Chapter 48

The palace, where the emperor resides, is vast, but the garden, which is also my workplace, is even larger.

"Ha, alright. That's it for now."

Of course, serving the palace is an honor, but as a mere gardener, I've been more concerned lately with the pain in my back.

There are plenty of gardeners.

No, there have to be many to maintain the garden.

Even just the maintenance alone can't be finished in a day.

"Hey, stop! Don't touch it!"

Just as I was about to take a break, one of my apprentice gardeners shouted. I saw him heading towards a woman in a dark blue dress.

"You idiot...!?"

If the person is a noble, we might be beheaded just for speaking to them.

Anyone who can enter here and isn't dressed in formal attire is of such a high status.

I hurriedly chased after the foolish apprentice.

"That hasn't had the thorns removed yet! What if a child gets hurt?"

"Idiot! You!"

"Ouch!?"

I silenced the apprentice with a punch from behind and then pressed his head down.

"I'm very sorry! He's just a young and inexperienced newcomer!"

I bowed my head along with him, apologizing for the rudeness.

The voice that came from the same level as our bowed heads was calm.

"It's fine. You were just trying to prevent me from getting hurt. I was the one who acted carelessly."

I saw a black-haired child standing in front of the woman in the dress. I immediately recognized who it was, and my face tensed.

"Ah, right. Can I have some of the citrus fruits around here when they ripen?"

"No, I... We gardeners can't answer that."

"Then please check with the manager."

"Of course, I will."

When I avoided a direct answer to the child's request, the woman in the dress added her words.

I couldn't refuse such a request, and it became a troublesome situation.

The two left without any further trouble.

In frustration, I gave the foolish apprentice another hit on the head.

"It hurts! Why did you hit me? Did I do something wrong?"

"If you don't know, why don't you ask me first, you fool!"

The other gardeners, who had been watching from a distance, came over out of concern.

"Listen, there aren't many children around here! Especially with black hair! That's the First Prince!"

"Really!? The one who always makes his younger brother cry and gets anyone who protects him fired!?"

His loud voice made me hit him again to shut him up.

I quickly looked around, but the person was already gone and didn't seem to have heard.

The other gardeners laughed, relieved that nothing serious happened.

"Heh heh, it was a waste to apologize. They say that if you overdo it, you might not even be allowed to enter the left wing of the palace. Even a little rudeness can lead to punishment when dealing with the First Prince."

The bad reputation of the First Prince, which even the gardeners have heard, has caused us trouble.

After all, the Second Prince, who is the next emperor, was made to cry in this garden.

It was a sudden act of violence while the Second Prince was running and lost by his attendants.

As a result, the gardeners responsible for that area were blamed for poor maintenance and some were even beheaded for arguing.

This led to a trend among gardeners to avoid any involvement with the First Prince.

Everyone values their own life.

"But, he seemed more normal than the rumors."

The apprentice muttered while cleaning up.

This unusual honesty is both his strength and his weakness.

However, I felt the same way.

"I thought he would just take what he wanted, but maybe the thorns stopped him?"

"Really? In the emperor's garden, no way."

The apprentice seemed to think my words were a joke, but it used to happen often.

"Back when the previous emperor was still healthy, there were many nobles and many parties. No matter how well we maintained the garden, it would be ruined in half a day."

Men and women would enter the bushes and break branches, regardless of day or night.

When many princes and princesses lived here, they would often take rare plants without asking the gardeners, claiming it was for the imperial family.

This led to some rare species drying up, and the blame fell on the gardeners.

We couldn't complain about what the nobles did.

Such power and injustice are now less common.

"Why did you continue working at the palace despite that?"

"As a gardener, there's a lot to do. The variety of plants we can handle is not insignificant. Besides, even if we are unjustly beheaded, we can find work outside the capital with the reputation of having worked at the palace."

The young apprentice seems to be weighing his career against the injustice.

I, on the other hand, have more serious concerns.

A few days later, the black-haired prince came again.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could have some."

The First Prince's request was denied.

I knew from the start that the manager wouldn't give them.

I heard that someone who was fired by the First Prince had a relative who was forced to resign.

In other words, it was just harassment.

The woman in the dress, knowing this, was biting her lip to endure it.

It was good that she had the sense not to yell at me.

"Then, what about the fruits on the branches that have been pruned? Do you use them for something after thinning?"

"No, we just throw them away."

"Then, can I have them? Since you're going to throw them away, you don't need permission, right?"

The First Prince picked up the branches that were to be thrown away.

The woman in the dress looked down at the prince with tears in her eyes, which left a bad taste in my mouth.

"... It seems like you're bullying the weak."

I patted the talkative apprentice on the back.

"Stop talking and get back to work. We can't do anything about it anyway."

"Yeah, I know."

The apprentice nodded but looked dejected.

I felt a strain in my forehead but couldn't say anything more.

What I learned from this is that the rumors were just rumors.

Thinking back, the story about the Second Prince being bullied was also a rumor, and the real issue was the mistake of the attendants who lost him.

In other words, the responsibility for the resignation was due to the failure of the guards, not the First Prince's involvement.

From then on, the First Prince came often.

He seemed to remember the days when we pruned and threw away the branches.

Even when the woman in the dress was replaced by a slender guard, the First Prince remained calm and composed, never showing any signs of being spoiled or giving orders to the guard.

"Master, something's wrong!"

"Be quiet. Where were you during the break? Get back to work. The First Prince will be here soon."

"No, it's serious!"

This apprentice, who has grown over the years but remains restless, needs to learn from the First Prince.

"The First Prince is said to have tried to kill the Fourth Prince!"

"What!?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"That's impossible!"

"Stop spreading such ridiculous lies!"

The other gardeners also criticized him.

If you've faced the First Prince, you realize how exaggerated the rumors are.

And you see that the First Prince, despite being a child, lives a constrained life.

We can't do anything.

But we're not so low as to kick a child who is already hurt.

"Go around and find out what really happened! Make sure it doesn't turn into another ridiculous rumor!"

(800 Bookmarks Commemoration)