Chapter 32 - A Rose In The Garden

Eloise’s POV

“Good job, Lady Eloise.” Priest Lucas looked at me with a smile. “You did much better today with your walk on the stage. Playing the role of a Goddess means personifying both grace and strength.”

I curtsied. “Thank you, Priest Lucas. Will that be all for today?”

“Yes, yes. I don’t want to keep you from doing anything else you may have on your busy schedule. Plus, I’m needed at the medical bay today. Good luck with Luna Festival, Lady Eloise.”

With the Luna Festival fast approaching, Xavier and I had become very busy. He was busy preparing for everything—the food catering, the decorations, the security, you name it.

Meanwhile, all I had to do was practice for my brief role in the opening ceremony. I was able to learn the ceremony’s etiquette fairly quickly, which meant I was free to do other things while waiting for the festival.

I took this as an opportunity to practice more of the ancient magic in the garden. Because of my hand injury, it delayed me and I couldn’t practice at all. I didn’t even try to summon Mona while I was healing.

Luckily, the garden was the one place where there were no guards, so I was able to practice freely without anyone seeing. Still, I had to act like I was doing something normal so I wouldn’t raise any suspicions.

After I had practiced for a little bit, I started to pick the beautiful roses that bloomed. I wanted to make a nice bouquet for the bedroom.

I picked a few of the flowers and moved around the bushes until I ran into someone. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!”

“Oh? Good afternoon, Lady Eloise.” A familiar voice greeted me.

I looked up to see a pair of bright turquoise eyes smiling at me. His brown hair was curly this time, which was different from when I first ran into him.

“Good afternoon, Liam.” I smiled. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for the Luna Festival. I just wanted to visit the garden before going to see if they needed my help with preparations.”

I simply nodded, unsure as to what to say next. There was always this weird tension between us and it always fogged up my brain.

“And you’re out here picking roses?” He asked with a smile.

“Yes. I just wanted to decorate my room. The other flowers I had died out,” I smiled sheepishly.

“May I help you?”

“Sure. I’d be grateful for that.”

I looked towards the sunset and the sky and thought about how Xavier would be home soon. I need to make sure I get back before he returns.

With Liam’s help, I was able to pick the roses more quickly. It seemed like he also knew a lot about flowers. Every single rose he chose was delicate, beautiful, and vibrant with life.

“I had no idea that you were so knowledgeable about roses.” I flashed Liam a smile of admiration.

“My mother’s favorite pastime was to grow flowers. Ever since I was a child, I would help her in the garden. I learned everything from her.”

“That’s amazing. Well, I’d love the opportunity to meet her. I’m sure she could teach me a thing or two about herbs and flowers.”

Liam fell silent and lowered his head after hearing my words. After a little while, he looked up at me.

There was sadness in his eyes when he spoke. “She passed away a long, long time ago.”

I panicked and hastily apologized. “I-I’m so sorry, Liam. I had no idea. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Liam shook his head slightly. “No need to apologize. It’s okay. It’s just that… No one has chatted with me about her for a long time. It’s nice to talk about her memory but…”

“It hurts,” I finished.

He nodded his head. Then he pointed to my basket and changed the subject. “Are these roses enough?”
I looked down at the basket and didn’t even realize it was full until Liam pointed it out. “These are more than enough.” I smiled.

“Thank you so much for your help. I’ll see you next time, Liam.” I picked up the basket of roses and began to walk out of the garden.

“Wait,” he called out. “I’m actually also heading to another room in the castle. A man needs his rest before the big day, right? Is it okay if I walk you back to yours?”

I nodded my head. “Sure.” Initially, I wanted to refuse his offer but I also didn’t want to be rude.

The walk back to the room was a little bit awkward. For the most part, we had walked together in silence. It bothered me that I had no idea what was going on in his head, especially since I caught him peeking glances at me.

Before I could get a word in, Liam cleared his throat.

“What are your plans for the roses, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, just something I wanted to put in a vase in my room. The other flowers died so I figured I could pick some fresh ones from the garden to replace them.”

He nodded his head in agreement. “You know, roses have a lot of benefits aside from looking pretty in a vase.” He gave me a warm smile.

My eyebrows perked up. “Oh? And what are those benefits? If you don’t mind telling me, of course.”

“Oh, I definitely don’t mind at all, Lady Eloise.” His smile stretched. “My favorite benefit is that rose petals can be used for medicinal use since they make for wonderful teas.”

“It’s funny that you mention that.” I started to relax. “Rose petal tea has been a go-to for herbal care in my family. Whenever I, or anyone else, got sick, we would take fresh rose petals and steep them into tea. They work miracles against fevers and help with blood circulation.”

“My, my. I didn’t know I was chatting with a priestess.” He chuckled.

I smiled. “No, no. We just know our way with various herbs and flowers. Natural remedies are always the best. What other uses can roses be used for? You said something about makeup, right?”

Liam nodded his head. “Rose petals are safe on the skin so they’re popular as lipstick since the petals are so rich with color.

I tapped my chin with my finger. “That sounds amazing. My maid, Nora, likes to do my makeup. But lately, it’s been starting to make me feel itchy. I’m sure she’d love to learn more about a natural alternative.”

For the rest of our conversation, we talked about the various uses of roses–most of which I already knew about but there were some I had no idea about. It was fascinating to see how much knowledge Liam knew about the uses of flowers. Overall, our conversation was pleasant.

As we were approaching the door, I thought about how this was the second time Liam had helped me. Maybe I should send him something to express my thanks.

I picked up a few roses from the basket and formed them into a bouquet. Then I handed it to him. “Thank you for helping me today, Liam. And for the time you saved me from that cart at the central market. Please, accept this as my thanks.”

Liam’s eyes widened in surprise. After a bit, he reached out his hand to accept my bouquet but I noticed that they were trembling.

When he touched my hand briefly, he quickly retracted his hand. His sharp movements caused me to accidentally scratch my finger on the thorns of the roses.

“Oh.” I watched as blood flowed from my index finger.

“I’m so sorry!” Liam took out a beautiful white handkerchief with a golden pattern and pressed it against my wound.

I shook my head. “It’s okay. It’s just a tiny little scratch. I barely noticed it myself.”

Liam took my hand in his as his ears turned red from embarrassment.

I patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, just give me the handkerchief, okay? No need to take care of me for such a small little scratch.

Liam shook his head. “No! If it wasn’t for my rash actions, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. I’m responsible for this, so I’m going to fix it.” He held onto his handkerchief tightly and refused to give it to me.

I let out a sigh. “Liam. Seriously, I’m fine. I–”

“What are you doing?” I heard a familiar voice call out.

I looked behind me to follow the voice and saw Xavier standing at the bedroom door.

Xavier’s eyes traveled down to see Liam holding my hand. A frown creased his face.