This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 199

Second Year Stories

Ellie brushed away her nonsensical thoughts. She introduced Zoey to Wint to ensure that if they ever faced tough situations, she could rely on his strength. After all, he wasn’t entirely a bad person. Besides, playing the role of a knight protecting the weak was something Wint was quite good at.

Of course, Ellie didn’t expect that this introduction would lead to chaos later on. She never imagined that Wint would transform her straightforward junior into the “Knightess” alongside him as the “Knight” of the Ares Kingdom. Eventually, their roles as guardians of Duchess Ellie would become widely known to the public, though Ellie remained unaware of it.

At this moment, it was only the beginning of the trouble. Ellie gently patted Zoey on the back. No matter what, the young girl was still a junior. Getting to know Wint would benefit her more. Even if he liked to play the fool, Wint was actually quite smart. If problems arose...he would help out as a knight, just like the first time they met when Wint stepped in to help her and Nara during their orientation day.

“M-My name is Zoey. P-please take care of me.”

“What’s with that!? As a future knight, how can you sound so timid? You must...”

“Let’s go. Don’t pay him too much attention,” Ellie sighed, seeing Wint tease her junior. The red-haired young man smirked slightly, not letting the two girls slip away. He quickly followed them to the dining hall.

Ellie decided to book a private room, although she initially wanted to eat with everyone else. But when people saw her, they swarmed around to greet her, some even bowing. Some went as far as to try and ingratiate themselves. Realizing that having a quiet meal with her junior was impossible, Ellie finally understood why the noble children preferred private dining rooms. They wanted to avoid all this commotion!

She successfully booked a room. As “Duchess Ellie,” there wasn’t any room she couldn’t choose. After paying a few gold coins, she finally got some peace.

“I’ll have this and this,” Ellie ordered her food, then looked at the stiff Zoey.

“Do you want anything special?”

“N-no, I’m full.”

“Is that so? Then I’ll have another set like mine.”

“Make that 3 sets,” Wint, who sat observing, chimed in, knowing that if he didn’t speak up, Ellie would continue to act like she didn’t see him.

“S-Senior, I... I...” Zoey hesitated. She wanted to ask what was happening to her. Why was she suddenly brought to this luxurious dining room that required gold coins to book? And why did her senior order extra food for her? She trembled with fear and anxiety, unable to comprehend what was happening!!

Moreover, the most troubling thing that had stuck in her mind since the beginning was the term “Duchess Ellie.” What about that term? Why were people addressing her scholarship senior with such respect? Other seniors had told her to keep a low profile and not draw attention, so why...

Zoey really didn’t understand. She didn’t understand anything, not even when the fragrant dish with premium meat was placed in front of her. Ever since she was born, nothing had made sense. The most confusing thing was...what kind of meat was this? Why did its aroma make her mouth water!?

"Eat up. I’m treating you as your senior.”

“B-but...”

“You! When Duchess Ellie offers you a meal, why aren’t you thanking her yet?” Wint scolded, his voice stern, making Zoey flinch. Her hands trembled before she quickly thanked Ellie as Wint had ordered.

Ellie wasn’t sure if introducing Zoey to Wint was the right decision, but seeing Zoey slowly nibble at the food in front of her, as if afraid that this delicious food would vanish quickly, and trying to muffle her own sounds of enjoyment, she could only sigh deeply.

If it weren’t for Wint’s reprimand, perhaps...Ellie might have had to say several more sentences before the little girl would start eating. To say it correctly...Wint seemed to know how to handle such timid girls quite well.

The meal ended quickly. Wint took Zoey for training after Ellie mentioned she would rest in her room. Of course, Ellie didn’t fully trust Wint, but seeing him casually hand over a valuable cultivation manual suited for users of earth elemental power to Zoey, she decided to let it be.

It was clear Wint wasn’t selfish; he only wanted to ensure his family, the Femon family, prospered. Even if he had to become a servant to a girl or use resources to cultivate someone who could benefit his Femon family in the future, he wouldn’t hesitate.

Wint had vowed to make Zoey a knightess for Ellie, now titled as a duchess, while he would be her knight. He genuinely intended to do so, which benefited the naive Zoey as well.

After receiving the expensive cultivation techniques from Wint, Zoey became completely loyal to him. To put it right...Wint knew how to pick his allies. He also knew who should be dealt with, like when he didn’t choose Nara, even though he knew that she was from the same village as Ellie, because he knew Nara would be harder to manage. Zoey, on the other hand, was easily read.

Well...Ellie decided to let them handle their own affairs. She had many tasks to focus on in her second year.

One hand held a magical crystal for continuous absorption, while the other wrote down events to avoid forgetting. From the story she had read, after meeting the 3 main characters in the first year—Lucien the Sage, Wint the knight, and Demon Aman the number one noble—in the second year, she would meet another hero, “Prince Jason,” now entering his third year. He was also Duchess Vida’s fiancé.

From the constant clashes, Nara, with her stubborn nature, found it especially hard to accept anything related to social hierarchy. She firmly believed that respect should be based on an individual’s abilities rather than the family they were born into. This fundamental difference in thinking led to frequent conflicts between the heroine and the villainess.

In her second year, the heroine met the prince, Duchess Vida’s fiancé. Their animosity was apparent from the start, further souring Nara’s view of the prince. She assumed the prince was the same, like Duchess Vida, looked down on people of lower social status, so she made up her mind to hate the prince. Because of Nara’s attitude, the prince, who had always been revered, began to take an interest in her.

He found annoying the heroine to be amusing—a slightly sadistic trait of his. He had always been surrounded by people who approached him for their own benefit and never criticized him even if he made a mistake. The heroine was the only one who treated him as he was, not as a prince, and wasn’t afraid to reprimand him when he did something wrong. This made him see her as the only person who was genuinely honest with him.

The story often depicted the prince secretly visiting Nara through the window of her dormitory. Nara’s room, with its corner window, allowed a view of the dormitory for the upper-class students. The prince, too, had a room that overlooked the scholarship students’ dormitory. He frequently spied on the beautiful and lively Nara in her room, unguarded and unlike the high-born. Sometimes, he would even tease her by wandering around her dorm room.

Putting aside the romantic aspects, what was interesting was how these conflicts intensified the rivalry between Nara and Vida. Duchess Vida, seeing her fiancé paying too much attention to a girl of lower status, grew increasingly jealous. Over time, Duchess Vida’s behavior eventually became more erratic and aggressive, often targeting those who couldn’t fight back. Initially revered, Duchess Vida’s reputation began to tarnish as she acted more like a lowly bully.

The Jarlon family, knew about the significant girl’s troubles and the instability of her engagement, could not tolerate this. Thus, they requested the emperor to punish the prince. Under pressure from such a powerful family, the emperor had no choice but to comply. He punished his son by sending him to the Tower of Eternity, tasked with retrieving a treasure from the 2nd floor.

Prince Jason and his follower, Ryker Recres, ventured into the Tower of Eternity. But when the heroine, Nara, learned about this, she begged Aman to take her to the 2nd floor of the tower as well. She wanted to help the prince who had ended up in trouble because of her, although at that time, Nara had yet to realize her feelings for the prince had blossomed into love.

Throughout their constant bickering, Nara and the prince came to understand their true feelings for each other when they faced danger on the 2nd floor of the tower. They both sacrificed themselves to ensure the other’s safety, revealing their feelings during these life-and-death moments. Aman realized he was less significant in Nara’s heart, leading to his dramatic scene once the prince and Nara returned safely, thanks to Nara’s exceptional power at the last moment.

Aman distanced himself from Nara, convincing himself she was merely someone who had helped him when he was injured and had also saved his brother. However, Nara noticed Aman’s absence from her life and felt a deep sadness, which even the prince could sense. Not wanting Nara to remain sad, the prince confronted Aman, resulting in a duel.

In terms of sheer strength, Aman, who had trained rigorously, would undoubtedly defeat the prince, who had been pampered all his life. However, seeing the prince on the verge of losing, Nara screamed in despair, which left Aman no choice but to pretend to lose. This event concluded with...Aman’s defeat. And he was also defeated by his own feelings.

The 3 reconciled, with Aman choosing to step back and let the prince take his place. Nonetheless, he promised to remain by Nara’s side, even if he could not have her for himself...

Ah...From this storyline, it appeared quite tragic, but it also brought a lot of headaches. Ellie reviewed the story again, assessing the likelihood of Aman, the so-called vicious demon, doing everything to ensure Nara’s happiness by sacrificing himself. Just seeing the word "sacrifice" made Ellie feel it was uncharacteristic of Aman.

Despite the novel describing it that way, Ellie felt it would make more sense if it were described like this...

Aman enjoyed seeing the prince in trouble because the Setter family no longer needed help from the royal family. Previously, the royal family had exploited the Setter family endlessly. This grudge was enough for Aman to want to enter the tower and watch the prince coughed up blood with his own eyes.

Therefore, he took Nara to the tower as she requested but let the two fend for themselves. He did not help them, even though if Aman had stepped in, dealing with the beasts on the 2nd floor would not have been too much of a challenge.

Seeing Nara’s immense strength, Young Lord Aman, who refused to let anyone surpass him, disappeared to train himself. This behavior was consistent with his reaction to seeing his brother pull ahead; he secluded himself to train in the tower obsessively, only reemerging when he was satisfied or when something significant happened.

When the prince spoke with Aman, he challenged him to a duel to demonstrate their difference in ability. However, Aman did not intend to truly win the duel. Near the end of the fight, he pretended to make a mistake and lose, even though both he and the prince knew who was really stronger.

This, Ellie thought, was the reality of what happened. If Aman truly loved the heroine of the story, he would never let her go to someone else. Given his cunning nature, Aman could have made Nara fall deeply in love with him before she even met the prince. But he chose not to.

Therefore, speaking realistically, Aman probably felt gratitude toward Nara for helping his greatly respected brother but did not feel love or a desire to possess her. The fact that Aman allowed Nara to become the prince’s lover was clear enough, wasn’t it?

Certainly, whatever storyline was, it wasn’t very interesting, but the problem lay in...the prince’s appearance. Whether the Jarlon family would pressure the royal family as in the story even if Duchess Vida hadn’t been slandered, or if Aman and the prince might really challenge each other for a duel, was not the main concern. The biggest worry for Ellie was “her identity as Luke.”

If the prince discovered this truth, the secret of the hunter "Luke" could be exposed! Therefore, using the novel’s storyline, Ellie could avoid encountering this noble figure.

At the very least, meeting Professor Gwen would not be beneficial for Ellie, as Professor Gwen was the main mentor of the prince himself...

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