Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 242: Can seeds from long ago also bloom?
Standing in the herb garden again, there were still green grass, flowers and floating magical lights on the hill, but the old and majestic oak tree was gone. There was only a sunken pit left in its place as proof of her existence. The brown mudstones were full of traces of her roots crawling and spreading, but were gradually covered by petals scattered by the wind, like a tomb burying a noble soul.

Olvera stood in front of the pit, imagining that in the past, there was an oak tree growing here, with its lush branches supporting a cool shade. On the mottled trunk of the tree, there were rough grooves left by past memories. Birds would bring seeds when they stopped, and animals would leave footprints when they passed by. In spring, she saw flowers blooming and watched the swallows return; in summer, she bathed in the warm sun, and the sunlight was gentle and bright; in autumn, she saw branches full of fallen leaves, covering the mountains and fields; in winter, she began to think about whether she had seen a whistling snowstorm at a certain moment and place... The life of a tree is so plain, always circulating in limited memories, but she jumped out of such a boundary, left the land where she originally grew up, and traveled thousands of mountains and rivers, desperately pursuing the figure in her dream.

Then the princess finally understood why she had always been so diligent in telling herself a story about how a tree could become a human being.

When a tree has obsession, it becomes a human.

When she was lost in thought, she suddenly felt a soft touch on her fingertips, as if the rain she had touched under the eaves in spring, or the wind she had felt on the hills in autumn, was also transmitted to her hands at this moment. The princess of Beman looked down in shock, and found that there was a flower beside her. The golden flower disk was like the sun, and it was stretching out two broad leaves, like a child reaching out his hand, holding her hand.

Not only this flower, there were many more magical herbs around that the princess did not recognize. At this moment, they all surrounded her, forming a circle. Although many of them had no eyes, Olivia felt that they were looking at her.

"This is……"

She was a little surprised, and Metien and Shemi, who followed not far away, were also surprised.

"Little Sun!" Xie Mi shouted, "Why are you here?"

The golden sunflower loosened its leaves, letting the princess's gentle touch escape from her palm. Then it turned around and replied in a childish and clear girl's voice, "I am originally an herb in the herb garden. Why can't I be here?"

It was not until Shemi introduced her that she came to her senses and realized that she was just hallucinating. She pursed her lips and greeted softly, "Hello, Miss Shesta."

"There's a familiar aura about you~" At the end, she tapped her lips with her slender fingers, a hint of doubt flashed across her eyes. She was sure that this was the first time she had seen this guest.

"Well!"

Miss Shesta, the proprietress of the Fairy Sleep Inn, came over with a rabbit-shaped watering can in her hand, smiling. The three pairs of transparent butterfly wings behind her fluttered slightly as she walked slowly. Her long, silver, soft hair fluttered in the wind, brushing against the black rose ribbon around her slender waist. Her temperament was elegant and warm, which actually startled Olivia for a moment. She thought she saw her teacher in a trance.

"Hello, beautiful guest." The proprietress was still a little unfamiliar with Ovella because she had not been in the lobby on the first floor before. At this time, she half-squinted her eyes and asked with a smile: "Are you Shemi and Medien's new friend? Do you mind telling me your name? I don't know why, I always feel that..."

"Well-"

Xie Mi was speechless for a moment, then shook his head violently after realizing what was happening. "No, no, what I'm asking is, why didn't we see you when we came in just now? The same goes for the other herbs. Where did you all go?"

"This is my eldest sister. Um, you can call her Miss Shesta, or... the boss lady is also OK?"

Little Sun was about to answer when suddenly everyone heard a light and relaxing voice: "Oh~ So everyone is here. Don't run around, I haven't finished spraying today's growth agent~"

They are very different in appearance, but seem to be exactly the same in some aspects.

"Because Olvera is Mrs. Tree's student, big sister." Before the princess could think of how to answer, Shemy said to her sister in a matter-of-fact tone: "That's why you feel familiar with her."

Although no one has ever stipulated that students must be very similar to their teachers in temperament or character, somehow people have unanimously accepted this as if it were an innate and unchangeable truth.

Olvera didn't answer, which was considered as tacit agreement. "I see." Shesta suddenly realized: "I was wondering why everyone kept surrounding Miss Olvera. It turns out that they sensed the breath of the tree lady from you. I was spraying the growth agent on them just now, and suddenly you ran over without saying a word. I was really shocked~"

Even though she was startled, her smiling face didn't show any surprise at all. Instead, it seemed like she was happy to see it happen, or... had planned it all along?
“Sorry.” Avella heard that she had disturbed other people’s work, and quickly bowed her head to apologize: “I didn’t expect this to happen. I’m really sorry for delaying your work…”

"It's okay~ Because they are all herbs cultivated by Madam Shu herself, so it is normal to feel close to her and her students. In fact, I am also very happy that Madam Shu's students are willing to come here. Oh, by the way~" She seemed to remember something, put down the watering can in her hand, and snapped her fingers gracefully and lightly, and the void beside her twisted, and ripples like water surface emerged.

The proprietress reached her hand into the ripples and fumbled for a while. When she took it out, there was an exquisite and antique little wooden box in her palm. She then handed the box to Ovella.

"Hey, do you want to give it to me?" The princess was caught off guard and didn't know whether to reach out to take it or refuse.

"It's not for you~" Shesta said with a smile, "This is originally yours, right? Or rather, it's something that Madam Shu left behind before she left. She asked me to find a suitable owner for it. I've been having a headache about this recently, but after seeing you, I seem to know who the 'suitable owner' she was talking about is."

As soon as she heard that it was something left by the teacher, Ovilla's original intention to refuse disappeared immediately. She reached out to take the box, held it in her palm, and saw that its mottled wood texture bore traces of many years, the kind of traces left by stroking and rubbing every tiny scratch with fingers, as if the original owner often took it out to stare at it, and his skinny and old fingertips unconsciously stroked it, leaving such traces.

Ovella suddenly became a little nervous, wondering what the teacher would leave for her. Under the warm gaze of the boss lady, the encouraging eyes of Shemi and Metien, and the silent gaze of the little sun and all the magic herbs, she slowly opened the lid of the wooden box, and then saw many seeds.

"These are violet seeds."

Shesta's voice echoed in my ears, sometimes near and sometimes far away: "Mrs. Tree said that she wanted to plant them a long time ago, but she never found the opportunity. Now she doesn't know if they can still sprout. If someone wants to plant them, give them to that person and tell her that since she likes them, she should find a way to make them survive and break the soil. Then... you can see how beautiful this world is."

"Miss Olvera," her crystal blue eyes reflected the princess' stunned expression, as if she wanted to gaze into her heart. Without the previous leisurely and casual attitude, she asked word by word: "Do you believe that seeds planted long ago can sprout and bloom?"

At this moment, the princess' mind vaguely recalled a scene from long ago: she stood in a courtyard full of violets, and saw the petals falling like raindrops from the branches, drowning the grasshoppers and ants under the tree. She deeply inhaled the deadly and charming sweet breath, and felt confused and at a loss for what to do with the familiar scene before her. At that time, the teacher told her: That was your previous life.

So, could these seeds from long ago be older than the previous life?
She figured out something, and a knot in her heart was quietly untied by a person who had long since left in the most gentle way in the world. So she quietly closed the box again, then looked up at the proprietress and answered in a very serious tone: "I want to plant them, and I want them to sprout and bloom."

Because, who said that seeds from a long time ago cannot bloom?

Hearing this answer, the boss lady's eyebrows curved into crescents, and she was happy from the bottom of her heart. She was happy that she had lived up to Mrs. Shu's trust, and perhaps she was also happy that Mrs. Shu had such a good student. Then, in the midst of Xie Mi's horrified and helpless expression, she slowly took out a delicate and small brass bell from her sleeve, raised it in front of everyone, and shook it gently.

Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!

The clear and pleasant sound of the bell spread not only throughout the herb garden, the entire underground garden, but also to the hotel lobby above ground, conveying the gentle call of the proprietress: "Everyone in the hotel -"

"To welcome Mrs. Shu's student, Ms. Olvera, to the hotel, to celebrate Mr. Ling's safe return, and to congratulate Shemi on the successful completion of his first journey in his life. Now -"

"Let's have a happy party~~~"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)