Zinnia rolled her eyes listlessly at Cassian’s over-the-top reaction.
“Why are you so surprised? Wouldn’t it be more surprising if I knew something like this?” Zinnia shook her head listlessly, then turned to walk away.
Meanwhile, Cassian stood frozen in place, still needing time to process Zinnia’s words, which, for some reason, made perfect sense.
“Damn it! That girl is really toying with me!” Cassian clenched his fists in frustration.
Then, Zinnia’s voice rang out from the distance.
“Why are you still standing there? Don’t you want to rest? Want me to give you another task to do?” Zinnia turned to look at Cassian with a smirk on her face.
“What kind of nonsense is that!” Cassian hurriedly set off to catch up with Zinnia, who was already in front of the manor.
The sound of their minor argument could still be heard even though they had disappeared inside the manor.
It didn’t take long before Anna returned from the village square.
That evening, their dinner felt warm, with simple food served on the dining table.
This time, Zinnia was the one who cooked dinner because Anna had come home a little late.
“Miss, I’ve sent your letter to Count Vermillion just as you instructed,” Anna immediately reported to Zinnia.
“Good. How long will it take for my letter to reach Father?” Zinnia asked curiously.
“It might take two days for Count Vermillion to receive your letter, Miss,” Anna explained patiently.
“Huh? That long?” As a modern person, Zinnia still wasn’t used to such limited communication.
“What did you expect, anyway? The distance between Vermillion County and Greenmarch is quite far; you have to pass through three regions to get there,” Cassian replied, glancing briefly at Zinnia.
“I see,” Zinnia replied, nodding in understanding.
“In that case, it’s for the best. I still have time to get ready.”
Cassian quietly observed Zinnia; he thought she would snap at him again.
It turned out she was smart enough to understand how to make the most of the time she had to prepare.
“By the way, how was dinner?” Zinnia, her eyes sparkling, looked at Anna and Cassian one by one with hopeful eyes.
The two people she was addressing swallowed their food roughly, now at a loss for words.
“Actually, it was pretty good. I didn’t know you could cook, Miss,” Anna finally spoke up first.
Zinnia snorted softly as she flicked her red hair. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“I’d be lost if I couldn’t cook. Something as simple as that, of course I can do it.”
“Even so, I’ll make sure to cook on time from now on,” Anna replied with a faint smile.
“That’s how it should be,” Cassian muttered softly.
With her keen hearing, Zinnia caught that and shot a sharp glance at Cassian.
“You’d better drink the potion I prepared so you’ll be safe tomorrow,” Zinnia said, gritting her teeth.
Earlier, Zinnia had made sure to reduce the dosage of the healing potion mixture in the brew Cassian was drinking.
No matter what, Zinnia didn’t want to arouse suspicion by having Cassian recover too quickly; after all, she needed him to help her.
.
.
.
Zinnia had been awake since morning; she walked downstairs from the upper floor feeling lighthearted.
She couldn’t wait to experiment with the new skill she’d acquired.
“Where is he? Isn’t he awake yet?” Zinnia glanced around but couldn’t find Cassian.
An idea popped into her head, and a strange smirk began to spread across Zinnia’s lips.
Just as Zinnia was about to call out to Cassian, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the foyer.
“Tsk! That’s no fun; why did you show up so fast?!” Zinnia crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance when she saw Cassian arrive.
“I wasn’t going to give you the chance to do that,” Cassian replied curtly.
Zinnia shot him an annoyed glance, then walked out of the manor toward the small greenhouse on its right side.
Silently, Cassian followed Zinnia, scanning the front yard with the keen vision characteristic of a member of the Raven Tribe.
Ever since Zinnia mentioned that someone had come by when she returned home that night, Cassian hadn’t been able to relax.
If they knew where she went, then Cassian would have to be extra vigilant.
It seemed he would have to call someone for help with this matter.
“Wow! My seeds are really thriving! Didn’t any of them have leaves yesterday?” Zinnia turned toward Cassian in surprise.
Finally snapping out of his reverie, Cassian was confused himself because he didn’t understand why Zinnia was staring at him in amazement.
“They didn’t have leaves before, did they?” Zinnia asked again, this time with excitement.
Cassian glanced briefly at the seeds inside the greenhouse and finally understood what Zinnia was talking about.
“Now that I think about it, I don’t think they were like this before. As far as I recall, they were just sprouting before,” Cassian replied, explaining the seeds’ previous condition.
“Whatever you did, I’m so grateful!” Zinnia grabbed Cassian’s hand and looked at him with sparkling eyes.
Before Cassian could react, Zinnia had already turned around to check on her beloved seeds.
“Should I try it now?” Still full of excitement, Zinnia murmured softly with a wide smile on her lips.
With her heart pounding with impatience to try out her new skill, Zinnia slowly concentrated and then activated it.
“Seed Evolution…” Zinnia murmured softly, then opened her eyes, which she had previously kept closed.
Others wouldn’t notice it, but now Zinnia’s eyes flashed briefly after she activated her skill.
Then, Zinnia could see a variety of information through her eyes.
[Carrot Seed (Poor Quality)]
[…]
[Carrot Seed (Chance to have Higher Quality)]
[…]
[Tomato Seed (Chance to have Higher Quality)]
[…]
Zinnia could now quickly see which seeds had the potential for higher quality.
This made Zinnia incredibly happy; before, she could only see their quality.
And now she could see more clearly which seeds had superior potential.
“We have to move them!” Zinnia quickly asked Cassian to help her.
“Move them for what?” Cassian still didn’t understand how Zinnia’s mind worked.
“To sort them out.” Zinnia grinned as she said it.
“Huh? Aren’t they all the same? I don’t see any difference between these seeds,” Cassian muttered, still puzzled.
Feeling that Cassian was taking too long, she shot him a sharp glance and told him to work faster.
Zinnia then told Cassian which seeds they needed to move; inside the greenhouse, the air was thick with the sound of curses.