Chapter 10: A Flower Called Love
After returning from the banquet, life at the mansion continued much as before, but subtle, invisible changes began to emerge.
“Ugh…!”
The Saintess, still upset from the banquet, was taking out her frustration by stabbing innocent cherry tomatoes with her fork.
Leisha’s reaction wasn’t too bad. Her straightforward nature meant she’d likely calm down in a few days.
Siana, however, was so shaken by yesterday that she skipped the meal, so I couldn’t check on her.
‘I’ll visit her later.’
But the bigger issue at this meal wasn’t Siana’s absence.
“…”
For some reason, today was special. Sera, the mage who usually stayed holed up in her room after eating, remained at the table, her gaze fixed on me.
“Sera, is there something you want?”
Eren, noticing Sera’s stare, swallowed her meat and asked, but Sera didn’t respond.
“Sera…?”
Sera just kept staring at me. I couldn’t fathom what she was thinking, and being the target of her gaze felt burdensome.
“…”
‘What… what’s with her?’
Was she about to go berserk? It wasn’t time yet, and there were no warning signs, so that seemed unlikely.
Despite Eren’s attempts to engage her, Sera’s eyes stayed on me, continuing until everyone else finished eating—without her touching her food.
“Butler Leni, I need to talk to you. Follow me.”
After the meal, Eren urgently asked me to follow her to her room. Her steps were quick, and she seemed flustered.
“Why’s Sera acting like that?!”
“I-I don’t know…!”
It was the first time Eren had seen the emotionless Sera stare at someone like that, and she questioned me urgently.
“You didn’t do something… did you?!”
Now Eren was suspecting me.
“What would I have done…?”
“Did you seduce Sera like you did me?”
When did I ever seduce her? Eren’s claim was baseless.
Since I couldn’t stop Sera’s eventual rampage, I’d avoided her, never even talking to her, to prevent attachment.
There was no connection between Sera and me.
“Since I know Sera best, just stay put, okay, Teacher?”
“Uh, yeah…”
Lately, it felt like our roles had reversed. I was the one being scolded. Was this right?
Eren confidently said she knew Sera best and asked me to trust her, so I did.
That left me with one task.
Checking on Siana, who hadn’t joined the meal.
Last night, Siana had intended to confront Eren but couldn’t.
‘Stupid…! I should’ve said what I needed to…!’
Eren’s happy, shy reaction left Siana unable to speak, and she blamed herself.
Her soft heart was her downfall as an elf.
She skipped the meal partly to punish herself for not confronting Eren, but that wasn’t the main reason.
‘How can I face them?’
Seeing their faces would inevitably bring back what Eren said yesterday.
‘First, marriage and maybe two kids…’
The thought that Eren was fantasizing about married life with the butler behind her cold facade made Siana unable to look at them.
‘How… how are babies made…?’
Just thinking about it made her face flush and feel like it would explode. Siana had no immunity to matters of romance.
– Knock, knock.
“W-Who’s there…!”
“Butler Leni.”
As the saying goes, speak of a human, and they appear. The elf proverb was never wrong. The last person she wanted to see was at her door.
“May I come in?”
“N-No, don’t come in!!”
Siana desperately refused to face him, which led to a misunderstanding for Leni.
“I’m coming in.”
– Creak…
Despite Siana’s protests, Leni ignored her and entered.
‘Could it be…?’
Fearing her human hatred would worsen, Leni ignored her objections, placed a bowl of porridge on her desk, and approached her.
“Don’t come closer…! Get away…!”
‘I’m embarrassed!’
Siana’s face and ears turned redder than ever as she shouted. To Leni, it looked like her hatred for human men had peaked, and she was angry.
“Calm down, Miss Siana! I’m different from other human men!”
“What are you talking about…?! Just get out! I don’t want to see your face!”
“Calm down! Take deep breaths and cool your anger!”
Siana’s rage didn’t seem to subside easily, and her human hatred appeared deeply ingrained.
‘This will take a long time.’
Leni’s misunderstanding tormented Siana for a while. Her prolonged resistance eventually waned, and she spoke as if giving up.
“Sniff… I said stop…”
‘Huh…?’
Seeing Siana’s tears, Leni realized something was wrong.
The misunderstanding brought tears of embarrassment to Siana and taught Leni to listen to an elf’s words fully.
“Are you feeling calmer…?”
“…Hmph.”
Siana was chewing on the porridge I brought. Hungry from skipping breakfast, she quickly ate the cold porridge.
“Hey, Butler. Don’t you have something to say?”
“I’m sorry…”
This incident stemmed from my misunderstanding. I thought Siana’s absence was due to the banquet incident triggering her past and leading her toward human hatred, so I barged in.
“But why didn’t you eat?”
She ate so eagerly. She devoured the porridge in moments and licked her lips as if wanting more, so I was confused.
“…!”
Siana’s mind flashed back to Eren’s words.
‘Leni doesn’t wake easily when asleep, and touching him then feels so good.’
Eren’s suggestive comment resurfaced in Siana’s mind.
‘Leni’s body is so firm…’
Worried about Siana’s flushed face, Leni placed a hand on her forehead.
“Are you ill?”
Siana’s mind was overworked. Eren’s words flooded back as she faced the man before her.
Leni’s firm hand touched her forehead, and through his slightly open shirt, Siana glimpsed his skin.
“Uh… ugh… eek…”
With no immunity to men, Siana short-circuited, unable to speak, overwhelmed by the situation.
Her breakdown lasted ten minutes. When she regained her senses, Leni was driven out of her room by her sudden scream.
“G-Get out…!!”
That day, Siana’s voice echoed through the mansion.
“What was that…?”
Eren, heading to Sera’s room, heard the strange scream resonating through the mansion.
‘It’s probably fine.’
Thinking the mansion was invincible with Leni there, Eren ignored the scream and continued toward Sera’s room, holy sword at her waist.
“Sera, I’m coming in?”
No response, but Eren opened the door anyway. Sometimes, silence was her consent.
Sera’s room had only a bed, with scattered books littering the floor.
“I didn’t say you could come in.”
Sera, looking out the window, spoke without turning to Eren.
Eren planned to use the holy sword’s power to check what had changed in Sera.
“Can’t you hear me?”
Sera, who hated people entering her space, spoke as if angry.
Though she sounded upset, she wasn’t truly angry.
‘She ignored my words and entered my space without permission, so I must be angry.’
That was the emotional circuit of Sera, stripped of feelings. She responded with an empty shell of emotion suited to the situation.
“Sorry, Sera. I came because I have something to ask.”
Eren apologized immediately, buying time for the holy sword to analyze Sera.
“Really? I have a question too.”
As Sera spoke, the holy sword urgently addressed Eren.
‘Eren, something’s off with her.’
Before Eren could ask what, she saw it in Sera’s violet eyes.
“Eren, when you think of someone, your heart races, your body heats up, and your chest pounds. What’s that feeling called?”
Sera’s face was more animated than ever, with a hint of madness.
‘She’s developed emotions.’
A new emotion had bloomed in Sera, who’d been robbed of feelings—a purple flower called love.