Chapter 76 – A Bouquet of Love
It was a city near the capital, and since there was a unique business industry, it seemed plausible that young children could sell flowers for a living here.
Looking at the children selling flowers in pairs reminded Tiana of the time before the possession. She used to help her grandmother in her business of selling fake flowers.
When she saw the young children’s little hands holding out the flowers, it was like she was looking at the younger version of herself. Those kids, too, were living diligently.
“H-hey . . .”
She stood still, looking at them, and they approached from a short distance away. As they got closer, Tiana noticed they looked alike, almost like siblings.
The one who looked like the older sister hesitated before talking in a trembling voice, “Please buy a pretty rose, miss.”
She lifted the basket full of roses and held one out, her hand shaking nervously. The way she was waiting with an anxious look on her face was adorable. Tiana slightly bent a little lower, lowered her eyes to match the girl’s, and accepted the red rose.
“What a beautiful rose. Can I buy more than one?”
“Uh . . . y-yes, yes, you can! I have a lot. My brother and I worked hard at growing them.”
“You grew them yourselves?”
“Yes.”
The girl was smiling as she was pulling out a few roses, and she ended up shoving the whole basket out in front of Tiana.
There were many colors to choose from; some were darker and more coveted than ordinary roses.
And she grew these herself? Amazing, Tiana thought to herself.
“These colors look prettier than the other flowers. You grow these together? How amazing!”
“We get seeds from the botanical garden, then we plant them. I am not that good, but my brother here, he knows a few ways to do it, so he’s able to make them come out prettier!”
“Is that so?”
The younger brother kept his head down the whole time, but Tiana saw he was relishing at the compliment. He laughed as he held his sister’s arm tightly, not raising his head and hiding further back behind her. Tiana reached out and patted the older child’s head gently. She wanted to pat the younger child too, but she couldn’t reach him since he was too far back.
Shy of Tiana’s affection, the girl put her hand in her basket and carefully pulled something out.
“Please take this! I think it would look pretty in your hair, miss.”
It was a lovely rose, bright blue in color. It was the only blue rose among the red and yellow ones, and it was the most beautiful blue rose Tiana had ever seen. Even in the mansion’s garden, she hadn’t seen such a rose.
“You grew this blue one?”
“Yes. It was harder to grow than the other ones, but my brother did a good job at it.”
“But he worked so hard to grow it, is it okay for you to give it away? I think you can sell it at a high price to one of the shops.”
“It’s okay. Actually, I saw you earlier. Your eyes and hair are so pretty . . . like this blue flower, right?” the girl said, nudging her brother.
“Yep,” said the boy in a low voice, nodding his head.
His head was still lowered, so Tiana couldn’t see his face, but his soft voice was clear.
“So please take it! If you take it, I can proudly tell my friends that I met a beautiful princess! Right? Cool, huh?”
“It’s cool.”
Tiana stopped smiling at the strange relationship between the girl, who was talking excitedly, and her brother, who was just nodding his head.
“Then I’ll buy a different one, and I can just pay a random price for the blue one.”
“But . . .”
“I don’t think I can just take such a pretty rose that you grew yourselves. Just think of it as a reward for growing flowers, okay?”
“Ummm . . . okay, I can do that. Thank you, miss.”
The girl, hesitating, nodded and gave Tiana a few different roses. After looking at the carefully chosen red and yellow roses, she combined the blue one and made them into a small bouquet, tied them with a string, and handed them to her—red ones on the outside, yellow ones on the inside, and the sole blue one at the center.
Tiana accepted the bouquet of various roses with a big smile and gently patted the girl’s head. “Thanks, I will cherish them.”
“Okay! Thank you for buying them. Have a good trip.”
The girl who received the money bowed and took her younger brother away. As they passed by Tiana while leaving, she caught a glimpse of the boy’s eyes. His head was still down, but his dark-brown eyes stayed on her for a while. Then he blinked and looked ahead.
What was that?
She was sure he had a sharp look in his eyes. Or was it just all in her mind?
“Tiana, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing. The roses are pretty, right? Especially the blue one? The color is darker, and the scent is richer than the other roses.”
“Wow, you’re right. As that little girl said, it matches your hair. It isn’t normal to grow a flower this color. I guess the boy’s a real talent.”
“He seems so.”
Tiana hadn’t been able to see his face because he’d kept his head down, but she remembered that he had a lot of scratches on the hand that was holding his sister’s arm. She felt sorry for him but also proud to think that he had grown these roses with his tiny hands.
The feeling she had gotten when her eyes briefly met his was a little strange though, but she figured he might be a child who was reluctant to be near an aristocrat. After all, many kids didn’t like aristocrats or were afraid of them.
“There’s a nice coffee shop that way. I heard you can drink rare flower tea there, should we go?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
Smelling the roses in her hands, Lucius smiled softly and wrapped his arm around her waist. She nodded and walked with him, holding her bouquet tightly.