**Chapter 35: Borrow Your Flowers for You**
That noon, in order to buy enough tomato sauce, Evelia scoured the market during the end-of-month shopping rush and hurriedly completed her purchases. This way, she wouldn’t have to go to the market for a while; she just needed to keep track of the expiration dates and use it up well.
For this, she even made a chart detailing how much she would use each day, how many days it would last, and when it would expire. By the time the days ran out, it coincided perfectly with the end of the shelf life. Before the tomato sauce ran out, she had already set a date for replenishing her stock, successfully achieving tomato sauce freedom.
Meanwhile, as Alman was struggling with his feelings about his relationship with Evelia, Evelia was also deep in thought for a long time due to not having the chance to see him.
The entire day, including the afternoon, Evelia was at the market. She even encountered the workers who were sent to shop for the manor. That old gentleman kindly informed her of who had good quality products, who was expensive, who had fresh goods, and who had a kindly owner. Evelia naturally benefitted greatly from this, spending quite a bit of time to select the best.
Afterwards, she returned to the manor, tried the new brand of tomato sauce, and made a fresh batch of tomato tarts, waiting for Alman to return from the Knight Order in the afternoon. She stood guard in the kitchen with her tomato tarts; if they cooled, she would eat them and make new ones, as she had plenty of extra tomato sauce to spare.
However, she waited and waited, until she was full, but Alman did not return.
—Why hasn’t he come back?
Evelia, biting into the tart filled with tomato sauce, sat on a small chair by the window in the manor’s back kitchen.
When she saw that the orange cake she made for him came back untouched on the serving plate, she thought that Alman was indeed angry with her. Normally, he would have eaten at least a little.
Of course, Evelia didn’t know that in the past, Alman had given away most of the tomato-tasting pastries to others, nor did she know that he hadn’t eaten the orange cake because he felt disheartened since Evelia didn’t make him lunch.
The last words Alman had left her were “Evelia, you go out first.” He wanted to say it formally to make up his mind, so he didn’t call her “Eve,” which led Evelia to always think that she must have done something wrong that made him unhappy.
She watched the sun set, the moon rise, the dusk hanging stars in the sky, and the once-bustling manor gradually return to silence.
The last piece of tart in her hand was meant for Alman, but the manor’s gate showed no signs of a carriage returning from the Knight Order.
“Really annoying…”
She mumbled to herself, not sure who she was really talking about.
In the already deserted back kitchen, under the candlelight left by the old masters, Evelia brought the last tart to her lips.
With a crunch, the crispy tart shell split beneath her teeth, the red of the tomato sauce staining her lips. She extended her tongue to lick the corner of her mouth, the sweet and sour taste lingering in her mouth.
Evelia stood up against the night, put the small chair back in place, extinguished the candle in the back kitchen, and silently returned to her dormitory under the faint light of the stars and moon.
The next morning, she heard that Alman only returned in the middle of the night. She had planned to get up early to bake another batch of the tomato tarts she was pleased with from yesterday, but before she could prepare her materials, while walking on the way to the back kitchen, she heard the sound of Alman leaving in a carriage. She asked the knight at the gate, but they said they didn’t know when Alman would return.
“……”
Evelia gazed into the distance as the carriage had long since disappeared. A new day began, and she still hadn’t spoken with Alman.
…This cannot continue.
Evelia went to her old spot, back to that tree.
…If Alman dislikes her, the mission would fail.
Gaining Alman’s trust and obtaining information about the First Prince were strict orders, tasks she must complete.
But if she couldn’t even meet him now, how could she talk about gaining trust?
“…So troublesome.”
She lifted her head and closed her eyes, welcoming the morning sun, but inside she felt inexplicably restless.
Was it the mission that was troublesome? Or was it the matter of handling her relationship with Alman? Evelia wasn’t sure; she just felt that she couldn’t go on like this.
What to do… what to do…
Evelia took a deep breath, calming her restless heart to maintain her composure.
“……”
Then, between breaths, she caught a whiff of floral fragrance.
Evelia turned her head, opening her eyes, looking towards the manor’s rear garden in the distance. She recalled that the last time Alman had taken her wrist to “escape,” they had run in that direction.
Generally, the rear gardens of large families were not for servants to enter freely, but Alman didn’t have those complicated rules. During free time, servants could walk or rest in the garden, as long as they didn’t damage the flowers.
The rear garden was beautifully scenic, with a delicate fragrance, complemented by fountains and flower beds. It was considered quite romantic, so many courting maids and knights often whispered sweet nothings or held hands while strolling there. It had become the gossip frontline for maids and knights, where the appearance of a man and a woman usually indicated either a confession or that they were already in a romantic relationship.
Evelia didn’t like that clingy feeling, so aside from managing necessary tasks, she generally wouldn’t approach the rear garden. But this time, drawn in by the fragrance, she unusually ventured in. It seemed because it was early morning, everyone was busy, leaving only Evelia in the garden now.
“A knight nervously gripped a rose, seemingly trying to keep his expression calm, but his fingers fidgeted aimlessly, unsure where to place them. It was merely a rose with thorns, yet he didn’t know how to hold it.”
“His maid hurried to the agreed spot and saw the knight, standing as stiffly as a soldier, glancing awkwardly at the rose in his hand. The keen soldier didn’t even notice the giggling maid had approached him until he caught a whiff of her familiar light fragrance and suddenly flushed, presenting the rose.”
—Hmm… perhaps like this?
Evelia recalled the plot of the novel simply. Although the process was straightforward, the result was effective: the knight gave the maid a rose, and the maid happily accepted it, keeping it in a water-filled glass bottle at home.
This time, Evelia would not play the role of the maid in the novel but rather the knight holding the rose.
The gift didn’t seem to need to be too expensive; it just needed to be heartfelt.
So, Evelia took out a small blade she had hidden among her maid’s dress ornaments and rummaged until she finally squatted in front of a cluster of blue roses.
One stem could achieve this effect; a whole bunch would surely be even more impactful, right?
Thinking this way, Evelia utilized her superior cutting skills to swiftly snip off all the precious thornless blue roses, planning to wrap them simply as a return gift for Alman.
On her way back to the dormitory, the old butler spotted Evelia holding a bunch of blue roses from a distance, but from so far away, he couldn’t tell it was his family’s roses. Recalling Evelia’s previous attitude of “not showing you,” the old butler didn’t have the leisure to ask where the flowers had come from.
Observing Evelia joyfully clutching the flowers, her steps lightened, the old butler began to ponder.
After all, Evelia was a pretty girl. To the old butler, although her position seemed suspicious, others were unaware. It was normal for someone to pursue her. Her happiness while holding so many flowers—could it be that some young man wanted to please her by giving them as a gift?
But remembering Alman’s troubled expression, the old butler sighed and muttered to himself:
“Alman, you need to step up…”
