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"Yeah, you know how Brother was supposed to take on the case that happened at the Subjugation Contest? But by His Majesty's order, the investigation authority was transferred to the Magic Tower. He came to explain the situation."
"I see."
Peony paused for a moment, watching Ayla's reaction. She seemed worried that Ayla might be disappointed.
However, Ayla's face was unexpectedly calm. Instead, she quietly nodded as if she had expected it.
Peony hesitated slightly before adding, "He felt very sorry. He apologized several times, saying he felt bad for not being able to take responsibility."
"Yeah, it's okay. I expected it to some extent."
"Right, you told me not to expect anything last time too..."
Ayla simply shrugged her shoulders instead of answering.
This wasn't a matter of trusting Darian or not, but a conclusion she could reach because she knew that Rosia's backing was still strong.
However, Ayla couldn't explain the deep circumstances to Peony, so she quietly closed her mouth.
'Still, it's amazing that Darian came and apologized several times.'
The Darian of the past was a man who could coldly abandon even his lovers.
For him to care so much about the affairs of someone who was merely an academy junior.
'No, maybe he's being considerate because we're not close.'
In the past, she was abandoned once her usefulness disappeared, but now she still had room to be won over.
Of course, the day Darian realizes that it's a big misunderstanding won't be far off.
If that happens, he'll revert to his original self, just like in the original story.
"So, how's the investigation going? If the Magic Tower took it over, why haven't they contacted me even once?"
"That's... the Magic Tower doesn't seem to care about this case at all. They even refused the Monsters' corpses that you wanted to leave as evidence, saying they didn't need them."
Ayla let out a short sigh. She didn't expect much, but she didn't know they would so blatantly drop the case.
"But Brother was really sorry, so he said he would share the progress so far and hand over the evidence."
"Prince Darian has been keeping it all this time?"
"Yeah. He seemed quite concerned about this matter."
Ayla's expression hardened coldly at Peony's words.
Preserving the corpses of living things takes a lot of work and costs a lot of money.
But Darian had gone to such lengths to take care of these trivial things for them.
'What is it? Was the apology sincere, not just empty words?'
She was more taken aback than she had expected.
The Darian she knew was just a puppet of the Empress. And the Empress was not the kind of person who would let her son waste time on such useless things.
'Maybe this is also a result of the original story being twisted? But does fate changing change the nature of an ordinary person?'
Her mind became complicated, but Ayla shook her head.
No matter what, the reality of him that she knew would not change.
She still couldn't forget the cowardly figure who ignored her after achieving his goal and married Freya.
He was even implicated in the attempted poisoning of her younger sister, Peony.
Ayla vowed never to be fooled by him again.
"...I see. That's kind of him."
Ayla forced a smile and looked at Peony.
She was suspicious, but there was no reason to refuse his kindness.
But Peony still seemed to have something to say, and hesitated.
"By the way, Ayla..."
"Yeah?"
Peony opened her lips, but soon shook her head.
"Ah, never mind. It was nothing."
Ayla stared at her silently.
Unlike the words 'it's nothing', Peony's expression looked very complicated.
Seeing that, an ominous thought flashed through her mind.
'Could it be...'
Ayla remembered that Peony had defended Darian's position more than necessary when she told her what he had said earlier.
Could it be that Peony's heart was also shaken by the kindness Darian had shown this time?
Ayla immediately grabbed Peony's shoulders and said firmly, "Peony, you know, right? Prince Darian is definitely not someone to be trusted."
Peony's eyes wavered as she met Ayla's firm gaze. Soon, she averted her gaze and quietly nodded.
"Yeah, I know."
"You must never fall for it. He's the one who tried to hurt you."
"...Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."
Only after giving Peony several warnings and receiving a definite answer did Ayla finally feel relieved.
The carriage jolted violently as it climbed the dirt road.
As they got closer to their destination, the shaking became more severe, and Peony opened the window wide and took a deep breath, feeling nauseous.
On the other hand, Yuria was busy holding her hands tightly together and fixing her gaze on her fingertips.
Ayla looked at Yuria, who seemed very nervous, and spoke gently.
"It's okay, Yuria. It'll be alright."
Yuria nodded slowly, but her expression was still stiff.
"But it's still strange. I raised them as instructed, so why are the Fleur withering..."
"We'll have to check it out ourselves. If we know the cause, we can solve it quickly."
"...Yes."
Even as she answered, Yuria's face was full of anxiety. Ayla understood her feelings.
'This is a life-or-death matter for Yuria too.'
After leaving Flor Cosmetics, Yuria was in the middle of a major lawsuit against Jordik.
Such lawsuits usually take a long time to reach a conclusion, and as such, they inevitably cost a lot of money.
She wanted to make Jordik pay the price with her own strength, so she was betting everything on the success of this cosmetics business.
Therefore, there could be no disruption in securing raw materials.
After a while, the carriage slowly came to a stop. The three quickly got out of the carriage, wrapping their cloaks tightly around them.
Luzen, the estate agent who had been waiting for them, greeted them happily.
"Welcome."
Peony immediately got to the point.
"How is the state of the Momon Fleur?"
Luzen replied with a dark face.
"...It's the same as before. No, I should say it's gotten worse."
"I see. We need to find out the cause, so please take us to the cultivation site right away."
Luzen nodded and led the three to the field where the Momon Fleur grew.
Soon, Yuria's face turned noticeably pale at the sight before her eyes.
Ayla also let out a short sigh.
"There's really not a single healthy Fleur."
"...I'll take a look first."
Yuria bent her knees and began to examine the condition of the Fleur one by one.
After a while, Yuria stood up, and Ayla and Peony asked her in a hurry.
"Why is this happening?"
"Do you have any idea what's causing it?"
Yuria shook her head with a bitter expression.
"No. I have no idea."
With that, Yuria took out a long tool from her pocket and carefully checked the scale.
"That's strange, the magic power level is definitely low..."
Peony tilted her head, looking puzzled by the appearance of the tool she had never seen before.
"What is that?"
"It's a magic power meter. Momon Fleur grow well in environments with low magic power."
Peony's eyes widened at the cultivation conditions she was hearing for the first time.
"Ah... so that's why you said we had to buy this land."
In fact, even when Ayla said that they had to buy land in the Falun region, Peony was puzzled.
The place was almost a wasteland due to its low magic power. Perhaps because of this, there were hardly any buyers, so they were able to buy the land at a very low price.
'So that's because it's a suitable condition for growing Momon Fleur, that's amazing.'
It was when Peony was inwardly clicking her tongue.
Ayla, who seemed to be deep in thought, asked Yuria.
"Are there any other conditions for Momon Fleur to grow well?"
Yuria thought for a moment and nodded.
"Yes, other than that, it's similar to ordinary plants. They need plenty of sunlight and the right amount of water."
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