Chapter 214
It hurts.
It’s unfair.
Just a little more.
If only I had a few more days.
If that were the case, all the plans would have been realized as scheduled.
– Alicia… Termina Magentano… that detestable…
Black Wizard Targa recalled the face he loathed.
The coldly gleaming eyes of Queen Alicia.
The blade that dug into his neck, just as eerie as that gaze.
That cold sensation was the last memory of his life.
His neck was cut off in a single strike.
The filthy feeling of his head floating in the air, then dropping, rolling on the ground like a ball.
But regardless of those feelings, he could not forget the urgency of the final seconds—when he had to activate his last resort.
Reluctantly.
Because there really was no other way.
Because there truly was no other way than this.
Even now, after abandoning his dying body and transferring his soul into this huge skeleton…
He was indignant.
He was furious.
So he vowed to endure.
Just a little more.
If he was given just a few more months…
Then all revenge would be realized exactly as he wanted.
– Once my spirit settles…
The dragon bones stored inside a luxurious vault.
The massive skull shifted slightly, rattling with dark resentment.
♣
“You said you’ve never been in charge of garden design before, have you?”
“Yes, somehow.”
Here we go again.
Lloyd thought with an awkward smile.
Viscount Norte wore a proud smile.
“It’s okay. There’s no need to be ashamed. After all, you don’t have much experience yet. Rather, wouldn’t this be a good opportunity to gain some experience?”
“Of course. I’m trusting in you, Viscount.”
“Hahaha, is that so? This feels like you’re flattering me and passing all the work onto me.”
“Ah, have I been found out?”
“It’s obvious, my friend.”
“But I can’t help it. How could I dare compete with you in the field of garden design, Viscount?”
“Haha, this guy really knows how to talk…”
The Viscount’s gums showed as he grinned.
Despite the way he waved a hand, he clearly didn’t dislike it.
The more he did, the more smooth and sticky Lloyd’s sweet talk became.
“No, I mean it. So I want to learn a lot by watching your design closely this time. As you said, it’ll be a really good experience.”
“Hahaha. This friend, you’re really determined to steal my design techniques, aren’t you?”
“Isn’t that how juniors grow up?”
“Heh, it’s amazing. I can’t seem to hate you even when you say things like that.”
“No, it’s all thanks to your generosity, Viscount, that you look on me kindly.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Hahaha, really!”
The Viscount laughed heartily, satisfied.
Then he neatly spread out a stack of papers on the workbench.
“Then, would you like to take a look at this? I was thinking about the big picture of the garden last night.”
“You’ve already started the basic design?”
“There’s no reason to postpone it.”
Viscount Norte shrugged.
“That land—the space that will become a garden—keeps asking me. To make it beautiful quickly. To let it reveal its true form.”
“…”
“That’s why. I don’t know what you think, but I truly enjoy this process. My heart flutters, and I’m happy. It’s like the beauty, balance, and harmony hidden in a space that was just lying around are being gradually discovered by my hands.”
Viscount Norte spoke carefully as he looked down at the blueprint.
Seeing his profile, Lloyd thought for the first time that he was a pretty cool person.
‘He really loves garden design.’
Unlike himself, who took on work like a snob—just for money.
Or for a hefty price.
So he thought,
‘Ah, I can entrust him with the work even more thoroughly.’
Give him more work, admire him more.
Then his happiness index skyrockets.
And I can comfortably commit wage theft.
‘If this isn’t true mutual benefit, a win-win situation, what is?’
From there, Lloyd praised Viscount Norte even harder without a hint of guilt.
Viscount Norte took over the surveying and design with a genuinely happy face.
But that didn’t mean Lloyd could leave everything to him forever.
About two weeks after the garden design began in earnest, Viscount Norte spoke with a troubled face.
“Hoo, this is troubling.”
“Yes? Is there a problem?”
Has this side been dumping work too shamelessly?
Has the Viscount finally hit his limit?
Lloyd asked with slight concern.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the issue.
“It’s because of the waterway Her Majesty the Queen specially ordered for this construction.”
“Because of the waterway?”
“That’s right. You remember, don’t you? The Magena River that runs through the royal capital. Her Majesty ordered us to draw water from that river and create a waterway through the garden.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And she repeatedly told us to allow ships that can carry up to fifty people to pass comfortably through the waterway and admire Her Majesty’s statue and the dragon skeleton.”
“Yes, I remember.”
“That’s why. Hmm, it’s fine to build a waterway, but…”
“Is there a problem with the waterway design?”
At that, the Viscount scratched his head.
“The difference in elevation between the intake point—where we draw from the river—and the point where it exits after circling the garden is quite significant.”
“You mean the current will be faster than expected.”
“Yes, exactly.”
The Viscount rubbed his fatigue-heavy eyes.
“The flow rate is far too fast. Of course, we can launch boats. But if this continues, we’ll have to give up on leisurely viewing the garden.”
“Hmm, that’s definitely true.”
Lloyd nodded as he looked at the blueprint the Viscount pointed to.
The elevation difference between the two ends of the waterway was indeed larger than expected.
‘This isn’t just a bit. It’s almost twenty-five meters.’
What happens if you run a boat through that?
Exaggerate a little, and it’s an amusement park flume ride, not a cruise.
Beautiful garden viewing?
Admiring magnificent statues and dragon skeletons?
Forget it.
‘Everyone will be busy vomiting from seasickness, or it’ll turn into a full-blown rapid tour with unexpected thrills.’
After sorting his thoughts, Lloyd asked,
“Then how about lengthening the waterway itself?”
That would be the simplest solution.
Like creating winding hairpin turns on roads down steep mountains.
If you extend the waterway as much as possible, you can control the current to some extent.
But the Viscount shook his head.
“No. It’s not like I didn’t think of that.”
“Is there a problem with that method too?”
“Yes. It isn’t beautiful.”
“Yes?”
“The waterway becomes too scattered. A garden this large needs a theme in each area, but if the waterway is lengthened too much, the space it occupies will encroach on all the themes. That won’t do.”
“Then how about using a double-leaf miter gate lock?”
“…What?”
Viscount Norte froze.
Double-leaf?
Miter gate?
Lloyd spoke as if it were nothing.
“It’s not that complicated a concept. Can I borrow a pen for a moment?”
“Oh, here.”
“Thank you. If I draw a simple diagram of the principle, it’s like this. We create the waterway in a stepped, staircase pattern.”
“Wait. Then what about the boat? How does it pass through a stepped waterway?”
“That’s why there’s a lock.”
Swish, swish.
Lloyd smiled and sketched a rough lock.
“We build a lock at the end of each step. When a boat enters the lock, we block the path it came through—like trapping it in a fish tank.”
“And then?”
“Then we drain the water from the fish tank.”
Lloyd redrew the waterline lower.
“If you drain the water, the boat comes down with it.”
“That’s right.”
“When the water level has dropped enough, you open the lock on the opposite side—the side you didn’t block.”
“…Ah.”
Viscount Norte’s eyes sparkled.
“So the next section of the waterway continues from the opposite lock. A waterway one step lower. Is that right?”
“Yes. That’s an accurate summary.”
Lloyd nodded.
It was a simple principle.
Install a lock—a partition that blocks the waterway—at specific points.
When a boat enters and you close the lock, the space inside becomes a rectangular tank.
Then you adjust the water level by adding or removing water from that tank.
Going from high water to low water?
Drain it.
Going from low water to high water?
Fill it.
In that way, you match water levels between sections of different heights.
It literally becomes an elevator for ships.
Like the locks on the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris, France.
“Of course, the lock has to withstand water pressure, so we can’t make it arbitrarily large. According to my calculations, each lock can adjust the water level by about three meters.”
“So you’re saying we should install locks throughout the waterway.”
“Yes. Then the flow rate across the entire waterway stays gentle, and the cruise boats can operate comfortably.”
“That’s right. And the passengers touring the garden by boat will be captivated by the lock operating. Then we should decorate the inside of the lock beautifully, so people’s attention is properly caught the moment the water drains and the inner surface is revealed.”
“…Oh, I didn’t even think about that.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. I really didn’t think that far. You’re still the Viscount.”
“Haha, you’re too humble. Hahaha.”
Viscount Norte laughed heartily.
At the same time, he admired Lloyd inwardly.
He looked at him with meaningful eyes.
‘This friend… he’s still being considerate of me.’
He had felt it from the first day.
That this young man wasn’t showing all his skills.
He didn’t step forward needlessly, pretending to know everything.
Rather, he seemed wary of the praise surrounding him.
Constantly lowering himself.
It was the same just now.
‘A lock. I didn’t even think of applying that to the garden’s waterway, but he chose his words carefully so I wouldn’t feel embarrassed.’
And at the end, he even pushed credit for the idea of decorating the lock onto this side.
He acted like he hadn’t thought that far.
Of course, the Viscount could see it was consideration.
‘There’s no way someone who proposes using locks wouldn’t have thought of that much. He’s clearly trying to let me have the credit too.’
Why?
He didn’t know.
But he didn’t dislike Lloyd.
No—he felt proud of him.
Maybe Lloyd really was more capable than him.
Still, he was grateful to a young colleague who didn’t flaunt it and protected his pride.
At the same time, he felt a subtle competitive spirit.
That was why—
‘I have to work harder.’
He refused to become someone pathetic who relied only on the goodwill of a junior.
He needed to prove the experience and skills he had accumulated over a long time.
From that day on, thanks to Viscount Norte’s active leadership, and Lloyd’s measured participation, the largest garden in the history of the Magentano Royal Family was officially designed.
Construction began with full royal support.
The number of workers mobilized was a whopping five thousand.
Even the royal wizards rolled up their sleeves.
Powerful magic dug, overturned, and shaped the land.
Thousands of workers sweated, wielding shovels and tools.
And Lloyd’s mythical creatures joined in.
“Alright, you hear me? Dig, haul, peel, and clear!”
“Ppodong! Bangul! Hamang! Ggoming!”
Ppodong dug the waterway.
Bangul swallowed the piles of dirt.
Hamang brought water and filled the ponds.
Ggoming busily moved thousands of trees.
He also contacted the Frontera Estate and called in Bibeong.
“Bibeong!”
Throughout the work, Bibeong tried hard to show Bangul his tremendous strength and tireless toughness. In other words, he threw himself into the construction with full enthusiasm.
With even a mythical creature on the scale of a hundred meters joining in, the construction speed increased astonishingly.
The seasons turned quickly.
Autumn deepened.
Leaves fell.
Branches grew bare.
Pure white frost coated them.
The year-end passed with the first snow.
Everyone got a year older.
Javier teased Lloyd about it again.
Lloyd trembled and forced a crooked smile.
Amid the bickering, buds formed.
One day in early spring, when magnolias were in full bloom, the ambitious showcase the Magentano Royal Family built to display its national power to the outside world—the Termina Grand Garden—revealed its first completed form.
That day, a festival was held in the royal capital to celebrate the arrival of spring.
A grand completion ceremony was held on the Queen’s Advance Road, located in the center of the Termina Grand Garden, and in the main plaza at its end—Magentano’s Resting Place.
The towering statue of the Queen.
The two-hundred-meter dragon skeleton kneeling respectfully toward that statue.
Everyone attending the ceremony exclaimed in admiration at the magnificent sight.
Perhaps that was why.
Throughout the celebration banquet, no one noticed that a secret change had begun within the dragon skeleton.
Rattle…
The dragon’s skull—subtle, unnoticed by anyone.
But definitely—
It began to move.