My Fiancée Hates Me
Chapter 97: Centaurea cyanus

When I returned to my seat, Erik arrived shortly afterwards.

"Did I make you wait long?" Erik asked.

"I just got here," I answered.

"Your posture is straighter than usual," Erik commented.

I could only laugh awkwardly at his comment.

Lunch ended rather quickly after Erik was called to escort foreign dignitaries soon after our meal together.

I thought it was good timing because I could literally feel a bruise in the shape of the book in my back.

When I returned home with the book again, I went to my room and sighed dismally as I took the book out of my dress.

The pain of having a book down my spine affected the natural curvature and brought me lasting aches. My mother stayed by my side and serenaded me with sweet poems while I had an anesthetic herb patch for my poor back.

I tried to resolute myself for the next chance I had which was two days later when Erik invited me again for afternoon tea. I waited for an opportunity to sneak into the Library when Garett was not looking. When the coast was presumably clear, I tried to make a run for it with the book in my hand.

I soon heard a loud smacking sound coming from outside of the Library.

My curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to scope the area. It was Garett standing in front of a woman a head shorter than him. She wore a simple dark green dress and had light brown hair in a braided bun. Garett's face was swollen on one side with a handprint on his face.

"... You are a disgrace," she said coldly before turning to leave.

I walked over with a freshly wet handkerchief.

"Use this over your cheek," I told him.

He quietly accepted my handkerchief and placed it against his cheek.

"... You have a terrible hobby of peeking," Garett complained.

A thank you would have been nice...

"Who was that?" I asked.

"My Mother," Garett said with a cold expression.

His Mother? They did not look anything alike.

"Does she often hit you?" I asked.

"...I do not think it is any of your business," Garett said coldly.

This coldness is normal for someone who dislikes me and favors efficacy. I should stop getting involved with him because I am with Erik, but most importantly, the other me broke this person's heart.

As her replacement, I cannot simply rectify their severed relationship on my own terms...

"...It is true that it is none of my business. Just throw away my handkerchief when you are done with it. No need to return it," I said as I turned to leave.

I came to a stop halfway on my way back to the spot of where I was meant to meet Erik.

I felt a prickling pain in my heart.

All of my current memories of Garett consisted of bittersweet memories. I argued with Garett, yelled at him, and often played pranks on him. Something about being treated coldly by this Garett made my heart ache.

I halted when I saw a familiar flower bundle on the ground beside me.

The Centauri flower was light blue with soft, frilly double blossoms with fringed light pink petals on the fringes and delicate light green feather foliage.

When my mother was ill, Erik sent one of these flowers every day to her room...Even on the day she was buried, this flower was placed on her corpse.

I kneeled down beside the flower and plucked the beautiful flower. I noticed a sweet apple like scent coming from it and attempted to smell it from closer, until I felt a cloth cover my entire nose and mouth. I dropped the flower in surprise from being pulled back and pressed against someone's hard chest.

I could not speak and could barely breathe with the man's hand and cloth pressed so firmly over my mouth.

"... You should not be smelling such dangerous flowers," Garett said as he released me.

"What do you mean by dangerous flowers? This is obviously a Centaurea cyanus," I said as I turned towards him.

"It may look like it, but it is a completely different plant species called Rudbeckia cyanus. The light blue almost water like color coupled with its fruity smell often attracts wild animals to eat it. Once ingested, it can cause vomiting, seizures, and then death. Smelling it from close quarters for an extended period of time can lead to the same effects of arsenic poisoning and possibly death," Garett explained. "Why would such a dangerous plant be planted here?" I asked.

"Queen Gaelle has a unique hobby of gathering strange plants that catch her eye," Garett answered.

Erik sent this flower to my mother every day when she was ill. My mother kept it on her nightstand in a thin glass vase all up to the day she died. The doctors could not explain why she was not getting better despite receiving the best treatment available at the time.

I grabbed the fallen flower and ran to replace Erik. I soon met him waiting for me at the location we agreed to meet.

"Arielle, you are finally here," Erik said with a bright smile. "You brought a flower too?"

"Do you remember this flower?" I asked.

"Of course! I sent it to your mother every day in our past lives when she was ill. I could not send it in this life because your family expressed that you would not be accepting any gifts from me until you were much older," Erik said.

For whatever reason, my other self and my family had refused any gifts from Erik ever since I was young in this life.

I thought it was incredibly strange...

If the other me knew that the flower was killing my mother, she would have stopped all access of Erik's presents as well.

My mother from this life contracted the same illness that took her life in our first lives. The only difference was that she beat the illness on her own with little medical intervention. It was strange in the first place for her to cold despite only getting a few colds every other year.

If the reason behind her mysterious death was because of a single flower...

"...What were you thinking back then when you chose this flower for my mother in our past lives?" I asked.

"Of course, I wanted her to get better, so I chose the prettiest flower I could. The colors brilliantly matched with your light blue eyes and pink hair," Erik said with an innocent smile.

He chose this flower because it had the same shades of my hair and eye color?

I do not want to think that childlike innocence caused the death of my own beloved mother...

"... You are always thinking of me," I said with upturned lips.

"If you brought the flower to me because you recalled good memories, I will be happy to accept it from you and put it on my nightstand," Erik said as he held out his hand.

I dropped the flower by my feet and quickly squished the flower under my heels.

"...I am sorry. I accidentally stepped on it," I said.

"You do not have to be sorry. I actually feel sorrier that I could not prevent your shoe from getting dirty," Erik said.

"...Erik, I actually do not like this flower at all."

When I looked up the name of the flower in the book, I still had with me, I found the flower quite easily because Garett told me the correct name. The flower was very similar to the harmless Centaurea cyanus, but the soil conditions and where it was founded was from a very dangerous forest filled with many poisonous plants.

The book I had with the me was a very rare book containing beautiful and rare poisonous plants that looked similar to common plants.

It is not Erik's fault that he did not know that the flower was poisonous when we were younger. If there is anyone that could have tricked a child into sending a poisonous flower to a Duchess, there is only one person I could think of who would have any resentment towards my mother...Queen Gaelle.

I should have burned her entire garden down...00