In the Castle Backyard
In the Castle Backyard
"Oh, what contents should also be included... in addition to gain and loss of electrons? Can anyone tell me? I'm waiting online..." The prince wrote down some words on the paper from time to time and then began to hold his forehead to meditate, occasionally saying some incomprehensible nonsense. Originally Scroll was somewhat worried about his physical condition, but later she realized that this was just the normal state of His Highness when he tried to recall his "knowledge".
Only today his "symptoms" were much more severe than before.
"Unfortunately, I can't help him..." Scroll lightly sighed, "I'm afraid Anna is the only witch who can help him in this aspect. I've already memorized the several pages His Highness wrote earlier. However, I just remember the contents but don't understand them at all. The knowledge is much deeper than the basic principles of mathematics and natural science we've learned in the past. Just reading it has already made me feel dizzy. No wonder that His Highness is so frustrated."
"How about we call it a day?" Scroll could not help but say to His Highness.
Roland gave up and dropped his pen, leaning against the chair. Then he sighed. "I really envy your ability of never forgetting anything. If I could be like you, I would never need to worry about exams. Then I would be admitted to a famous university and achieve the pinnacle of my career."
She automatically ignored the latter part of his words as nonsense. "Did Your Highness also need to take exams in the palace?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, how can they figure out which prince is more excellent," he muttered.
"In fact, sometimes remembering everything isn't so good," Scroll said with a smile, "Things like bad encounters, sadness, and griefs. I'd rather I could forget them."
When she lived in Seawindshire, she had been beaten and insulted countless times, just because of being poor. Until now, she could still remember the blows the suffering, the twisted faces of those perpetrators who beat her to release their anger, and the pain of each hit and kick. Only after she was sheltered by an old captain with broken legs, had her life become slightly better. In fact, in places like the slums, every day many people died from fighting and killing each other, which was not less than those from hunger and coldness.
For a long time, she had detested herself for clearly remembering the hardships she encountered. The scenes were so clear that the insufferable experiences turned into her nightmares every night. Until she entered adulthood and awakened to gain the derivative skill, "Book of Magic", she began to understand that she had an extraordinary memory because she was a witch.
Roland probably guessed what she was thinking, and he showed an apologetic smile toward her and said, "You're right."
Scroll suddenly felt warmth flowing through her heart.
Few people cared about a witch's feelings, not to mention that this man was a prominent member of the royal nobles.
"It's alright. It's in the past, Your Highness."
Roland Wimbledon was different from any noble she met... No, he was actually different from any men she met. He owned profound knowledge, yet thinking of passing the knowledge to others all day. He had a noble background, but yet he did not have an arrogant and refusing attitude toward others. He was admired by all the people and could do anything as he liked, but yet he did not, and instead, he would consider other people's feelings.
A desolate and backward town had undergone earth-shaking changes within one year. The witches gained their long-dreamt peace and freedom, which all thanks to His Highness. If she had not experienced it by herself, she would never believe a ruler like this could exist in the world.
Now, Scroll found that her thoughts were also changing little by little. She had not agreed with His Highness' decision of marrying with a witch in the past. But at this moment she felt that no matter who he married, His Highness would ascend the throne of the Kingdom of Graycastle. He did not rely on those noble members who knew nothing but following the routines and greedily fighting for power and fortune. Instead, he relied on people who supported him because he brought a better life to them.
She vaguely felt that this power would be stronger than any other power before.
"Ah, well," Roland suddenly rubbed his head and said, "this is the last page."
"Will we continue tomorrow?"
"No, just give it to him like this. With another physics textbook, it'll be enough for him to study for a long time." His Highness took a new piece of paper and quickly wrote a few characters. "After all, it's normal for a book from 'Ancient Times' to have some missing pages, right?"
Scroll took the paper and saw the name of the book on it—"Intermediate Chemistry (Remnant)".
...
After finishing her memory work, she left his office and was ready to go to the City Hall, but was attracted by the magnificent view of the castle backyard.
After the expansion of the castle walls, the backyard became almost as large as the town square. It was planted with a wide variety of plants within less than a week. There was no doubt that this must be the masterpiece of Leaf.
Scroll walked deep into the garden along the passage of olive trees. After passing through a dense row of sugarcanes, she saw Leaf sitting by a small pond.
Leaf did not bundle her hair into the usual braids; instead, she had her green long hair casually hanging around her shoulders. She was gently tapping water with her white feet, and holding some wheat grains with both hands and throwing them to the fish from time to time. Whenever a fish swam up and rubbed her toes, she could not help but chuckle.
"Your feet have been healed?" Scroll sat down beside her.
"Ah, Miss Scroll." She blinked, then nodded and smiled. "Yes, Miss Nana restored them to their original form, so I finally don't have to endure the pain of the toes in winter."
"Have you personally improved all the plants in the garden?"
"Yeah." Leaf happily pointed to the plants. "Those are grapevine sheds. Here are fruit trees and crops. I also asked His Highness to send some compost to test the absorption of new crops. There're dozens of bird's nests in the fruit tree area, so the carrier pigeons that Honey raises can all sleep in them."
Scroll affectionately caressed her long hair and said, "I thought you'd be the first witch in the association to evolve your ability. After all, when we were in the Impassable Mountain Range, the ability you demonstrated was nearly as strong as that of Cara."
"His Highness said the evolution of one's ability comes from the understanding of our own abilities. The plant cells are indeed incredible, but I've thought long before that they should have been the same. You see, a bunch of grass can gather together to form pliable vines. If they're different, how can they integrate together like that?"
Scroll opened her mouth but did not know whether to comfort her or agree with her. Finally, she said, "Even if your ability doesn't evolve, you can still do a lot of things for His Highness."
"I feel it isn't far away from me." Leaf shook her head while her eyes were shining with excitement. "Animals are life, plants are also life, and even the parts that form them are also life... Birds need to nest on trees, and their faeces can also fertilize trees. A forest can support every living being to grow, while it also expands because of the support of the living beings in return." She paused. "Looking at the garden, I think I've found a way forward. "