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“Deputy Director! It’s a big deal!”

Marenn, who had been blankly sitting with the Knight Commander in the Knight Headquarters, was startled by a knight bursting in.

However, to avoid showing any signs of surprise, he cleared his throat to compose himself and looked at the knight calmly.

“What is it?”

“There’s been a strange phenomenon all across Rondan…!”

“What kind of strange phenomenon?”

Seeing the knight stammering, it seemed he had witnessed something shocking.

Noticing the knight fidgeting, wanting to lead him somewhere, the Deputy Director followed the knight outside first.

And the moment he stepped out past the hearth, the Deputy Director was aghast.

All the plants inside Rondan were wilted.

The grass was drooping as if it would snap at any moment.

“What in the…!”

Not understanding the situation, the Deputy Director rushed towards a tree to check its condition.

But it was odd.

Though the tree appeared to be in a precarious state up close, everything except the intensity seemed fine.

The color of the tree, the hardness, and even the vitality of the leaves.

“What happened here?”

The Deputy Director couldn’t comprehend what was unfolding.

But suddenly a thought struck him.

The whole scene reminded him of a disappointed human drooping in defeat.

#

As the gardener’s story began, the expressions of the outsiders present brightened immeasurably.

Was it really such a joy for the gardener to finally share their inner thoughts after only listening to theirs all this time?

The problem was, at least for me, I couldn’t just smile at the story.

That was because the gardener’s current words were quite perplexing.

Given the gardener’s personality, they wouldn’t even ask such things, and if they did, they wouldn’t speak about it here.

Zing.

In an instant, the gardener’s gaze shot toward me.

Though it seemed they were smiling superficially in front of the outsiders, the intensity in their eyes hurt a lot.

As I pondered what to do, the gardener’s narrative continued unabated.

“They say the male kept giving the female excuses. He leaned on her when times were tough, and helped her with difficult tasks.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“But one day, that male openly confessed to another female in front of the first one and was playing around with her.”

“What?! Are you insane?!”

Gulp.

The words of the outsiders, thrown out to agree with the gardener, struck me like daggers in my chest.

The indescribable suffocation in my heart seemed to express the pain well enough, causing me nothing but agony.

But it was true that this was my fault, so I could only bow my head.

“What do you think you would do from the perspective of the human female?”

“I would… 먼저 그 수컷을 데리고 가서 왜 그랬냐고 물어볼 것 같아요. Is he being threatened by another female, after all.”

“Threatened, huh… what if that’s not the case?”

“Then I’d probably just… you know.”

Ugh.

Horrifying words made me flinch involuntarily, causing the table to shake and all the outsiders’ gazes to focus on me.

“Ah, ahaha! I just sneezed… Keep talking about what you were saying.”

“Wow, that surprised me.”

Fortunately, the outsiders, not taking it seriously, redirected their attention back to the gardener.

…To think of revenge in this manner.

I felt like I was facing an unmanageable cosmic horror.

“Host, does the story about the human female have anything to do with your friends?”

“Huh?! No, not at all… I just heard it in passing.”

Yet, when presented with sharp questions, I could only feel dizzy at my own flustered reaction.

Are you trying to get us both killed?!

At that moment, the glass-like outsider suddenly rose from their seat.

“I arrest you!”

“…What?”

As the gardener looked on in surprise at the outsider’s declaration, they boldly pressed their chest forward and continued.

“Think about it. Ultimately, that male has been living a dissolute life, so doesn’t he not know his place and goes on and cheats?”

“Well, that’s not wrong?”

“Then wouldn’t locking him up, taking away all his freedom for about a week, and then starting to take care of him make him feel grateful toward that female? Wouldn’t he end up giving both his body and mind to her?”

What the hell, you crazy woman!

What kind of nonsense are you spewing?!

Amid all this, the gardener seemed to be genuinely concentrating on the outsider’s words!

Suddenly, I recalled a statement the saint once made about the outsiders.

“Nobles have a strong sense of possession. Even if Baron Tanton says he doesn’t want it later, the nobles will show excessive attachment to him, ensuring he can never escape.”

Chills.

I felt an icy shiver run down my spine.

Right now, I was utterly powerless against the outsiders.

If they lost their reason and grabbed hold of me, there was no telling what I would have to endure.

What if the gardener listened to that outsider’s words and decided…

“This is your home.”

“B-but that’s a plant pot?”

“And so what?”

“AAAAAH!”

As I nearly convulsed and jumped from my seat, all the outsiders’ eyes were again glued to me.

Even the gardener looked at me with a ‘Huh?’ expression, but I couldn’t care less.

I dashed away in a frenzy, grabbing the gardener’s wrist and pulling them out of the meeting room.

“Wait, hold on!”

The gardener was startled and tried to stop me, but given the suddenness of the situation, they could only be dragged along without resistance.

#

“Deputy Director! It’s a big deal!”

“Stop reporting everything! I can see for myself!”

The Deputy Director stood with his mouth agape at the absurd phenomenon unfolding.

All the plants in Rondan drooped, then suddenly started frantically regaining their vitality in a flash.

With a crazed appearance, the Deputy Director faced a fear he had never felt before.

“Where’s Tanton?!”

“I can’t find him! The Black Lion was definitely seen entering the branch!”

“Damn it!”

Plant-related activity.

This must be tied to the gardener somehow.

Not long ago, I received a report that the gardener was an outsider.

And according to what the White Mask told me, Tanton was quite close to that gardener, almost like the gardener leaned on Tanton for support.

“What on earth is happening?!”

The Deputy Director held his temples, still watching the trees that danced as if they were performing.

#

Surrounded by trees outside the meeting room.

With the gardener, who wore a somewhat sly expression, looking elsewhere, I wracked my brain.

What on earth should I say?

I had pulled them out, but if I went back in without saying anything, the situation would only worsen.

My heart raced wildly.

It felt as if my body, sensing a threat to life, was excessively pumping adrenaline.

“I’m, I’m sorry!”

“…?”

As I bowed my head to apologize, the gardener merely rolled their eyes and stared at me.

At first, I thought it was because they couldn’t hear me due to a lack of reaction.

However, the moment I stole a glance at their face, I realized I was wrong.

Despite maintaining an appearance of discontent, their gaze seemed a bit softened.

…Indeed, a sincere apology is something one must always present to the offended party.

“I didn’t know at first. I didn’t realize calling your names meant anything significant. I was just being foolish. Now that I’ve already called out your names, I thought it should be fine, right?”

Once I finished speaking, the gardener was now facing me.

Their expression seemed a mix of surprise and inexplicable joy.

“…So it wasn’t forced.”

“Uh?”

“I-I said nothing.”

The gardener said this and lowered their gaze.

At the very least, it seemed they had calmed down somewhat.

But what were they thinking?

Would they perhaps forgive me like this?

As I pondered this question, the gardener suddenly flinched, shaking their shoulders and slowly raised their head.

The moment I met their eyes, cold sweat began to trickle down my back.

The gardener was looking at me with an unusually chilly expression compared to earlier.

“…But why are you not calling our names?”

“Eeek.”

Hearing the gardener’s words, I could confirm one certainty.

The second act had begun.

#

As they watched the two leave, the outsider crew exchanged sly smiles and looked at each other.

“Hey, doesn’t it seem like something’s up?”

“Right? It doesn’t make sense to be in the dark about this. It’s obviously about that human and the host, right?”

“This is like 100% certain. Just now, that guy pulled them out, and despite having no chance to resist, they didn’t even think about pushing back, right? That means they’re expecting something from them!”

“Ugh, seriously. This is so sweet it might spoil.”

The outsiders laughed as they expressed their expectations, clearly entertained.

“Is that guy falling hard for them?”

“Heh, how adorable.”

…Little did Tanton and the gardener know, all the outsiders had already somewhat figured it out.

 

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