Chapter 22.1: Confronting the former boss

Wind-driven petals fluttered down the Royal Castle of Garkhain.

Rishe in a linen dress was maneuvering a hoe in her hand to flatten the bumpy soil.

This place was the part of the courtyard that she had coaxed and borrowed from Arnold during the evening party a few days ago.

(With an area this big, it’ll be fine for the time being.)

I looked around at the area I tilled yesterday and was satisfied with the results.

The several buckets placed beside them were filled with thick layers of mulch. The healthy soil was gathered from under the deciduous trees in the garden.

I managed to lift up a bucket and spread the mulch on the ground. By the time I finished scattering them all over the ground, my arms were numb.

(I need to start working out seriously.)

This body, which belonged to a delicate young lady until recently, has puny strength and muscular power. It was far from being a knight, let alone the life of a pharmacist working in the fields.

Even though my mind knew how to move my body, my body couldn’t keep up.

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That said, she still wanted to persist longer. Rishe regained her spirits and began hacking up the soil on which she had sprinkled the mulch with the hoe in her hand.

Carefully, yet firmly, aerating the soil while mixing the soil and mulch.

While she removed any visible weed roots, she didn’t fuss over them much. Sometimes it was interesting to see flowers and plants that she couldn’t remember sprouting up between the plants she was growing.

The knights standing a distance away also watched Rishe’s work with interest. Then Dianna came over and her eyes rounded.

“Rishe-sama, what on earth are you doing?”

“This? I’m working on a field.”

“Field… The Crown Prince’s fiancée is….”

After mixing the mulch painstakingly, ridges of fluffy soil were completed.

She’d like to sow the seeds right away, but it would be better to let them acclimate in the sun for a few days. Rishe wiped the sweat from her forehead and grinned at a pouting Dianna.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. So can you show me what you’ve come up with?”

“Hah! Yes, please!”

Dianna looked nervous as she held out the document in her hands.

On it was a pretty drawing of a broom and a rag, along with carefully written characters.

“I thought that the first words for the newbies to learn should be about cleaning supplies!”

Devoid of her apron, Dianna who was dressed in her maid’s uniform, fumbled with the hem of her dress.

She had been appointed as the maidservants’ trainer, and Rishe had given her one directive. That was, ‘to decide what to teach the rookies first.’

“That way, they’ll use it for their daily tasks and it would be easy for them to feel that what they’re learning is useful.”

“Yes, I think it’s very good.”

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Rishe smiled and nodded, and Dianna’s face lit up in a flash. However, it soon turned cloudy with a lack of confidence.

“But, I’ve been thinking that they’d be happier knowing their own names first rather than the names of their cleaning tools.”

“Yes. It is certainly a good idea to incorporate such concerns, but…”

Rishe was reminded of the sons in the mansion she had come in contact with in her life as a lady’s maid.

They learned how to write their names with their tutors, practiced hard, and then came to show it to Rishe. She smiled at this nostalgic memory and shared her thoughts with Dianna.

“It’s something that students can’t review or teach each other when forgotten. And it’s time-consuming for the teacher to explain it all at once.”

“Oh! I see, it certainly is!”

At Rishe’s words, Dianna let out a breath of relief. Apparently, she had been wondering about this for a long time.

“As you’ve mentioned, it’s nice to be able to ‘put what you learn to work right away’. If I were a student, I’d be very happy.”

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“Yes! Thank you…!”

Dianna’s eyes lit up as she hugged the paper that Rishe returned to her.

“Rishe-sama, doing these sort of things are fun. It’s much more fun thinking about how to help than trying to figure out what nasty things to say.”

“Fufu, that’s right.”

“But, why would Lady Rishe do so much for us?”

“It’s…”

Just as Rishe stammered a bit, Elise, her handmaiden, came from the other side.

“Rishe-sama, it’s time to get ready.”

Rishe merely nodded at her impassive reminder.

“I’m sorry Dianna, I have to go now. Can you proceed with the teaching material exactly as I told you?”

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

“Dianna-senpai… Can you teach me again after dinner tonight?”

“Fufu, of course. I won’t let you sleep until you’ve finished two pages today, so keep that in mind!”