Chapter : 208

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Risa sat on the little wooden bench in the middle of the garden, her feet bare and dangling above the soft green moss that covered the floor. Her simple white dress was slightly rumpled, and her long hair was a little messy from lying on the grass earlier. She was hugging her stuffed teddy bear with both arms, pressing it against her chest as if it was the only thing keeping her from floating away. Her bright green eyes were fixed on the glass ceiling, watching the clouds drift lazily across the sky outside. The clouds were free. The clouds could go anywhere. The clouds were not stuck inside a mansion day after day after day.

"I am bored," Risa whispered to her teddy bear. "Very, very bored."

The teddy bear did not respond, being a teddy bear, but Risa nodded as if it had agreed with her. She looked around the garden. It was beautiful, of course. She had made it beautiful herself, unintentionally, because her plant magic made flowers bloom wherever she sat for too long. The garden was full of vibrant colors: red roses, blue hydrangeas, yellow sunflowers, and tiny white daisies that sprouted in the spaces between the stone path like confetti on a birthday floor. It smelled wonderful, like a mix of honey and fresh rain. It was the most beautiful room in the entire estate.

And Risa was completely, utterly, terribly sick of it.

She loved the garden. She really did. But she had been staring at the same flowers for weeks. She had named all of them. The tall sunflower in the corner was Mr. Sunny. The cluster of blue hydrangeas near the fountain was the Splash Sisters. The tiny daisy that grew between the cracks in the stone path was Little Dot. She had talked to all of them, sung to all of them, and even read them a bedtime story once, which she was fairly sure they enjoyed. But flowers, no matter how lovely, were not very good conversationalists. They just stood there, being pretty and quiet, and Risa needed more than pretty and quiet.

She wanted to go outside. She wanted to see the city. She wanted to hear the noise of the market, the shouting of the vendors, the laughter of children playing in the streets. She wanted to smell the street food, the kind that Ken always talked about with that dreamy, faraway look in his eyes, the kind that probably tasted amazing and definitely was not good for you. She wanted to feel the cobblestones under her bare feet and the sun on her face without a glass ceiling in the way.

But every time she asked, the answer was always the same. "It is not safe, Risa." "Your magic is too unstable, Risa." "What if you get scared and the plants go out of control, Risa?" She understood why they worried. She really did. The last time she had gotten truly frightened, an entire hallway had turned into a jungle in under ten seconds, and Zinia had to punch through a wall of vines just to get to the kitchen. It was not Risa's fault. Her magic was tied to her emotions, and her emotions were tied to everything, and sometimes everything was just too much.

But today, the boredom was worse than the fear. The cabin fever had reached a breaking point. Risa hugged her teddy bear tighter, took a deep breath, and marched out of the garden with a determination that surprised even the flowers.

She found Princess Iris in the study, reading a stack of documents that looked thicker than Risa's entire arm. Iris looked up as the small girl appeared in the doorway, and something in Risa's big, pleading green eyes must have been particularly powerful, because Iris set down her pen immediately.

"What is it, Risa?" Iris asked gently.

"Princess," Risa said, and her voice was small but very, very earnest. "I would like to go to the city market. Please. I have been very good. I have not made any extra plants in the hallway for three whole days. I promise I will not get scared. I just want to see the outside. Just for a little while. Please."

Iris looked at her for a long time. She saw the boredom in Risa's eyes, the restlessness, the desperate need to be somewhere that was not here. And she softened, because Iris knew what it felt like to be trapped, even in a beautiful place. She had felt it her whole life, trapped by the rules of the Succession War, trapped by the weight of her bloodline, trapped by expectations she never asked for. If anyone understood Risa's desire to simply walk outside and be free, it was her.

"Alright," Iris said. "But on two conditions. Ken will carry the shopping bags. And Ira will go with you as a bodyguard. She will make sure nothing stresses you out. If you feel even a tiny bit upset, you tell Ira immediately, and you come straight home. Do you understand?"

Risa's face lit up like the sun breaking through the clouds. She nodded so hard that her hair bounced. "I understand! I promise! Thank you, Princess!"

She ran down the hallway to find Ken, her bare feet slapping against the wooden floor, the flowers in the indoor garden blooming behind her in a trail of joyful colors as she passed.

---

Finding Ken was not difficult. He was exactly where he always was at this time of day: lying on the couch in the living room, one arm draped over his face to block out the light, the other hand resting on a bag of chips that had already been emptied. The television was on, but he was clearly not watching it. He was in that beautiful, peaceful state between waking and sleeping that he valued more than gold.

"Ken!" Risa called out, shaking his arm. "Wake up! We are going to the market! Princess Iris said so!"

Ken groaned. It was the deep, heartfelt groan of a man being asked to do the one thing he hated most in the world: move. "The market," he repeated, as if the word was a curse. "That means... walking. And carrying things. And being around people." He removed his arm from his face just enough to peek at Risa with one sleepy eye. "Is there any way I can get out of this?"

"No," Risa said firmly, and she grabbed his hand with both of hers and pulled. Ken's body was surprisingly heavy for someone who looked like a strong breeze could knock him over, but Risa had determination on her side, and determination was stronger than laziness. Well, most of the time. Today it was, at least.

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