He heard the sound of clear water flowing leisurely. Rou made a sleepy sound and rubbed his face against soft velvet, but it felt somehow different from the texture he always felt. The rustling feeling and fresh smell were just like soft flower petals.
‘Flower petals?’
Rou’s eyes flew open. When he sat up, the petals fluttered. Rou followed those red petals with his eyes, then realized his surroundings were completely different from when he last closed his eyes. The splendid flowers and fruits hanging from every branch seemed to welcome Rou with their sweet fragrance.
Air so warm and soft that it was hard to believe it was northern weather touched his entire body. In the temperature just like a languid southern afternoon, Rou, whose body had been tense, gradually relaxed. Clear water flowed along the gently sloping hill, and small puddles could be seen here and there, as if it hadn’t been long since it rained.
It seemed he had fallen in the wrong place. To meet the child, he should be in the north. If he had fallen in the south like this, he would have no choice but to spend about a year just moving north. Rou’s worries came first as he rolled his large eyes anxiously.
“Ah……!”
Then something fell on Rou’s head. Rou unconsciously looked up at the ceiling at the cold water droplet that fell on the top of his head.
Through the transparent glass, he could see a clear sky. Only then did Rou realize how the air surrounding him could be so mild. This place he had thought was a field in bloom was actually a huge greenhouse.
‘A greenhouse…… Is it that greenhouse!’
Unlike before, Rou urgently surveyed his surroundings. He couldn’t find the desolate appearance of having been neglected for a long time, and it was so full of fresh energy that it was hard to think it was the same place as back then. The only commonality Rou could find was the round arch of the window.
Rou tried to stand up but ended up toppling over headfirst.
“Ah……!”
When Rou fell, petals began to scatter haphazardly in the peaceful greenhouse. Even though he fell and hit his knees and elbows, it didn’t hurt since he was on a soft flower bed, but it wasn’t easy to keep his balance, so Rou stayed stuck to the floor groaning for a while.
Only after quite some time had passed did Rou slowly raise his body, pushing the floor with both arms. The small petals stuck to his face fell off in a flurry. Rou looked at the flying red petals and reached out his hand. The petals felt between his fingers were soft and delicate, easily crushed just by putting strength in his hand.
Unable to believe he had harmed a flower, Rou moved his hand again to shake off the stuck petals. Until he stayed by the Goddess’s side, flowers had been Rou’s everything.
Flowers resembled the Goddess who gifted abundance. The large dewdrops formed on those petals relieved painful thirst in the late afternoon, and the sweet honey that was always filled gave him strength to fly again.
Also, when he got lost, they became a cozy bed where he could rest, and they became a guide by showing him the direction of the sun.
That he had harmed such precious flowers with his own hands was shocking, at least to Rou. Rou pulled at the broken flower stems as if trying to somehow revive the flower bed he had ruined, but they only kept being pulled out by the roots and showed no sign of returning to their original state.
Rou eventually gave up on restoring the flower bed to its original state. He shook off the rough soil on his hands, then looked down at his hands and feet for a long while.
The naturally moving fingers and toes were fascinating. His limbs were smooth, white as milk, and had no hair at all. The only part with hair was his head, and the long hair that dragged on the floor was lemon-colored. He didn’t know how ordinary humans would appreciate it, but from Rou’s standpoint, the abundant hair was just cumbersome.
Also, whether it was the Goddess’s blessing, Rou quickly adapted to that unfamiliar body. He felt no rejection or sense of alienation toward the unfamiliar body, and soon he was able to balance when standing on two feet. However, Rou was very disappointed with this body he had received from the Goddess.
This pale body was the Goddess’s taste from head to toe and was too different from what Rou had expected. The darkest color on his body was a light pink resembling cherry blossoms. His limbs were so soft and smooth they looked too fragile.
In fact, just from pulling a few flowers and touching some soil, his fingertips had turned red. The stinging sensation made it seem like they would be swollen by tomorrow. It was disappointing to Rou, who had expected a solid and strong body like a brown bear.
“Phew……”
Rou made a regretful expression and pondered whether to offer a prayer to the Goddess or not. The Goddess had definitely said she would give something as a gift, but he had neither strong teeth nor tough hide. With this weak body, it seemed difficult to survive in the north. He thought that whether it was a bumblebee blessed by the Goddess or this soft human body, wasn’t it all the same.
When Rou was only building up disappointment while looking at his new body, he felt signs of a human in the distance. The light sound was definitely the sound made by a human with a small body, so Rou began to swell with anticipation.
If it was that child, it would truly be a fateful meeting. Rou felt his heart pounding and gently placed both hands over his heart. If it really was that child, he hoped the child was enjoying an abundant life like this greenhouse that had become so bountiful.
‘Would it be my greed to hope he’s happy to the point of having no wish to make?’
A boy walked carefully, stepping only on the gray stones laid on the floor. His shoulders trembled like reeds before the north wind, as if he was extremely tense. He walked with his gaze fixed only on the floor as if not to miss a step, and naturally didn’t notice Rou standing still.
Meanwhile, Rou, who had examined the child’s appearance, couldn’t hide his disappointed face. No matter what kind of growth period the child with rose-colored eyes had gone through, it didn’t seem he would have ordinary brown eyes and brown hair.
Rou still clearly remembered that young child’s red eyes. The passionate red color like burning flames wasn’t easy to forget. No matter what appearance he had now, if he saw those eyes, he would be able to recognize him at once.
All humans were cute, and the child was also lovable, but this child wasn’t the child Rou had been waiting for. When he unconsciously let out a big sigh of disappointment, the child looked at Rou with wide eyes.
“Ah, a human child. Perhaps……”
“Aaaaaaaaah! Aah! Aaaaaah!”
At the child’s sudden scream, Rou was so startled he couldn’t continue his words. The child screamed almost hysterically as if he had encountered something he shouldn’t see, and Rou, very flustered by that sound and terrified face, stepped back hesitantly.
Rou checked if he perhaps had extra legs or arms. He was briefly filled with dreams that perhaps the Goddess had gifted him such an amazing thing, but disappointingly, there was no such thing. Moreover, he had the same two arms and two legs, so he couldn’t understand why the child was so horrified.
Even while Rou was examining his body, the child’s shouting continued. After being startled by that sound only briefly, Rou, who had quickly gotten used to it, walked step by step toward the child and grabbed his shoulder.
“Child.”
The child didn’t even think to shake off Rou’s hand and kept screaming. Rou thought for a moment about how to make the child stop screaming and listen to his words, then tried putting his hand in the child’s open mouth. His hand became wet, but the child quickly stopped screaming.
Rou smiled faintly as if he had done well, and when he withdrew his hand, the child stared at Rou quietly. However, the quietness was only for a moment, as the child, perhaps startled by Rou’s contact, began to hiccup.
“Child. Since I don’t think I can have a conversation with you, will you bring a child I can communicate with?”
At Rou’s low voice, the child shook his head frantically even while hiccuping. Though he didn’t feel it was trustworthy, Rou decided to believe him for now.
Rou turned the child’s body around and gently pushed him in the direction he had come from. The child walked hesitantly, then soon began to run frantically. Rou began to pluck off the red petals stuck to his body one by one while waiting for the child to bring someone else.
As he was plucking off petals like that, Rou discovered that his long hair had fallen into a puddle. He didn’t even have a clue how to handle this hair that was only cumbersome. As Rou was rolling his hair around his body like winding thread on a spool, he suddenly realized a major difference between himself and humans.
“Ah.”
He made a sound.
Come to think of it, humans would cut cloth to cover their bodies, but he wasn’t wearing a single thread. Feeling like he had just been rude to the human child he saw, he scratched his cheek.
Rou decided to look around a bit while the child returned. He leisurely looked around the space that seemed like a green hill had been transplanted as if it were his own home. The plants planted there were all very unique, so he would occasionally stop and ponder what the reason might be for this plant being here.
The greenhouse was wider than he thought, and since he was gradually getting used to his human body, he could now walk at a brisk pace. Sometimes he stepped in the flowing water to cool his burning feet.
When Rou, who had walked diligently, was wiping away the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, he heard the sound of two humans approaching the greenhouse. Rou was pleased and delighted that the child had returned quickly, so he moved his steps toward where the sound was coming from.
