Spring in My Grasp - Chapter 63

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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(63) The King’s Jest

“Ah, that is….”
The air stiffened slightly in that moment. Alexis’s gaze descended quietly. After a brief hesitation, Rowan decided to speak honestly, as if surrendering to fate.
“To be frank, I simply don’t fit well with that world.”
Silence. Brief, but unmistakably profound. The King’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly.
“I see.”
He regarded Rowan with interest. What more could he press for, given that she didn’t suit High Society? Besides, the wife of a Holy Knight hardly occupied a political position requiring her to maintain connections and cultivate relationships within aristocratic circles.
“Then how do you spend your time ordinarily?”
The question was light, yet anyone present would have felt compelled to tense. Certainly, the King possessed little concrete information about Rowan’s existence.
One might gather reliable details through involvement in High Society, but there were no reports of her associating with anyone in particular. Her excessive discretion and scarcity of information were precisely the sort of thing to arouse the King’s suspicion. Rowan’s eyes widened as she answered.
“I tend to my Vegetable Garden.”
“….”
Complete silence fell. Truly. As though the air in the room had frozen. The King’s gaze stilled.
“Your Vegetable Garden?”
The King, who had inadvertently questioned her, wondered if he had misheard and asked again.
“What did you just say?”
Rowan added casually. She decided it was better to simply speak plainly—after all, she wasn’t committing any crime.
“There’s a small Vegetable Garden in one corner of the Glass Garden. I grow vegetables and herbs there.”
“….”
The King remained silent for some time. He had certainly heard her. Yet, unable to comprehend, he posed another question.
“The Marchioness herself…?”
“Yes!”
Rowan nodded eagerly at the King’s question. It seemed he didn’t disapprove of her tending the Vegetable Garden.
“You have to plant, cultivate, and grow it yourself for it to have the proper taste!”
Rowan spoke with a bright smile. At those words, the King’s face underwent its first unmistakable transformation. Pure bewilderment itself….
“Heh….”
A small laugh escaped him.
“The Countess of Valerion…tending a Vegetable Garden.”
He rested his chin in his hand for a moment, regarding Rowan. The rumors circulating about her in High Society were varied, but he had never heard mention of a Vegetable Garden among them.
The King lifted his eyes to look at Eloze. As Eloze, standing behind them, met his gaze, she bowed her head—a signal confirming Rowan’s words.
“The Royal Palace cultivates rare plants as well, yet to possess such a…humble pastime.”
There was no mockery in his tone. It was a reaction of genuine incomprehension.
“Not at all, Your Majesty. I would even recommend it to you—why not create a small plot and try cultivating it yourself? The flavor is truly exquisite.”
Rowan added further.
“….”
The King’s eyes hardened once more.
“The Royal Palace already has fresh produce prepared from various regions, does it not?”
“Ah, but food tastes so much better when you grow it yourself and pick it fresh!”
Rowan waved her hand dismissively and laughed.
“When you cultivate it properly, harvest it right there, brew tea from it or add it to soup—that freshness is incomparable. The flavor of food you’ve grown and eaten with your own hands is truly different.”
The King let out a short, sudden laugh as he watched Rowan speak with such earnest sincerity.
“Ha.”
It was his first genuine laugh. Taking his amusement as approval, Rowan became animated and continued chattering.
“Or perhaps next time I enter the palace, I’ll bring dishes made from my own harvest. Alexis says he loves my cooking best of all.”
The King covered his mouth to suppress his laughter.
“Marchioness Hartwood.”
He tilted his head slightly.
“You are quite… an entertaining person.”
It was far more than a simple observation. Interest. And fascination. Alexis’s eyes did not miss that subtle shift.
“….”
He said nothing, but his gaze grew quietly distant.
“Eloze.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Eloze stepped forward and bowed.
“Is the Marchioness’s cooking truly exceptional?”
The King asked with an amused smile. Eloze lifted her head slightly, glancing between the King and Rowan. Appearing somewhat flustered, she swallowed dryly.
“It is truly… delicious.”
It was the truth. Even Eloze had never tasted dishes prepared from vegetables grown in a garden right before her eyes. The produce was so remarkably fresh that even when simmered long in soup, the texture remained perfect, and the flavor was distinctly different.
Despite having eaten the palace’s excellent cuisine her entire life, Rowan’s simple, humble vegetable garden dishes suited her palate far better. When ingredients were harvested fresh and prepared with such understated simplicity, the dining table would be completely emptied without a trace.
“Is the Marchioness’s vegetable garden truly exceptional?”
The King’s smile never faded.
“It is small, but I tend it with great care.”
When Rowan spoke of something she loved, she became vibrant and endearing, like a child. The King watched her with gentle, smiling eyes as she cheerfully discussed her garden. As he treated her with such extraordinary warmth, Rowan relaxed and chattered on.
“Please visit sometime. Within the Glass Garden, there are beautiful flowers and trees that Lea has cultivated, and on one side, there is my vegetable garden. When you breathe in the scent of flowers and earth there, and eat dishes made from vegetables harvested right before you, it brings such happiness. When you see plants growing so vigorously with just water and sunlight, it’s truly marvelous.”
Rowan lifted the child slightly as she spoke.
“Later, I plan to make Leonius’s first foods from vegetables I’ve grown myself.”
The King paused once more. This time, he could not contain his laughter.
“My…”
He murmured softly, chuckling.
“So the Holy Knight’s son will be eating vegetables from a garden.”
Everyone present was startled—they had never seen the King laugh like this. Only Rowan giggled along with him.
“Well, the Holy Knight Alexis eats garden vegetables too, after all.”
The words came out as a light jest, yet no one in that room laughed it off with her. As Rowan laughed, Leonius, cradled in her arms, drew a small breath. And in that instant, ever so faintly, the air trembled.
“….”
The King’s eyes, which had held laughter, narrowed.
“This is…”
A small exclamation escaped him.
“So young, and yet….”
He reached out his hand toward Leonius, then withdrew it. Like someone who already understood that this child was not easily within reach. Though he was King, he too served God. Politically, there were certain thorny matters between the Royal Court and the Grand Cathedral, but he was also a man who worshipped the divine.
“Alexis.”
The King lifted his gaze.
“This child is quite extraordinary.”
At those words, everyone present—even Rowan, who had been smiling—held their breath. The King’s lips curved upward with deliberate slowness.
“You and your wife are both quite extraordinary.”
He smiled.
“A blessing beyond measure for the Kingdom.”
The King rested his chin in his hand.
“If the Marchioness permits, I should like to visit Valerian Castle someday. Perhaps I might dine in that Glass Garden of which she is so proud.”
“Oh, but please don’t expect too much.”
Rowan waved her hand dismissively.
“I’m worried you might be disappointed.”
Watching Rowan’s hesitant words, the King nodded thoughtfully.
“The way you described dining in the Glass Garden intrigued me greatly. The Royal Palace gardens have dining areas as well, but somehow the Glass Garden appeals to me more.”
The King seemed lost in thought. At this moment, Rowan bore no resemblance to any noblewoman. She was like an innocent girl raised untouched in a remote mountain village.
The King was aware of the general information about the Marchioness of Valerion—that she had been cast aside by her stepmother and stepsiblings at Hartwood House and entered into a political marriage with Alexis.
He even knew that the Glister Earl Family had treated her coldly and banished her to the East Annex. Yet what was remarkable was how, despite all she had endured, her nature remained so ingenuous and pure.
The King’s gaze turned to Alexis. Though Alexis sat with composed dignity, it was evident at a glance that his attention was fixed upon Rowan beside him.
‘Perhaps that is what drew him to her.’
She was certainly a rare sort of woman in Aristocratic Society. The King then engaged them both in extensive conversation. On the journey back from the Royal Palace, Rowan turned to Alexis and spoke.
“He was far more approachable than I expected. I suppose I was unnecessarily nervous.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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