Rest sprinted along the highway, pushing his speed to the limit with magic.
Along the way, he didn't get lost, didn't doze off like a rabbit, and didn't encounter any mysterious beautiful girl falling from the sky — in short, he arrived at his destination without incident.
"Oh, welcome back, Master Rest."
"Hah, hah… I'm back, Primula."
When he returned to the manor in the Marquisate of Rosemary, a familiar face was there to greet him.
It was a manor slightly larger than their second house in the royal capital. In its garden, Primula had been tending to the flowers.
Seeing Primula pruning the roses in bloom, Rest felt a surge of comfort wash over him.
"I heard you were subjugating monsters in the neighboring domain, but you're back awfully early… Also, what happened? You're breathing so hard."
Primula took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Rest's forehead.
Even with magic boosting his speed, fatigue was still fatigue. Physical exhaustion could be healed with magic, but the mental fatigue from continuous spellcasting had nothing to do with mana reserves. Even Rest couldn't escape that.
"No, I was just having a little race… There isn't anyone who made it back here before me, is there?"
"No, there shouldn't be. I've been tending to the flowers since early afternoon, and Father and the other magicians haven't returned yet either."
"Good… That's a relief."
It looked like he really was the first one back.
It hadn't even been thirty minutes since Rest set out, so he'd figured he was fine, but sure enough, he'd been right.
(Now I can hold my head high and say I'm worthy of the two of them…)
"By the way… what about you, Primula? Is your work done already?"
Just as Rest had accompanied Albert to hunt down monsters, Primula and Viola were supposed to be handling domain management work back at the estate.
It was normally the Marquis and Marchioness's job, but as someone who would eventually inherit the domain, she was tackling the work now as a form of study.
"I finished up all my work this morning. I'm on break now, so I'm puttering around with the flowers. My sister went out shopping in town."
"Is that so…"
Rest surveyed the spacious garden.
This was the domain of House Rosemary, and the manor at its very heart. The garden at their second house in the royal capital was impressive too, but this one far surpassed it in both size and variety of flowers.
Surrounded by all those colorful blooms, Primula looked as delicate and lovely as a fairy.
"…It's beautiful."
"Oh, yes. It is, isn't it? The roses are at their peak right now, you know?"
"No, I wasn't talking about the roses… Well, either way, it's fine."
Rest shifted his gaze slightly away from the roses and turned to the side.
In the adjacent flowerbed, white lilies were in bloom. They were flowers from a slightly later season, but perhaps these were early bloomers.
"Roses are nice, but lilies are beautiful too, aren't they?"
Roses had something of Viola about them. They bloomed spectacularly, drawing every eye with their vivid colors and strong fragrance whether people wanted them to or not.
Lilies, on the other hand, reminded Rest of Primula. Elegant and reserved, yet quietly nestled in a corner of one's heart — a lovely flower like that.
"Nobody can deny the beauty of roses, but lilies are every bit their equal. I like them both."
"…Yes. I like both of them as well."
Whether Primula caught his meaning or not, she smiled a flower-like smile.
"Oh, by the way, Master Rest, are you familiar with something called 'flower language'?"
"No… I'm not. Would you mind telling me about it?"
"Of course. The language of flowers for lilies conveys meanings like 'purity' and 'innocence.' For roses, the meaning varies by color — red signifies 'love' and 'passion,' while white…"
Rest and Primula sat surrounded by the garden's flowers, chatting happily together.
They were enjoying an elegant, peaceful afternoon, but… it was more than three hours later that the boys and young men who had been racing against Rest finally arrived at the manor.
Thrown off by Rest's explosive start, they had completely lost their pace, draining every last bit of their mana and stamina.
By the time they arrived — taking far longer than usual — Rest had long since forgotten about them and was enjoying afternoon tea with Primula.