AEPOB 13

Chapter 13

I smiled brightly and said, “I stayed up late making meringue cookies yesterday, so I’m tired. Ah! I’ll make sure to bring the cookies when I go today.”

“……”

Sigh, ignored again.

It had been like this for the past week, and I felt like I couldn’t go on like this, so yesterday I even baked meringue cookies as my secret weapon.

*’I hope this one works…’*

I pulled the beautifully horn-shaped meringue cookies out from my pocket and showed them to her.

“Quite a bit of sugar went into making these, you know? Eating something sweet makes you feel good, right?”

In a town where sugar is expensive, this was quite a thoughtful gift.

“How about it? Looks tasty, right?”

“……”

Huh, strangely enough, even though I was babbling on today, Kiki kept listening quietly.

The feeling was good.

If that’s the case, now’s the time to ask to be friends!

“Kiki, would you like to be friends with me?”

But as if she couldn’t take it anymore, Kiki tried to leave.

I quickly added, “I won’t! I won’t bother you anymore today, so just work here.”

Only then did Kiki sit back down.

Ha, so that’s how it’s going to be?

Since she kept listening to me today unlike other days, I thought this was the perfect timing to say the usual “let’s be friends” line!

*’In the end, even my secret weapon failed.’*

*Zing.*

I frowned and shot Kiki a brief glare.

Just you wait.

I’m definitely going to become your friend.

Then, as I angrily dug with my hoe, I spotted a large herb root.

Thinking I could make a good catch, I happily worked the hoe.

*’If I sell this, maybe I can buy some delicious food!’*

Filled with dreams, I pulled hard at the exposed root.

I had been struggling for a while when I finally heard Kiki’s voice—the voice I’d been waiting for.

“…That’s a poison weed, so stop pulling.”

Come on, you could have told me sooner!

I collapsed onto the ground in vain.

Wait, more importantly, Kiki just spoke!

Unable to hide my excitement, I pointed at Kiki and exclaimed, “You, you! You just spoke?!”

“……”

Predictably, I was ignored again.

As if she’d never said a word, Kiki tightly closed her mouth and focused on her work.

Was it okay to go closer now?

Her wariness seemed to have eased a little, so I quickly secured the spot next to her.

Even as I crouched down beside her, I was nervous that Kiki might run away again.

Then, suddenly, Kiki placed two weeds, presumably herbs, on the ground.

“Hey, which of these two is the herb?”

This was a great achievement after a whole week. For the first time, Kiki spoke to me first.

To live up to her approaching me, I carefully examined the weeds.

*’Hmm, they both look the same, don’t they?’*

This is a herb field, so aren’t there only herbs here? For the past week, I’d been picking anything that looked like an herb and putting it in my basket…?

But judging by Kiki’s reaction, that assumption seemed wrong.

I looked at the weeds more closely again.

Both had long stems with identical yellow flowers at the end, and even the broad, pointed leaves looked the same.

“Ugh……”

I even smelled them, but both just gave off a fresh, herbal scent with no big difference.

In the end, I decided to guess.

After staring at the two intently, I finally chose the one on the left.

“This one.”

At that, Kiki let out a deep sigh and pressed her forehead.

“Ha……”

Ah, wrong?

I subtly shifted the direction of my finger.

Only then did Kiki lower her hand from her forehead, as if I’d finally gotten it right.

“What’s the difference between them?”

Hey, you can’t just suddenly change from multiple choice to short answer.

I was so nervous that sweat was beading on my nose.

When I hesitated, Kiki muttered, “They said you lost your memory, but you really did forget everything, huh……”

Then, as if understanding, she nodded and continued explaining.

“Every medicine in the Empire contains Balsil, so pay attention. These two are hard to tell apart by sight. But when they’re in bloom like this, you can distinguish them.”

“They look the same to me.”

“Look closely at the number of petals. The left one has four, the right one has five, right?”

I listened to Kiki and looked at the two yellow flowers again. The difference that I hadn’t seen before suddenly came into focus.

“Oh, you’re right.”

“So, the one with four petals is Barokan, and the one with five is Balsil. So what you’ve been pulling up is Barokan.”

I turned my head to look at the poison weeds I’d mistaken for herbs and diligently pulled up.

Looking closely, they all had four petals.

*’What, that’s easier than I thought! Now that I know, I can just do better from now on.’*

After dealing with nothing but difficult missions, encountering something this simple made me feel strangely satisfied.

But that feeling didn’t last long. Because Kiki plucked the flowers right off.

“Now how do you tell these two apart?”

Ha, why does she keep making the questions harder?

I frowned and looked at Kiki. The upturned corners of my mouth had fallen.

“…Do you really have to pluck the flowers like that? It’d be easier to tell them apart by looking at the flowers.”

“Flowers only bloom in autumn.”

Kiki snapped the stems of the herbs she was holding one by one.

As if proving this was a fantasy world, the sap flowing from the herb stems was a viscous, pearlescent liquid, quite a sight to see.

“If you cut the stems like this, Balsil releases a green sap, while Barokan releases a reddish sap. Anyone in the Empire knows—”

“Huh? Why did you stop mid-sentence?”

I, who had been listening to the explanation, tilted my head and looked at Kiki.

Maybe it was because I unconsciously leaned my face close to hers to get a better look.

Before I knew it, our faces were very close.

Kiki flinched and jumped up as if having a fit.

“…From now on, make sure you distinguish them properly and follow along.”

After awkwardly finishing her sentence, Kiki left the spot.

*’What was that about?’*

After that, Kiki kept her distance from me and didn’t even exchange a word.

The herb gathering that started at dawn finally ended only after the sun had brightly lit the world.

Even so, the distance between Kiki and Abelle hadn’t closed.

Just as Abelle was helping Holtz tidy up their things.

*Poke, poke.*

Kiki approached Holtz and poked his arm with her finger.

“Uncle, I’m going to stay a little longer and work today.”

“Alone?”

Holtz stopped what he was doing and looked at Kiki with wide eyes.

He seemed surprised by the sudden announcement.

As if to prove they were father and daughter, Abelle, sitting next to him, had the exact same reaction.

But upon hearing those words, she bit her lower lip with her teeth.

Her lip soon returned to its place, but Kiki, who was more sensitive than others, could tell—even if others couldn’t.

That Abelle didn’t like this situation.

She seemed to be trying not to show it, but her lips were already jutting out slightly, so it was unmistakable.

Kiki steeled her weakening heart and said, “I just want to finish what I started.”

For some reason, Holtz nodded at Kiki’s firm attitude.

A short while later, with a reminder not to overdo it, Holtz left the herb field with a basket in his left hand and his daughter’s hand in his right.

As the two disappeared, the herb field was left in quiet stillness.

Only now could Kiki relax and sit comfortably.

“Ha……”

Lately, he’d been flustered more than once by Abelle’s unusually close approach.

Just earlier too.

His heart had pounded at Abelle’s sudden movement toward him, and he couldn’t stay put.

It would have been fine if that was the end of it.

Even as Kiki walked away holding Holtz’s hand, Abelle’s gaze—watching him intently until the very end—was still vivid in his mind.

When did it start? When did those jade-green eyes become permanently etched in his mind?

Before he knew it, just Abelle’s existence alone was constantly tormenting Kiki.

Kiki irritably swept his hair back. His long bangs, which had covered half his face, were pushed aside.

Revealed were his violet eyes, reminiscent of lavender, and his straight, prominent nose.

He had been hiding so well that Abelle had never managed to find him—the face of a beautiful boy.

Though his eyes squinted in the sunlight he hadn’t seen in a while, his face remained beautifully radiant, sparkling in the clear sunshine.

“Ah.”

Kiki let out a short exclamation, as if something had come to mind. His previously languid eyes sparkled, and he began rummaging through the herb field.

“Here it is.”

Soon, his rolling violet eyes stopped at one place.

Finally, a faint smile spread across his lips.

What he had found were two pairs of footprints, side by side, imprinted on the ground.