"How does it look?" Charmy asked with a twirl.

  Ana watched with a grimace how carefreely the girl was trying to show in Uta's dress.

  "Good, good," Uta applauded.

  Ana, Uta and the others were now in Uta's room, after a lengthy and steamy bath in the bath chamber. The quartet, under a request from Charmy, were invited by Uta to her room—a room that had nothing to do with their own on the lower floor. Easily as large as the whole area where their rooms were, it was so expansive it even put, Ana realized, her proud home she'd spent years economizing for, to shame. It even made her consider, for a good minute, if working two secretary jobs simultaneously was worth it, perhaps she should just leech some princeling like her much more successful friend did.

  "You think? Thanks," the girl beamed. She then turned toward Lydia for acknowledgement but the girl promptly ignored her. She then turned toward Ana, who considered doing the same thing, but she was not as heartless as Lydia, so she nodded, "It looks good."

  "Really!"

  "It's oversized on you," suddenly commented Lydia.

  "Eh!"

  The dress in question was a yellow dress, which Ana admitted had a pleasant contrast with her tanned skin and her voluminous brown hair, but it was, as Lydia mentioned, oversized on her. It made sense, considering the fact that while Uta was not particularly tall, she was still taller than the 15-year-old Charmy.

  Lydia approached and lifted the dress by the shoulder armband to prove her point, "See? Now get out of this dress, you're being—"

  "That's right, I've got so many more dresses to try!"

  "You..." Lydia frowned. Despite her somewhat aloof personality, Ana knew Lydia to be much more considerate than Charmy. With Uta in particular, Ana felt that the girl was actively being kind, so Ana understood that right now Lydia was being annoyed by how inconsiderate Charmy was to Uta's hospitality or kindness, a kindness that even Ana felt they had already abused today, first with her bringing them to the bath house, a place that, as the other flowers said, no typical trainer takes petals to, and now with this.

  "It's alright, I don't mind. It's always a pleasure to see someone being so optimistic," Uta warmly smiled as always.

  "You heard that, Lydia," Charmy overjoyed, feeling her optimism enabled, shaking restraint, browsing through the large closet. "Where did you get all these pretty dresses? What am I saying—it's your visitor, right?"

  "She's a vine, so you should refer to him as a bookkeeper," Lydia scolded, smacking her.

  "We're between each other, no need to worry about that, Lydia. And Charmy, yes, it is him who brought these and everything decorating this room for me, under the garden's suggestion."

  One-time or permanent accommodation, restaurant service, clothes retailing, jewelry retailing, it was all part of the garden's complex ecosystem, so it was clear what she meant here.

  "Waouh, this is all so fancy, he must really be head over heels for you."

  "I guess that's true," Uta said, the tone not-so-convincing for Ana.

  "There are so many dresses, you could wear one and not wear it again until at least the next semester. Let's try something for you too, Lydia. I'm sure you'll look great in this one... in this one... and this one, argh, there's so much."

  "Take it easy, okay."

  Ana looked at the Uta, a swirl of thoughts in her mind. It had been some time since she infiltrated this place, some time since she'd seen this girl for the first time. Her initial impression of the girl was that she was a kind soul, and the next weeks she spent here proved that right. She was truly a kind soul, one that, in her opinion, didn't seem to belong to this place.

  "You know," Ana whispered to Uta, as the girl noticed her looking at her, "If she's being a nuisance, even if it's just a little bit, Lydia can drag her away. Just say the words."

  The girl chuckled, "As I said, it's alright, I don't mind her at all. In truth, I appreciate her presence. The thing is, cheerful as she is, she reminds me of my little sister."

  "Oh..."

  "Personality-wise, they're so alike."

  "Hm, a sister like Charmy?"

  Ana felt she could not relate. She only had one brother, it was Henri, and Henri was something that she could only describe as a low maintenance sibling, easily the very opposite of Charmy. He spent most of their childhood trying not to be noticed, first in the estate, then, and especially, when Ana joined the Inquisitorum Regiae.

  Ana remembered it fondly. Every time she visited the estate with her parents, she would catch sight of him near the barn, playing alone. The moment he realized she was watching from the window, he would dart away, shy and withdrawn. Maybe he had inherited that timid nature from his mother, the vacation estate’s governess, who always carried herself quietly and humbly in front of Ana’s mother, a true noblewoman. Or maybe it was because he was a bastard child. Or perhaps it was both.

  Ana remembered how, as a clueless child, she had thought his shy nature was something that needed “fixing,” and she winced at the memory. Looking back now, she couldn’t believe how much trouble she had dragged that innocent boy into. To be fair, she had tried to fix some of the problems she caused using her abilities to frame other workers but ironically, she created even more chaos than she resolved.

  She made a mental note to properly apologize to him the next time they crossed paths.

  Realizing she had let the conversation lapse while lost in thought, Ana picked it back up.

  “A sister like Charmy… it must have been a lot to handle.”

  "The expression she put on confirmed that, "True, but it must be admitted that it's healing to have someone with a vibrant personality like hers."

  "Healing, huh."

  "Yes," she nodded, "You see, I might not look the part but I'm actually a rather pessimistic person."

  "You are?"

  "Yes, when things don't go my way I rarely find myself expecting things to get better, I always expect the worst," she explained, "Having someone like her who expects the best in times where you expect the worst, it's like having a bright moon in the dark. It makes you keep moving somehow, for their sake."

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "Like having a bright moon in the dark," Ana echoed, her memories bringing her back to that which she now remembered to be such a night, a dark one with nothing but a single but clear moon hanging in the sky, that day when she manifested and sealed her first ever contract.

  "I did not have a Charmy in my life but I think I understand," Ana chuckled, watching as Charmy somehow got Lydia to try on one of Uta's dresses.

  Seeing how the duo were, Ana saw in this an opportunity to ask a question that she had no other choice but to leave hanging since the bathhouse,

  "Say, Uta, can I ask about something?"

  "Mh? Sure, what is it?"

  "It's going to come off as very random, but I'll ask anyway."

  She could have gotten that answer from either Laura or Rubi aka the girl they approached to ask about the patron of the missing flower known as Margot, but unfortunately they were observed and as such Ana had to keep her "greeting" short and couldn't ask this question that is crucial.

  For a moment Ana deliberated whether to reach her ungloved hand onto her or not, after all it was a suspicious question but at the same time not so much. She hesitated for a moment before simply asking the question like that, "What happens if, let's say, a flower gets pregnant."

  Uta's reaction was much more vivid than expected, so much so it took Ana by surprise.

  "Why do you ask?"

  "I've just... I was curious. We've talked about a lot of things, but I don't think we've ever mentioned anything about that. And I think that's rather important."

  After all, in this line of work, that kind of thing is bound to happen.

  "Oh," she relaxed, "I guess you're right, we never talked about that. It makes sense you're curious." She took a deep breath, before elaborating with a tone closer to her usual one, "Well, if a flower gets pregnant... IF a Bloom gets pregnant, which I have to say is very rare since a Bloom is required to keep a close tab on their days, the Garden also is, they've asked at what period you typically bleed, right?"

  Ana nodded.

  "They are also providing a special elixir for all Bloom that are, erm, working, so chances of pregnancy are very low. But if that happens, the Garden and the Bloom will have to make a decision, one that is more of a case by case, since it can be settled with different outcomes depending on the wish of the flower and the patron responsible for the pregnancy. The best outcome is, I believe, the Garden allows the patron to purchase the Bloom's contract. The price might then be adjusted for the couple's sake, but that would be the best outcome for all three parties, the Garden, the Bloom, and the patron."

  "And the worst outcome?" Ana asked, being more interested in this case than the former.

  "For which party? Depending on whose perspective, there are plenty of outcomes that can be considered worst. They can range from the Bloom having to resign, to her having to put a term to her pregnancy, depending on the stance of the patron responsible for it," with a bitter chuckle, she added, "Now that I think of it, the outcome of all of this mostly depends on the whims of the patron," realizing what she just did, Uta immediately apologized, "Sorry I didn't mean to voice it like that. Despite what I said, a Bloom still has a choice, the Garden does not interfere with your choice before informing the patron of the pregnancy, it'll in fact cover it and provide the help a Bloom might need, that's part of why we have Lord Severo as the Garden's physicist."

  "I see," Ana nodded, understanding. "But if it's not a Bloom then?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Everything you mentioned so far was what happens if the flower was a Bloom, what if the said pregnant flower was a Vines?"

  Ana paused for a moment before answering. "Well, if the flower is a Vine then there can only be two outcomes, it is just a question of how the Bookkeeper responds to it. Will he finally make the flower his mistress or wife which is undoubtedly the goal of all Vines, or will he give her up? In the latter case, depending on how he does so, the outcome can be status quo, demotion, or rescission."

  Ana understood in other words, for Bloom such a situation would be a rope one that'll either elevate their status or one that'll either shackle them, bring them down, or outright strangle them.

  "But once again just like it would be with a Bloom, the choice is ultimately first that of the flower, until she chooses it is not anymore," she said before adding, this time clearly as Ana, Lydia, and Charmy's trainer, rather than Uta herself, "Whatever it is, the Garden will respect their choice."

  "I see," Ana nodded.

  For the next few minute Ana felt Uta expected her to add something, but Ana remained silent. She wondered if she shouldn't wipe that discussion out of the girl's memories, she was a mere poke away from it, so the temptation was strong but ultimately she voted not to. So they spent the next few seconds watching Uta and Lydia do what they were doing.

  Although Lydia was hesitant at first, she eventually warmed up to the whole dress-trying ordeal and Ana had to admit, the girl had style. It didn’t take long before Ana was pulled into it as well. She might have been a secretary bound to a strict dress code, but outside of work she was paid well enough to keep up with the latest fashion trends. Before they realized it, the two of them had turned the activity into a silent fashion showdown.

  Charmy, meanwhile, was pushed to the sidelines simply because most of the clothes they were fighting over weren’t her size. After several rounds, Charmy, who was the reason this all started, grew bored and suggested they stop. Instead of agreeing, Ana and Lydia seized on the comment as if it were a challenge. Charmy regretted opening her mouth the moment they did.

  "Uta, can't we stay over, have a giant sleepover," Charmy said, once they wrapped everything up. "Your bed is big enough, perfect size for all for us, there are enough pillows, in fact let's pillow fight all night—ouch."

  Lydia smacked the girl, silencing her, "Just how shameless are you."

  "Please ignore her," Ana apologized, "We've bothered you plenty enough for today, goodnight."

  Ana was taking her leave along with Uta who was being dragged by Lydia, when Uta called, "Ana?s."

  "Hm," Ana paused.

  "About earlier," she began but after hesitating, retracted, "It's nothing, goodnight."

  Ana nodded and took her leave.

  After her brief exchange with the flower who had replaced Margot as a flower for her usual visitor, Ana felt as though she had finally grasped a piece that might complete the unfinished puzzle before her. It wasn’t the end yet, but she was getting closer. Only one step remained: to take her investigation to the next level.

  Until now, she had gathered information from whatever sources were available to her, then from the flowers themselves. Now, however, it was time to aim higher, at the Garden’s leadership. Ana was convinced the Garden was tied to the disappearance of at least four flowers, perhaps even eight. Rubi’s answer had all but confirmed it.

  The path forward was clear. She would have to confront those who spoke for the Garden: Madam Datura and Madam Violet. And beyond them, perhaps even Madam Acacia, though Ana knew reaching her would be far more difficult. She hadn’t, after all, seen that woman since that day. Datura and Violet, however, Ana was certain she could reach.

  But before she would attempt to reach onto them, Ana realized that there is an obstruction that she must figure out a way to get past, and that came in the form of the girl walking in front of her, being clinged on by Charmy.

  "Would you let me sleepover tonight?"

  "No."

  "Lydia."

  "No."

  "Lydiaaaaaa...."

  "No."

  Thinking back, Ana realized that the girl was the reason she even was here as a petal, and by extension the one she owe how far her investigation had come. Yet at the same time, she had to admit that the girl was also her greatest emotional hurdle. Words failed her when she tried to describe what she felt, there was no fear, yet she couldn’t shake the sense that the girl was a threat.

  From their very first day as petals, Ana had tried to do the logical thing: assess her, gauge what she was made of. But it was like confronting a monster that she knew would grow furious at an appraisal attempt. She could never bring herself to truly appraise the girl. At first, the threat felt so blatant, so overwhelming, that Ana dared not use any of her abilities in her presence.

  Yet time has a way of emboldening even the cautious. Gradually, Ana grew braver. And today she felt ready, finally, to do what she had never had the courage to attempt.

  Ana took a deep breath then in that moment activated her skill, appraisal on the girl,

  —

  Name: Lee

  Race: Peon

  [Status]H.P: 2 / 2

  M.P: 0 / 0

  S.P: 3 / 3

  Defense: N/A

  Offense: N/A

  —

  Glancing at these stats, Ana was left speechless for a moment, and Lydia, the girl appraised, came to a halt, obviously reacting to the unpleasant sensation of the skill. It would have been weird if she didn't react to it.

  "Lydia?" asked Charmy, concerned by the girl's sudden change in expression.

  The words, that were for Lydia, snapped Ana back to her senses; she immediately deactivated the skill, committing these stats to memories.

  "Lydia? You're alright?"

  "Yes, I'm alright, I just... I don't know what it was, but I felt weird for a moment, and then it passed. I'm good now."

  "Ah, that's a relief. I thought you were about to collapse like Uta earlier." the girl said, using that as an excuse to cling to Lydia.

  "Slow as you are, if I ever get dizzy around you, I'll be on the ground before you react."

  "No worries, Ana?s will catch you," she assured.

  At these words, the duo looked at Ana; she could only smile, then answer, "You can count on me for that."