| Chapter 8: The Edelweiss Blooms Again

A Few Weeks Later

“…So, sister, you promise to take me to the garden next time, right? I want to see if the Edelweiss really bloomed, just like you said.”

“I promise, Sophia. But only if you eat properly and take care of yourself. Got it? You need to get stronger so we can take walks together.”

Natasha smiled softly, stroking Sophia’s hair as she spoke.

Since the day Natasha handed over their mother’s necklace—something she’d barely managed to obtain—Sophia had shown visible signs of recovery.

The sadness and resentment toward the mother she never had the chance to love, coupled with her fragile and bedridden state, seemed to ease as she held and caressed the necklace.

The story of the ‘Edelweiss blooming between the rocks,’ told to inspire hope, had lit a spark in Sophia’s eyes. It was the first time Sophia had ever shown such enthusiasm, and Natasha’s heart ached at the sight.

How wonderful it would be if Sophia’s health improved enough for them to walk in the garden together.

Driven by that hope, Natasha went to check the spot in the garden where she’d claimed the Edelweiss had bloomed. Her steps came to an abrupt halt.

“…It’s not here.”

Her chest tightened with a heavy thud.

“Really? How could Edelweiss, which only grows in alpine regions, bloom in the garden’s rocky crevice? It’s so fascinating, sister.”

“Isn’t it? See, Sophia? Nothing is impossible. You too will rise again, just like that Edelweiss that stood tall and bloomed.”

Sophia’s shining eyes, filled with hope, were unforgettable. She had fought so hard to reclaim her will to live. What should she do now?

“Milady, are you alright?”

The maid, Renna, rushed to steady Natasha as she stumbled.

* * *

“I don’t get it. What’s so special about a flower blooming between rocks that could shock a noble lady like that? Honestly, I’ll never understand how sensitive these aristocrats are.”

Rita, a laundry maid gossiping with Alexei, shrugged her shoulders.

After Alexei had saved her from being harassed by a knight, Rita often sought him out, smuggling treats like baskets of pastries.

“Get lost. You’re in the way.”

Alexei’s tone was as blunt as ever.

But Rita, undeterred by his curt manner, had figured out that Alexei wasn’t the type to harm women. She had grown used to his silence and now treated it as an opportunity to admire his striking features unabashedly.

“Flowers blooming in rocks, you say?”

For the first time, Alexei reacted to Rita’s chatter.

“Yeah! I’m close with one of the lady’s maids, so I heard about it…”

Rita puffed up with pride, dragging out her explanation.
“Not going to talk? Fine, I’ll leave.”

As Alexei pretended to get up from the fence he was perched on, Rita waved her hands frantically.

“No, no! I’ll tell you! Hold on. It’s a white flower. The name is… uh… something hard to pronounce… Edel… something?”

“What now?”

Alexei’s sculpted brow furrowed as Rita paused again.

“I really can’t remember! It was such a difficult name. Edel…bess? Something like that. Apparently, she promised to show it to Miss Sophia. I mean, why all the fuss over a flower? People like us would leap out of bed for a simple pie. Right, Alexei? Want a bite?”

Rita, delighted by Alexei’s rare response, beamed and offered him a pie. But Alexei ignored it, muttering to himself.

“…Edelweiss.”

“Huh? What? Oh, right! That’s the name! How’d you know? You’re not just handsome, you’re smart too! I might fall for you all over again.”

Rita fluttered her lashes and smiled sweetly, but Alexei didn’t even blink as he leapt off the fence.

“Where are you going, Alexei? Aren’t you going to share the pie?”

“Eat it yourself.”

Without looking back, Alexei disappeared into the barracks.

“Oh, so thoughtful of you to leave it for me? I’ll leave it at the door, so eat it when you’re hungry, okay?”

Rita trailed after him, speaking to the closed door.

* * *

A Week Later

Natasha had scoured every source she could think of to find Edelweiss, but the flower couldn’t be found anywhere in the Duchy of Ivanov

The only possibility seemed to be sending mercenaries to the northern alpine region near the duchy’s borders. But how would she gain Sergei’s approval? Her head throbbed from the endless deliberation as she took a walk to clear her mind.

“Oh! My lady, look at this!”

Renna, who had been following Natasha and scanning for anything interesting, suddenly exclaimed.

“What is it now?”

Natasha, maintaining her elegant and composed pace, stopped abruptly at the sight Renna pointed out.

“This… this is!”

She rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.
It was unmistakable.

Edelweiss.

The small, delicate flower, more elegant and pure than any other, had once again raised its head shyly from the crevice in the rocks where it had been before.

“It’s blooming again! Do you think it might have sensed how desperately you were searching for it, milady? Maybe your devotion even reached the flower!”

“Such… a thing… could happen…”

If it were true, as Renna suggested, that such a miracle had occurred, it would indeed be both astonishing and deeply moving.
However, Natasha wasn’t one to be swayed purely by sentiment. She had long since learned that life wasn’t particularly kind to her.
Leaning closer to the rocky crevice, Natasha inspected the flower.

“Milady! Your noble hands shouldn’t touch the dirt like that!”

Ignoring Renna’s outcry, Natasha removed her lace gloves and began to feel the soil around the Edelweiss with her bare hands.

“That’s strange.”

Unlike the parched soil outside the crevice—where it hadn’t rained for weeks—the soil around the Edelweiss was damp.

“And if I remember correctly…”

The last time she saw it, the flower’s stem had been snapped, its leaves withering and dry. It looked as though someone had deliberately broken it.

Different.

The flower before her now didn’t resemble the one she had seen before. Its shape suggested it wasn’t the same Edelweiss that had grown from the original root.

It was as if someone… had intentionally replanted it.

But who… could it have been?

The only one who knew she was looking for the Edelweiss was Renna.

Could Renna have done it? For me?

But judging by Renna’s surprised and excitable demeanor, she seemed unaware of the flower’s reappearance.

Who would go to such lengths for Sophia and me?

No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t come up with anyone. The duchy’s nobles and courtiers were focused solely on the centers of power. No one would dedicate themselves to someone so removed from authority, someone like her—a displaced princess whose rightful claim to succession had been handed to an adopted heir.

“Milady approaches. Show proper decorum.”

Suddenly, Natasha froze as the memory of a voice echoed in her mind.

For that brief moment, she had felt like the most revered being in the world, not a powerless figurehead.

“I’ll remember that promise, milady.”

And the pair of intense eyes that had burned with such fervor yet seemed sorrowful enough to shatter her heart…

‘No, it can’t be. Why am I even thinking of him?’

Natasha shook her head sharply, trying to dispel the thought.

* * *

“You insolent slave! How dare you lay your filthy hands on anything? A slave taking a week’s leave, skipping matches under the pretense of altitude sickness, and now, theft?!”

It was a place Natasha would normally have no reason to visit—the training grounds. Yet for some reason, she had decided to take a walk in that direction today.

“Brother!”

At Sergei’s feet was a massive figure, bloodied to the point of being barely recognizable as human. Natasha stifled a scream and instinctively grabbed Sergei’s arm.

“Natasha? What brings you all the way out here?”

“I… I was looking for you, brother. I thought we might have tea together, and here you are…”

Barely suppressing a groan, Natasha forced her gaze away from Alexei, who lay curled at Sergei’s feet.