In any other circumstance, I would be delighted to be able to walk through the market district of Byzandria, our capital city. It was a busy meeting place for every kind of business, with shops full of products both national and from very far and mysterious places. High end stores of all kinds, as well as food stalls in the streets, I just loved it all. But at that moment, I was too worried about Gaius’ absence in the game.

It would be one thing if he was an illegitimate child or even the younger brother; they could have kept him for the sequel. But he being the eldest was a problem, as in the game, Julius was declared as the one who would became the future king without any challenger. For that to happen, Gaius would have to lose his claim to the throne and vanished entirely from this world.

I was so focused on my worries that I almost bumped into someone while walking through the busy streets. I stopped just in time, but I lost my balance and started to fall back. Sophie and the other attendants tried to catch me, but the person who I almost hit was who managed to hold me first, grabbing me by the shoulders.

—Madame, are you alright? —Carmila asked.

—Y-yes. Thank you —I said, feeling a bit of relief.

I was still carrying Violett on my arms, so when I felt like I was starting to fall, I had held her tightly and braced for impact. I didn’t know what I would do if something were to happen to her.

—Madame Dragonroot… —I heard a familiar voice, and a shiver ran through my back.

I looked up and, as I feared, the doctor Maxwell Conrad was right in front of me. And as I expected, for the next five minutes, he nagged me for being so careless and almost hurting Violett. I couldn’t disagree with him at all.

—Lastly, when you are walking through crowded places like these streets, let your maids surround you. That way you’ll avoid crashing into someone even if you are not paying attention.

—Ah, I see, I got it —I said, trying to avoid the glare of Carmila, who had suggested us to do just that a few minutes earlier.

He didn’t seem satisfied with my answer, and looked like he was about to recriminate me for that as well.

—B-by the way, what business might have brought you to the market district this day? —I said, trying to change the subject.

He looked at me with his eyes slightly narrowed, as if guessing my intentions without doing any effort. He let out a sight after a couple of seconds.

—I was supposed to give the Queen a check up on her pregnancy…

—Oh! You are attending Erz- I mean, her Majesty as well? —that wasn’t that much of a surprise, he was one of the best doctors on this nation after all—, but what do you mean by supposed?

—She sent a messenger telling me to reschedule, as she met up with a friend after a long time and wanted to rekindle their friendship —he said, sounding a bit annoyed.

I didn’t let the smile fade from my lips even after hearing that. That was most certainly my fault, Doctor, I’m sorry. It wasn’t in my best interest to admit it, though.

—I-I see. Then, what are you going to do?

—Well, she has some free time later on the evening, so I have some time to lose. I could have stayed on the palace waiting, but I thought I could waste them here in the market instead. There are a few shops I wanted to visit.

—Oh my, what a coincidence —Sophie chimed in—, we were going to do the same, would you like to accompany us, Doctor?

I threw a glance towards her, never stopping smiling but trying to tell her “what are you doing?” with my glare. Her only response was a smile that said “Is fine, isn’t it?” I gave up. It’s not like he would agree, I remember having thought, and then biting my tongue for raising that flag.

—Sure, I don’t have anything better to do.

Of course.

With the Doctor joining our party, we moved forward to our next objective, the Claes’ floristry. Carmila had “suggested” that we should visit it since it had a very good reputation among the nobles, and they had even taken care of the garden of the mansion before I moved in. It was a really beautiful place, with flowers of all kinds, and lots of floral decorations.

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—Hmm, I wasn’t aware you had an interest in gardening… —the Doctor said in a bit of a judgmental tone.

—It is a bit improper for a lady, but I want to have something to share with Violett, so we are planning to revive the old greenhouse —I said with a smile.

There were already all sorts of rumors going on around me, so there was no problem with confirming my interest in gardening.

—Madame! Look at this! —Sophie called me, with a tiny shovel on her hand—, isn’t it cute?

—It is! —I said, and approached her.

I was a bit more interesting in the bigger ones, and started contemplating planting a few fruit trees on the garden or even starting a farming field. Carmila, almost as if reading my mind, took the shovel from my hand and placed it back on its rack without saying one word. We did end up buying a few tools, as well as some seeds, but I felt as if it was not yet enough.

—Flowers are great, but I would like to have some other plants. We could use some for cooking or for other products.

—It would be difficult to buy vegetable and fruit’s seeds if one isn’t a farmer —Carmila quickly answered—, and even then, they would only sell them as bulk.

—Ugh…

—Well, you could buy the fruits and vegetables and try to grow those —the Doctor unexpectedly said.

He had said it in a dismissive tone, but his words had reached me.

—That’s it! —I said—, we need to go to the farmer’s stalls!

—B-but Madame, we already have plenty of fruits and vegetables at home.

—Yeah, but those are the good ones. To plant them, you want the mature ones, the ones that aren’t sold regularly!

—Is that how is it? —Carmila asked.

—Yes, well, not for all, I think.

I wasn’t really sure, in my previous life I had seen lots of videos about how to germinate seeds and take care of plants, but I had never really tried it, and now it was nothing more than a foggy memory.

—We’ll have to experiment! —I declared, and practically dragged my four attendants and the doctor through the stalls.

Most nobles had their own farms, or had contracts with one; our household wasn’t the exception, though Carmila had deal with everything related to that after the death of my husband. So it was quite exciting choosing the products by myself. I ended up taking not only those that I thought were about to be ripe, but also a few fresh ones. They looked delicious, I couldn’t resist. I bought all sorts of berries, apples, citrus, and even a watermelon, as well as several kinds of vegetables, like potatoes and radishes. And just when I was starting thinking it was time to go back; it was the Doctor who asked us if we could follow him.

—A friend of mine happen to have a business in this street —he said, pointing to what would be better described as a narrow and uninviting alleyway.

It was pretty suspicious, and I could see Carmila and Sophie being a bit reluctant, but we were talking about THE Doctor Maxwell Conrad, there is no way he could have any ulterior motive. He had also been following us for a couple of hours already, so it was only fair. We followed him through the narrow passage, making turns and crossing other main streets, until I was completely lost. But ultimately, we arrived to a shop that was only identified by the name of its owner in a sign above the door.

—Haggard? —I muttered. The name sounded familiar.

Maxwell opened the door and, as I was a bit curious, we followed him to the interior of the shop. To my surprise, that shop wasn’t that much different from the floristry we had visited before, with lots of potted plants and flowers, albeit the room was a bit smaller, and somewhat homely and gloomy at the same time. The windows were tinted, and the only illumination came out of a few magic-powered lights and some bioluminescent plants and fungi. It gave the image of a magic forest inside of a room. What was more intriguing was that some of the plants seemed to be moving. The sound of the door closing alerted the man on the other side of the counter, who had been too distracted feeding crickets to something that resembled a Venus’ flytrap, but that was big enough to bite off his hand if it wanted.

—Welcome to Haggard’s Monster-plant’s nursery —the man with the long black hair said, before his eyes met us— Oh, Maxwell, I wasn’t expecting you to come.

—We were around the neighborhood and came to greet you —the Doctor said—, this is Lady Rossane Dragonroot, one of my patients, and her attendants.

—It is such a pleasure —the man said with a smile, but soon his face froze and started to sweat —Lady Dragonroot, you said? THE LADY DRAGONROOT?

The Doctor just nodded. The man ran all the way around his counter and stood before me, bowing his head.

—Please excuse my disrespect; I wasn’t aware it was you who had granted me the privilege to visit my humble shop.

—Ah, please raise your head, I don’t mind it at all, Mister…

—I-I am Victor Haggard, scholar of botanic and natural sciences.

—Oh! I see, I see —I said with a smile.

My answer probably intrigued Victor a bit, but he didn’t said anything more. I was happy I had finally remembered why the name sounded so familiar. Victor Haggard was a professor in the academy by the time Violett enrolled on it, probably due to his connections with the future principal. Putting the matter of how he got the job aside, he was a good teacher, always calm and reasonable. He was the favorite of many fans for his youthful yet mature appearance and demeanor; I remember seeing a lot of fanart made of him. The young man in front of me was just a sketch of who he would become, barely able to keep his cool in front of someone who was only mildly influential like myself. For some reason, his meek attitude made me want to tease him.

—I see you are in the business of raising monster plants… —I said.

He swallowed a bit of saliva. The Doctor was looking away. Was he laughing?

—Why yes, is there anything you would like to know? Ah, but please, allow me to offer you some tea.

—I would appreciate some for me and my attendants, thank you.

After hearing my words, Victor immediately ran to the backroom to fetch the kettle. I took the chance to look around the shop, specifically to the plant that was sitting in her pot over the counter. Carmila tried to stop me, but she was too slow, and I touched her. Of course she didn’t bite me; Betsy was smart enough to differentiate friends from food.