"De-Deputy Leader! Something terrible has happened!"

Sitting idly in the knight’s headquarters with the Knight Commander, Marenne was startled by the sudden entrance of a knight.

She quickly suppressed her surprise, clearing her throat to mask her reaction and looked at the knight with an outward calm.

"What is it?"

"There’s a strange phenomenon happening all over Londan!"

"What kind of strange phenomenon?"

The knight stammered, as if in shock from witnessing something overwhelming. Restlessly shifting his weight, he seemed desperate to guide her somewhere, so the Deputy Leader followed him outside.

The moment she stepped out, she was struck with astonishment.

All the plants in Londan had withered. The grass drooped, hanging as if it would snap off at any moment.

"What on earth…!"

The Deputy Leader dashed toward a nearby tree to examine its condition.

But something felt off. Though the tree looked perilously fragile up close, everything else—the color of the bark, its hardness, even the vitality of its leaves—seemed perfectly intact.

"What in the world is going on?"

The Deputy Leader couldn’t make sense of the situation. A thought flickered through her mind: the plants all drooped, looking as if they were people disappointed in life.

When the Gardener began to speak, the expressions of the Foreign Entities around brightened instantly.

Perhaps they were genuinely pleased that the Gardener, who usually only listened, was finally sharing her own story.

However, I couldn’t just laugh along; the Gardener’s words left me completely unsettled.

It was out of character for her to bring up something like this, even if she had a friend to discuss it with. And even if she had heard it, she wouldn’t typically share it here.

Zap.

The Gardener's gaze shot toward me. I was nominally smiling in front of the Entities, but her intense glare was painfully piercing.

While I was lost in thoughts about what to do, the Gardener continued her tale.

“So, this male kept giving the female excuses. He’d lean on her when times were tough, seek her help whenever he faced challenges.”

“Mm-hmm!”

“But then, one day, he openly confessed to another female right in front of her and started acting all buddy-buddy with her.”

“What? Is he insane?!”

Gah!

The comments from the Entities, empathizing with the Gardener’s story, struck me like daggers. An indescribable tightness seized my chest, making the pain almost unbearable.

But this was my fault, so all I could do was bow my head.

“If it were you, what would you do from the perspective of that human female?”

“I would… take him aside and ask him why. Who knows? Maybe another female threatened him.”

“Threatened, huh… What if you were sure it wasn’t that?”

“Then… castration first….”

Gasp.

At that chilling response, I flinched involuntarily. The table trembled, drawing all the Entities’ attention toward me.

“Oh, haha! Just a sudden sneeze… please, go on with what you were saying.”

“Geez, that was a surprise.”

Thankfully, they didn’t seem to take it too seriously and turned their attention back to the Gardener.

…Taking revenge in such a manner—it felt like facing cosmic horror.

“Host, does this story about the human female have anything to do with a friend of yours?”

“Uh, wh-what?! No, not at all… just something I overheard.”

But when faced with a pointed question, she looked completely rattled, only adding to the mess. Are you trying to bring us both down?!

At that moment, the Glass-Bead Entity suddenly stood up.

“Imprison him!”

“…What?”

The Gardener looked at her in confusion, and the Glass-Bead Entity puffed out her chest confidently, continuing.

“Think about it. It’s because he lived recklessly that he dared to stray without knowing his place, isn’t it?”

“Th-That’s true, isn’t it?”

“In that case, locking him up, depriving him of all freedom, and leaving him alone for about a week would make his mind overflow with gratitude for the female, don’t you think? Then he’d devote his body and soul to her!”

You lunatic! What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!

And the Gardener was listening intently to her!

Suddenly, I recalled something the Sage once said about the Entities.

‘Nobles are possessive. Even if Lord Tanton tries to say no, they would cling to him, never letting him escape.’

A shiver ran down my spine.

Right now, I had no means to deal with the Foreign Entities. If they lost control and seized me on the spot, there would be no escape.

If the Gardener, after hearing that Foreign Entity’s words, decided to act and came to me…

‘This is your home.’

‘This… this is a flower pot?’

‘So?’

“Arghhh!”

I shot up with a violent shudder, and all the Entities turned to stare at me once more.

Even the Gardener looked at me with a puzzled expression, but I didn’t care. I bolted, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her out of the meeting room.

“W-Wait!”

The Gardener tried to restrain me in her confusion, but due to the suddenness of it all, she could only be led outside.

“D-Deputy Leader! There’s been a major development!”

“Stop reporting every little thing! I’m seeing it too!”

The Deputy Leader’s mouth hung open in disbelief at the absurd phenomenon unfolding before her.

All the plants in Londan drooped lifelessly, then sprang back to life, repeating the cycle as if possessed by madness.

Facing this sight filled her with an unprecedented terror.

“Where’s Tanton?”

“We’ve searched, but there’s no sign of him! The Black Lion was last seen entering the headquarters, but…!”

“Damn it!”

The bizarre plant behavior… It must have something to do with the Gardener.

Not long ago, she had received reports identifying the Gardener as a Foreign Entity.

And if what she heard from the White Mask was true, it seemed that Tanton and the Gardener were not just close but that the Gardener leaned heavily on Tanton.

“What on earth is going on?!”

Gripping her temples, the Deputy Leader stared at the trees swaying up and down as if dancing.

Outside the meeting room, in a secluded spot surrounded by trees.

I pondered with the Gardener standing before me, gazing somewhere with a faintly mischievous expression.

What should I say? I had dragged her out, but saying nothing and going back inside would only worsen the situation.

My heart pounded like mad, as if my body sensed a life-threatening danger, adrenaline flooding me.

“S-Sorry!”

“…?”

I lowered my head and apologized, and the Gardener shifted only her eyes to look at me.

With no response, I initially thought she hadn’t heard.

But glancing at her face, I realized I was wrong. Although her expression remained a bit disgruntled, her gaze had softened.

…A sincere apology was indeed something one must always make to the one they wronged.

“At first, I didn’t know. I didn’t understand what it meant to call your names. I was just an idiot, thinking it was fine to keep doing it just because I’d already done it once.”

After I finished, the Gardener turned fully to face me, her expression a curious blend of surprise and subtle happiness.

“It… wasn’t forced?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, nothing.”

The Gardener lowered her head.

I could tell she’d calmed down to some extent.

What was she thinking? Could it be she would forgive me now?

While I was thinking this, the Gardener suddenly stiffened, slowly raising her head.

The moment I met her gaze, cold sweat trickled down my spine.

The Gardener was looking at me with an expression far colder than before.

“…Then why don’t you ever call us by our names?”

“E-Eek.”

Hearing her words, I realized one thing for certain.

The second act was beginning.

As the two of them left, the Foreign Entities exchanged mischievous smiles.

“Hey, looks like we were right, huh?”

“Exactly. There’s no way they don’t realize it by now. No matter how you look at it, that’s clearly something between him and the Host.”

“It’s a hundred percent true. He even took her out of here, and she didn’t resist even though she’s stronger. Doesn’t that mean she’s expecting something from him?”

“Ugh, this is so sweet it’s making my teeth rot.”

The Entities laughed, voicing their speculations with amusement.

“Could she be totally smitten with that human?”

“Haha, how adorable.”

…Apparently, every Foreign Entity had figured out the Gardener’s intentions to some extent, except Tanton and the Gardener themselves.