"Let's leave Flandre to Swire! She has far more business connections in Flower Village and is much closer with Flandre anyway."
Lady Fumizuki suggested from behind her desk, taking a sip of warm tea.
Sister Ch'en nodded in clean agreement. She already had plenty of urgent cases piled up over at the Major Crimes Unit, leaving her very little opportunity to personally accompany Flandre on rural trips. Since Swire loved sticking close to Flandre anyway, entrusting the girl's local accommodations to the Swire Group was undeniably the best arrangement.
Meanwhile, having departed from the bustling urban perimeter of Lungmen, the two luxury SUVs cruised smoothly down the open highway heading toward Flower Village.
After driving for a short while, Flandre poked her small head up near the front passenger seat, her eyes widening in mild surprise. "Has this road been completely rebuilt?"
"Yes, Miss Flandre," the driver answered without hesitation, having clearly done his homework prior to the trip. "Ever since Miss Swire acquired the commercial rights to Flower Village, she was never satisfied with the rough transport conditions out here. So, she specially allocated a massive development fund to level and pave this entire highway. Right now, the foundation has been thoroughly flattened. According to the young miss's infrastructure plans for next year, further capital will be injected to upgrade the dirt routes into high-grade reinforced concrete."
"I see," Flandre nodded in sudden realization, her small cap bobbing up and down.
By noon, the convoy finally rolled into the outskirts of Flower Village.
However, even though early spring was fast approaching on the calendar, it was still the dead of winter after all. As everyone well knew, aside from hardy wintersweet blossoms and cold-resistant mountain flora, vibrant flowers were virtually nonexistent during this bitter season.
Naturally, the same biological reality held true for Flower Village. After all, it was merely named Flower Village; it wasn't some mystical, climate-defying paradise of eternal spring. Under such harsh weather conditions, the vast majority of delicate flora simply couldn't survive in the open fields.
When the group looked out through the tinted car windows, most of what met their eyes were bleak, barren hillsides and dormant soil. Rather than a vibrant sanctuary of blossoms, it felt more like a desolate rural wasteland.
Even Kazami Yuuka frowned slightly, a flicker of deep displeasure passing through her crimson eyes at the utter absence of green life across the landscape.
Fortunately, after entering the outer boundary, the driver took a deliberate detour to bring the vehicles to the northern Plum Garden first.
Caught by the delicate, refreshing fragrance wafting through the cold air from the blooming plum grove, the tense expressions on everyone's faces finally softened into quiet appreciation.
At this point, the driver began introducing the layout of the estate over the vehicle intercom:
"The four seasonal sectors—collectively known as the Four Seasons Garden—have been laid out across the east, south, west, and north, corresponding directly to spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The northern district where we are currently parked is the Winter Garden. It primarily features dense groves of wintersweet blossoms, complemented by cold-tolerant camellias and early-stage primroses. When the primroses fade, the Spring Garden next door will officially open to the public, allowing for a perfectly seamless seasonal transition. While winter naturally offers far fewer floral species than the other three seasons, it at least ensures visitors coming to Flower Village don't have to look at nothing but empty dirt."
Kazami Yuuka gestured for the driver to cut the engine. Stepping out into the crisp air, the entire Gensokyo delegation walked together into the fragrant pathways of the Plum Garden.
"The head gardener responsible for designing this sanctuary has done exceptionally well," Kazami Yuuka observed softly as her gaze swept across the branching trunks. "Each individual plant maintains precise, healthy spacing from its neighbors while still standing close enough to form a collective canopy. This grants each flower its own root room while allowing the grove as a whole to shelter the fragile blooms from the biting winter winds."
She offered a rare, approving nod before speaking with genuine satisfaction: "A very thoughtful design."
"As long as you are pleased, Lady Yuuka," Remilia breathed a quiet sigh of relief beside her.
After taking a full walking tour around the perimeter of the plum grove, everyone returned to the warm interiors of the cars.
"Do not head to the guest residence just yet. Take us to inspect the other three seasonal gardens first," Kazami Yuuka instructed calmly.
"Ah... but those three sectors are completely closed off right now, ma'am," the driver reminded her carefully. "After all, it's mid-winter, so there aren't any flowers blooming inside those estates."
"Do not worry about that; simply take us there," Remilia added, reinforcing Yuuka's request with regal authority.
Seeing how persistent the distinguished guests were, the driver had no choice but to start the engine and drive the group to inspect the remaining three gardens named after spring, summer, and autumn in turn.
After viewing all three dormant estates, Kazami Yuuka appeared surprisingly pleased.
Standing beside her, Flandre found it quite hard to understand. None of those three sealed gardens had a single flower blooming; in the Spring Garden that was supposedly opening next month, one could barely even spot a trace of fresh greenery amidst the soil. Why, then, did Kazami Yuuka look so genuinely satisfied?
Driven by curiosity, Flandre leaned over and voiced her confusion aloud: "Sister Yuuka, why are you so happy when there aren't any flowers over there?"
Kazami Yuuka looked down in mild surprise at the pint-sized girl looking up at her with bright, innocent eyes.
As the renowned Flower Tyrant of Gensokyo, most youkai trembled so violently in her presence that they couldn't even stand straight. The few exceptions like Remilia always treated her with utmost formality and diplomatic deference. Yet Flandre had felt fundamentally different right from their very first meeting.
Even though Flandre behaved herself quite well under Remilia's strict supervision, Kazami Yuuka could sense the girl's nearly uncontrollable, boundless curiosity whenever those scarlet eyes looked at her.
This time, the little one finally couldn't hold back her questions.
A gentle smile touched Yuuka's lips. Reaching out, she patted Flandre's head, smoothing down the soft hair beneath her mob cap with practiced care.
Only then did she explain her reasoning:
"Because each garden was meticulously engineered according to natural seasonal cycles, it is entirely proper and correct that they do not bloom out of season. I never expected to find blooming flowers in dormant sectors in the first place."
Yuuka looked back out toward the rolling hills. "I came here primarily to examine the underlying topography, the flow of the irrigation channels, and the nutrient density of the soil. And the results please me immensely. Whoever laid out these four distinct botanical estates is an exceptionally skilled master of the craft. They did not foolishly force the surrounding landscape to defy nature, and the plant pairings selected for each micro-climate are wonderfully balanced. Though the current variety of species is somewhat limited by Terra's regional ecology, the planner's deep devotion to horticulture is evident in every furrow. In my view, Flower Village possesses a truly magnificent gardener."
Sitting back in the car, Flandre relayed Kazami Yuuka's curiosity to the driver.
Sure enough, the driver beamed with local pride as he answered: "I actually know all about that! Ever since Miss Swire acquired Flower Village, she's poured massive capital into its development. But the most important decision she made was hiring a master Agricultural Specialist from Great Yan to oversee the entire ecosystem. I heard that master hails from the famous Flower County and graduated top of her class from the prestigious Celestial Master Academy there. If Miss Swire hadn't personally promised to entrust the entire botanical authority of this land to her care—vowing never to let corporate suits interfere with her planting decisions—that master would never have agreed to come out to the frontier!"
"Truly a remarkable gardener," Kazami Yuuka offered a second rare compliment, her eyes flashing with genuine respect.
After completing their thorough survey of all four seasonal sectors, the convoy finally rolled smoothly into the central residential district of Flower Village.
Arriving at their designated resort villa, the sight of a spacious two-story residence featuring a massive, wrap-around second-floor balcony drew delighted cheers from the group. Dropping their luggage near the foyer, everyone quickly scattered to claim their preferred bedrooms.
Flopping gracefully down onto the plush living room sofa, Junko accepted a freshly brewed cup of herbal tea from Sakuya. Watching Flandre laughing and chatting with Koishi on the balcony, Junko couldn't help but look over at Remilia with a teasing smile:
"Is this what you meant when you told us your younger sister was living in an unsafe, and unknown land out here? From where I sit, she seems to be living even more comfortably and luxuriously here than she was back at the Scarlet Devil Mansion!"
Hearing Junko's teasing remark, Remilia lifted her porcelain teacup with a distinctly awkward, rigid expression.
By all rights, she ought to have spoken up to defend her managerial reputation. After all, anyone who compared Flandre's strict, solitary routine back at the mansion to her current vibrant life in Terra would assume Remilia had been a far too severe, heartless older sister.
Yet only those who understood the full history knew what an uncontrollable, terrifying entity Flandre had been before arriving in this world. Crucially, her emotional state had been profoundly fragile—a ticking temporal bomb liable to snap at any moment. Had she been allowed to roam unchecked across Gensokyo back then, the terrifying destruction she might have wrought would have permanently barred the Scarlet Devil Mansion from ever integrating into the realm.
Thus, to ensure Flandre could eventually live in peace, Remilia had practically exhausted her own life force worrying over every detail. It was precisely because she understood the sheer weight of her sister's potential instability that discovering Flandre had vanished through a dimensional rift had sent her into such a frantic panic—rallying every powerful entity she could find and nearly triggering a massive secondary Incident just to bring her home.