“Well, they’re all names of those maids!”
“──True, however! What’s the origin behind the names?”
Johann roared back that there was no way he could know that. Though he might have been the one who made them, he was not the one who named them.
“Head Maid, have you heard anything about the origin of our names?” Sela asked.
“No, from what I’ve heard, our names were given by His Majesty for our protection,” Stella said.
“All of them are common names for women in Earthgant, so there’s no specific origin… Princess?” Frau said.
“…”
While Stella and Frau said that there should be no particular meaning behind their names, one person remained silent.
That person was none other than the Earthgant princess, whose face had turned slightly pale. She had arrived at the correct answer.
In the modern age, those names were considered common, so she had thought that it was just a coincidence, but with how the boy’s questions continued to revolve around Princess Filia, she couldn’t help but begin to suspect, and at last, she realized how he intended to ‘defeat’ Johann.
“…”
“…The eleven flowers(daughters) of Filia, is that right?” Lilisha said.
“Bingo!” Shinichi said.
“W-What!? But Filia has no children!” Johann said.
Johann reacted strongly to that, while Lilisha, his great-granddaughter, hesitated for a moment before proceeding to explain about the “Eleven Flowers of Filia.”
“Great Aunt lived a short life, but she left behind many achievements in magical pharmacology. One of which was the discovery of many new species of plants, all of which would later become valuable basic materials in the field. She also developed new medicines using them.
In honor of her achievements and the fact that she was the one that named those flowers, those flowers came to be known as the ‘Eleven Flowers of Filia’ (Daughters of Filia).”
Though she could neither marry nor bear children, those flowers were found by her, named by her, and brought to prominence by her. That’s why it is said that those flowers were just like her daughters.
“Now that she mentions it…” One of the maids said.
“I did think our names appeared a lot when concocting stuff, but who would have thought there would actually be such a story behind our names.”
“So that’s where our names came from, huh.”
The people of Earthgant revered the princess, and the names of the flowers quickly became popular.
There were many people that were saved because of the discovery of those elven flowers, and there were many people who wanted to name their descendants after the princess in remembrance of her; however, it felt inappropriate to use the princess’s real name, so they used the names of the eleven flowers instead, leading to the names’ popularity.
The term Eleven Flowers of Filia was actually a jargon of sort and was known only to those that studied magical pharmacology in-depth. Moreover, one might be inclined to think that it wasn’t too strange for Johann not to make the connection, but… There was a reason that Johann should have made that connection immediately upon seeing the names lined up.
“But that’s after Filia died! There’s no way I could have known that!” Johann said.
“Oh, yes, the term ‘Eleven Flowers’ was indeed coined only after Great Aunt’s passing. However, if the stories handed down are to be believed, some of those flowers were actually discovered by her father.
They say that the princess and her father, the king – that’s you, King Johann – discovered them together. And in fact, you were the one who conducted the evaluation and certification needed for their announcement as new species and new medicines!”
“…What?”
That’s why there was no way for him to not know the answer. He had discovered those flowers with his beloved daughter, strictly evaluated them as a king, and announced them under her name. That was a fact recorded in history.
For the king, who was known to dote upon his daughter, to not remember something so significant could only be described to be extremely abnormal.
“Ah, y-yes, I remember… Yes, such a thing did happen… But why… Where did I find them and what did I name them?!”
As Johann realized how full of holes his memories were, he began to mutter to himself repeatedly, ‘why’ and ‘how’…
“B-But why would Father give those names to Stella and the others… Was it just because the numbers matched?” Lilisha said.
“Well, who knows for sure? If I had to wager a guess, I’d say it’s probably because they are her ‘daughters’. It’s a bit of a romantic take, but I suppose even that man had a time when he was young…”
“Huh?”
Shinichi seemed to have muttered something important, but Lilisha and the others could tell that he didn’t actually mean for them to hear that, and before they could ask him about his little soliloquy, Shinichi grabbed Johann by the hair and forced him to look at him.
“I see you have bad memory, but do you remember how I listed all the names for you earlier? I even asked you twice, remember?”
Shinichi smiled wickedly. Evidently, this was a poison that had been prepared since that moment.
“Ah… you brat, you’ve been playing me like a fiddle since then, huh…”
“Though the battle wasn’t settled just yet then, I had you dancing on the palm of my hands. Why would I go out of my way to tamper with your memories? You’re the one who’s been tinkering with brains and bodies this whole time. Besides, since I could win against you no matter what you did, why would I bother with doing something so troublesome?”
Could the boy really have tampered with his memories earlier? And even if he could, would there be any point to it?
Johann couldn’t find the words to respond to that. He was smart, and that was precisely why he had no choice but to acknowledge his argument, but regardless, the way the boy spoke to him so politely and with such condescension really ticked him off.
“You might have been in a rush to prepare your trump card, but to think that you’d actually fail to notice the names of the flowers you discovered with your beloved daughter… What a terrible father,” Shinichi remarked in a sarcastic tone.
“──────!?!?”