Chapter 11

“Good morning, Kari. I'm here to buy the usual.” Felix, the regular customer, said with a smile on his face.

“Sure. Wait for a sec.” I said. I left the counter and went to get 5 daises and 5 roses. I rapped them with paper like a bouquet and went back to the counter. “Here it is.”

He checked the flowers and his smile became wider. He smelled them with his eyes closed. “Your flowers are as perfect as always. Here is the payment.” He gave me 5 copper coins.

“Thank you for the compliment. Please come back again.” I smiled and wave my hand.

“What? Do you want me to leave already? So mean…” He teasingly smiled at me.

 "Ummm." I awkwardly smiled at him. I'm speechless.

"Hahaha. I'm just joking. I heard that you need a job. Why don't you sign up as a gardener for Duke Vile's Household? I heard that they are going to replace their old gardener. I know that you are good with plants so I think this is a good job for you."

"Thank you for the information. I will try applying."

"Bye. I'll buy flowers again tomorrow so save some for me." He went off my shop.

I took a sigh.

I've been in the Caro Kingdom for a while already and nothing special happened.

I touched the symbol of the Blood Bond Contract under my belly.

[So you agree on being a gardener of that Duke's Household? Don't go there if it's dangerous.]

I heard Leonardo talking to me using telepathy.

[I have to. If I don't do anything, coming here is a waste of time. I remember that Duke Vile's son is one of the important people who joined the annihilation of the demons and Demon King. Don't you think this is a good opportunity to get to know them just a little bit in person? The books written about them are not very reliable.]

[Just don't put yourself in danger.]

[I'll try my best on doing that.]

I've been living here for 5 months already. One of Leonardo's spies is pretended couple. My role now is their adopted child.

I stalled a plant shop to earn money and the shop quickly stabilized. It's not so popular but it's not losing any money either. 

Some people even became my regular customer.

I touched the bandaged right side of my face. 

Before I left, I cut the right side of the face to get a reason for covering that part of my face. It's for precaution.  We don't know when I might get a chance to meet Angelica, she might recognize me. I don't want that to happen. Being handicapped is also a good thing because some people who take pity of me unintentionally trying to help me in their own way, the perfect example is Felix.

Felix is a knight. I found out about his profession when there was a day he was wearing a uniform when he bought the same types of flowers. 

For some reason, he always buys those flowers every day at the same time.

Well, anyway, he always looked at me with pity as if I had a very miserable life or something like that. He always tries his best to avoid the topic about the right side of my face.

There was a time when a customer tried to ask about what happened to my face. Felix scolded that customer for being insensitive.

Is this help a good thing for me? Absolutely! I don't need to make up a story for it. Well, I have already a story for it. Still, it's a good thing for him to be like this because it prevents me from lying.

Felix is not the only one who is like this to me, there are also other people. He is no one special. Thanks to this kind of people I get some important information.

"Kari, good morning. Do you have the go-type plant?" Gary, a person who's wearing glasses, is another regular customer.

Go type plant, is a type of plant that contains something that can make a person become active or something like that. I don't really get them. However, I do know some go plants

"Is Jaren Plant alright? This is the only go-type plant that I have." I showed him the small plant in a pot. "It's not yet mature."

"That's alright. Let me see." He checked the plant and smiled.  "You have such good hands. This plant looks so healthy. The go-type plant is very hard to grow, I'm even surprised that you are selling one. Here is the payment. Till next time, bye."

I smiled at him and waved. "Please come again."

The time he got out. My face became cold.

Gary is an alchemist. I don't know if he has a high status but he is a very cheerful one. He is an alchemist that experiments with things and now, he is very interested in plants.

I touched the Blood Bond Contract below my belly and gently smiled.

[The alchemist visited you again! Don't go near him! Stay away from him as far as possible!]

I chuckled because of Leonardo's paranoid reaction.

[Don't worry too much. Everything is doing fine. I don't think that he'll be interested in me anyway.]

[That's not right. You're the most interesting person Renna. Be careful.]

[Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say.]

[I'm telling you the truth. You just can't see your charm...]

I got back to work.

I checked all the plants in the shop, water them, put them in the right spot, and took the dying leaves. I wiped the windows, sweep the floor, and throw away the trashes.

Gosh, I'm so tired. I wiped my sweat and sat on a chair to take a rest.

I heard the bell that indicates that someone came inside. 

I quickly stood up and wore a business smile.

"Welcome to Planty Plant Shop. We have different types of plants that you may need. How can I help you?" This is my line when I see a first-timer.

I looked at the man with silver hair. He is wearing expensive clothes...must be a noble.

I tried to be as polite as possible. Nobles are people that are very painful in dealing with because they can be very unreasonable.

The person looked at me emotionlessly.

"Is this the new shop that I've heard about?"

"I don't know if this is the shop you've heard but this is a newly opened plant shop. Are you looking for a plant?"

"I don't know. What kind of plant do girls like?"

"For your girlfriend? What's the occasion?"

There is also this type of people who just come to the shop undecided but this is also the type of people who easily get swayed.

"No, not a girlfriend. Just a friend. It's for her birthday."

"Oh, she must be a special friend for you to come here personally."

He slightly blushes without changing his expression.

I silently laughed. This type of person is so obvious. A friend eh?

"Do you want to give a flower or a plant?"

"..."

"Can't decide? Do you want me to help?"

"Okay."

"Ehem. What type of girl is she? Gentle? Fierce? Or an aloof type?"

"Is that needed?"

"Not really? But this way we are trying to guess what type of plant she wants. Don't worry it's just guessing and there is a chance for it not to be accurate."

"She's...gentle." He said with a soft expression on his face.

"Gentle? Let me think. How about giving her a flower that gives of a pleasant smell? Like Sky Flower?"

"Sky Flower? I haven't heard of that before."

"Oh, it's a plant that gives of a flower that is either blue, white, or sometimes the combination of both. It has a very pleasant smell. Rabbits, foxes, squirrels, etc loves eating them. It's a  flower that reminds people of the sky that's why it's called Sky Flower."

"How much is it?"

"Before I tell you the prize I must tell you something first. This plant is very hard to grow, this is because the seedling only has only 3% chance of sprouting. I was lucky enough to get to grow one."

"How much is it?"

His face didn't change as if he didn't get my hint.

Is he stupid or just too rich to care?

"Ehem. It's 100 gold coins."

"Okay. Keep the change."

He gave me a bag of gold coins.

I gave him the plant and saw him carry it with care.

I had a stupid face this whole time.

...Did I just met a billionaire?

The money in this world only consists of copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins.

1 silver is equivalent to 100,000 copper coins.

1 gold coin is equivalent to 10,000

1 gold coin is equivalent to 1,000,000 copper coins.

Did I just earn 1,000,000 copper just this day?

I looked at the bag of gold coins. I gulped and my hand trembled while putting it in a drawer.