—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
An hour ago, Charlotte had despaired.
Her efforts had failed.
She hadn’t anticipated such poor sales.
Her flowers were fragrant, beautiful, and could be displayed for years with a simple mana infusion.
Yet, people showed no interest and treated her like a beggar.
“F-Flowers for sale…! T-They smell lovely… and…”
“Not interested.”
“Th-Th-They last a very long…!”
“I said no!”
“……”
After three days of this, her spirit broke.
She had started with such enthusiasm, believing she could finally achieve something on her own.
But the reality was crushing.
She had wasted three days and fell further behind on her coursework.
Growl…
Her stomach rumbled.
She hadn’t eaten a proper meal in two days.
Maybe she should just use the reward money she got last time?
She shook her head.
That was for her dormitory fees.
The Imperial Academy boasted world-class facilities, but the cost was exorbitant.
“Sigh…”
She had to sell the flowers.
She had depleted her meager savings.
“F-F-Flowers for sale! They smell wonderful…!”
Despite her dwindling hope, she continued to solicit customers, approaching anyone who looked like a potential buyer.
“How much?”
“T-Two thousand Orden! Th-Thank you!”
She managed to sell a few, feeling like a beggar receiving alms.
But at least it was something.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, it began to rain.
The ominous clouds had finally burst, a downpour accompanied by thunder.
She had to pack up.
“Oh…”
Despair washed over her as she watched the rain wash away the mana infused in the flowers and their fragrance disappeared.
Her creations, which she had thought were so promising, were flawed, their beauty ephemeral.
“I-I have to start over…”
She felt guilty.
People had bought her flowers, perhaps intending to display them.
She had sold them a defective product.
“……”
But her guilt was short-lived.
As she walked, she saw one of her flowers discarded on the ground.
It was a clear sign of charity, a pity purchase.
They hadn’t wanted the flower; they had just wanted to get rid of her.
“Ha… Haha…”
She returned to her dormitory, drenched but too dejected to shower.
She stared blankly ahead.
“M-Maybe… I’m just… nothing special…”
She had been delusional, believing she could transform herself into a sparkling diamond, like the uncut gemstone Ed had given her.
But it was just a fantasy.
A mirage meant to drive her into deeper despair.
Just like her flower, which had lost all its fragrance the moment it was hit by heavy rain.
She was a failure, her true, insignificant self revealed in the face of adversity.
“……”
The harsh reality set in.
Without money, she couldn’t pay her tuition.
She would be expelled, betraying her father, who had scraped together everything he had to send her here.
She had to be practical.
“Right… what am I… someone like me… so ordinary and plain…”
She shouldn’t dream.
She had entered the academy with grand ambitions, only to be humbled by the extraordinary talents around her.
She had tried to become Ed’s equal, but it was a futile effort.
Her path was one of mediocrity, of accepting the easy, comfortable route.
Rumble!
As the storm raged, she walked towards Ed’s lab.
She would give up on her dreams of equality, accept his charity, and focus on graduating.
What could someone like her, so insignificant compared to Enya and Isabella, possibly achieve?
“!!!!”
Then, she witnessed something unbelievable.
Ed, her shining ideal, the unreachable star, the object of her youthful fantasies…
“Sob… Hic…!”
…was on the floor, weeping.
Not just crying, but sobbing uncontrollably.
She quickly hid.
Thump-Thump-Thump-
Her heart raced.
Ed, so perfect, was in such distress.
“Damn it, this is so spicy.”
Ed muttered and coughed.
He activated the air purification system, designed to remove any lingering CS gas.
While he was distracted, Charlotte peeked back into the lab, trying to understand his distress.
“!!”
She saw his research journal, filled with entries documenting failures.
Her heart ached.
She knew the pain of failure.
How much more must he have suffered?
“Phew…”
Ed took a deep breath and stood up, having cleared the CS gas from his face.
Charlotte quickly retreated, hiding behind the wall as he went to wash his face.
Once he was gone, she looked back into the lab.
Ed was washing his face in the attached bathroom.
Charlotte hesitated.
Should she greet him when he comes out, or remain hidden?
‘…He wouldn’t want to be seen.’
She decided to stay hidden.
No one wanted to be seen in a moment of vulnerability.
‘…But even Ed has moments like this…’
She continued to observe the lab, the image of Ed weeping etched in her mind.
What had caused him such distress?
How many failures had he endured?
‘Just a quick peek…!’
She darted into the lab and opened his research journal.
However, the journal she opened belonged to Fix, containing the automated experiments Ed had assigned him, running repeated trials until the desired outcome was achieved.
“…Th-This can’t be…”
Charlotte, unaware of this, was shocked.
[Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure.]
Page after page documented nothing but failures.
Had Ed endured all of this without breaking down?
‘And I…’
Shame washed over her.
She had been ready to beg for help after just one failure.
She felt pathetic.
Creak!
The bathroom door opened.
Ed emerged, wiping his face with a towel.
Charlotte, startled, fled and pressed herself against the wall outside.
“Phew…”
Ed took a deep breath and walked to the table, a satisfied smile on his face as he looked at the newly derived chemical formula for CS gas.
“That was awful, but I did it.”
He chuckled, imagining the demons suffering the same agonizing pain.
‘Even Ed struggles…’
Charlotte, still eavesdropping, misinterpreted his words.
She connected his earlier sobbing with his comment about it being “awful.”
“Weeooong~!”
Fix approached Ed, pointing at the half-open lab door, indicating Charlotte’s presence outside.
“…Good job, Fix.”
Ed, however, misunderstood Fix’s intention.
He thought Fix was asking for praise for opening the door and ventilating the lab during the CS gas leak.
“Now, let’s finish this.”
He resumed his research, experimenting with other chemical weapons.
He had also collected other rare herbs from the Forest of Death, hoping to discover new formulas.
“Weeooong!”
Fix persisted, buzzing around him.
“Fix, I’m busy. I just—”
He turned to Fix, and his gaze fell on Fix’s display screen, which read: “Charlotte outside.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Thanks for the chapter