Chapter 5: The Hero Smells Like Roses
A faint fragrance wafted from the burning white roses.
The scent slowly enveloped Leni’s body, lulling him into a comfortable sleep.
The problem was that burning white roses caused hallucinations and mild addiction. Without the scent, sleep didn’t feel restful.
It could be considered a kind of drug, but for Leni, who had been thrust into another world, constantly thinking about peace, raising the princess, and barely sleeping, he had no choice but to rely on it.
Leni burned the scent despite the risk of being caught. After years of use, he was addicted, unable to feel truly rested without it.
‘Where am I…?’
A place began to appear before Leni’s eyes.
It was definitely familiar to him.
But it was burning, with many parts in ruins, so he prayed it wasn’t the place he thought it was and started walking.
The vibrant flowers were all wilted, and the once orderly paths were destroyed.
Traces of magic use were evident everywhere, and the closer he got, the louder the sounds became.
– Boom!
The building he remembered collapsed under magic, and at that moment, a woman appeared before him.
“…”
Countless rocks floated around her, and he knew the nature of that magic. He’d seen it in the novel.
The villain from the novel’s midsection. The witch who destroyed the imperial palace stood before him.
‘I have to escape.’
Leaving the ruined palace behind, he fled from her as fast as he could without looking back.
– Pant, pant…
His breath was ragged, his legs trembling, but he kept running toward the place he wanted to return to.
But he could never reach it.
It was too far away.
“Run…”
Eren, who had snuck into the room, heard Leni muttering in his sleep.
He kept murmuring to run, and each word made the hero’s heart feel like it was plummeting.
“He’s really asleep, right?”
‘Yeah, he won’t wake up for a while.’
The holy sword, seeing through Leni’s state, knew when he’d awaken.
“Tell me if he’s about to wake up, got it?”
– Hop!
Eren slipped into the empty spot on the bed, lying beside Leni.
It was the perfect position to see his sleeping face up close.
‘By the way, he’s heavily addicted.’
It must have been years of continuous use. The holy sword couldn’t know what had driven Leni to rely on the white roses.
“Run… away…”
“What’s he saying to run from…?”
Eren, lying on the bed, gazed at Leni’s face as he cried out to run.
What was tormenting her teacher? Eren wanted to know and ease his burden.
Leni’s burden.
“Did I do something wrong…?”
She felt guilty, thinking she shouldn’t have brought him to the mansion.
“But I did everything you told me, and you never even praised me once. That’s too much, Teacher. Doesn’t that mean I deserve some reward for all I’ve done?”
Eren knew she was being greedy, and this was the first time in her life she’d been selfish or whiny.
“Holy Sword, can you see into Teacher’s past?”
The holy sword could pierce through anything, including the past.
‘No, not with this man.’
For some reason, Leni was an exception.
Even the holy sword couldn’t see his past.
Whatever he knew, his resistance to revealing his past was strong, and the holy sword had no way of knowing what he’d done.
‘One thing’s certain: something happened in his past.’
Hearing this, Eren tightly grasped Leni’s hand as he suffered.
“…It’s warm.”
Eren held his hand for a long time.
The warmth of their clasped hands merged, their body temperatures aligning in that moment.
They were the only ones in the room, and Leni no longer saw bad hallucinations. On nights when the incense burned, a lingering warmth remained beside Leni, as if someone had been there.
It was lunchtime.
The hero’s party sat at the dining table, each enjoying a meal suited to their tastes.
“Today’s vegetables are fresher than usual~”
Siana, the vegetarian, said as she ate her salad. Loving nature but eating vegetables—wasn’t that a contradiction? Were elves inherently hypocritical?
The Saintess and the mage ate quietly. Back when we had no chef, the Saintess, who couldn’t handle spicy food, had thrown a fit over a dish loaded with spices. Today’s meal was blissfully peaceful.
“Butler Leni, keep your afternoon free.”
“Yes?”
“Everyone wants to go sightseeing in the city. Come with us.”
The group included Leisha and Siana. The mage had vanished from her seat, as if she’d finished eating.
“I’ll arrange for a coachman.”
The mansion was on the city’s outskirts, so a carriage was essential for shopping in the center.
That’s why we’d bought a carriage and hired a coachman. Even after all that, there was still plenty of money, making me realize again how much the Saintess had spent.
After reviewing today’s shopping list and planning the most efficient route, I headed to the carriage.
‘Everything looks fine.’
The carriage was in good order, with no visible issues. Checking its condition was a habit from my time with Aria, who had many enemies in the palace.
“I’m counting on you today.”
I greeted the coachman and waited for the group.
Soon, the hero and her party emerged, each dressed in a way that reflected their personality.
The Saintess wore a white nun’s habit, her blonde hair complemented by a green gemstone necklace.
It must have been the jewel that survived the refund fiasco.
The elf’s outfit screamed free-spirited elf. Very revealing.
“What… what are you looking at, human…!”
But she wasn’t confident. She seemed embarrassed by her own attire.
I let it slide, thinking thin clothing was an elf’s pride.
Eren wore a plain white shirt and pants, but her height and the holy sword at her waist gave her a distinct aura.
Everyone arrived at the carriage and boarded in order, with me being the last.
“Get in, Butler.”
Eren patted the empty seat beside her.
With no choice, I sat next to her and caught a familiar scent.
‘This smell…’
The fragrance of those flowers…?
I cautiously turned my head, sniffing the carriage’s air without anyone noticing.
“Is something wrong?”
I turned and realized.
The scent was coming from Eren.
With an enchanting smile like the white roses, she looked at me familiarly.
“Hmm…?”
Only the elf, with her keen sense of smell, noticed the subtle difference between them.
‘Why do they smell the same…?’
It was the moment a seed of suspicion sprouted in Siana’s mind.
The carriage wheels rolled on, arriving at the first stop: a bakery.
The visit was for the Saintess’s charity. She stopped by every few days to give bread to orphanage children who couldn’t eat regularly.
Aside from her obsession with money, Leisha was the epitome of a saintess.
We arrived at the orphanage and distributed bread to the children.
“Let… let go…!”
Siana was playing with the kids, enjoying herself.
“Eek…! Don’t touch my ears…!”
Or maybe she was being tormented.
After the orphanage, the carriage rolled toward the next destination.
– Clunk!
“Oh… sorry…”
The road was bumpy, and the carriage shook. Each jolt seemed to push Eren’s body toward me.
‘This is driving me crazy…’
Addicted to the white roses, I didn’t mind her body pressing against mine. In fact, I wanted to inhale more of the scent.
“Huh…?”
Even the oblivious Saintess noticed something was off. Eren, unmoved even during demon king attacks, was leaning on a man because of the carriage’s sway?
‘Something’s wrong with the hero…!’
Leisha, clueless about romantic matters, thought.
Amid the shaking carriage and my distraction with the rose scent, we reached our final destination.
“There’s a banquet at the palace in four days.”
They needed dresses for the event.
The palace banquet meant a reunion was approaching.
A reunion with my former master, Aria.