457 - Spring Blossom Festival and What to Bury
"Ah, I completely forgot!!"
Leonardo sent it, apparently. Mirshe brought me an Enomena pot different from the one I have been growing, and seeing it reminded me of what day it is. When men give flowers in spring, that means Spring Blossom Festival. For girls, it is also a day to give embroidery to family or the one you have feelings for.
I thanked Mirshe and took the pot, then headed to Leonardo's room on the second floor still holding it. Leonardo was preparing to head to the fortress, and he gave a wry smile as I burst into his room without even waiting for permission to enter.
"Tina, you have slipped out of your lady's skin."
"Lady can come later. I completely forgot about Spring Blossom Festival! I do not have a present prepared for you, Leo."
Sorry, I said, giving Leonardo a one-armed hug as a preliminary apology. This brother-idiot named Leonardo is such a brother-idiot among brother-idio-- that a simple hug from his little sister has a certain level of effectiveness. He is a cheap brother-idiot like that. But even if it is cheap, I as a sister-idiot have no intention of getting away with just a hug. I honestly apologized for forgetting and not preparing a gift, but I wanted to prepare something even if it was late.
"I had plenty of time, but I just completely spaced on Spring Blossom Festival."
Since I had been going outside even less than usual, I had all the time in the world for embroidery. But I had been so absorbed in immediate tasks like exercise and translation work that I never even thought about a Spring Blossom Festival gift. Or rather, I had completely forgotten the festival itself existed.
"You do not need to worry about a gift. I kind of figured you had forgotten."
"If you noticed, you should have told me."
I know Leonardo looks forward to getting embroidery from his family (me) every year. If he noticed I had forgotten, I wish he had pointed it out beforehand. He could have just brought it up during a meal, like, 'Spring Blossom Festival season is coming up.'
...Well, Rannvald-sama was the one doing Leonardo-san's work, and after Leonardo-san took over the work, he has been going to the fortress, so he does not work in the residence anymore. No wonder I did not notice.
I looked up at Leonardo with a hint of resentment, and he gently averted his eyes. Apparently, the reason Leonardo did not mention Spring Blossom Festival was that he did not want to seem like he was asking for a gift. Since I could not go outside due to trauma and needed to exercise to regain my strength, he seemed to have wanted to avoid me spending time on embroidery.
"I would rather have your strength and stamina back than get embroidery and be happy about it on Spring Blossom Festival."
To Leonardo, who was implying I should use my time for exercise instead of embroidery, I threw out a parting shot, telling him to look forward to my birthday. I still cannot go outside, but I know how to shop by calling merchants to the residence. I can buy fabric, so I can at least make a shirt for Leonardo.
Since it was Spring Blossom Festival, I was planning to ask permission to send Mirshe on an errand to buy Arcas rice cakes at the Three Crows Tavern, but Leonardo had beaten me to it. After delivering the Enomena flowers to me, Mirshe was apparently already scheduled to be sent to the Three Crows Tavern on an errand from the start. I felt like going out together to see if there were any new items, but even if I wanted to go outside, I am not someone who can simply step out. I gave Mirshe my black cat wallet in addition to the money Leonardo had given her, telling her to buy something tasty if she found it, and saw her off.
...But still, what is wrong with it?
I compared this year's Enomena pot that Leonardo had given me with the Enomena pot I had been growing in my room. I do not know when it was planted since it is a store-bought item, but this year's Enomena had splendid flowers blooming. In contrast, my Enomena still had just a tiny sprout poking out. The temperature had warmed up enough that flowers in the back garden were starting to bloom here and there, but my Enomena showed no signs of growing taller or putting out more leaves.
"Is this what they call 'root rot'?"
"The roots seem fine... but I think the bulb might be a little bigger."
Impatient with my Enomena's lack of growth, I took the pot to Bart, who was tending the flower beds in the back garden, to ask what was wrong. When I consulted him, Bart carefully dug into the soil a little to check on the bulb without damaging the sprout.
"So maybe it started storing nutrients to bloom next year since it was planted too late?"
"Well, if it blooms next year, that is fine by me."
The bulb seemed to have gotten a little bigger, but Bart and I tilted our heads at the bulb that showed no further signs of growth. I do not mind if it is slow to grow. Compared to other Enomenas, it is worrying, but if it has not withered and the roots are not rotten, then the Enomena is still alive. But it was strange that there was no growth without any apparent cause.
"If it is storing nutrients in the bulb, should we add fertilizer to the soil?"
"Giving it nutrients recklessly could be bad too, so let us observe it a bit longer."
"Understood."
I would not want to rush into giving it nutrients only to have it rot from over-fertilization. Fortunately, there were no signs of that for now, so it should be fine to wait a little longer.
...Huh?
As I idly gazed at the Enomena sprout, something in my memory snagged. What was it? I tried to catch hold of the snag in my thoughts, but it was just a vague sense that something was bothering me, with no real handle to grasp, so I could not quite catch the question.
...What was it? Something about the Enomena, maybe...?
As I stared at the Enomena sprout, chasing that memory snag, Kalisa's image suddenly rose in my chest. I felt like there was something about this Enomena related to Kalisa.
...What was it? Who was it?
I felt like someone said something. It was when I was searching for Kalisa. When I was searching for Kalisa, someone stopped me. Or rather, they grabbed the hem of my skirt and pulled. I remembered being startled by the force from such a low position and turning around.
When was that, I wondered, as my thoughts found direction and I probed my memory. I was already small, but they had pulled my hem from an even lower position. I realized that the person's height must have been not even toddler-sized but almost infant-sized, and then I remembered their figure.
...Huh? An imp?
What had been pulling at the hem of my skirt was an imp, like the ones from manga and games in my previous life. In the dream where I was searching for Kalisa, I felt like an imp had stopped me.
-- Bury it together. Then, it can be born.
Once it is born, we will be together forever. I felt like that imp had said something like that.
...Bury what? What can be born?
Somehow I could not just write it off as a dream, so I repeated the imp's words in my head. I had remembered them while thinking about the Enomena flower. The place to bury it was probably the Enomena pot.
...If that was not just a dream, then does that mean, just like Leonardo-san worried, that it is not just a simple bulb?
It seemed Leonardo's concerns were not entirely unfounded. The trouble is, in this life I have so many strange experiences that even ghosts I did not believe in in my past life seem believable now. Setting aside ghosts, things related to fairies and spirits probably should not be dismissed as just dreams. I do not remember it at all myself, but apparently even the people around me (Leonardo) have been taken by spirits and met the Divine King. I should take things related to spirits a little more seriously.
"So basically, what do you think I should bury?"
I greeted Leonardo when he returned from the fortress in a corner of the entrance hall, and promptly reported what I had remembered today. When I told him that an imp had said it in a dream, Leonardo seemed to take the story seriously too. Apparently, when I was returning, an imp had given information at the cost of its life.
...So that means, when I tried to go search for Kalisa again, the imp stopped me?
I heard from Leonardo about what happened two years ago. I tried to escape into a dream, still not having learned my lesson. I wandered through the dream searching for Kalisa, and I remember a small hand grabbing my skirt to stop me then. Or rather, I remembered it now. That imp Leonardo mentioned must have pulled me back.
...Kalisa?
Speaking of what to bury, I realized I had not been able to inter Kalisa's remains. And I also noticed that I had remembered the imp at the same time I remembered Kalisa. To top it off, I had been troubled because I could not decide where to bury Kalisa.
"This is all connected and it is creepy."
Somehow, I understood what that imp had wanted to tell me. That imp probably wanted to say I should bury Kalisa's remains in the Enomena pot. And that Enomena bulb seemed like some kind of special bulb. Something felt like it might happen, and I had more than a little resistance to using it as Kalisa's burial place.
"...So it really was a suspicious thing after all."
Leonardo's reaction was that maybe I should not bury it. I tentatively asked if what I should bury was Kalisa's remains, but Leonardo probably wanted to decline any more strange experiences.
"Who knows what will bloom. Will it really be Enomena that blooms...?"
"I have already planted it, so I do not want to pull it out now. If it is a flower, it should want to bloom."
I want to let it bloom, but I hesitate to bury my benefactor (Kalisa)'s remains in a pot with an unknown bulb. Besides, I had been growing that Enomena pot in my room. I love Kalisa, but if ghosts exist, they would be scary so I do not want to believe in them, and having remains in my room would definitely make me unsettled.
"Speaking for myself, I would like to bury Kalisa in the pot."
I asked Salisa if she agreed, since she probably would not want her sister's remains used as fertilizer for a suspicious bulb either, but surprisingly, Salisa was enthusiastic about the idea. Startled, I asked her why, and Salisa said Kalisa would probably have wanted it that way.
"If it is inside a flower pot, Kalisa can be by Tina-sama's side while you enjoy the flowers in your room, and I am sure you will take good care of the pot (Kalisa)."
According to Salisa, as a sister, Kalisa's wishes and their own hopes aligned. If it is what Kalisa wanted, I wanted to fulfill it, but would it really be okay?
"I have heard stories about ash components becoming nutrients for plants... but these are remains, you know? Are you really sure?"
"If it is a potted flower, it can come with you when you get married and move out."
"If Salisa is fine with it, then I do not mind, but..."
Apparently, it seemed I would be taking Kalisa with me even to my marriage. Wedding trousseau equals Kalisa. As for my personal ambition (plan), I intend to stay here as Leonardo's bride, so I do not need to worry about bringing remains to my marital home.
The only issue is whether the Enomena bulb that Camille supposedly bred is really just a plant.
"But still, using remains as potted plant fertilizer. Is that really okay?"
"In my previous life, there was something called tree burial, so maybe it is not entirely out of the question."
I would be keeping the remains in my room, but even if a ghost did appear, it would be Kalisa. I should change my mindset and be glad for the opportunity (chance) to apologize and thank her.
...The biggest problem is probably that I need to go outside to pick up Kalisa.
Wedding trousseau (Kalisa).
Will fix typos and errors at a later date.