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IBP 17
“Hmm? What is it?”
The tiger told me about a food that other tigers used to eat back in the day whenever ‘black soot’ appeared on their paw pads.
[But I’ve actuly never seen it before, so I don’t know what it is.......]
“Tell me. I’ll get it for you!”
[The thon of a blue rose]
......Something is weird.
I blinked several times, muttering ‘the thon of a blue rose’ under my breath, before suddenly letting out an exclamation.
“The thorn of a blue rose, right?”
The tiger’s black pupils dilated.
[If I eat the thons.......]
Then, it wrote something in small letters.
After reading all of it, I nodded.
“I think it’ll be fine. I’ll be back!”
“Little one, where are you going?”
To save the tiger!
I dashed off with a whoosh.
* * *
After the social party ended, Theresia secretly called out Lady Rhea.
“His Grace, Duke Ardos, has given orders. Since it is a spirit beast he treasures dearly, he intends to prepare a reward.”
“Sigh....... Well, even if it’s aged, a spirit beast is still a spirit beast. Besides, I heard it’s capable of invisibility. I thought it was just an ordinary tiger; to think it possessed such a supernatural ability.”
“Exactly.”
“But Lady Theresia, don’t worry. I checked with the Council of Elders, and they say there is no possibility that the child is a blessed child.”
“Is that so? I suppose.”
Despite saying that, Theresia’s expression remained uneasy.
The child had visited Chloe’s mansion several times.
There were even rumors that the child was close with Ruth, Chloe’s half-brother.
“......Still, Chloe’s state is strange. In the past, I would have called the head maid to verify the situation closely, but it’s a shame.”
Chloe had fired the head maid who had managed her annex for a year.
Because of that, it was impossible to properly track Chloe’s movements.
Theresia’s golden eyes were filled with irritation.
“Anyway, you said that tiger is staying in Ruth’s shed?”
“Yes. I heard that if the tiger returns to its original cage, it goes wild, so Dot the veterinarian is looking after it until the Duke returns.”
“So, the tiger’s condition is still poor, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, there is still an opportunity for us to earn merit.”
To be more precise.
An opportunity to steal the credit for ‘saving the tiger’ before Duke Ardos returns.
* * *
I came looking for blue roses while humming a tune.
Actually, I don’t know what a blue rose is or what its effects are.
But blue roses are obviously!
‘They’ll be in the field where I used to go for walks every single day with my sister!’
The field right next to my grave at the Duke Ardos estate.
Because that field is the best field in the whole world.
There’s no way there aren’t any blue roses!
‘So many wildflowers bloom there, and I know the names of almost all of them!’
Sometimes, there are tasty things if you look closely.
‘Though sister never let me pick them up and eat them!’
Still, that vast field where I spent every single day sniffing around on my walks!
......But.
At a bench in the middle of the field I had run to while humming, I ran smack into a formidable person.
“Gasp, sister!”
“......You, why are you here.”
Gasp, look at that.
That prickly, mean expression she makes when she sees bad sisters!
“You should be at home. Where do you think you’re wandering off to?”
“Um.......”
I debated how much to tell her, but decided to just get to the point.
“Um, the tiger said it wanted to eat it, so I came to find a blue rose! Um, Lady Chloe, do you know about blue roses?”
“......What rose? A blue rose?”
“......?”
“Do you know the meaning of a blue rose?”
“I don’t!”
Sister tilted her head toward me.
“Impossible.”
My eyes widened.
Sister spoke mischievously to me with a slightly playful expression.
“Because blue roses don’t exist in this world.”
......What?
That can’t be!
I flopped right down onto the ground.
* * *
‘How innocent.’
Chloe let out a small chuckle and brushed back her hair.
She didn’t know how long it had been since she last laughed.
“Actually, there are.”
“Gasp!”
The feeling of watching a child who cries and laughs based on a single word of hers was, well, quite.......
“Follow me.”
......Not bad.
After walking for about five minutes, she pointed with her chin toward a small garden covered in blue waves.
“Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“But those aren’t roses, they’re hydrangeas.......”
How can she be so transparent?
The child looked at her as if she were a fool.
“Right. People call the stamens of blue hydrangeas ‘the thorns of a blue rose.’ It’s a metaphorical expression.”
......Now the look had changed to one of seeing a genius.
“Gasp, how do you know so much?”
“That’s.”
“Sister—no, Lady Chloe, you must be a huge, huge genius!”
The child smiled brightly.
Chloe thought unconsciously.
That there was a reason she had come to know this field in such detail.
The one who had roamed this wide field.
The one who smiled with dust all over their body.
The one whose black eyes sparkled so cutely.......
It was all thanks to the little Coco she had loved.
Her face looked as if her throat were tightening.
Then, she sat down haphazardly at the edge of the field full of blue hydrangeas and spoke.
“Coco.”
Coco’s eyes sparkled.
“Coco!”
“No, not you, but our Coco.”
The child pouted her lips.
Chloe turned her head and murmured.
“......Coco loved this place.”
“That’s right!”
“That’s why I keep this field in the same state as before.”
“Ah.......”
“So, don’t come here anymore.”
Three circles were stamped softly in front of the field.
She whispered lowly.
“Because you run around, the grass gets damaged. I’ve even marked the paw prints along the path Coco used to walk.”
“Hup.......”
“If human feet touch them, Coco’s footprints will wear away.”
“......Hmph. Then, can I pick the hydrangeas here as long as I don’t touch Coco’s footprints?”
Looking at Coco, who was making it very obvious she was sulking, Chloe plucked a blue hydrangea.
“Here.”
The child took the hydrangea in both hands and struggled to pluck out the stamens.
She thought.
That she felt herself being swayed by a child she had only just met.
Just like that day when she first locked eyes with Coco in the bedroom.
* * *
After spending a long time plucking the hydrangea stamens with hands that felt like front paws, I sniffed.
‘I smell sadness!’
I lifted my gaze from the hydrangea toward sister.
Then, I saw that the corners of her eyes were slightly red.
‘Is it because she talked about me? Did that make her sad?’
I asked cautiously.
“Um, is it because you miss Coco?”
“I don’t miss her.”
“Hmph. So blunt.”
My shoulders slumped.
‘I missed sister so, so much that I worked hard to cross the rainbow bridge!’
Sister, who had been watching me in silence, plucked another deep blue hydrangea, the one called a blue rose.
Sister quietly picked out only the stamens and handed them over, saying:
“It’s not that I miss her; I want to meet her.”
“.......”
“Just seeing someone is too cold. So, just once.......”
Sister looked away.
“I want to meet her just once and hold her. Our Coco’s heart beats twice as fast as a human’s. That’s why she’s twice as warm.”
“.......”
“That warm little thing...... I had her fur groomed before she died, and now I wonder why I did that.”
That’s right. It felt so good!
“She must have been cold.”
I wasn’t cold at all.
I was super warm because sister hugged me every day!
But my mouth was shut tight, and no words came out.
‘I guess I can’t tell her I’m Coco yet.’
It must be because the intimacy level is low.......
It was while I was looking at sister gloomily.
“Maybe it’s because I didn’t treat her right. She doesn’t even appear in my dreams.”
Sister quietly stood up.
“She must have forgotten all about me and is playing happily. That’s a relief.”
No, it’s not. I’m right here next to you, sister!
But since I couldn’t say these words, I could only pout.
“Forget it. I was just talking to myself. Well, you’ve got the ‘thorns of the blue rose,’ so that should be enough.”
“......Uh.......”
“Do whatever you want.”
Sister left quickly before I could even grab her.
With an expression so cold it felt like a gust of wind was blowing.
But as I watched her retreating figure, I habitually sniffed.
There it was again.
Again, that salty smell, like salt.
So, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘Sister cried for a very long time. Because I wasn’t there.......’
I looked at the departing sister, then stared again at the thorns of the blue rose—no, the stamens of the blue hydrangea—in my hand.
It’s okay.
Because we have a future to be together.
‘I’ll work hard so that sister can definitely recognize me.’
I won’t let her cry alone and lonely anymore.
The moment I thought that with all my heart.
A small, shimmering light, like a haze, flickered and bloomed from my fingertips.
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