I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 107

The day was still bright after I mailed the letter. A few merchants came out and swept the snow off their storefronts.

I strolled down the street, greeting them occasionally.

 

The sky was so clear that somehow it felt like a waste to stay inside.

 

“There’s nothing else to buy in the house.”

I muttered to myself wistfully and finally stopped in front of a shop. It was a bookstore selling books and newspapers.

I looked at the books on the shelves with interest. 

 

‘I could read as many books as I wanted in the Duke’s castle, but there’s a difference between borrowing them and buying them.’

“Oh, let’s see if Estella and I can find something to read together. She likes to read too.”

I thought, and then I looked at the calendar in the window.

It was March 5 in just a few more days. Estella’s eighteenth birthday, the day she becomes an adult.

“I almost forgot!”

I exclaimed in hindsight.

“This time I’ll get her a proper present.”

Remembering that I hadn’t brought anything for Julian’s birthday banquet, I pumped my fist, determined not to make a mistake this time.

‘Perhaps the duke’s castle would start preparing for the banquet soon. The birthday and coming-of-age of the one and only princess is a very important occasion, and I’m sure Jeremiah is preparing with great care.’

‘Speaking of which, Jeremiah has seemed a little tired lately. I’d be happy to help with Estella’s birthday party.’

“He doesn’t think it’s my business? Maybe he thinks it’s his family business, his sister’s business, and he should do it all himself.”

I shook my head and walked into the bookstore, feeling a little sorry for Jeremiah for not doing more.

“First, I must find a gift for Estella!”

 

As I pushed open the door to the bookstore, a clear bell rang, causing the bookseller, who was dozing off at the counter, to jump up angrily.

 

“Uh, welcome home!”

‘Well, that’s what he does when business is slow.’

As a fellow self-employed business owner, I sympathized with his frustration, smiled at him to let him know it was okay, and started browsing the shelves.

‘I don’t think there’s much point in looking for specialized books, since she can find them in castles. They’re borrowed for me, but not for Estella. Ah, let’s look at fiction books.’

As I browsed through the newer fiction titles, I stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted a familiar picture.

“This…”

A complete collection of fairy tales with a familiar cover. I picked it up. 

 

‘I remembered when I found this in Jeremiah’s room…’

“I bet it’s still there, right?”

I smirked and opened the book. The familiar words and illustrations flashed by.

 

One fairy tale in particular stood out. The story of a princess and a stranger in a winter castle. It was the one I had read to Jeremiah.

‘I used to think the princess in this one looked like Estella.’

I turned the last page of the story with a wistful longing and ran my hand over the illustrations.

 

The princess is smiling beautifully in her winter castle in the spring.

The bookstore owner, who had been sneaking a peek at the book I was holding, interrupted me.

“Do you know that the flower in there is a real flower?”

My eyes widened at his sudden question. The bookstore owner was pointing to the rose in the illustration that the stranger was offering to the princess.

“It’s called an aurora rose.”

“An aurora rose?”

“It’s called that because it blooms under the Northern Lights. It’s said to bloom once every fifty years, and sometimes people have actually seen it. They’ve been up there in the mountains.”

He pointed to the pure white mountains beyond the window.

“They say it blooms so beautifully in the freezing cold that they give it as a gift to someone so noble and precious, like the stranger gave it to the princess.”

“I see…”

 

“In some places, a scene from a fairy tale is actually reenacted, and when I think of it that way, I wonder if the world we live in is also a story.”

I gave a subtle smile at his words. 

 

‘He doesn’t realize that what he’s saying is true. This world is a story, yes. In the novel Estella saw…’

I closed the storybook.

“If this world is a story, I wonder if we all have a role to play.”

“Maybe, but I don’t think we need to put too much meaning into it.”

“Why?”

“Because that could change as long as the story continues, and it could change depending on whose point of view you’re telling the story from.”

“…Yes.”

“The stranger in that story might be a dear friend to the princess, but from the king’s point of view, he might be seen as a rascal who covets his daughter. If the story didn’t end there, the stranger might marry the princess and become a warrior and defeat evil.”

As he continued, the bookseller smiled, somewhat sheepishly, as if he thought he’d been too cheerful.

I laughed along with him and held out the complete set of fairy tales.

 

“Would you mind checking this out for me?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Ever since that trip to the bookstore, I’ve been thinking about the Northern Lights Rose.

A rose that blooms under the Northern Lights once every fifty years. A flower that blooms beautifully even in the bitter cold of winter. And the idea of giving it to someone so noble and precious.

It was perfect. I wanted to give it to Estella.

‘Because she’s a princess.’

 

A lovely princess with a heart of ice and a pretty flower. I would be a stranger and give her the flowers, and spring would come to this winter castle. Just like a fairy tale ending.

Or maybe it’s meant to remind Estella, as an adult, to keep blooming no matter what…

“Oh, I want an aurora borealis rose!”

I stared out the window at the mountain I could see, because I had heard that some people had found Northern Lights roses on a nearby mountain.

‘Think I could climb that mountain? If it only happens once every 50 years, I have to time it right,’ I thought.

Despite the fact that I was sighing heavily in many ways… I decided to give it a try.

‘Yeah, let’s do it. I don’t know anything until I try.’ I balled my fists and made up my mind.

“What’s on your mind?”

Jeremiah, who was sitting across from me, said. I pulled myself together and looked at him.

“Uh, what’s wrong with my expression?”

“Suspicious.”

“Will you stop treating me like I’m an accident?”

I gave him a sour look, and he snorted and went back to his work. Several sheets of paper were scattered on the table.

Jeremiah’s hand, clutching a pen, hovered over them busily. I stayed still so as not to disturb him, then spoke softly.

 

“You’re organizing a banquet for Estella’s birthday, right?”

“Yes. I’ve got to pick out the people to send invitations to.”

“Should I just stay out?”

Jeremiah stopped writing at my question and stared at me, his gaze so intense that I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and opened my mouth to speak.

 

“You seem to think I’m a distraction, and I could help with Estella’s birthday preparations…”

I quickly shut my mouth, but Jeremiah had already heard everything I had to say. He raised a brow.

He smirked, and then asked in a low voice.

“Is that why you were upset, because I didn’t say anything to you?”

 

“No, because it’s Estella’s business, and I can’t…”

“Then I’ll tell you, you’re the problem.”

Jeremiah pointed the tip of his pen at me.

“If you want to say it, you can say it, but you’re thinking too much. You can’t even see what’s in your head.”

“No, I just wanted to… see if the Duke would be offended if I interrupted.”

“Vanessa, I don’t know what makes you think I’m so narrow-minded.”

Jeremiah clicked his tongue in frustration. I started to argue with him, but stopped.

‘But the old Jeremiah would have agreed with me. The Jeremiah before he had a crush on me, the one who drew a clear line in the sand and kept his cool.’

I thought back to the first time I saw him, and then looked at the Jeremiah in front of me again. I realized that he was a completely different man now than he was then.

“When you become a duchess, you’ll be able to ask me to join you without worrying about that.”