The Kingmaker System-Chapter 108 - 107. Isle Rosa (2)

The spring seemed to have made a special appearance at Isle Rosa as wherever one could see they would find beautiful flowers and greenery. There were sounds of chirping birds, streaming water and the tittering of the small animals and insects.

I inhaled deeply feeling the scent of fresh air fill my lungs.

"Isn’t this place beautiful?" Dad asked and I smiled up at him.

"Better than I expected."

"Come on then, let’s go and set up our picnic spot." He said taking my hand in his as the servant behind carried the stuff and Sir Rudyard and one more knights walked along.

We started walking and I noticed Rune quietly following behind. He seemed quite out of it, even when Dad was telling us the story Rune seemed like he was distracted.

"Brother?" I called making him look at me and I stretched my hand to him.

"Come along."

Rune smiled before he held my hand and we made our way down the grassy path.

There were quite a good number of people who seemed to be enjoying the spectacular views and even some lovers who were whispering and giggling.

"Where should we sit?" I asked as I noticed the number of good spots already been taken.

"Come, I know a nice place with a good view." Dad said with a smile and we followed him.

Dad led us up the hill straying from the trail, I didn’t question him as he seemed pretty confident in where he was leading us.

"Your Grace, we have far strayed from the trail, is this the right way?" Sir Rudyard ended up asking.

"Yes," Dad replied without any hesitation.

"But..."

"You don’t seem to trust our way of leading the path, Sir Rudyard." I spoke up making him purse his lips.

"I-I’m sorry, My Lady."

The last time he had come with us was when I was leading them towards the Dragon’s lair, even then he was wary of me leading since they had gotten lost multiple times earlier. His persistent poking irked me at that time and I snapped at him, I guess he was thinking I might get angry with him again.

"It’s fine even if we get lost," I said and looked at him, "we will end up finding a way back."

Sir Rudyard looked at me for a moment before he released a light sigh and smiled.

"I understand, My Lady."

"Good."

After walking for a few more minutes, Dad came to a stop at the end of the treeline, I could see everyone’s eyes turned into saucers while I couldn’t help but feel as if we’d been transported to the eden garden.

There lay in front of us a small garden with beautiful wildflowers blooming everywhere painting the green canvas with the spashes of bold, vivid and soft colors. The wind carried the scent of grass and the flowers making Dad look at us with a self-satisfied expression.

"Didn’t I tell you I know a good place?"

"This might be the best place on this Isle." I said as I walked ahead.

Dad and Rune followed behind. The blanket was spread out under the shade of a large tree and the servant placed the picnic basket to set up our lunch.

I removed my shoes and sat down leisurely feeling relaxed, it was turning out to be one of the best days of my life.

"This place is so nice, I want to stay here." I mumbled.

Dad chuckled and placed his hand over my head, "I knew you’d love this place."

I smiled and then noticed the silence from Rune’s side. He was unusually silent and slowly it was starting to make me worry.

"Big brother, why don’t we go and make some flower wreaths?" I spoke up making Rune flinch as if he was dragged out of his reverie and then looked at me and Dad.

"Huh? Sure!" He put on a smile and I stood up followed by him.

We walked up to the wild flowers and I sat down plucking the grass before coiling them into a circle. Rune sat beside me doing his work and I couldn’t help but notice as how he grew quiet again.

I started placing flowers over the coiled grass and then looked at Rune who had stopped working, he was staring off in a distance.

"Big brother?" I called and he flinched turning his gaze on me.

"Yes? I’m making a beautiful crown for you Reina!" He summoned another fake grin.

"Are you perhaps hiding something from me ?" I asked.

"Huh? Nothing, nothing at all! What would I hide from you?" His voice had turned high-pitched and he was laughing awkwardly as he quickly turned away and made himself busy with making the flower wreath.

I was done before him so, I started making another one. Rune was hiding something and it was serious, if it made him zone out from family time then it was hella serious.

He wasn’t the kind to hide stuff from me but there was a time when he did it. It was at the time when I had suggested that we go and investigate the mine which was used to trap our father in debt but thinking that I was too young and weak for it, Rune had taken it upon himself to go on his own by lying to me.

Even now, if he was using a lie then it meant that he was trying to hide something specifically from me. Considering from Dad’s and everyone else’s actions it seemed like nobody else knew about it.

It was only something that Rune was keeping to himself and that something was eating at him from the inside.

But what could it be? Was he having some trouble with some other person? Was someone bullying him? Or, worst case scenario, was someone on my tail? Highly unlikely as it was, it wasn’t impossible. If someone knew where to look then they would find traces of the seemingly perfect crime so, it would also be obvious that someone might have stumbled upon something and Rune might just be targetted for information.

My brain was storming up with possibilities when I felt a soft weight of something rest over my head and I touched the thing before turning to look at Rune.

"Wow, you look like an angel, Reina!" He gasped covering his mouth with his hands.

I chuckled a little making a mental note to rechecking everything and also getting my people to keep an eye on everyone that was around Rune before I lifted the flower crown in my hand and placed it over his head.

"Hm, now what should I call you?" I wondered aloud with a smile.

"Ah, I know Prince of Flowers."

His face flushed red at my title and I chuckled before I picked up the second flower crown and rushing over to Dad.

"Oh, my! You two look so precious!"

I chuckled and placed the wreath over Dad’s head making him touch it tentatively.

"You made one for me too?"

"Yes, and you look quite nice in it."

Dad chuckled a little before we decided to have some lunch. The maids had packed all kinds of sandwiches along with drinks and other snacks.

My first ever family picnic seemed to be the best memory of my life.

[Giver of Gifts says you will have more of such wonderful memories in future.]

"Is that a premonition?"

[Giver of Gifts says it’s a wish.]

"Heh, thanks."

We finished our lunch in no time and sat for a while enjoying the serene natural beauty that lay before us.

"Why don’t we go see the view that we were here for?" Dad suggested and I recalled the purple roses that we were actually here for.

"It’s fine even if we don’t see them, I’m stuffed and this place is so nice and peaceful that I feel like I will have a good nap." I said stretching my arms above my head.

Dad laughed, "Now, now, you can’t just not see those beautiful flowers that I proposed your mother with, now can you, Reina?"

"Ah, if it’s that then, I guess we all need to go."

Dad led us back down the other path and surprisingly enough we spotted a large manor covered by the climber plants with a distinctive scent in the air.

"It smells really nice." Rune breathed.

"That’s the special scent of the purple roses." Dad answered as he led us further closer to the manor and we could see the crowd of people already there.

"There’s a lot of people here." I muttered.

"Well, it’s the only place where the violet roses bloom so, it’s bound to be crowded." Dad said.

"Keep holding my hand and don’t get swept away though."

I felt both my hands being clutched from either sides, one by Dad and other by Rune.

We walked past the crowd of people who were chattering and moving about and before I knew it we were in front of the small part of the garden which was filled with the flowers I’d never seen before.

The rich color and the scent wafting in the air made it all too surreal to see, the flowers that bloomed only in that small section of the garden.

The purple flowers that were the symbol of undying love.

The sudden dizziness hit me and my vision swam. The purple roses disappeared from before my eyes and I saw the figures glitching in my mind’s eye before I returned to my senses.