The ride home was unusually quiet.
Arianne rested her head against the window.
The city slowly drifted past.
Yet her thoughts remained in the Hunter Association greenhouse.
“…Erin.”
The quiet girl lingered in her mind.
Ten years old.
An Earth Mage.
Patient enough to care for flowers most people never noticed.
“…”
And somehow…
The System had recognized her as the Second Seed.
But…
Nothing else had happened.
No contract.
No notification.
No explanation.
The moment she returned to her room…
She quietly closed the door.
“Status.”
A familiar blue window appeared.
Her eyes immediately searched for the newest quest.
[The Second Seed]
Target Identified.
Synchronization: 3%
Seed Formation: Unavailable
“…”
Arianne frowned.
“Unavailable?”
Not failed.
Not rejected.
Simply…
Unavailable.
She tapped the window.
Nothing happened.
No explanation appeared.
“…You’re really not going to tell me.”
The System remained silent.
Arianne let out a helpless laugh.
“…Figures.”
She dismissed the screen.
If the System refused to answer…
Then she’d simply have to find the answer herself.
A knock echoed from outside.
“Young miss?”
It was one of the maids.
“Lady Rowland wishes to see you.”
Arianne blinked.
“…Mother?”
She had already been summoned yesterday.
Twice in two days.
That alone felt unusual.
“I’ll be right there.”
She followed the maid through the estate.
The study door stood partially open.
Inside…
Lady Rowland sat across from a familiar visitor.
Inspector Han.
The moment Arianne entered…
He rose from his seat.
“Lady Arianne.”
“It’s good to see you again.”
She offered a polite bow.
“It’s nice to see you too, Inspector.”
“I apologize for visiting unexpectedly.”
“I wanted to thank you personally.”
“…Thank me?”
Han smiled.
“Your observations helped us narrow our investigation.”
“They were more useful than you probably realize.”
Lady Rowland quietly set down her teacup.
“The inspector also brought something.”
Han reached into the leather satchel beside his chair.
He carefully placed a worn notebook on the table.
“The Association has already copied everything relevant to our investigation.”
“The original…”
“…belongs somewhere else.”
Arianne looked at the weathered leather cover.
“…”
“Evaluator Ellis?”
Han nodded.
“It was found in his office.”
“He carried it almost everywhere.”
Arianne slowly picked it up.
The leather was softened by years of use.
The edges were worn.
Someone had opened this notebook countless times.
She carefully turned the first page.
There were no reports.
No official records.
Only observations.
Flowers.
Spirit herbs.
Trees.
Small sketches filled the margins.
Beside one drawing…
A single sentence had been written in neat handwriting.
“Late does not mean never.”
Arianne quietly stared at the words.
“…”
Somehow…
They felt less like notes about flowers…
And more like words meant for someone who had almost given up.
She slowly turned another page.
A pressed wildflower rested between the paper.
Beneath it…
A short note.
“Not every flower is meant for grand gardens.”
“Some choose to bloom where no one thinks to look.”
Arianne smiled faintly.
“…”
“That sounds like you.”
Han chuckled.
“It does.”
“He had a habit of comparing people to plants.”
“Most of us thought he was eccentric.”
His expression softened.
“Now…”
“I find myself missing those conversations.”
Silence settled over the room.
Lady Rowland quietly observed them.
She had never met Evaluator Ellis personally.
But hearing Inspector Han speak…
She understood he had been respected.
Not because of his rank.
Because of the kind of person he was.
Han continued.
“The greenhouse was his favorite place.”
“He said flowers never lied.”
“If one wasn’t growing…”
“He believed there was always a reason.”
Arianne’s fingers paused.
Always…
A reason.
Not bad luck.
Not failure.
A reason.
She turned another page.
More sketches.
More observations.
Then…
One sentence stood alone in the center of the page.
“A gardener cannot force a flower to bloom.”
“He can only prepare the season.”
“…”
Arianne quietly repeated the words.
“…Prepare the season.”
Something clicked.
Leon.
She hadn’t made Leon stronger.
She had simply…
Given him a reason to believe in himself.
Master Conrad.
He hadn’t forced the old seed to sprout.
He had patiently cared for it.
And Erin…
“…”
She slowly closed the notebook.
Perhaps…
The problem had never been talent.
Perhaps…
No one had ever discovered what season Erin needed.
Inspector Han smiled as if reading her thoughts.
“Lady Arianne.”
“If I may offer one piece of advice…”
She looked up.
“Evaluator Ellis often said something.”
“He believed…”
“…the most valuable flowers were usually the ones everyone walked past.”
Arianne instinctively thought of the little flower bed near the greenhouse.
And the quiet girl who visited it every afternoon.
“I understand.”
Han nodded.
“I thought you might.”
He rose from his chair.
“I’ve taken enough of your time.”
“There are still many questions surrounding Ellis’s disappearance.”
“But…”
He looked toward the notebook in Arianne’s hands.
“I think he’d be happier knowing someone is still reading his notes.”
After Inspector Han departed…
The study became quiet once more.
Arianne gently traced the worn leather cover.
For some reason…
She had the feeling…
Ellis hadn’t simply left behind a notebook.
He had left behind…
A way of seeing the world.
That night…
Sleep refused to come.
Arianne sat beside the window.
Ellis’s notebook rested quietly on her lap.
The moonlight spilled across its worn pages.
She had already read it three times.
There were no secrets.
No hidden maps.
No coded messages.
Just…
The thoughts of a man who truly loved watching things grow.
She turned another page.
A tiny sketch of an unopened flower greeted her.
Below it…
Only one sentence had been written.
“Late does not mean never.”
“…”
Arianne smiled.
“I think…”
“…you would’ve liked Master Conrad.”
The room remained silent.
She closed the notebook.
Then…
The System quietly appeared.
[Growth Recognized.]
A new message unfolded beneath it.
Growth cannot be rushed.
Growth cannot be borrowed.
Growth must be chosen.
“…”
No quest.
No reward.
Only those three lines.
For some reason…
They felt heavier than any notification she’d received before.
She slowly looked toward the window.
Her thoughts drifted back to the greenhouse.
To the tiny flowers pushing through cracked stone.
To the quiet girl who watered them every afternoon.
“…Erin.”
The System had recognized her.
But…
Nothing had changed.
Not yet.
Perhaps…
That was exactly the point.
Seeds weren’t planted…
Simply because a gardener found them.
They bloomed…
When they were ready.
“…”
Arianne let out a small laugh.
“So this is going to take patience too.”
The System offered no reply.
Elsewhere…
The Hunter Association had long since emptied.
Only a few lights remained.
Behind the greenhouse…
A single flowerbed rested beneath the moon.
Its soil was still damp from that afternoon’s watering.
Far across the city…
Erin stood on the small balcony outside her room.
A tiny clay pot rested in her hands.
Inside…
A small spirit sprout leaned toward the moonlight.
She carefully poured a little water into the pot.
Then waited.
“…”
Nothing happened.
Just like yesterday.
Just like the day before.
Still…
She smiled.
“…Maybe tomorrow.”
She gently carried the pot back inside.
Neither of them knew it yet.
But somewhere…
The season that Ellis had written about…
Had already begun.
End of Chapter 17
BWAHAHAHA I’m back!
Sorry for disappearing for 3 days.
I got sick and ended up becoming one with my bed.
Thank you for waiting!
Let’s continue growing flowers…
and emotionally adopting more children.
Keep safe everyone!