The Dandelion’s Promise

Time passed quickly. Several seasons had already changed.

As befitting the name, the Mountain of Death, the changes of seasons didn’t bring about significant changes, but the snow falling in winter and the mountain turning completely white was quite a spectacle.

Theodore, ignoring Sian’s nagging, played rolling around in the snow and eventually caught a cold.

Theodore had never seen snow before in the Kailos Empire, where only warm weather continued, so it was perhaps natural that he was curious about the snow he was seeing for the first time.

But the problem was that he had rolled around in the snow for a long time in the cold weather.

No matter how much of a protagonist he was, his young, underdeveloped body couldn’t withstand the extreme cold.

In the end, Theodore was forbidden to play in the snow by Sian and couldn’t step outside the mansion until he recovered from his cold.

It was an unavoidable choice for Sian, who was more worried about Theodore’s health than anyone else.

Although it was an incident caused by his own mistake, Theodore, unable to hide his disappointment, was dejected, so Sian made him a snow rabbit as a gift.

Theodore treasured the snow rabbit throughout the winter, placing it on the window.

Although he could cast preservation magic and leave the snow rabbit in his room forever even after winter, Theodore decided to follow the laws of nature.

As the snow rabbit that Sian had gifted melted away, spring arrived on the mountain.

It was exactly one year since Sian had brought Theodore.

“Any news from the Dane Merchant Group yet?”

“No.”

“Hmm…”

“Shall we send the Elves to the desert kingdom?”

“No, don’t do that.”

Crossing the desert was very dangerous. He was certain that the female lead would return alive, but not the others.

He couldn’t put them in danger because of his own circumstances.

“Understood.”

Kalley, nodding, glanced at Sian. Sian’s expression wasn’t very good, perhaps because the return of the Dane Merchant Group was delayed more than expected.

‘Is it possible that they won’t return until the original work begins in earnest?’ Sian, thinking ominous thoughts, shook his head.

“Teacher!”

“Theo.”

Theodore entered the living room, calling Sian. Sian, whose face had been contorted, smiled brightly as soon as he saw Theodore.

Theodore had grown a lot in the past year. When he first saw him, he looked smaller and frailer than his age, but now he seemed much bigger than his peers. Sian felt proud for some reason.

“What are you holding?”

“Ah.”

But Theodore wasn’t empty-handed. He was tightly clutching something green with both hands. It looked like weeds at first glance.

Since weeds were also growing on the Mountain of Death, it wasn’t particularly strange that he was holding grass.

But most of them had magic, so it was closer to poisonous weeds than weeds.

Sian, who realized it late, was startled and was about to tell him to put the weeds down. But before that, Theodore spoke first.

“I came to show you the strange grass that grew!”

“Strange grass?”

“Yes!”

Sian looked at the weed more closely at Theodore’s words.

Certainly, the shape of the grass was a little different from other weeds.

He didn’t even feel the faint magic that should have been felt.

But it was a shape that somehow felt familiar. Sian furrowed his brows with the feeling that he had seen it somewhere.

Then, memories from when he was human came back faintly. Sian looked again at the grass with long leaves and a serrated shape.

“Dandelion?”

“Dandelion?”

He didn’t know if it was called by the same name in this world, but the leaf shape was almost identical to a dandelion.

A representative wildflower and a flower that announces spring, a dandelion.

It was the first plant he had ever seen on this mountain. Sian also examined the dandelion with curious eyes.

“It’s a Benny.”

“Benny?”

“Yes, it’s a wildflower that blooms commonly on the continent.”

Kalley, with indifferent eyes, looked at the leaves and said. It seemed that dandelion was called Benny here.

Theodore’s eyes widened.

“It’s a flower?”

“Yes. The flowers haven’t bloomed yet since it’s early, though.”

“……”

Theodore stared at the dandelion in his hand with surprised eyes. He opened his mouth again with a face that seemed shocked.

“I didn’t know that flowers bloomed here, too. I just pulled it out because it looked unusual….”

“It’s okay. Wildflowers quickly spread their seeds, so it’ll bloom on the mountain in huge numbers soon.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Sian nodded, thinking of the dandelion. The dandelion, which spreads its seeds with the wind, was very strong, as was expected of a wildflower.

He could see dandelion flowers everywhere on the streets when spring arrived.

Sian, once again, recalled memories from when he was human.

“But this is the first time Benny has taken root here.

Originally, it died quickly between the poisonous weeds that contained magic, even before it could take root.”

“That’s what I mean.”

Kalley also chimed in, amazed. It was a huge thing that wildflowers were blooming on this barren mountain.

Kalley’s final goal as an Elf was to plant flowers and trees in Sian’s mansion’s garden to make a garden full of flowers and make it lush and green.

Sian, who had thought it was impossible, was also quite surprised when Theodore had plucked the dandelion leaves.

‘Is it… because of Theodore?’

Sian looked down at Theodore with strange eyes. This innocent child was the protagonist who received a lot of God’s love.

He thought that Theodore’s aura had purified the mountain’s magic in the past year.

“How do Benny flowers look?”

“Hmm?”

Sian came out of his reverie at Theodore’s question. Then, he smiled, looking into Theodore’s brightly shining eyes.

“Although they’re a little different, they’re generally not that big. They’re small and pretty flowers that have a yellow hue.”

“Wow, I want to see them soon.”

“They’ll bloom so much that they’ll cover the mountain soon.”

Theodore’s eyes shone even more at Sian’s words. It was just a small wildflower, insignificant compared to the flowers in the Imperial Palace garden, but he was doubtful whether Theodore would be so happy even after actually seeing the dandelion flowers.

Still, since it had been about a year since he had lived on the barren mountain, Theodore might be able to feel a change of mood while seeing the small wildflowers. Sian nodded inwardly.

“If Benny really blooms on this mountain, it seems like it would be nice to plant other flowers.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I stopped the experiment temporarily because it was winter. I’ll resume the experiment now.”

“Hmm, do that.”

“Yes, Sian-nim.”

Kalley, with a rare, elated face, bowed. The steps leaving the living room were very light, as if he was happy to resume the experiment. Sian, looking at his back, burst out laughing.

“Teacher, Teacher.”

“Hmm?”

“Can I go out to see the wildflowers bloom?”

“Hmm…”

Theodore, who had been locked up in the mansion all winter due to a cold, wanted to go outside. But he was only allowed to walk in the garden, for now, due to the risk.

The original work’s force, which was trying to give Theodore a trial, had pulled some strings several times even after he put on the item, but it had quieted down a bit around the time winter began.

Maybe it was because Drake didn’t move much in winter in the original work.

Even for the great Dragon he was, after all, a living creature and was influenced by the seasons.

Sian’s body also felt languid in winter and often felt sleepy.

It was unavoidable that he slept a lot to protect his body from the cold and to conserve energy.

But since winter was over and spring had come, the original work’s force might be plotting to give Theodore a trial again.

So, even though he had magic items, it was better to be careful.

“You can’t go far outside the mansion. And even if you go out, you must go with Teacher.”

“I’m fine. I like it!”

“So?”

On the contrary, Theodore seemed even happier.

Had it been too much to keep him from going outside all winter just because he had a cold?

Sian felt a strange sense of guilt and stroked Theodore’s head.

“Oh, and…”

“Hmm?”

“I’m so sorry that I pulled Benny out like this, so, is it okay if I bury it in the garden?”

“Uhm.”

Theodore was looking down at the dandelion with a face full of guilt. He seemed to be feeling sorry for the dandelion, which couldn’t bloom because of him.

Sian carefully examined the dandelion leaves that Theodore was still holding.

Now he saw that Theodore hadn’t just taken off the leaves a little, but had taken out the whole dandelion.

He had thought he had only taken off the leaves because the dandelion was small, but there were a few roots with soil attached to the end of the leaves.

If he transplanted it in a pot, it might continue to grow and bloom flowers.

Sian organized his thoughts and opened his mouth again.

“It looks like you can grow it by transplanting it in a pot.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Teacher will move it right now.”

“Yes!”

Theodore immediately handed the dandelion to Sian. His eyes of anticipation were still shining.

Soon, a flower that resembled Theodore’s eyes would bloom.

And it would fill this mountain, which was full of the energy of death.

As he imagined that, Sian’s mood also improved.