Three days later, a ship was heading north on the open sea.
On the ship, a woman was standing there in a daze. She was Serloit, daughter of the Duke of Hartz of the Grand Duchy of Foal. Her body was emaciated, with dark circles under her eyes, and at first glance, she looked as if she were suffering from a serious illness.
Frankly, she wanted to die. She wanted to throw herself into the sea. Without Mr. Mataka, there would be no meaning to her life.
But there were circumstances that prevented her from throwing herself into the sea. She was ordered to go to Agartha as an envoy of her uncle, the Grand Duke. And in Agartha, she was ordered to learn the agricultural technology of that country.
The lives of the people are at stake.
Serloit was not averse to the words of his uncle, the archduke. He was locked up in a room in the Grand Duke's palace on the spot, and two days later he was put on a ship and set sail.
He had hoped to at least catch a glimpse of Lord Mataka, but he was not allowed to do so.
Serloitte knew that his father's hearts were involved in this. His father was opposed to having relations with Master Mataka. All these moves must have been orchestrated by his father. However, for Serloitte, Mataka was the only man who understood her. Losing him meant the end of her life.
Frankly, I don't want to do this. She would go to people she did not know at all. Not only that, I have to learn new skills. It means that she has to interact with a lot of people.
Since she was a little girl, she was never good at talking to people. As the niece of a Grand Duke, she was obliged by birth to interact with many people, and her daily life was as painful as hell.
Still, she had to fight off the pain and had been doing her assigned tasks since she was a little girl. But when she turned 14, she reached her limit. She was unable to leave her room even for a single step.
Her worried father and uncle did everything they could and called in all the best doctors to treat her, but her condition did not improve. Nevertheless, as the days went by, she was able to get out of her room and even to the garden of the house, but she could not get out of the gate.
She herself felt that this was not the way to go. My family is a ducal family. My uncle is the Grand Duke, the lord of this land. I can't be a part of that family like this. If I do not, my father and my uncle will be slandered. ....... But the more she thought about this and inspired herself, the more her body stiffened.
In the meantime, she happened to bury the seeds of a dessert served at a meal in her garden for fun. It germinated. She watered them and watched them grow. The season was spring.
Summer passed, and in the fall, the little sprout grew and bore a fruit just like the dessert she had eaten at dinner. It was not very tasty, but for the first time in her life, Serloitte felt a great sense of accomplishment. From then on, she was hooked on growing plants.
Five years have passed since then. Part of the Duke of Hartz's garden has been turned into a field cultivated by Serloitte. She just kept on tending the fields in silence, even willing to get sunburned. She was a diligent and research-oriented person by nature, and she read books and went through trial and error to find out how to make the plants grow effectively and efficiently.
Her parents watched over her warmly. She was already over 20 years old. Since the age of 14, she had been tutored by a private tutor and had learned the minimum necessary reading, writing, and behavior, but since she had never been presented as a noblewoman, it would be difficult for her to get married. Her parents were prepared for her to live in this house for the rest of her life.
A turning point came to her just one year ago.
An emissary from the new Christian state visited the Duke of Hertz and asked his brother, the Grand Duke, to come and see her. The Church had been requesting an audience with the Grand Duke for years, but the Grand Duke, who did not originally approve of exchanges with other countries, was reluctant to actively interact with the Climianas. Nevertheless, they maintained a minimum level of interaction, such as by seeing the emissary only for the New Year's greetings.
On the day of the visit, the messenger visited the Duke, saying that he wanted to have a meeting to discuss the New Year's greetings. The Duke looked at the men with suspicion, since the New Year was still three months away. Unaware of this, Serloitte was just feeling a sense of accomplishment when she saw the plants bearing fruit in the fields.
"Oh, mermory berries are growing!
Suddenly, he heard a man's voice, and Serloitte involuntarily looked in the direction of the voice. There stood a young man wearing unfamiliar clothes.
He introduced himself as Mataka, smiled, and slowly approached the field.
"Krawasan......Megao......Goo Hui....... Great, how did you manage to grow all this? Is this all grown by you?"
Mataka smiles at her, but Serloitte is too upset by the suddenness of the situation to respond. Mataka nods at her and looks at the field again.
"Excellent ....... Especially how these mega oaks are growing. We have to carefully thin out the sprouts in order for it to grow. Because there are so many seeds, they germinate a lot, but they won't grow unless you thin them out, leaving only the most mature buds. You knew that very well. And ...... always thin out the shoots and carefully remove the insects from the leaves, otherwise it would be difficult to make them grow so big. You took good care of it every day.
"I'm ......'s ...... field ......."
Serloitte replies frantically. Because the man was right. The megao plant ...... is a fruit with a very intense sweetness. It is rarely marketed. Partly because it is difficult to grow, but also because it looks so grotesque that no one wants to eat it.
However, Serloitte knew from the books she had read that this fruit was very tasty and that in the past, countries fought over it.
One day, this mega-ao happened to be presented to the Grand Duke. But he did not touch it and gave it to his father, the Duke of Hartz. His father was not interested in the fruit and wanted to throw it away as garbage. However, Serloitte begged his father to let him keep the fruit. The berries were not very edible because they had already started to corrode, but she carefully took out the seeds and scattered them in the garden. After several years of hard work, they had just finally produced a large fruit.
No one was interested in it, no one understood it, but now there was someone who understood it. ....... Something warm overflowed in Serloitte's heart.
"Well, well, well, you know ...... well, don't you?"
"I also like to grow these plants."
"So ...... that's how it is, is it?"
"I have grown many kinds of plants, but I often let them die because I cannot take care of them as carefully as you do. No, it's somewhat heartening to see you taking such good care of them."
Mataka opens his mouth with a big smile on his face. He has a handsome face. He is so good-looking that one could say he is the son of a prince or a nobleman of some country. Serloitte turns away involuntarily.
"I often visit this house for New Year's greetings to the Grand Duke. I hope you will allow me to visit your fields again then. Besides, there are some plants that I am growing at ...... that I am not sure about. I would be very happy if you could teach me next time I come.
With these words, Mataka left the place. As Serloitte watched his back, she felt something like fate.