Why is this happening?
That night.
Serafina, lying next to Dante, had no way to deal with her noisy stomach.
Since the Cold War was over, they had to stop using separate rooms.
The cold that had been an external excuse had long since passed.
So, starting today, they decided to share a bed again according to the northern tradition.
"I can't sleep."
She couldn't fall asleep.
Maybe it was because they were lying together after a long time, but she was too conscious of Dante next to her.
She forced her eyes shut, but her mind was so noisy it was unbearable.
No, it wasn't her mind that was noisy; it felt like her heart was.
"......Huh."
"Can't you sleep?"
A low concern followed her involuntary sigh.
Serafina opened her eyes in surprise.
At the end of her gaze was Dante, looking at her.
Oh. My God.
She shook her head and closed her eyes again.
"A little."
"Actually, I can't sleep either."
Dante couldn't sleep either.
She thought it might be for the same reason.
It felt awkward to be sleeping together after such a long time.
Yeah. That must be it.
Having completed her excellent self-suggestion, Serafina turned to face Dante.
As she did, she recalled the first time they had slept together.
Back then, they had slept much closer than they were now and had slept just fine.
Indeed, humans are creatures of adaptation and habit.
Who would have thought that a brief separation would make her feel so new?
Somehow, anticipating a long night of tossing and turning, Serafina swallowed a sigh.
"Dante."
"Yes."
"From now on, let's not use separate rooms and keep sleeping together, even if we fight."
If they had to go through this every time they went back to sleeping together after using separate rooms, it would be quite a headache.
Serafina left those words behind and tried to fall asleep.
Thus, she did not know what expression Dante was wearing as he looked at her.
Nor did she know how red his cheeks, neck, and ears had become.
‘Oh. This is bad.’
Dante, carefully brushing his face, swallowed hard.
The desire he swallowed down his throat was hot.
* * *
To check if the cold had truly passed and to share the research status of the Hosan fruit, Hetherson visited.
After a light examination, he told him about the "misunderstanding of the incurable disease" incident.
It seemed like news he should know as the doctor in charge of the Richter mansion.
"Is that so? I was wondering why everyone was acting that way!"
Upon hearing the story, Hetherson jumped up from his seat.
His face was a mix of relief and indignation.
Well, it was understandable.
Because of the misunderstanding that I had an incurable disease, he must have been in danger of being labeled a quack.
I heard that during his last visit, he was dragged away and thoroughly searched...
Feeling my pitiful gaze, Hetherson, who had been excitedly bouncing around, sat down with a cough.
"Anyway, I'm glad the misunderstanding has been cleared up."
"Right? If things had gone wrong, I might have had a funeral while still alive."
"If that had happened, I feel like I would have been buried next to you."
"Oh. That's a good point."
Hetherson laughed heartily at my joke.
No matter how I thought about it, this felt more familiar than the formally befriended prince.
He told me he had obtained meaningful results regarding the consumption of Hosan fruit.
He said that with more research, it would soon be possible to safely consume the fruit.
After carefully noting the methods he conveyed, I handed him the prepared Hosan fruit and sprouted Hosan fruit saplings.
"Oh! Did you succeed?"
"About a third survived. The rest all died."
"That's not bad. It's not easy to sprout seeds, after all."
As expected of a doctor, he seemed to have some knowledge about plants.
I gave him a thumbs up in recognition of his efforts.
Hetherson also chuckled and gave me a thumbs up.
Strange. He seemed a bit timid at first.
* * *
The sky was high.
The wind was much colder than in summer.
I was confident in enduring the cold, but paradoxically, I, who was sensitive to the cold, had already put on a thick outer garment.
"I guess we should start preparing to light the fireplace soon."
"Already?"
When I asked back, Marie's gaze turned to my outer garment.
Ah. It’s not that it’s already time.
I nodded in understanding.
"By the way, how are the herbs?"
"I harvested them all early, so I need to leave them empty for winter."
"That's a bit disappointing."
"How can humans go against the laws of nature?"
Of course, if there were greenhouses, it would be quite possible to go against them.
While we were talking in front of the field, Markovs, who appeared out of nowhere, chimed in.
"Then, how about planting things that can survive in winter?"
"Things that can survive in winter?"
Nothing came to mind.
The ones already planted were types that were strong against the cold.
Of course, they wouldn't survive the northern winter.
"If it's okay, can I recommend something?"
Markovs asked with sparkling eyes. Well, as a gardener in the north, he would know which crops could withstand the northern winter.
"How about potatoes?"
"Potatoes?"
"......Are you serious?"
Unlike my curiosity, Mari's voice had turned cold.
"Why? Do you dislike potatoes?"
"No. It's not that, but... isn't planting potatoes a bit too serious for a garden?"
"It's fine. Potatoes are root vegetables, so the only visible part is the leaves. It should look decent."
"That's a valid point!"
"Plus, we have a fireplace. They would taste amazing if we roasted them."
"Oh. Are you even planning to roast them in the fireplace?"
"Is that a problem?"
"......No, I will follow whatever you wish, my lady."
Somehow, I felt a strong scent of resignation from Mari, but it must just be my imagination.
"But potatoes are usually planted in spring and harvested in autumn or summer, right?"
"There are varieties of potatoes grown in the north that are planted in autumn and harvested in winter."
That was a relief.
I nodded without hesitation, alternating my gaze between the field, Markovs, and Mari, who looked dizzy.
"Let's plant potatoes."
Thus, following the first autumn tree planting event, the first autumn potato planting event was held.
This time, participants were accepted voluntarily.
Perhaps word had spread that tree planting was fun, as the number of participants increased this time.
So, we had no choice but to expand the size of the field.
Even combining my field and Dante's, there wasn't enough land to plant potatoes.
As everyone gathered to plow the land, pull weeds, remove stones, fertilize, water, and plant seed potatoes, before long, a decent potato field was completed.
……Wait a minute. Isn’t this a bit too serious of a field, as Marie said?
For a moment, that thought crossed my mind, but what could I do now?
Since everyone had planted together, I couldn't just ask them to pull it all out again.
Yeah. It would work out somehow.
After all, once Flora becomes the hostess as per the original story, she would do whatever she wanted, whether to plow it under or whatever.
For now, it was my field. No, my garden, so I should do as I please.
I looked at the potato field with satisfaction.
In winter, I should hole up in the room and roast potatoes with Dante.
After finishing the autumn event at the mansion.
"An autumn hunting festival?"
What awaited me was the empire's autumn event.
"Yes. It's one of the noble events hosted by the imperial family."
Since it was an event directly hosted by the imperial family.
"Is it a famous event?"
"Among the empire's events, it's one of the notable ones."
Hmm. I see.
Since my confession about my past, I had been asking questions about social matters without hesitation.
Honestly, I don't think I had lived so pretentiously before.
By the way, the hunting festival is one of the notable events in the empire.
……How typical of a novel.
A hunting festival is a common theme that often appears in stories, isn't it?
Then, did "Please Water the Second Flower" have a related story?
I pondered deeply, but nothing significant came to mind.
I couldn't tell if there was no hunting festival episode or if I simply didn't remember.
"Then, are we attending as well?"
"Probably."
Probably?
"If the imperial family invites us directly, we have no right to refuse."
Ah, I understand.
"Well, the imperial family tends to be a bit obsessed with us, so they will definitely invite us."
"......Us."
"Yes?"
"No, it's nothing."
Strangely, even though the topic of the imperial family came up, Dante didn't seem to be in a bad mood.
I shrugged and thought of the hunting festival.
There would be many nobles attending, so in a way, it would be my official debut in the social scene as Richter.
No, it was my very first debut in the social scene.
When I lived as Count Je, I was confined to the mansion under the pretext that "Serafina is weak."
"Social scene..."