The Book Of Flowers

Their Desire

a few hours later, Thyme Castle----

...

She was crying, as I had expected. His head that was lowered down while he was sitting beside me right now made his tears fall and wet my feet as well

I told the others to come out, so that he could feel calmer and not worry when others saw him sad

It's just me and Veskal in this place with him. Other than the two of us, he must have already run to his room by now

...

The decision of the trial will be implemented immediately. Xiang had to bear the blame they had made, until their officials were fined for the crimes their leaders had committed. We were also asked to pay damages to Xiang, mainly because we infiltrated without clear notice to Hortensia

Or so they say. I'm sure the men knew our plan, because I accidentally found the noisy captain talking to Rosalia. They must have known it thanks to the woman, but tried to poke us while they could

But we have no other way out but to pay fines in the form of gold coins. It's just, we are still not able to pay without harming ourselves. That's why I'm going to do a little bit of intervening to do that 'reparation' in Xiang

And that's all the justice we can get for all Xiang's victims. Verdea was really unhappy with all those decisions. We all are too

Huh... My friend is too soft and naive

Thinking for the good of others is true, only our views must also be broad. Our opponent is not someone who is easy to drop, Yuriel is no exception

But I'm still proud. He could speak his mind without hesitation

And that's what he did to defend others. There is nothing more amazing to me than making sure others smile

He really has the same mind as me

"Already, already. At least this decision will give Shen justice" I tried to calm him down

"But--- What about those--?"

Really am...

"Actually, I also want to say the same thing as you. But, the question posed by Yuriel also popped into my head

If only there was another way that could please them more. But what a pity, beheading Shen Xiang and taking some of his property is the best option for justice right now" I bluntly said

No matter how much I hate 'justice' for humans, what Yuriel says makes sense

"And for the first time, I saw you lose control because of emotions. I do think you have a hard time lying, but I didn't expect you to be reckless enough" Veskal added

"... I'm thinking... Maybe if I can find a reason to save you back then, I can also find a reason for this matter

But I'm too stupid. I won't even be able to see all those people again in the face when they come up to me later..." Verdea said

"The victims won't have any problems even if you do. Just relax"

Although I'm sure they'll be a little disappointed to get nothing but Shen's death...

...

"... If you want to save them, why not do it yourself?"

Hm?

"What do you mean, Veskal?" I asked, followed by the curious Verdea

Veskal smiled

"I mean, if you can infiltrate without the consent of the Hortensians to save me, why don't you try to do it for the good of those people with the power you have?"

Oh, it makes sense

Unlike at the trial, that power will be in Verdea's hands

We can do something like make a donation or something. But, if there's anything better...

"We can ask them what they want" We both said simultaneously

Verdea's face immediately beamed, and she immediately hugged Vescal as tightly as possible to make him surprised

Veskal only replied with an elusan on his head, followed by a small smile. I also just smiled, relieved that Verdea was not feeling sad anymore

"Please, listen to me! The prince is feeling bad right now!"

Hm?

Heh? There was a noise from outside, like someone was willing to break through

Luna and Ordelia must have been overwhelmed. I have to help them

"What's wrong?"

I slipped my head from behind the door, seeing who had made the boisterous atmosphere

In front of Luna and Ordelia, the presence of those people shocked me

It was because they were the victims of Xiang's trial. The captives who were initially seriously injured, were now in this place with fully recovered bodies

They were all gathered here for some reason, making me gawk with a confused face

"K-K-We i-i-want to meet with the prince" A man who stood at the front said

At that moment, Verdea took a glance out, making all those people immediately look happy to see his presence

"... Entry only. Verdea was already feeling better" I said, opening the door of the main hall even wider

After all, the person they were looking for had also shown themselves

I let them go in one by one, and then looked out for the last time before re-entering

And in the corner of the hallway, I could see someone peeking. That person was Cyth and Erin

Just piss me off. Though they could at least help Luna and Ordelia to calm these people down

"Both of you! If you don't want to help, you better find a way to reunite the Black Hunt" I'm calling out to them, to Erin's surprise

"Aw! A painful insinuation!" Cyth said with a sarcastic tone

I stick my tongue out to mock them, then go back in without closing the door. Ordelia and Luna just smiled confusedly at the situation that had just occurred

...

My seat was taken, so how else...?

"M-m-sorry disturbing! But, K-we're so i-i-want to te-te-thank you for a-what you've said u-to defend us!"

...

This guy stutters apparently...

"At least have someone else speak up to represent you. Don't force yourself to talk, sir..."

"I-lias"

"OKAY. Mr. Ilias"

It's not that I'm not happy that he's talking, but the effect when he's talking is like he's pushing himself. That's what makes me bad

"Then let me. I'm Nazia. As you can see, I am from the beast race"

He is also clearly visible from the beast, with his form that looks like a white angora cat

"alright. Please better explain the words of Mr. Ilias, Miss Nazia"

Nazia nodded

"As he said, we want to thank you for what you have done for our good. We are so grateful that people like you saved us" he continued

"Well, even if our first impression of you is 'suspicious'" someone of them is suspicious

"C-come on! I-me-they're just helping ki-ki-us!" Ilias defended us

"No problem. The Blood Sabbath incident did indeed make everyone label us as suspicious" I said

They all immediately look bad to listen to my words, especially those who talk as if insinuating us

"So, that's all?" Veskal asked

"T-No! M-still-"

"We'd at least like to show our gratitude too"

...

Hm?

The three of us immediately looked at each other confused by Nazia's words

The seven of them nodded to each other, agreeing to something

"Let us serve you as servants, prince of Verdea. We'd be more than happy to do it"

...

"You don't matter...?" Verdea asked

They all shook their heads

"We mean, you're so cool! You even stood in front of it and your speech to Yuriel made our hearts move!

Aha~ How much I like a brave man like you~~~" Someone again said, with body movements that make me uncomfortable

A little brown dwarf, but I'm sure he's the same age or older as Veskal

Verdea immediately flinched and blushed at the praise

Nazia nodded in response to that person's words

"We're flattered that there are people brave enough to stand up for us who are nobody. Moreover, considering that we were getting improper treatment in Xiang to the point of near death..."

"That's why we agreed to serve you"

"We are also ordinary people or subordinates, and some of us are even real criminals. We have no place among the people, and no home to go back to or a normal life before"

"It's just you at least"

They were all laughing with each other, making the three of us just speechless looking at them from the front

...

Something I didn't expect of them was, if they could keep laughing. I mean, they all seemed to have no soul at all when we took them to the courtroom earlier

But now...

Verdea turned towards me, with sparkling eyes. I also knew at that time, that he did not hesitate at all to accept all those people

He turned his head because he wanted to confirm my opinion and Veskal only saw the seven people

Veskal just turned away unresponsive, with his face blushing while scratching his head

While I

I just nodded, letting him do what he thought was right

"I'll be happy too! Hope you are comfortable in this place!" Verdea said to them

Some of them immediately cheered happily, while others clapped their hands festively. Even Ilias was crying, until the mucus of his nose came down

Ilias stepped forward and clasped Verdea's hands together while looking straight at him in the eyes

"We swear you're not going to be disappointed!" He exclaimed, amidst the tears and mucus of his nose that descended down

Verdea nodded happily with a wide smile to them, making them all instantly stuck in a warm atmosphere

But still, I had to thrust my handkerchief towards Ilias

"The first thing you should do is clean your face"

Cleanliness is number one

Huh...

Now I have to split the task for them. The people inside this castle are getting more and more...