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Ten years later, despite the vivid memories of my past life, everything about me now—the appearance, the language I speak, my occupation, my age, and even my race—is drastically different.

However, some things remain the same.

The same gender as in my previous life.

A developed cooking skill that has progressed beyond my hobby.

Even if I’m uncomfortable sitting, I still fall into a deep sleep.

Especially, the prospect of deep slumber was the most comforting of all.

No matter what, my current reality is a far cry from everything I had in my previous life—lacking to the point of being miserable. At least, when I sleep, I can forget the pains from various aspects of life.

Ninety percent of my life as Karem since my reincarnation has been filled with suffering.

It was natural for there to be pain.

In my past life, I lived during the most prosperous era in human history.

Born in an affluent nation, my middle-class life was even more luxurious than that of nobles and powerful figures before the modern age.

That lifestyle fell into ruin in an instant.

I was reborn as a serf in a democratic nation.

Honestly, I wished I could forget my past life.

Yet, that familiar and mundane daily life from my previous existence was like paradise compared to the indifference and rejection faced in this serf village, where my parents were nothing more than genetic donors.

At least, if there was domestic violence, the villagers would intervene if they witnessed it.

The reason was absurdly simple: they didn’t want the labor force to dwindle.

Regardless, rejection was still prevalent, and in my dreadful serf life, I struggled for food, often eating anything I could get my hands on.

All for the sake of survival.

Then, by a miracle, a chance for escape arrived.

A hand of salvation.

Meeting Catherine and Gordon felt like a hand reaching out to save me. Catherine’s proposal for full-time service was salvation itself.

Seeing me unable to even eat properly, she offered a generous proposal to someone she had just met.

Karem thought, at the very least, he didn’t want to see her suffer just to eat.

After a hard day, good fortune would come.

Once I accepted the proposal, I felt a sense of guilt towards my parents left in my previous life, as things turned out remarkably well.

Of course, this new life still had its shortcomings compared to my previous one.

But would I have been able to enjoy such a life if I had remained in my past life?

Even though I lacked many things, in my previous life, I wouldn’t have dared to dream of such luxurious ingredients and nearly unlimited support.

I pondered over it many times—nodding my head firmly. No matter how prosperous my previous life was, there were insurmountable barriers like money.

On the other hand, in this current life, no one was there to stop me from escaping the village.

I was free to experiment and create all sorts of dishes without restrictions, enjoying the sight of people delighting in my creations, all while accumulating wealth—a luxury I had never had in my previous life.

Although I lived in a room in the Mage Tower, it was still my home.

Moreover, the tedious chores of the kitchen and room were all done by others.

So long as I endured Catherine’s temptingly beguiling yet infuriating presence—

—Oh my! How can the conclusion be like this!?

Who are you? Hmm? Using honorifics?

—It’s all quite interesting but it’s making me crazy. And you still call yourself a reincarnator? Don’t you know the feelings you harbor for your master?—

…Excuse me? What do you mean reincarnator? No, that’s—

—Forget about reincarnation! Excuse me? What do you mean by excuse me!? This will make the servants toss their helms, Tutatis?—

—Where has the god who promised to watch over us with gentle eyes gone?—

—P-Please let go of this! You gave me the holy relic to protect me but I ended up cursing myself. Wait—this might actually be good…?—

As Karem sank into the warm sea where he felt both coldness and warmth at once, he found himself bewildered in the midst of a storm filled with holy fighting.

—So what you’re saying is you already know the nature of the feelings you harbor for your master?—

-That’s exactly what I’m saying!—

Karem was taken aback by these uninvited yet oddly familiar holy voices, leaving him utterly bewildered.

But all the keywords sprinkled throughout were enough for Karem to recognize what they were saying.

So…

I love Catherine and Sir Atanitas?

Honestly, it didn’t feel real.

In my previous life, I had little connection with women, and in this life, I had only interacted with a woman worthy enough to be called one for just a year.

I simply wanted to be next to Sir Atanitas, preparing meals and snacks, feeling joy from seeing him sparkle with interest.

Of course, I hoped for the sweet ignorance that occasionally appeared—

Hmm?

Oh.

This foolishness?

—Looks like you finally realized it.—

Karem was left astounded by the voice of the holy woman, filled with an emotion that mirrored the sudden relief of a blockage in his throat being cleared.

So… Oh. Oh?

“Wait, are you serious!?”

Karem sprang up like a leaping salmon.

Through the transparent ceiling, he could see the gloomy sky above.

The transparent ceiling.

It was a ceiling I didn’t know well but recognized.

The ceiling of the greenhouse.

Feeling the refreshing scent of grass behind him.

Only then did Karem, with his aching body, take a look around.

He was lying in the middle of the grassy greenhouse.

From a distance, Corvus approached before stopping. Olivier stood by, holding a staff, exhaling a relieved sigh.

Suddenly, a soft touch brushed against his chest.

Turning his head, he saw Catherine resting a hand on his sternum.

“Um, Sir Atanitas? I believe we’re too close together.”

“Shh. You nearly died just a moment ago.”

Catherine’s serious whisper held a depth of concern and relief he had never seen before. Yet, there was a strange difficulty in meeting her eyes.

Anyway, amidst that bizarre pressure, Karem remained seated upright. Satisfied with this, Catherine checked Karem’s body for any injuries.

“Does it still hurt like when you first entered the greenhouse?”

“No, aside from my joints aching…”

“The pain is from your bones growing.”

“No, first, how much time has passed?”

“Not even an hour since you came in.”

“Then why can’t we meet each other’s eyes?”

“Uh, ahem. Who said that?”

“Eh, Sir Atanitas? Even now.”

At those words, Catherine, who had been about to raise her head with her hand still resting on it, paused as she awkwardly turned away.

…Oh, this is a bit fun. Is this how it felt?

“Porororong~♪”

Just then, a chirp of a bird and the sound of jingling bells startled him, as something poked at his cheek. It was a clear metal mirror, like silver.

Karem took the mirror.

“Huh?”

In the mirror was a young man he had never seen before. He looked to be under twenty, with brownish hair and an exotic appearance.

To be frank, his looks blended East and West in a way that seemed almost harmonious.

He wasn’t extraordinarily handsome but rather had a face that was appealing enough not to grow tiresome.

As the mirrored youth tilted his head this way and that, Karem mirrored the movements, lost in the unreality of the moment.

The answer was obvious, but it felt so distant from reality that as he twisted his expression in the mirror, a green hand snatched it away.

“No, what the—”

“Porororong?”

“…Excuse me, but who are you?”

Karem tilted his head. The woman who took the mirror smiled and repeated his actions like a mime.

She was dyed a bright green from head to toe, evoking images of freshly sprouted spring buds, clearly marking her as something extraordinary.

She wasn’t a monster, that much was clear, and she didn’t seem like an ordinary person either. Most importantly, flowers bloomed in her hair, which hung down to her shoulders—definitely not human.

She seemed a bit out of sorts too.

Karem frowned curiously.

Is she like a fairy, reminiscent of Mary?

“Oh, Karem, you should know.”

“Huh? Me? This is my first time seeing you.”

“You came from the seed you dispersed.”

“Seed? Oh, from the one I brought from Fungusbee?”

“Yes. It has bloomed, so I suppose you can say it has blossomed.”

As Karem blinked in surprise at the unexpected response, Corvus approached and petted the green woman’s hair, which was entangled in feathers.

“Yes. The flower bud that grew like an egg on the ground eventually grew bigger while you went with the Chief Magic Consultant on your journey, and she was sleeping inside the bud.”

“I initially thought she was tiny. Like this.” Corvus gestured with his other wing near his legs.

“She seemed to recognize me as a parent when she first saw me, so I named her Flora.”

The green woman smiled brightly, following Corvus as he extended his hand down to his leg.

“She seems a bit silly, doesn’t she?”

“Even looking like that, she’s your benefactor.”

“Uh, her?”

Olivier stared at the green woman with wide-eyed curiosity, clearly confused.

“Your body, cursed by aging, was slowed by some unknown factors and the holy relic, but it could not be completely restrained.”

“And the one who aided you back then was her, Flora.”

Flora, thinking she was being called, approached Catherine with a cheerful demeanor, then turned back as Catherine waved her hand, looking perplexed.

“They infused life force gathered from the forest in the greenhouse while your curse was still being restrained.”

“U-Um, does that mean I’m okay now?”

“Aside from the fact that the curse of aging made you a bit older.”

“…So the reflection in the mirror was—me, right? It couldn’t have been a magical mirror.”

Karem was confused by the face he saw in the mirror—somewhat resembling his past life but not quite, bearing an ambiguous, Western appearance.

Just as Karem found himself lost in thought, Olivier tapped his shoulder with his staff.

“Well, be glad you’re still alive.”

“My limbs ache, but—”

“That’s all? You’re lucky. But you’re adapting pretty quickly, considering your sudden growth.”

“Must be because the kid’s precocious.”

Catherine dismissed Olivier’s question with a word and subtly turned to Karem.

Just as their eyes were about to meet…

It was utterly impossible to meet her gaze.

Catherine deliberately averted her eyes from Karem’s face, composing her expression. Honestly, Karem’s now-grown face wasn’t exactly dissatisfying.

She had reached the point of wisdom and made a significant name for herself.

Aside from Olivier, there was no elder in Coldon who was older than her.

Whether she liked it or not, she had seen countless handsome men and elegant women.

What’s more, she confidently considered herself a beauty.

‘But why is it so hard to look at that face?’

Even Karem’s appearance, standing at the threshold of youth due to the curse of aging, had features that were ambiguous enough to not clearly be classified as handsome, along with a bit of charm that was hard to deny.

‘There are certainly many who are better-looking than that face.’

And yet, it was a struggle for her to meet Karem’s gaze. She must have seen plenty of beautiful faces by now. If handsome was the measure, Godwin, the eldest son of the Felwinter family, was undeniably more handsome.

Perhaps it was due to a striking feature that emerged distinctly in Karem’s present looks—a softness combined with sharpness not often seen in a typical European that stood out prominently on his face.

Catherine pulled back her now-flushed hand and cleared her throat.

“First, you need something to wear.”

“Huh? Uh. Oh.”

In the meantime, Karem expressed gratitude to Flora, and as she mimicked him with a confused expression, he started to grasp his situation a bit more concretely.

Upon moving his arms, the fabric that served as clothing slipped away.

As he propped himself up, the heavy fabric fell down onto the cloth covering his lower half. He felt the soft grass against his skin.

So…

He was completely naked.

His suddenly exposed feet began to turn crimson, color spreading up to his legs, arms, and even his face, threatening to explode with embarrassment.

And everyone was watching.

“…Sir Atanitas?”

“…First, cover yourself with the cloth! I’ll get you some clothes!”

“Thank you. W-Wait, do you really have to borrow them—”

“Borrow please! Are you planning to leave the house fairies unattended?”

“Um. Yes.”

Having realized affection for the first time, making the one he liked fetch him clothes—Karem, who had known nothing of love, clearly understood that this was a rather embarrassing situation.

Catherine sprang up suddenly, stumbling slightly.

“Hii, hit! Pardon me for a moment.”

With a cough, she hurriedly made her way outside the greenhouse before anyone could say anything, her steps filled with urgency.

 

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