All I had to do to grow the Galle Gold Leaf was water the herbs and imbue them with magic. Logically speaking, that’s not really a big deal. I should have realized it wasn’t very impressive sooner.
My face fell as this thought hit me. But my expression wasn’t the only thing that dropped—both Mirach and Lukbar sank to the ground as well.
“Huh? Wh-what’s going on?” I called out in surprise, but they just sat motionless, completely fixated on the Galle Gold Leaf.
“My legs…they just gave out beneath me,” Mirach muttered.
“Is that the real thing?” Lukbar asked.
“Of course it is! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all this time!”
I’d just reached the conclusion that cultivating the Galle Gold Leaf was apparently not that big of a deal after all. There was no reason for them to be so astonished that it would throw them off balance.
At first, I thought they were trying to console me by overacting, but both Mirach and Lukbar remained seated on the ground, their eyes sparkling with wonder.
“P-Princess Serafina, is that really Galle Gold Leaf? Did you have the extraordinary luck of finding a sprig somewhere and transplanting it? You’re simply amazing! You managed to find something in less than a month that others have been searching over twenty years for!”
“Th-the leaves…they actually sparkle! I thought the elders were just exaggerating, but the Galle Gold Leaf really is as enigmatic as they said!!”
Seeing their genuine excitement, it dawned on me that both of them were truly surprised.
I beamed brightly as I gestured toward the plants. “Why don’t you go and confirm if they’re real or not?”
At my suggestion, Mirach and Lukbar stood up—albeit shakily—and with the assistance of the other knights, they walked up to the Galle Gold Leaf. Once there, they seemed to be deeply emotional while taking in the sight of the plants.
After a few moments had passed, they both reached for the hilts of their swords with trembling hands, drawing out the preserved Galle Gold Leaf they had tucked inside.
“It’s hard to tell the color because it’s dried, but the shape is identical.”
“Yeah, it is. And the leaves of the herbs planted here are unmistakably golden. Which must mean…this isn’t Galle Red Leaf or Blue Leaf—it has to be Galle Gold Leaf!”
Fackt’s brow furrowed as he watched the two of them in awe, as if there was something he couldn’t quite comprehend.
“Princess Serafina, as I recall, you originally planted Galle Red Leaf and Galle Blue Leaf in this garden. To be more precise, the Galle Red Leaf has been replanted where the Galle Blue Leaf used to be, and the Galle Gold Leaf now occupies the previous space of the Galle Red Leaf. There’s still plenty of open space available, so why go through the trouble of replanting them here? Also, the Galle Blue Leaf is missing—has it been transplanted elsewhere?”
Oof, that Fackt. Always wanting all the facts.
“I didn’t replant anything, they just changed color,” I explained. “Mirach said the Galle herbs were originally just one kind of plant. And he’s right! All three of them are actually the same thing. When you infuse a Galle Blue Leaf seedling with magic and let it grow, it turns into a Galle Red Leaf. And if you do the same thing to a Galle Red Leaf, it changes into a Galle Gold Leaf!”
In contrast to Fackt, who merely tapped his glasses in silence, Lukbar let out a startled gasp.
“Y-yes?” I asked.
“H-hang on a moment! Are you trying to say that you changed the Galle Blue Leaf and Galle Red Leaf you brought back from my village into Galle Red Leaf and Galle Gold Leaf?!”
Although he looked utterly shocked, it was the truth, so I just nodded.
“Yup, that’s right.”
Mirach shook his head in a flustered manner, clearly taken aback.
“But it takes about a year for them to mature! You only brought the seedlings back with you less than a month ago!”
Apparently, it was too hard for Mirach to believe that I’d changed one type of herb to another in less than a month’s time.
“If you cultivate the Galle herbs without magic, it does seem to take about a year. But if you use magic, they’re ready to harvest in about one to six months.”
“Six months?!” Mirach and Lukbar bellowed in unison.
Their reaction startled me. “What’s the matter?” I asked.
“No, it’s just…back when we were able to harvest the Galle Gold Leaf in our village twenty years ago, I heard that the period from planting the herbs to harvesting them was about six months.”
Hearing Lukbar’s response, Fackt paused, his expression thoughtful for a moment before he pushed his glasses a little further up on his nose, “How curious. These herbs change as they grow. The first stage has blue leaves, the second has red, and the third, gold, I suppose? So, after turning gold, they go back to being blue again?”
“That’s exactly right! You’re so clever, Fackt!” I beamed, impressed by how quickly he’d caught on to the cycle. Meanwhile, Mirach was trembling uncontrollably beside me.
As I watched Mirach, hunched over and visibly shaken, I couldn’t help but worry that my explanation had been too much for him to handle. But he suddenly straightened up and let out a hearty burst of laughter.
“Ah ha ha ha!” He laughed loudly, as if he couldn’t contain how utterly hilarious he found the whole situation.
Oh dear, I thought, my eyes growing wide with alarm, Mirach has lost his mind.
“Princess Serafina, that’s an unbelievable story! The blue leaves turn red? And then they change to gold after that?! I can’t handle this anymore! It’s gone far beyond the limits of my common sense!!”
“Th-that may be true…”
I could see that Mirach was way more worked up than usual, so I decided to cautiously agree with him, not wanting to provoke him any further.
He laughed for a little longer before saying something that seemed completely irrelevant to the situation.
“I need to apologize to Sador.”
Sador—that was the knight I’d seen him arguing with the other day.
Wasn’t he someone Mirach was at odds with because they didn’t agree on certain things? Why would he suddenly feel the need to apologize?
But Mirach interrupted my thoughts, “Of course, such a clear answer would make me realize. I’ve been shown beyond the shadow of a doubt that the way I believed things should be done was wrong,” He looked refreshed, and the tone of his voice was bright.
He cradled his forehead with one hand as he thoughtfully carried on, “Until now, I’ve always done everything by the book. By sticking to the rules, I could rely on knowledge from the past and avoid any surprises or unexpected situations. That gave me a sense of security, and I believed that was the best way, the honest way of approaching things. And since I trusted myself above all others, I always ended up handling things on my own.”
Although it seemed like Mirach was talking to me, I got the feeling those words were more meant for him to organize his own thoughts. Even so, I nodded along.
“But…Princess Serafina, as soon as I let myself rely on you, my world expanded.”
He placed a hand to his lips as he continued in a voice thick with emotion, “You made the impossible possible. I’m genuinely impressed. In fact, seeing the results has blown me away. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to achieve things I couldn’t do on my own. I’ve come face-to-face with the realization that my by-the-book approach simply can’t produce such outstanding outcomes. Princess Serafina, I pledge to follow you for the rest of my days.”
Since he had just said something incredibly important so suddenly, I casually retorted, “Huh?! But the rest of your life is an awfully long time, you know!”
“It’s still too little time to be by your side, Princess.”
His smile was so content that I had to tightly press my lips together, not wanting to deny his feelings. Although, since he was talking about following me wherever I went, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject of tomorrow.
“I-I see. In that case, I’d, um, like you to start by coming with me to Galle Village tomorrow. You too, Lukbar, if you’d like. Let’s bring the villagers the Galle Gold Leaf.”
“…They’ll all start crying tears of joy.”
“The elders may even start devouring the Galle Gold Leaf on the spot.”
I laughed softly at Mirach and Lukbar’s attempts to be humorous.
“I’m sure the people in Galle Village won’t do that! But I hope they’ll be happy.”
Once I said that, both of them looked at me earnestly.
“They’ll be absolutely delighted!!” they chorused together.
Well, if the two people who originally came from that village were so certain, perhaps that would indeed be the case.
I couldn’t wait to see what the next day would bring.