North x Northwest

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The majority of the plants that occupied not only the greenhouse but also the back garden of the mansion were all medicinal herbs. Throughout that greenhouse, which Levi carefully managed, were various refreshment tables.

The two walked side by side to a table not far away.

“My hands are dirty so I can’t cross my arms with yours. It’s a pity.”

Lil smiled slightly at Levi’s kindness.

“Are you sure you aren’t busy? I know I shouldn’t take up the time of the well-known doctor.”

“Oh my, what do you mean?”

Levi, who was sitting on a chair, scoffed and said that Lil was exaggerating. Still, the subtle joy on her face was undeniable. Lil asked the woman who was using her hand as a fan to cool her flushed face.

“What kind of herb is that?”

Levi set the flower pot down next to the table and took off her gloves. She then responded while placing her bare hand on her stomach.

“It’s a herb that’s believed to be effective for pain here. It’s called allbee*.”

“There’s such an herb?”

“It’s not widely known yet. But there are quite a few people who have found it effective, so I’m researching it.”

Lil nodded in admiration before looking down at the allbee, which was a herb with thick stems and thin leaves.

“You mainly treat women, right?”

“Oh, that’s right. There’s a huge shortage of personnel in this field. Actually, throughout history, there has been little to no research on the female human body. That’s why I’m studying advanced medicine at the Imperial Clairaut.”

Just then, the refreshments arrived and a tablecloth was spread between them. Levi’s maid held out a basin while Lil waited for Levi to finish washing her hands. As soon as the latter was done, Lil proceeded to ask.

“It must not have been easy to enter the Imperial Clairaut.”contemporary romance

“Ah, now that I think about it, it was indeed quite a long journey for me.”

“…”

Lil nodded, showing Levi her willingness to listen. Meanwhile, as if she were about to start a long story, Levi lifted her teacup and quenched her thirst first.

“Even though the late Marquess left for the Empire with Edgar, he still often visited Weissland*. Every time the Marquess’ fleet landed, the castle would be filled with strange items, so I eagerly waited for the day when the Marquess would come. Of course, it wasn’t just me, my friends and even all of my relatives were like that. As for Edgar at that time… Well, I guess he was basically a pain in the Marquess’ neck? Because he always got into accidents.”

“So he’s been like that ever since he was young?”

“Oh, you don’t even know half of it. Compared to then, he’s grown to be an impeccable gentleman now. Anyway…”

“…”

Ed sometimes appeared as a spice to Levi’s epic, mentioned occasionally to add flavour to her story. The same was true for Levi and Linhardt’s love story. Levi’s long journey soon reached its peak when she told Lil about how she cut off her own hair, infiltrated the Marquess’ squadron to board his ship ‘the Adventure’ as a sailor, and set foot on imperial soil.

At this point, Lil’s intently listened to Levi’s story with her mouth almost wide open.

“But then what? The Marquess and my uncle, you know, the butler of this mansion, almost went out of their way to send me back, so I had no choice but to get Edgar on my side.”

“But why resort to Edgar? I don’t expect him to have been any help at all.”

“No matter how stubborn the Marquess was, his stubbornness was no match against Edgar’s.”

“Ah…”

“I tried to persuade Edgar by explaining that I had an organ in my stomach that he would never have, and that I knew hardships he could never imagine. Even now, when I think about it, I’m not sure where that strength came from. I think I almost grabbed him by the hem of his trousers. In the end, I persuaded him by saying I could do more research on childbed fever than he could. I was desperate and cowardly used it as an excuse, knowing he couldn’t ignore me if it was about his mother… However, the fact remained that there was truly no medical science that focused on women’s bodies back then. So I was saying whatever I could. While studying, I realised that there was indeed no research in this field. Does it make sense that no one had studied the organ that has made the greatest contribution to human history?”

“..!”

On a rare occasion, Levi hit the table but quickly put down her hand, probably because she was surprised at her own action.

“Now that I’m actually pioneering it, I’m so dumbfounded that nobody has done so.”

“Pioneering…”

Levi casually said it with a shrug, but Lil was thrilled.

‘I was arrogant in believing that no one else was present like me. I was mistaken in thinking Ed was my sole companion. But there are people like Levi, who are on the same path as me without even realising it. Even if some of them don’t know where it leads them… The path I thought I was on may have become a path because someone stepped on it before me…’

“…What, why are you here? Why in the greenhouse…”

Lil heard Ed’s voice, but she was so focused on Levi that she answered half-heartedly, so Levi was the only one who glanced up at Ed. That was only for a moment though, and Levi’s attention soon returned to Lil, glad that she finally met someone who would listen to her story with such a level of interest. Lil even ate a simple meal in the greenhouse, ignoring the strange and harsh smell of the herb colony.

Even though the two had busy schedules, they left the greenhouse only after promising to have dinner together every night until they left Roahn.

Because of this, when the ladies announced that they would’ve dinner together, the two men were momentarily confused. But since Ed had to have dinner with Lil and Linhardt had to have dinner with Levi, there was only one peaceful solution. The four of them ended up spending the few remaining evenings at the same table.

***

With her back against the headboard of her bed, Lil read a book until late at night. In the light illuminated by the lamp, the paper looked yellow and gradually blurred…

As soon as her head nodded, she opened her heavy eyes.

‘I don’t know when I dozed off…’

Upon checking the desk clock, Lil found it was almost midnight. She listened for signs outside the residence but didn’t hear anyone coming or going. Glancing at the clock again, Lil reached for the silver tray next to it and picked up the letter on the small velvet cushion with two fingers.

Ed had left the residence early that morning. She vaguely remembered someone kissing her forehead before she tossed and turned, sleeping till late.

[ Liloa. ]

‘His handwriting is bad… It’s as unusual as his personality. It’s written in cursive letters that were difficult to read before, but now that I’ve gotten used to it, I can recognize the elaborate letters. Now it even looks like it had been stamped. To be honest, the phenomenon wherein his handwriting looks like fine print to me now, whereas it looked horrible before, may be because of something changing within me. And judging by the way he appears more handsome to me day by day, I guess I’m clearly losing my objectivity towards him…’

Without fail, Ed’s radiant face flashed through her mind.

Lil let out a laugh as she felt ridiculous for herself. She was getting worried that if she continued like this, her mind would be ruined at some point. She looked back at his letter countless times next to her pillow. When he started to work at the naval office again in earnest, Ed made it a habit to send her letters all the time, the content ranged from trivial small talk to awkward confessions of love and everything in between. Ed wrote to her in a chatty manner, as if he wanted to convey all his thoughts to her. Even though Lil sent replies sporadically, his enthusiasm didn’t subside at all, and it reached the point where his letters piled up for her to read.

Lil stroked the edge of the paper.

‘Liloa…’

Out of nowhere, his handwriting seemed to call for her with Ed’s own voice. For some reason, Lil’s heart ached and it caused her to frown.

‘Whenever I think of him, my heart tightens. Sometimes… no, quite often actually. A faint pain would prick formlessly among the overwhelming joy.’

With the letter lying on her chest, Lil stared blankly at the ceiling.

‘I wonder if Ed felt the same way while he was waiting for me, preoccupied with my recovery… In any case, Ed has been spending long hours in the naval office instructing the naval attaches who will handle the affairs when he joins me on our way to Obernyu. I also remember Linhardt saying in passing that the southern expedition had been a huge failure and that it could stress Ed out. Looks like he’s not coming in today.’

Lil turned off the lantern and snuggled into the blanket. In the darkened room only the ceiling was visible due to the moonlight shining faintly on it. She closed her eyes again. Mortu, who had tormented her for years, disappeared as if it had been nothing but her delusion. In addition, Lil wasn’t immune to having her sleep depleted like this, so she couldn’t hold out any longer. She quickly fell asleep with her hands full of blankets…

“Ed?”

– – – – –

Footnote:

Allbee: We tried to search for this herb on the internet, but we couldn’t find it. So, it could very well be that this herb is based on fiction.

Weissland: Ed’s hometown on the Northern Continent.

– – – – –

done.co