ITIWAFRBIAHS Chapter 16

For reference, it's still late afternoon now. That guy's gotten so bold that he's now doing unauthorized work even during the day. I definitely need to either formally employ him or something.

I temporarily postponed going upstairs and energetically went out to the garden.

The boy gardener didn't even look back until I got very close, so absorbed was he in his work. Oh, come to think of it, he also asked me to call him Sunset, right? Let me ask about the maid Sunset too while I'm at it!

"Sunset?"

"Miss Aubert."

He turns around without even being surprised. Maybe he was preparing mentally while pretending not to notice me approaching. The gardener, with hat shadow still cast down to his chin, was wearing what looked like work clothes. And he touched a rose once with his hand while looking at me.

"I actually had something I wanted to show you."

"……Eum, what is it?"

Let me first receive the conversation and lighten the mood before scolding him.

When I asked back, the boy rummaged through the toolbox next to him and pulled out some wooden box. It had a flat shape with cone decorations protruding from each corner, looked like new but had dirt here and there.

"What's this?"

"It was buried under the garden."

You even dug up the ground. I heard the sound of my list of things to scold him for being updated as I took the wooden box. It was lighter than expected.

Wait, could this be a fairy giving me a gift…… something like that? That's right. Finally something fantasy-like might appear. I opened the wooden box with slight excitement.

Click. It opened smoothly as if there was no locking mechanism.

"...Hm?"

There are some messy paper scraps inside. What's this?

No. Don't panic. This is a sufficiently plausible development.

Maybe what's written on this paper is special content. I calmly picked up the paper. Sure enough, there's something written on the back.

"……."

But I can't read it.

What, is this a script that even this body doesn't know? I stared at the page written in old-fashioned handwriting with trembling pupils for a while. I really don't know.

When I reflexively handled the paper, it tore. Huh?

Ah, this was two sheets stuck together. I checked the newly revealed page. It's less worn than before, but this time it looks like something was spilled and the paper is discolored brown-black in places. And the parts that are too smudged are unreadable.

Still, I can roughly understand the content. Thank goodness.

[Pour, pour, pour. Opening, closing, opening path. Impurity that impurity denies, ……ing thing Down, down, down. Sinking below……. Darkness, shining…… in gold. Calling…… into the sound. Fill it full. ……is Day of transformation.]

And at the very bottom, a wine bottle and rectangle are drawn.

Ooh, mysterious content written in rhyme and symbols... Seeing gold mentioned, this seems exactly like a treasure hunt riddle! Finally, I might have an unofficial source of funds that others don't know about!

Wait, wait!

I calmed my burning desire for money and looked at the gardener. No matter that it was buried in this house's garden, the person who found it deserves credit.

If I really find treasure using this as a hint, I might need to share it.

"This really looks like a hint about where some treasure is hidden!"

"That's right. I think so too."

The boy nodded readily. And I was a bit moved. Wa, he thought so too? Then he could have just kept it but showed it to the house owner?

"But is it okay to give this to me? You're the one who found it after all."

A smile spread across the gardener's lips, barely visible under the shadow.

"It seems like something suitable for the miss."

Hmm, what a rare law-abiding spirit in this age. No, why is such a moral kid secretly working here? Is it because they won't employ him due to his age? Let me carefully bring it up.

"Um, the housekeeper told me there's no gardener your age at this mansion."

"Is that so?"

His reaction is so nonchalant. Whoa.

"Yeah. Instead of doing this secretly…… how about getting formally employed? I'll talk to the housekeeper."

"Employment?"

Whoa, the smile on the gardener's lips disappeared. The gardener who had slightly lowered his head put the tool he was using to trim roses into the toolbox.

Oh, is he upset?

"I won't be employed."

"……Really?"

"I'm simply taking care of the roses with a sense of ownership…… that's all."

Gardener Sunset turned his body completely to face the roses and stroked the part of the branch he had cut.

Yeah. I get it. This is completely the symptom of an artistic temperament teenager having *jung-i-byeong (eighth-grader syndrome).

'Heh heh heh... To dare try to employ me... I don't move for such shallow capitalistic reasons. Only my sense of ownership toward my artistic work matters in... this lonely art world that ordinary humans don't understand...'

It's so typical that I'm embarrassed for thinking he was a fairy... Oh god.

I bet working mainly at night is also to highlight his lonely and misunderstood artistic sensibility...!

I managed to answer while feeling secondhand embarrassment crawling up my limbs.

"Yeah, sense of ownership… Good. Responsibility is really a good virtue…"

"Responsibility… I don't think it can be expressed with such a shallow word."

Yeah, damn it. Do whatever you want. I gave up on everything.

"Yeah. Deep artistic soul… Burn it a lot. Anyway, thanks for this."

"……You're welcome, Miss Aubert."

A smile returned to the boy's face. Wow, he seems like a decent kid when you look at him like this. The **Sturm und Drang period is really unknowable.

I recalled my own middle school days that were probably no less than the boy gardener's and decided to leave the place due to unbearable embarrassment.

I need to ask about the nickname Sunset, but I really can't have a long conversation. Let me say it quickly and finish.

"Um, you asked me to call you Sunset back then."

"Yes."

"Then what's your real name?"

"I forgot."

I see……. 'Intoxicated by art, I can't even remember my real name……. I'm just a lonely gardener.' Something like that, right?

I can't continue this conversation due to insufficient magic resistance. I hastily wrapped up the conversation.

"I, I see. Anyway…… thanks for the pretty garden."

"Ah, Miss Aubert. I'm about to water the roses now, would you like to watch?"

"Oh? That's..."

I appreciate the offer, but it really won't do. You'll probably say something like 'My Black Water Dragon (Water Tornado) draws the path of fluttering art!' while watering. My mouth, quickly make up some urgent business and get away from here! Huh?

That's when a relief pitcher appeared.

"…Rose?"

"Lord Moore!"

My fiancé, who had come out of the mansion, was quickly approaching with a troubled expression. Holy crap, fiancé, this is really the first time you've been this welcome. Please help me. At this rate, my magic resistance will...!

Soon my fiancé stood next to me, and the boy gardener glanced at him.

"Fiancé……?"

"Ah, yeah. He's my fiancé."

You probably haven't seen him since you mainly appear at night, but there was such a person.

"……."

The gardener just smiled quietly. My fiancé looked at me and smiled brightly.

"Rose, madam Sawyer's daughter was looking for you."

"Oh? Really?"

That's right, I was on my way to find my stepbrother! This worked out well. I need to get out of here quickly. I grabbed my fiancé's wrist and tried to turn around together, but was gently declined.

"I'll have a good talk with this person. Don't worry and go ahead."

"Ah… thank you!"

This true character of the era who even takes care of jung-i-byeong boys, I won't forget. I nodded and quickly headed toward the mansion.

Wait for me, Jeril, I'm coming!

Translator Note:

*Jung-i-byeong (중이병) literally translates to "eighth-grader syndrome" or "middle school second-year syndrome." It's a Korean term (borrowed from Japanese "chuunibyou") that describes the embarrassing phase many teenagers go through, typically around age 13-14, 2nd year of middle school. Basically Korean version of "edgy teen angst": grandiose delusions, dramatic overly philosophical behavior, "I'm different from everyone else" attitude etc.

**Sturm und Drang (literally "Storm and Stress" in German) is a literary and artistic movement from late 18th century Germany. Featured works with passionate, turbulent characters who struggled against societal constraints, think Goethe and Schiller. In this context, its being used to describe the intense emotional turbulence of adolescence.