Oracle realized why Laura was making a shocked expression and burst out laughing.

“That would be quite nice, Ms Tauler. After all, you died and came back to life, and now you’re the illustrious wife of Archduke Lucendorf. I bet that gentleman looks at you with very affectionate eyes, doesn’t he…”

“Enough with the jokes, Oracle Decouvertaxio.”

“Oh, calling me by name is cheating.”

Oracle retorted with a sullen face.

“You were the first to call me by name. Be careful with your words, sir.”

“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Oracle immediately apologized.

It would be difficult if the current Laura was revealed to be the dead sorcerer.

“Well…?”

Oracle looked at Laura and twirled his mustache, hesitating whether to ask her something or not.

“What is it?”

“Doesn’t anyone really know who you are?”

“Yes. Only you know, sir.”

“And that gentleman… does he also not know?”

When Oracle referred to Killian as ‘that gentleman,’ Laura gave up and nodded her head.

“Of course not. If he did, would I be able to stay here?”

“That’s true.”

Oracle held onto his beard and nodded his head.

“Anyway, this place is really great. So, does the master have a hobby of cultivating plants?”

He went back to the conversation that was interrupted earlier.

“I never said that.”

“No, I think I’m right. Look at this! It’s a plant that can only be seen in the north. Oh, I’ve never seen this one before either.”

He walked around touching the flowers and plants around him with an interested expression.

She was suddenly curious.

The glass garden was carefully tended by a skilled gardener, and the flowers and plants under management were valuable even in Laura’s eyes.

“He must have traveled all over the Torca continent for a long time. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to get such rare species.”

Laura also agreed with Oracle’s thoughts.

Was he really into plants?

Killian cultivating flowers and plants with an expressionless face…

‘I can’t imagine it at all.’

It was when she was imagining that scene in her head, muttering to herself,

“Oh!”

Oracle stopped walking when he saw the bird.

The bird was flapping one of its wings and scratching its armpit with its beak.

“How did you get this?”

He pointed to the bird with a strange expression.

“I got it at the auction.”

“The one that was held at Duke Tormaite’s?”

Oracle bent down and carefully examined the bird with his rough fingers. He even touched its feathers that were scorched by fire and ruffled its fur to touch its inner flesh.

The bird made a sound,

“Chirp-chirp.”

The bird pecked at his hand, irritated by being touched by his beak, but Oracle didn’t care at all. He wrapped his hands around the bird’s head and examined it closely.

“Yes. Haven’t you seen a bird like this, sir? We were in the same place.”

“A bird?”

Oracle asked with a strange expression on his face as if he had heard something funny.

“It’s a chirpie based on how it cries.”

“Gee, what a silly name.”

“Is this the first time you’ve seen a chirpie, sir?”

“Well, I wasn’t interested in fakes. Besides, people were so noisy there that I lost my temper.”

“I rescued the chirpie.”

“Rescued? This?”

Oracle looked at the hopper with a bewildered expression.

“A bad merchant set the chirpie on fire to make it look like a phoenix. So I spilt water and put it out. When his scam was exposed, he was punished accordingly.”

“He set fire to the bird…?”

“That’s right. I regret letting that bad merchant go. I should have scolded him severely.”

“That thing… did the bird really breathe fire?”

“Of course it did!”

“I see. If my guess is correct, then this is…”

Oracle turned to look at the chirpie with an excited expression.

Laura was too angry to notice his expression as she recalled what had happened.

“It was all a scam by that bad merchant!”

“A scam? It wasn’t really breathing fire?”

“Of course it looked like it was breathing fire. But is that possible? A bird breathing fire?”

“It might be possible.”

Oracle murmured.

“What did you say?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing. Please continue.”

“Anyway, that bad merchant used some trick to deceive people’s eyes.”

“Like a magician?”

“That’s right. It was so natural.”

“So you drove away the bad merchant and rescued the bird?”

“I had no choice. Nobody thought of taking this poor thing with them. Not only was it exposed as a fake phoenix, but who would want to take an ordinary bird that had been burnt in a fire?”

Laura gently stroked the chirpie’s neck.

The chirpie closed its eyes and purred contentedly.

Oracle watched the two of them with a strange expression. Then he shrugged his shoulders and murmured.

“Well, I guess I’ll figure it out.”

“What? What did you say?”

“Oh, I was just talking to myself.”

“You’ve been muttering to yourself since earlier. If you know something, please let me know. But didn’t you say this is the first time you’ve seen a chirpie?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s my first time seeing one. That’s why it’s so fascinating. I can’t believe I’m seeing this. Maybe it’s my time to die.”

Oracle leaned in close to the hopper and blinked his eyes.

“Sir, please don’t make such harsh jokes.”

“Anyway, where did you put it?”

“The phoenix?”

Laura understood Oracle’s words right away.

“Is that it?”

Oracle pointed to the window.

On the windowsill, covered with black velvet cloth, was a round shape of something.

“Yes.”

Laura approached the window and lifted the velvet cloth. Oracle leaned over and looked at the phoenix inside the cage.

To be precise, it was the phoenix that remained in black ashes.

The black ash, which looked like a narrow rice cake, was mixed with red dots here and there on top of a wooden plate.

“When will it be reborn?”

“I’m not sure. It could be today or a few months later.”

Laura also stooped down to look at the phoenix.

“It’s better for it to be born late if possible.”

“Right. If it’s born now, it will be difficult to handle when making Elixir.”

“That’s right.”

Oracle nodded his head.

The two of them whispered secretly about the Elixir for a while.

But their conversation didn’t last long.

“What are you two doing?”

A cold voice came out like ice.

The two people who were in the middle of a conversation were startled and stood up when they heard the voice.

“Honey, you’re here.”

“Sir, how are you?”

“Not well.”

“What?”

A well-sharpened tone, as if a sharp blade was grazing his neck, made Oracle turn pale and lift his head.

Killian stood before him, tall and strong. His cobalt blue eyes stared at Oracle as if piercing him.

‘Wow, his gaze is fierce.’

Oracle scratched his neck and grumbled.

“I asked what you two were doing.”

“We were observing the phoenix.”

His dark gaze was fixed on Oracle. He seemed to be examining if there was anything hidden.

“Mr Stone is right.”

When Laura spoke, the gaze that had been fixed on Oracle moved to her.

“You were observing the phoenix?”

“Yes.”

Laura replied cheerfully. Her blinking and tilting head made her look innocent.

Oracle silently lowered his head.

‘No matter how you look at it, that nobleman seems jealous… And Laura… Ah, she looks like she doesn’t know anything.’

Neither the jealous person, nor the person unwittingly triggering that jealousy, knew what they’re both doing.

Oracle was a little confused about whether he should tell them.

“Well, does it matter? It’s not our place to interfere in other people’s love affairs.”

Oracle muttered to himself and shrugged lightly.

“What brings you here?”

“Am I not allowed to come here?”

“…No, it’s not that.”

Laura narrowed her eyes slightly at his oddly cold tone.

‘It’s a bit hot today.’

Laura changed the subject, thinking that his mood had soured because of the weather.

“Oh, by the way, I have something I’m curious about.”

Killian raised one eyebrow as if telling him to speak.

“Is gardening really your hobby?”

“……”

“Cough, like, cough…. If you ask directly, cough….”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because the plants in this garden are not common. There are many that are hard to find in the Empire.”

Laura gently touched the violet flower that was hanging mockingly at the end of a long stem. The smooth petals fluttered like thin silk.

In fact, this violet flower was a flower that only grew in Enrir.

“Do you know the name of this flower?”

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I said I don’t know the name of that flower.”

Killian said indifferently.

“Why wouldn’t you know? You said gardening is your hobby.”

“I never said that.”

“But you’re the owner of this glass garden, aren’t you? You’re managing this place because you’re interested in plants, right? The cost of maintaining this place must be enormous….”

“Although I am the owner of this place, it doesn’t mean that I bought everything here.”

“What?”

“This place has been maintained since the time of my ancestors.”

“Oh.”

“Some of the people who traveled around the continent brought them here.”

Laura looked around the glass garden again.

Only then did she notice that the flowers and plants had been rooted and grown for a long time.

Well, if Killian, who is interested in plants and transplanted them, didn’t know the name of that flower, he couldn’t have known it.

“Does my wife know the name of that flower?”

“Yantis.”

Laura whispered as she stroked the petals.

“Yantis?”

“Yes. It’s a flower that only grows in Enrir.”

“……”

“In the spring, they lay down a lot of water on the barren land that doesn’t seem to grow anything. But it’s also a pity that the flowers disappear quickly.”

Laura looked at the yantis with a gaze that seemed to search for distant memories.

Of course, yantis grown in the glass garden bloomed confidently even in the summer. And the period of maintaining the flowers was also long.

No, it was a flower that didn’t wilt.

That was because Laura had cast a special spell on it.

She wanted to look at the yantis that reminded her of old memories for a long time.

“Interesting.”

Killian tilted his head and made a strange expression.

Only then did Laura come out of her thoughts and look at Killian.

“It’s unexpected that my wife knows about the flower that only grows in Enrir. Even though you’ve never been there.”

It was a sharp observation.

She forgot that she had spoken contradictory words while indulging in soft emotions.

At her own mistake, Laura bit her tongue inwardly.

“Why are you silent?”

At his urging, she raised her head from her thoughts. And then, like a flower blooming, a smile appeared on her face.

“You don’t have to go all the way to Enrir.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know where I grew up?”

Laura raised her eyebrows and asked playfully.

“On the border of Enrir.”

“That’s right. It’s the closest place to Enrir. Isn’t that right? In the spring, the seeds fly and you can see yantis growing often in the area where I live.”

“I see.”

Killian muttered with his eyes down. Then he touched the smooth petals of the yantis with his fingertips.

“Now it’s your turn to tell me.”

He raised his head at her cheerful voice.

“You didn’t tell me why you came here. You’re not someone who doesn’t have anything to do with gardening as a hobby.”

At her words, Killian frowned. After staring at Laura with a dark gaze for a moment, he suddenly reached out his hand.