Chapter 41

This is the second part.

"Hup. Hup."

Diana descends the stairs. The steps are large relative to her body, so she turns sideways and goes down one foot at a time, step by step.

From the corner of the hallway, Irvanero secretly watches her. She goes down slowly, step by step, but occasionally her body wobbles, making Irvanero very anxious.

He repeatedly reaches out and pulls back his hand, muttering "Oh dear" in a small voice.

Just three steps from the landing, Diana trips on the hem of her skirt and loses her balance.

"Dangerous!"

Irvanero suddenly rushes out, kicks the top step, catches Diana in mid-air, and spins once to reduce the momentum. He then does a backflip on the landing and sets Diana down facing backward.

From a crouching position, he straightens his legs and leaps, touching the railing with his foot, and silently jumps down to the lower floor.

"Irvan?"

When she was about to fall, she squeezed her eyes shut, and after spinning around, she found herself standing upright. Thinking she heard Irvan's voice, she turned around, but no one was there.

"Hmm?"

Diana tilted her head but decided it didn't matter and started walking again.

She goes down the stairs one foot at a time, crab-walking. This time, to avoid stepping on the hem of her skirt, she holds it up with both hands.

Her skirt is lifted so high that her pumpkin panties with a rabbit design are completely visible, but Diana doesn't care.

From the corner of the hallway on the floor below, Irvanero continues to watch her with bated breath as she slowly makes her way down to the first floor.

Diana walks out the front door and peers into the flower beds in the front garden. She notices an old gardener working a little ahead.

"Mr. Gardener!"

"Oh, Miss, are you taking a walk?"

The old man stands up, takes off his hat, and bows. He looks at Diana with a kind face, but his eyes widen when he sees her.

"Miss, why are you lifting your skirt?"

"Because I might fall on the stairs!"

Diana had continued to hold up her skirt after descending the stairs. Of course, her panties were completely visible.

"There are no stairs in the garden, so you can put your skirt down, I think."

Hearing the gardener's words, Diana looks as if she has just made a great discovery and lets go of her skirt. The hem falls due to gravity, but the sides she had been holding are now wrinkled.

The old gardener reaches out to smooth her skirt but pulls back when he realizes his hands are dirty. He then looks around behind Diana, thinking a maid should be there.

When he sees Irvanero's face peeking out from behind a hedge, making a "shh" gesture, he nods and returns to his usual calm expression.

"Mr. Gardener, are there any flowers here that don't have names?"

"Um? There are only named flowers here..."

"I see..."

Hearing the gardener's answer, Diana's shoulders droop.

The gardener quickly points to a nearby flower bed and explains, "These are very rare and not well-known flowers."

"But they already have names, right?"

"Yes, they are called Zabuto."

"Zabuto won't do."

Waving goodbye to the gardener cheerfully, Diana starts walking again. Irvanero follows closely behind, crouching behind the hedge.

Watching her from behind, he tilts his head, wondering, "What on earth is she doing?"

"Whoa. Miss, you can't go outside the gate."

"Miss, did you come here all by yourself?"

Diana has made her way to the front gate. The iron gate is closed, and Arnoldia and Sarasinia come out from the guardhouse.

Arnoldia kneels in front of Diana to be at her eye level. Sarasinia looks around Diana and behind her, searching for something.

"Miss, what brings you here? If you have an errand, I can do it for you."

"Arnoldia, do you know where I can find a flower I've never seen before?"

"A flower you've never seen? Hmm. If it's a flower you've never seen, it can't be one you've seen before, right? Are you predicting the future? Miss, you're asking difficult questions."

"You're the one asking difficult questions."

Sarasinia, having found what she was looking for behind the hedge, nods and moves to kneel next to Arnoldia.

"Our job is to watch for suspicious people and dangerous dogs or wolves, so we're not very knowledgeable about flowers."

"That's true. I can't tell the difference between a flower I've seen and one I haven't."

"I see..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't help."

Sarasinia scratches her head, and Diana shakes her head from side to side.

"Thank you for your hard work! Bye-bye!"

Waving goodbye, Diana starts walking. Sarasinia glances at the hedge and sees a red tuft of hair moving behind it.

Arnoldia waves at Diana with a smile.

"Is Irvan watching over you because the young master is in confinement?"

"If that's the case, why not walk with her normally?"

"Who knows what they're up to?"

Diana walks along the wall of the estate.

A loud bird call from above makes her jump and stop. Looking up, she can only see the branches of a large tree, but not the bird.

The large tree, which blooms with small white flowers in spring, is now full of leaves, blocking the sunlight.

Occasionally, the sound of large wings flapping can be heard from the branches, but the bird remains hidden.

In Diana's mind, the image of a scary monster begins to form. Seeing her half-tearful, Irvanero is about to step out when—

"O... O..."

Diana looks straight ahead and starts singing a song about how there are no ghosts.

She takes a trembling step forward and continues singing as she walks. It's a song Cain used to sing to her when she was afraid to go to the bathroom at night. It's a song she had never heard from the singer who visited the orphanage or from the other orphans.

As Diana slowly moves forward, the light of the sun filtering through the leaves reflects off her hair accessory. A bird in the tree flaps its wings and flies toward Diana.

Irvanero picks up a small stone and throws it. The bird lets out a high-pitched cry and flies back into the tree.

Eventually, Diana reaches the back gate, passing through a row of large trees. The back gate is closed but not locked during the day to allow servants to come and go. Arnoldia or Sarasinia patrols the area at regular intervals, but there is usually no gatekeeper.

Irvanero is ready to jump out if Diana tries to go outside.

Diana, who had been crouching near the back gate, suddenly stands up with something in her hand.

"Yay! I found a flower without a name!"

Holding a small white flower, Diana jumps up and down. Irvanero doesn't understand why she is so happy with what looks like a common weed.

As Diana jumps and cheers, the back gate opens, and a maid returns from shopping.

"Miss Diana!? What are you doing here?"

The maid takes Diana's hand and leads her back into the estate.

Diana's adventure is over. Irvanero sighs in relief, sits down, and feels a wave of exhaustion. He had been more tense than he thought. There might have been pressure to protect Cain's beloved little sister at all costs.

Later, Irvanero will learn from Diana what treasure she obtained from her great adventure.

Thank you for reading.