The Garden of Memories

Tread, tread.

Agniele walked with a steady rhythm, letting Noah’s ceaseless explanations drift in through one ear and out the other.

His visit today was a clearly impulsive act.

Even though he knew he should have sent word first, the desire to see Ensius as soon as possible had prodded him into action.

If he were to make an excuse, however, Ensius was partly to blame for Agniele’s sudden disregard for formality.

After all, had Ensius not told him, when Agniele mentioned contacting him before coming, to “not worry about it and do as you wish”?

It might have been a mere social nicety, but Agniele chose to believe those words, and the result was this.

Showing up unannounced at the mansion where Ensius stayed.

Perhaps needing time to prepare for the sudden guest, the butler had asked if he would like to tour the garden for a moment.

Agniele, secretly feeling anxious about his intrusion, could not refuse the suggestion.

Thus, Agniele had come outside, yet he was walking while looking only straight ahead.

The garden, perfectly laid out in symmetry with paths designed according to the latest trends, was certainly beautiful enough to draw admiration from anyone.

Regrettably, it failed to capture the eyes of Agniele, whose mind was entirely preoccupied with Ensius.

Noah, guiding Agniele, remained steadfast even though he realized his guest was distracted.

He had a mission to stall for Ensi’s sake, so he continued his explanations longer and in more minute detail than usual.

“Ah.”

Having spent time aimlessly for a while, Agniele let out a short exclamation and turned around.

At this reaction from Agniele, who had been consistently silent, Noah had no choice but to stop his explanation.

“Ensius.”

“You remain as sensitive to presence as ever.”

Ensius had certainly tried to tread carefully, but it seemed it was not enough to deceive Agniele.

Or perhaps he had felt the presence of the servant following behind instead.

Whichever was the truth, Ensi did not mind.

The important thing was that Agniele had recognized him.

As Ensi walked the rest of the way to join Agniele’s side, Noah quickly stepped back.

Ensi sent a greeting to Noah with a glance.

“I am worried that I have visited at too early an hour.”

“It is fine. I was the one who told you to do as you wished.”

So they were not empty words.

Seeing Ensi say the same thing as yesterday, a faint smile Agniele didn’t even notice himself appeared on his lips.

“This.”

Agniele held out the bouquet of flowers he had been clutching.

Ensi had already been eyeing the bouquet while pretending not to, as it was quite eye-catching.

He stared at the bouquet tilted toward him.

“It would have been fine to deliver it through a servant.”

“I wanted to give it to you directly if possible.”

Worrying that the petals might get damaged, Ensi reached out with both hands and carefully took the bouquet into his arms.

He didn’t recall seeing him holding such a thing when he saw him from the balcony.

He must have missed it due to the distance.

The size, which had looked modest in Agniele’s hands, filled Ensi’s arms to capacity.

Catching the scent of the flowers at the tip of his nose, Ensi felt the subtle difference in their physiques.

“I believe this is the first time I have received flowers.”

“The first time…….”

To be precise, it was the first time limited to this life, but he couldn’t exactly include his past life, could he?

Whether it was unfortunate or not, Ensi had no reason to receive flowers in this life.

More accurately, there was no one who would give him flowers.

Whatever the case, perhaps because it was his first time receiving a bouquet from another person as Ensi.

He felt a strange flutter in his chest.

Truthfully, he thought he wouldn’t feel much emotion over such a gift, but it seemed the sentiment changed depending on who the giver was.

Ensi stroked the delicate petals and pulled out two flowers.

Then, he used the flowers as a decoration in place of a pocket square.

“Noah, decorate the fountain with the rest of the flowers.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Separately from his joy, the bouquet was too large to carry around continuously.

Ensi handed the bouquet and his handkerchief to Noah, soothing his lingering regret.

Agniele adjusted the flowers decorating Ensi’s chest, his lips parting slightly.

“There is no need to go that far.”

If the fountain Ensi mentioned was the one positioned in a straight line between the main gate and the mansion entrance, his instruction felt a bit excessive.

The fountain there was the first piece of landscaping guests encountered when visiting the mansion.

In other words, the impression of the fountain was essentially the first impression of the mansion’s master.

Agniele, knowing that even a simple fountain carried much meaning, expressed concern at Ensi’s words.

“I am doing it because I want to.”

Ensi shook his head slightly to brush off Agniele’s worry and met his eyes.

“More than that, I trust you have not come with any special news today either.”

If he had come with another incident or accident like yesterday, it would be uncomfortable even if the person was Agniele.

Ensi narrowed his eyes and made the first move.

“It is nothing like that. I simply came because I missed you.”

Agniele, hurriedly asserting his innocence, bared his pure sincerity.

The answer, which came without a moment’s hesitation, contained such upright honesty that Ensi, feeling embarrassed instead, ended up looking away.

“……Did we not meet just yesterday?”

“Even so, it was short.”

“I recall it was similar to when we stayed at the academy…….”

“It was insufficient, even then.”

In fact, it was insufficient even now.

If it were up to his heart, he didn’t want to leave.

He even felt envious of Luke or Donovan, who were staying at Ensi’s mansion.

This was despite hearing from Noah that those two could barely stay in the mansion and were busy handling the tasks Ensi had requested.

The fact remained that they could stay in the same mansion as Ensi.

Unlike himself, who could not.

Thanks to the consistently straightforward Agniele, Ensi let out a light cough.

While it was better to be honest than to hide one’s inner thoughts, being too honest was a bit embarrassing.

“We should move to a different spot for now. Somewhere else would be better than here.”

Ensi intentionally changed the subject.

It wasn’t a completely irrelevant statement.

He had been feeling a blatant gaze on the back of his head for a while now, as if it were being pierced.

When Ensi turned his head to glance back, Noah and Emma wore picture-perfect smiles on their lips.

Ensi’s lips twitched slightly at the smiles that showed no intention of hiding their thoughts.

“Noah, Emma.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

“You two should head back now. You must have work to do.”

It would be better to be accompanied by a servant instead of those two.

Having made that judgment, Ensi gave them a dismissal, and though they immediately wore sorrowful expressions, they withdrew without a word for the moment.

I’ll hear about this later.

But that was a problem for the future, so he decided not to worry about it now.

Having sent the two back to the mansion, Ensi rested his chin in his hand and pondered where to go.

If they walked the streets of the capital, useless gazes would surely follow.

Since Ensi hoped for news to reach Count Alemir as late as possible, the option of leaving the mansion was not even considered.

In that case…… since Agniele did not enjoy static activities, it would be better to take a light walk rather than go inside the mansion.

As it happened, there was a place within the mansion that was good for walking and avoiding eyes.

Having reached a decision, Ensi tapped Agniele’s forearm, signaling him to follow.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Without even knowing where they were going, Agniele nodded first, as he always did.

Ensi led the way to a place not too far away, with Agniele at his side.

Ensi walked more leisurely than usual.

It was true there was no urgent business, but there was also no reason for his heart to be rushed.

That sentiment was reflected in his steps, which kept slowing down.

Agniele, observing Ensi closely, was careful to match his stride.

The two walked while sharing trivial stories.

What they had done since returning to the capital, what their usual routines were like, and whether he was still devoted to swordsmanship training as always.

Agniele, who had been enjoying a conversation that a third party might find boring, paused at the sight he faced after turning a corner.

A forest, which was hard to imagine seeing in the city center, unfolded before his eyes.

“Do you perhaps like forests?”

There was a time when it was fashionable to landscape a mansion’s garden to be as lush as a forest.

Linked with the desires of those seeking secret meetings away from others’ eyes, it had established itself as a trend in social circles for quite a long time.

In a limited space, and especially in a mansion garden heavily touched by human hands, recreating a forest as it existed in nature was no easy feat.

Because of that, the more a garden felt devoid of artificiality, the more people respected the master’s authority and ability.

However, that trend had passed more than ten years ago.

Despite that, the garden at the back of the mansion maintained the style of that era.

At the same time, Agniele recalled the fact that Ensi had stayed in a greenhouse at the academy that only existed if one entered the forest.

Because of this, he had asked the question with some certainty, but Ensi shook his head slightly in denial.

He had never thought deeply enough about forests to have a clear like or dislike for them.

If he had to choose, he leaned toward liking them…… but he didn’t like them enough to follow an outdated style and leave a mark.

However.

“It is a garden my mother left behind.”

“……I see.”

Even for Agniele, who was uninformed about rumors, he knew how Ensi’s mother had passed away.

It was famous enough to reach even his ears, which were dull to news.

The fact that the youngest of the Alemir family was born at the cost of the Madam’s life.

A child who suffered from Utia disease since he was a fetus and was born after freezing his mother’s womb to see the light of day.

Therefore, a chilling child who was never once held in his mother’s arms.

A child born with an ill omen since birth, whom Count Alemir would not even spare a glance.

That was the story of Ensius that circulated in social circles.