The Count of Hessen, Rowell's father, truly loved his late-born youngest daughter. To save her life, he searched tirelessly for reputed herbal remedies and renowned doctors, and even built a massive greenhouse for his frail daughter who couldn't play outside.
Building such a large greenhouse required an enormous sum of money, and he was advised repeatedly to scale it down, but the Count of Hessen was adamant.
[At an age when my daughter should be learning about the world, her world is merely the size of a single room. Who knows when she might leave, but as her father, can I not even show her a world larger than this small space?]
The reason the Count of Hessen wanted to build such a large greenhouse was astonishingly simple. He wished for Rowell to be able to move around in a slightly larger space. It was a love that could be called blind and even somewhat foolish, like most parental love.
So Rowell always spent time in the greenhouse, even before Peter arrived, and after he came, the two of them played various games together in the greenhouse.
That's why Rowell was fine even if her parents didn't visit her often.
She had Peter, and the ground she walked on was proof of her parents' love for her.
And that proof was burned down along with the Hessen estate fire.
'I had forgotten about it living...'
Rowell absentmindedly walked further into the garden. Unlike the cold outside air, the warm air that didn't require a coat felt unfamiliar. Like a fish that had forgotten how to swim sinking down, Rowell immersed herself in the space filled with memories, forgetting even to breathe.
'The tea table and the fences are all the same.'
The only thing that had changed was Rowell's level of perspective. She was now an adult, and the objects in this greenhouse were placed at a child's eye level. The chairs and tables that seemed just the right size when she was little, and the fences that seemed too high, now looked small.
But even that felt achingly nostalgic to Rowell, enough to take her breath away.
[Wow! Anna, the new flowers have bloomed!]
[Don't run, Miss! What if you fall again?]
[It'll be fine. Let her be. Be careful, dear.]
Memories that had faded over 10 years came back to her vividly, as if she could reach out and touch them. The nanny who always offered her refreshments in the late afternoon, her father who would somehow appear and carry her away when she fell asleep while playing, her mother who couldn't bring herself to enter the greenhouse and only watched from afar, her brothers who made crowns, rings, and bracelets out of flowers for her...
[Roses seem to suit you the best, Rowell.]
...And Peter, who was always with her.
Originally, the Hessen estate greenhouse had a more diverse array of flowers. Since the temperature was always warm, anything could be planted. But after Peter's remark, at Rowell's adamant insistence, the greenhouse quickly became a rose garden of various colors.
Of all the colors, the most prevalent was red. There were other varieties of roses in pink, white, and other shades, but Rowell wanted to decorate with red roses. Because Peter liked red roses.
It was Rowell's little pleasure to obtain a thornless bouquet of roses from the gardener and make a crown for Peter using the method her brothers had taught her.
Peter had bright golden hair, which the vivid, distinct red suited perfectly.
After putting the crown on Peter's head, Rowell would sparkle her eyes and gaze at him for a long while.
[You're beautiful. You're the most beautiful in the world.]
[...No, you are more beautiful than me...]
[Come here, Peter. Let's put this on too!]
At the time, Peter was no different from Rowell's doll. Rowell disliked her own black hair and black eyes, and preferred Peter's bright blond hair and blue eyes. He seemed more beautiful than any high-class doll.
In reality, Peter was a pretty boy who would look good even if he dressed up as a woman. Moreover, there was no one in the Hessen estate who could resist the obstinate youngest lady's whims, so Rowell always dressed up and played with Peter as she pleased.
[Try wearing this too! And this! Ah, do you want to wear shoes too?]
[...Okay.]
The only one who could have stopped Rowell was Peter himself, but Peter always obediently nodded along with Rowell's wishes. In truth, as long as Rowell was happy, that was all that mattered to him.
After such doll play sessions, the servants would always show disapproval.
[Miss! What will we do if you waste all the roses like this! The clothes are all torn by the thorns and ruined, and you even used Madam's cosmetics...]
[Ahaha, it's fun!]
[Fun, you say! My goodness, when will we ever clean this up. If the Master or Madam finds out, we'll surely be scolded. You should be prepared for that.]
The nanny's worried words did not miss the mark. That day, Rowell was scolded harshly by her father, an unusual occurrence. But being scolded was hardly a concern for Rowell.
Because Peter was by her side.
[It was my idea. I encouraged her because Rowell seemed to enjoy it. Please don't scold Rowell.]
It was truly rare for the Count of Hessen to get angry, so perhaps that day, Rowell might have had to go to bed crying. But thanks to Peter stepping in, that did not happen.
Whenever Peter spoke up, the Count of Hessen would be unable to properly scold Rowell and just let out a sigh.
[Haah... Don't do it again, Rowell.]
[Yes, I'm sorry, Father.]
When she hung her head low in a show of remorse and replied in a meek voice, the Count of Hessen would shake his head and leave. As the door closed, a mischievous smile crept onto Rowell's face as she raised her head slyly.
The young girl was delighted that she hadn't been severely scolded by her father, giggling as she hugged Peter tightly.
[Amazing, Peter! How did you do that? Father can be scary sometime.]
[It's nothing. He forgives me if I say I won't do it again.]
While Peter brushed it off with those kinds of remarks, thinking back now, it seems rather odd.
The usually strictly disciplinarian Count of Hessen, yet he could never bring himself to act firmly towards Peter.
'Perhaps he knew Peter's true identity.'
Although the Count of Hessen was merely a regional nobleman, he did have some interactions with the imperial palace. Moreover, considering the period Peter spent in the County of Hessen, it would make little sense for the ruling Count to be completely unaware of Peter's identity.
'Then why did Father rebel against the Emperor?'
Almost nothing is known about the annihilation of the Hessen family. It is only said that the Count of Hessen rebelled against the previous Emperor, and as punishment, the previous Emperor burned down the Hessen estate. Information beyond that seems to have been thoroughly covered up, as Rowell could not find any in Opherta.
After confirming that there were no proper records, Rowell stopped wondering about why the Hessen estate was set on fire.
'What's important is not why it was burned, after all.'
The only thing that mattered was the fact that the Hessen estate and everyone inside was burned. Nothing else was necessary. Fundamentally, revenge does not require a specific reason. Digging deeper would only make one emotional. What is there to gain from deeply understanding the perpetrator's circumstances?
But at this moment, for the first time, Rowell wondered.
'Peter was close to Hessen for a considerable time, and Father also knew who Peter was.'
Then why did the Count of Hessen rebel against the imperial family after Peter left?
What happened that caused this? Did Hessen truly attempt a rebellion?
'Does Peter know...the truth behind this incident?'
Rowell plucked a single rose petal from the flower next to her. Although preserved by magic, the petal was a vivid red without any withering. Staring at the red hue on her fingertip, it looked as if blood was welling up from it.
The color of hellfire. And the color of death.
'What was Peter thinking when he created this garden?'
Having lived in this red rose-covered garden, Rowell now dislikes the color red.
Living in Opherta, what she encountered all too often was slaughter. Having grown up in a world where darkness was nothing to be feared, Rowell can no longer sleep in a completely dark room. The child who grew up without knowing even minor threats until she was fifteen now knows to be wary of being killed by others. The girl became a woman, and time changed many things.
However, in this garden that felt like stepping back into the past, Rowell had thoughts other than revenge for the first time.
The greenhouse that was originally proof of how much the Count of Hessen loved his youngest daughter, now proved the affection Peter had for Rowell.
The petal at her fingertip fluttered to the ground. Watching it, Rowell was gripped by a strange emotion.
It felt like returning to the life of 'Rowell Hessen' that she thought she could never go back to, that no longer existed.
It was as if this place was telling her that she was not the sole survivor of that life of loving and being loved.
As if telling her that this wretched life was not all she had left, that there was still someone who remembered her...
"..."
Rowell was confused. Without realizing it, she reached out towards the fallen petal.
But at that moment.
"...!!"
The rumbling sound of heavy stone grinding against each other reached her ears again. The door was opening.
The moment she realized that, tension came over Rowell's entire body.
Because there was only one person who could open the garden, which was closed by imperial decree.
'Peter!'
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