A/N: The whole chapter used Florentiaâs POV so yeah...
Happy reading!1
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"Tia!"
Larane hugged me and laughed.
The pulling force and voice were incomparably bright and powerful.
"Hello, Larane."
I also said while hugging Larane.
Then I looked at Avinox, standing behind Larane.
"Welcome, Sir Avinox."
"Thank you for the welcome, Lord Lombardi."
Avinoxâs face still seemed to be shining brightly, and his smile was full of joy on his face.
"Itâs been a while, everyone."
Larane, who hugged me, soon greeted the twins and said.
"You seem to be much healthier than before."
"Good for you."
The twins also welcomed Larane.
It wasnât just me and the twins who came to meet her in front of the mansion.
"Welcome, Larane."
"How are you?"
The employees who have worked in the mansion for a long time also came out to see Larane while taking a break during their busy days.
"I missed you all."
Larane cried as she looked at their faces affectionately one by one.
It was a completely different sight from when she sneaked out of this mansion in the middle of the night.
Everyone was gathered together to welcome Larane.
And finally, Larane stood before my grandfather.
"It must be a lot of trouble coming all the way here, Larane."
Grandfather said that in a friendly voice.
"Sir Avinox, could you bring it to me from the carriage?"
"If thatâs it....Ah!"
Avinox clapped his hands lightly and hurried to the carriage.
It was a bouquet of flowers that squeezed in between the employees who were busy unloading their luggage.
Avinox, a burly build, was big enough to frown slightly.
"Oh my goodness! Flowers in this winter!"
"Oh my God, there are hundreds!"
People opened their eyes wide in surprise.
The bouquet was fresh enough to make me forget that itâs winter now.
"I brought it because I wanted to give it to my grandfather and the people of Lombardi as a gift."
Larane said with a shy smile.
"Lilies....is this really?"
Grandfather asked, looking at the bouquet with a puzzled face.
"Yes, that is correct."
"But how did you save so many lilies in this winter?"
"Because the Eastern part doesnât get very cold even in the middle of winter. When I built a greenhouse and raised it, it was growing very well."
When Larane spoke lightly as if it were nothing, Avinox quickly added from the side.
"Originally, lily was not a flower in the East. Larane is working on improving plants that do not originally grow in the East, like lilies, to fit the Eastern soil, Grandfather."
"Ho, is that right?"
"Yes. Not long ago, I started studying wheat that didnât grow well in the East, and it works very well."
"Youâre doing a very good job, Larane."
Laraneâs face blushed at the praise of my grandfather.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"We will take the bouquet."
John said as he brought two great employees.
"Ah, then, thank you very much."
As Avinox, who smiled, handed over a bunch of lilies, the two employees were seen staggering for a moment.
"You must be tired of coming from far away, so letâs go inside and get warm."
Grandfather said, letting Larane first into the mansion.
"And you."
"Yes, ah, grandfather."
Avinox, who was naturally trying to follow Larane with a smile on his face, froze at my grandfatherâs call.1
Maybe he just realized his situation.
The reason anyway, Avinox is the man who took Larane to the East by escaping in the middle of the night.
He wasnât in a position to stand tall in front of my grandfather.
Even in my eyes, taking a step back and watching, I can see the cold sweat that is flowing on Avinoxâs back by now.
".....uh."
Grandpa looked at Avinox for a moment without saying a word.
Gulp.
I could see Avinoxâs Adamâs apple move greatly with tension.
"Letâs go in."
Grandfather said so, giving Avinox a tap on the shoulder, turned his back first and walked inside.
That was all.
However, Avinoxâs face instantly brightened as if it had been lit like a fire.
"Oh, thank you!"
Avinoxâs loud voice rang loudly as he quickly followed my grandfather.
I looked at the bouquet of flowers that the employee was struggling to hold.
"Lilies."
Is this also a coincidence?
"It is the flower that goes best with Larane."
As I looked into the Lily flower, I remembered the memory of my previous life.
The white lily that filled Laraneâs funeral home.2
"Eastern climate must be right. When you see a big, fresh bloom of Lilies like this."
I turned and said to John.
"It would be nice to decorate the Lombardi mansion with this. Even the banquet tonight."
"Yes, My Lord."
Butler John said with a smile.
"Ugh, itâs cold. Come on, everybody, get in there. Donât catch a cold."
I said that to everyone and shivered my shoulders a little and went into the warm mansion.
Winter is still cold.
Everyone in Lombardi gathered to welcome Larane back.
Not only my Father, but Shannanet, and even the people of the vassal family.
Everyone gathered in one place and a noisy banquet was held.
Nominally, it was a party to welcome Larane back, but a little look inside the banquet hall showed that it wasnât.
Lombardi, however, does not hold a general banquet this grand.
Instead it was prepared as an engagement party.
This banquet was prepared by my grandfather for Larane.
Therefore, it contained my grandfatherâs heart to take care of his granddaughterâs engagement banquet even now.
".....!"
Thatâs why Larane began to shed tears as soon as she entered the banquet hall.
But it wasnât a sad tear.
"Congratulations, Larane!"
"Congratulations!"
A huge banquet hall full of people celebrating the engagement of Larane and Avinox.
The banquet began, Larane and Avinox began to dance together.
"What a picturesque pair."
I muttered unconsciously, but everyone around me nodded.
Thatâs how much Larane and Avinox fit together.
Avinox, which is bright like a sun, and Larane, who bloomed fresher with its light.9
As you can see, it was a pair that can put a smile on anyone.
"Florentia."
My grandmother approached me while watching the dance.
After my inauguration banquet, my grandmother and her tribal people, who have been staying in the mansion, have been sightseeing in earnest for the past few days.
At first, grandmotherâs doctor, Onta, also complained about the cold weather, as well as learning and experiencing new things every day.
"What a nice man and woman they are."
Grandmother said as she looked at Larane and Avinox, who are now spinning around.
"There are some flowers that grow better in other places than where they were originally born and rooted."1
"Yes, Larane will live happily in the East."
I donât have the foresight like my grandmother and mother, but I knew instinctively that the future would be full of happiness in front of Larane.
"When Shan left the village, she took a bunch of flowers in a pot and took them away. She said that she will make the flower take root wherever she will be."
"My mother took a flower?"
"What kind of flower was that?....Oh, yeah. It was a Bomnia flower tree."23
"What did you just say?"
Bomnia?
"Bomnia is a flower that blooms in the fields in spring where we live..."
"Itâs a red wildflower thatâs only native to the South."1
I read it in Perezâs letter.
It is said that Bomnia is a flower that grows only in the South.
And it was also the herb that played the most important role in curing my fatherâs incurable disease.
"What in the world..."
I wanted to ask if you were in front of me now.
Mother, how far in the future did you see?2
My grandmother said to me, who was so surprised that my mind got tangled up and handed over a wine.
"I have a favor to ask of you, Florentia."
"...Yes, please tell me."
Leaving my blackened mind aside for a moment, I replied in as calm a voice as possible.
"If I send some of the people from the tribe to Lombardi in the future, can you take good care of them?"
"The people of the tribe?"
People in my motherâs hometown said they had a very closed culture.
So did my grandmother and two people Iâve met in the past few days.
Most of the time, I didnât talk to the tribe, and sometimes they talk in a tribal language that I didnât know.
As if reading my expression like that, my grandmother said.
"Wouldnât it be impossible for us to hide in the jungle forever? When the time comes, you have to break the egg and come out."
Grandmotherâs gaze, who said so, looked at the colorful lights of the banquet hall, but she seemed to look somewhere further away.3
"So be it. To me, the people of the tribe are like relatives."
Grandmother smiled at my words.
"Florentia, hold on."
Grandmother, who grabbed my arm, came a step closer.
Then she whispered in a very small voice so that no one could hear what sheâs going to say.
"Sooner or later, someone around you will die."12
My grandmotherâs cloudy eyes were looking straight at me.
But it didnât scare me or give me goosebumps.
Rather, I felt my worries intact, and I felt my surprised heart calm down for a momentarily.
I wasnât scared by the warning of âdeathâ.
Words canât describe it properly, but I had a hunch instinctively that it wouldnât be such a bad thing for me.
"Yes, youâre Shanâs child."
Even though I couldnât see it well, my grandmother, who was looking at my face directly, was smiling.
She patted my hand and said.
"Itâs a good thing that you werenât born full into the tribe. I was almost born with an overwhelming ability like Shan. Iâm glad youâre out of the loop."
Grandma said so and held my hand tight for a long time.
****
On the day of the signing ceremony for the appointment of the Crown Prince.
I left the Lombardi mansion early in the morning.
Just in case, my carriage was escorted by the Lombardi Knights, including the twins.
Without stopping once, thanks to a carriage that ran to the imperial palace as if it were sailing in a fair wind, I was able to arrive at the conference hall where the signing ceremony was held long before the scheduled time was left.
However, the large conference hall was already crowded with people.
And there were a total of five chairs on the large round table in the middle.
As I stepped on the soft carpet, the people standing around the round table greeted me.
"Youâre here, Lord Lombardi."
Luman of the East, Brown of the West, Ivan of the North, and Sushou of the South.3
The local householders to sign the Crown Princeâs appointment finally gathered together.
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A/N: Tiaâs Mom is sooooo cool! :â)
Note: The Flower was actually called by two names in the translation: Bomnia and Springia. But Iâm sure you know what that flower is.