Chapter 2:
The Unchanging Garden
THE MONTHS PASSED IN A FLASH; time seemed to go faster, thanks to each day being more fulfilling than the last. Those fearful nights she’d lain in bed, wishing the morrow would never come, all just felt like a bad dream. That was just how blissful third year was.
As soon as Yulan graduated high school, Violette took his last name. The blurred flurry of preparations for the wedding persisted only at the beginning. After that, Violette’s days were filled with sending Yulan off to work, welcoming him home, relaxing, laughing, and sleeping. Perhaps because they started living together while still in high school, very little changed after they became husband and wife—aside from the fact that they now shared a bed.
“Lady Violette, where would you like to take your breakfast?”
“Let me see… Since it’s a lovely day, I suppose I’ll eat outside.”
“I’ll get everything ready for you.”
As time passed, the once white-all-over mansion gradually dyed itself Violette’s favorite colors. It started with the furniture and spread all the way to the flowers now blooming in the garden beds. Yulan built his castle with care to ensure his wife was happy indoors and outdoors—and his efforts were paying off in full to that very day.
Violette’s favorite recent additions were the new outdoor dining furniture and the garden around it. Sitting there and admiring the flowers in full bloom had recently become part of her daily routine.
She sighed in the sunbeams while the breeze carried a cozy scent to her. Everything touching her was so soft as she contemplated what she might do after breakfast: read a book or embroider some. If she started that morning, she could finish a relatively large embroidery project by evening, so she was leaning toward that. She knew she had a blank handkerchief lying around somewhere.
“The weather has become quite comfortable, hasn’t it?” Marin remarked.
“It has. I don’t even need a blanket anymore.”
“No. Still, I’ve been instructed to leave one in every room just in case you do.”
“Isn’t it annoying having to wash them all? Maybe I should tell Yulan to relax a bit.”
“Well, I’ll put most of them away, then.”
The blankets, which had been added to every room as the result of a solitary sneeze from Violette, were changed and laundered regularly. But since Violette carried her favorite blanket around with her anyway, she rarely used the ones in the rooms. All they resulted in was more laundry. But, since nobody raised a complaint, it was clear where this house’s priorities lay.
“What an interesting aroma that is.”
“Yes. Chesuit’s experimenting with spices recently.”
“What happened to his mushroom obsession?”
“Oh, he’s obsessed with cooking first and foremost. All the subgenres come second.”
The aroma tantalizing Violette’s nose was unfamiliar, but she knew that she’d like whatever Chesuit cooked her. Since he wasn’t the type to explain all his gustatory choices, she didn’t know what dish he’d use this intriguing spice in. If he deemed it suitable for Violette’s palate, though, she knew it wouldn’t be unappetizing.
“Have you already eaten, Marin?”
“Oh, I was practically forced to eat until I burst at the staff meal.”
“Oh dear, oh dear…”
“But thanks to our efforts, breakfast will be delicious. I can vouch for the flavors.”
Violette giggled. “Well, I’m looking forward to that.”
Soup and golden bread adorned the breakfast table. The plaited bread rolls were piled high in their basket, the accompanying soup was full of large bite-sized morsels, and the dessert eagerly awaited its chance to pop out of the icebox to shine.
Given the greenery around Violette, this felt like a picnic. The gardens were so spacious that all one had to do was change location to have an entirely new view.
“I’m going to take it easy after breakfast,” Violette told Marin.
“Good idea. Today is so lovely. Shall I bring you something to do afterward?”
“Yes. Let me think…”
Violette pondered as she popped a piece of the sliced bread into her mouth and chewed. The sun felt so nice, and the twittering of the birds in the distance was just as lovely. If she tried to focus on a task in the soft sunlight, she might fall asleep; still, she wanted to do something meaningful with her time. If she did nod off, Marin would wake her for tea, and she didn’t expect visitors today (as she wouldn’t any day).
“I think I’ll read a book. There’s one with a bookmark between its pages in my room—could you bring that, please?”
“Of course, my lady.”
Violette had seen Marin smiling with her teapot enough times during the past three years to get used to that too. They’d often smiled together like this back at the Vahan estate, but most of those smiles had required a great deal of effort.
Violette’s days were filled with gentleness now. Though nightmares loomed over her, threatening her with the end of these days, there was someone to rub her back, smile at her when she woke, bring her happiness like this every single day. If she said “I love you,” he returned the words with a strong embrace. It was all right for her world to be this small—she was entitled to live out her days in this spacious yet cozy little box garden of sorts.
My own little world…never changing. My unchanging days.
They’re all full of endless love.
And they were all made just for me.