Chapter 16

I tried to lead Diana to the garden, but then I remembered that her tutor, Mr. Ianis, was waiting in the room.

"Wait a moment, Diana."

As I called out and turned around, Mr. Ianis, her tutor, was peering in from the door.

"It's a relief to see that you remembered you were in the middle of a lesson, Lord Cain."

"I'm sorry."

Our eyes met, and as we exchanged words, Mr. Ianis stepped out of the room.

"Well, Lord Cain has been making good progress with his studies. Today, we will go out to the garden to learn about flowers and insects."

"Flower study."

"That's right. Lady Diana, you will also learn the names of flowers and the lives of insects."

"Yes!"

Diana raised her hand with a determined look, which was incredibly cute.

Just a moment ago, she was crying, but now she was singing happily, "Flower, flower," which was so precious. It was like a hymn, a miracle from God.

"Lord Cain, your face."

"Lord Cain, you need to train yourself to show less emotion on your face."

Both Ilvaleno and Mr. Ianis pointed out Lord Cain's expression.

"…Is it showing?"

"Your feelings for Lady Diana are spilling out."

"It's because Diana is so cute…"

"As the heir of a ducal family, you must be more composed."

"Be more composed! Hehehe."

Picking up on Mr. Ianis's words, Diana, mixed in with Mr. Ianis and Ilvaleno, scolded Cain. Her smug face was so cute that Cain was waving a white flag in his heart.

Seeing my smile at Diana, Mr. Ianis and Ilvaleno sighed.

…Is it that obvious on my face?

The ducal family's garden is filled with seasonal flowers.

By adjusting the blooming period in the back garden and greenhouses, the garden is always full of flowers no matter when you visit.

"As a noble, especially as the heir of a ducal family, you must remember the names of flowers and their meanings," Mr. Ianis explained, stopping to gently touch a white flower.

"To men, flowers are often just flowers. However, women can find grand meanings and stories in a single flower."

"Grand stories…"

"For example, if you pick a flower you think is beautiful and give it to an unknown woman who compliments it, you might end up marrying her."

"That could happen, I guess."

"As a result, you might end up marrying a woman you only passed by."

"“Why!?”"

Cain and Ilvaleno both had faces that said they didn't understand.

"This white flower is called Diligus. The meaning of a white Diligus flower is 'I will kill you and then die myself.'"

"That's too dangerous!"

"A woman who receives this would interpret it as a pledge to stay together until death, meaning a proposal."

"No, that's not how it works, right?"

"That's not how it works, right?"

Mr. Ianis, ignoring the children's questions, looked at the flower with a sad expression, as if something had happened in the past.

"Another story is that a wife, seeing this flower in the bedroom, thought her husband's affair had been discovered and apologized profusely."

"Oh, she thought they would commit suicide together."

"The husband, who had only placed the flower there as a memento of their wedding, learned of his wife's infidelity for the first time from her apology… It's an ironic story."

Mr. Ianis looked up at the sky with a distant gaze.

I remember Mr. Ianis was a divorced single man.

I don't know if they say "divorced" in this world, but I doubt they do.

"Both Lord Cain and Lady Diana are very beautiful children. Ilvaleno also has a well-structured face. In the future, you will be very handsome and beautiful. Beautiful people are often misunderstood more than others. Remember the names and meanings of flowers to protect yourselves."

Mr. Ianis also has a well-structured face.

After graduating from the Unlimited Magic Academy, he went on to study at the Magic University, researching magic stones and magic veins, but he works as Cain's tutor part-time.

Cain hoped that the story about the Diligus flower wasn't Mr. Ianis's personal experience.

He is a gentle and kind person, but he is strict with his studies. He is a good teacher.

He is also kind to Diana, which is important to Cain.

He patiently answers Diana's endless questions without giving vague answers just because she is a child.

"Mr. Ianis, who created the meanings of flowers?"

"Since it happened so long ago, no one really knows the truth, but there is a theory that each flower has a governing fairy, and the meaning is a representation of the fairy's nature."

"Is there a fairy with the nature of 'I will kill you and then die myself'…"

"Newly created flowers often have meanings assigned by the creator or the first person to sell them."

Mr. Ianis, who had been looking sad, smiled and answered Diana's question.

"If you create a new flower, can you give it a meaning, Diana?"

"Yes. If I create a new flower, I'll name it 'Cain Flower' and give it the meaning 'I love my big brother!'"

Oh, God. I could die right now.

Ilvaleno felt he could hear Cain's inner voice. He thought Cain might faint and quietly moved behind him to support him, but no one noticed his movement.