvik tilted his head questioningly while peering down into the garden. Leticiel decided to go downstairs to the garden to get a closer look.
“Oh, my lady.” Claud, holding a large watering can, passed her when she arrived in the garden. When he noticed Leticiel, he stopped a few steps away and made a quick U-turn. “What are you doing in the garden today?”
“I saw an unfamiliar flower blooming in the flower bed over there, so I thought I would ask what kind it is,” Leticiel said, pointing to the flower bed in question.
Claud glanced at the flower bed. “Ah, those? They’re lune flowers. They come from a country in the north. Since they’re difficult to harvest, not many are sold here in Platina, so they’re popular amongst the aristocracy.”
“Hmm, I see.” Leticiel approached the flower bed with the lune flowers and reached out to touch the light pink petals. They felt similar to a rose’s petals, and were quite soft. They felt like they would be crushed immediately if she exerted even a little force.
“By the way, I heard that you received a new residence from His Majesty, my lady,” Claud commented while Leticiel was examining the lune flowers.
“Oh, you heard about that?”
“It’s all the servants have been talking about.”
“Yes, it’s true. I plan on finishing packing all of my belongings tomorrow.” She told Claud that she had received a manor and would be moving into it as soon as her preparations had ended tomorrow.
“I see… So you’ll be leaving this manor, my lady.”
“Yes. It’s what I wished for, and I’m sure the rest of my family feels the same.” There were some people in the manor who treated Leticiel well, like Ruvik, Nicole, and Claud, but dealing with the other servants was sometimes as bad as having to deal with the duke and his family. That was why she had no regrets about her decision to leave. “But it is unfortunate that I won’t be able to see this garden anymore,” she murmured while touching the flowers that swayed in the wind. Since she’d only enjoyed three things in the manor—reading in her bedroom, gazing at the garden from her window, or taking a walk through it—she was quite attached to the garden.
“I’m sure the flowers would be satisfied if they bloomed beautifully enough to make you miss them, my lady,” Claud said, lowering his gaze.
Ruvik, who had been watching their conversation from a short distance away, hesitantly said, “Claud, I’ll be going to the new manor with Miss Drossell. Would you like to come with us?”
Claud’s eyes widened slightly at the invitation. Though it was sudden, Leticiel didn’t mind the proposal. After all, Claud was one of her few allies in the duke’s household and she was grateful to him for many things. However, Claud silently shook his head.
“No… I appreciate the offer, but my family has served the Filiaregis family since my father’s generation. I’ve served them from the time of the previous duke, plus I’m the head gardener. There are many gardeners who rely on me, so I’ll continue my work here.”
“I see,” Ruvik murmured. “Well, it’s your life, so I suppose it can’t be helped.”
“It’s not as if we’ll never see each other again,” Claud reassured. “Want to get a drink together sometime soon?”
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? When we were younger, we often drank together in your room.”
Leticiel, who was crouched down in front of the lune flowers, stared at Ruvik and Claud as they reminisced over old memories. She’d known that they were good friends, but just how far did their friendship go back?
“Hey, Ruvik and Claud, have you known each other long?”
The men looked at each other, perhaps surprised by her sudden question. Finally, Ruvik answered, “Yes, we met each other back when I had just started serving you.”
In other words, when he first arrived at the manor. Apparently, because he was a commoner and new to his position as butler, unlike others whose families had served nobles for generations, he’d been somewhat ashamed working in the manor. Claud, who was just a regular gardener at the time, had looked after him.
“Back then, Claud’s father was the head gardener. Claud was the gardener for a number of manors—he didn’t exclusively work for the duke’s family.”
“I didn’t realize that was possible for gardeners,” Leticiel commented.
“It is, so he was often away from the manor. He asked the butlers at other manors to teach me about a butler’s duties, so I’m deeply indebted to him.”
“I see… So it’s thanks to Claud that you were able to become such a talented butler, Ruvik,” Leticiel teased, making Ruvik blush and avert his eyes. Claud watched them, grinning.
For a while after that, Leticiel stayed in the garden, asking Claud about various flowers. Since the season was changing to summer, the flowers in it had been replanted and there were parts Leticiel was unfamiliar with.
She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but after circling through the garden and exhausting her list of questions, Leticiel decided to return to her room.
Before she left, a thought crossed her mind and she asked, “By the way, Claud, do you know anyone named Alec?” Since Claud had been working at the manor longer than Ruvik, it was possible that he knew something.
“Are you referring to one of your friends, my lady?”
“Yes…I think.” Since she didn’t have any memories, she wasn’t sure, but Claud didn’t seem to notice the hesitation at the end of her answer.
Pressing a hand to his chin, he thought for a moment before replying, “I’m not sure. I worked at a couple of manors, so I didn’t know much about your friends.”
“Oh… I see. Thank you.”
“Mr. Claud, could you please come here for a moment?” a gardener who was working on the other side of the garden called.
“I’ll be right there! Sorry, Miss Drossell. If you’ll excuse me…”
“Not at all. I’m sorry for interrupting your work.”
Claud gave her a small bow and then jogged over to the other gardener. After seeing him off, Leticiel returned to the manor with Ruvik.