The Eleventh Luna Rose Trial Chapter 08

The Eleventh Luna Rose Trial Chapter 08

News of the damaged Silver Frost Rose mother plants quickly spreads throughout the

se–growing circles in both the North and the South.

Within three days, several partners who had already signed agreements with the Northern rose

gardens begin suspending their cooperation.

One call after another comes in.

“Alpha Helena, it’s not that we don’t trust you. But with the Silver Frost Rose facing problems, we can’t guarantee future supplies. We also have to take responsibility for our pack doctor clients and

the other packs we work with.”

I hang up the last call.

A thick stack of documents has already piled up on my desk.

My Beta Rue sends me another message.

[Alpha Helena, more rose farmers came to the entrance of our pack’s rose garden today to cause trouble. They say you failed to keep your promises and don’t have what it takes to manage such a

large rose operation.]

I stare at the message, my fingers resting against the desk.

[Keep things under control for now. Tell all the rose farmers that I’ll take responsibility for the compensation and losses.]

Just then, the old Beta, Marcus, knocks and walks in, “Alpha Helena, Olivia is here.”

I don’t even look up, “Tell her to leave.”

Marcus hesitates, “She says she’ll keep waiting if you refuse to see her.”

“Then let her wait.”

Half an hour later, a commotion rises outside.

When I walk out of the rose garden, I see Olivia kneeling on the stone steps, her face pale.

“Helena, I know you hate me. I came here today to apologize.”

A crowd of onlookers who know nothing about what happened gathers around us.

“She’s already doing this. Is Alpha Helena really being too harsh?”

“Olivia has always had a good reputation, and she didn’t do it on purpose.”

“The rose seedlings can be grown again, but she can’t just keep kneeling like this.”

I’m about to ask Marcus to send her away when a sharp voice suddenly cuts through the crowd.

“Enough!”

My mother appears out of nowhere. Her face is still a little pale as she walks up to Olivia.

“Are you kneeling here to make everyone think my daughter is bullying you?”

Olivia’s eyes turn red, “Lorelei, I didn’t…”

My mother looks at her coldly.

“Then why didn’t you tell them you were moving Silver Frost Roses? Why didn’t you tell them how many rose farmers were depending on this batch? How many lives could be affected?”

Olivia opens her mouth, but no words come out.

The crowd falls silent.

My mother turns around and waves a broom at the onlookers.

“What right do any of you have to call my daughter heartless? She spent six years alone in the North, turning a barren wasteland into a rose garden. Who was there to help her?”

“And what about the injuries on her hands? What about the nights she stayed awake protecting those seedlings? Which one of you went through any of that?”

“A bunch of people who just want to watch the drama unfold. Now get out of here!”

The crowd slowly disperses.

Olivia stands up and looks at my mother with pressed lips, “Lorelei, you weren’t like this before.”

My mother looks away, “I was wrong.”

When she turns to me, there is a faint glimmer of tears in her eyes, “Helena, you’re back. That’s all

that matters.”

I stare at her, not knowing what to say.

I’ve waited too long to hear those words. Now that I’ve finally heard them, I don’t know how to

respond.

Just then, someone pushes through the crowd.

Calvin lowers his head as he walks up to me.

“Helena, I’m sorry. I used to think you forced me to learn about roses because you looked down on

me.”

clenches his fists, his voice growing quieter.

“Later, I left the pack, but everything I tried ended in failure. Then one day, I realized that the only thing I actually knew how to do… was roses.”

I freeze.

He lifts his head, his eyes red.

“You made me memorize all that knowledge about roses back then. You taught me how to identify rose leaves. You weren’t trying to make me look inferior beside you. You were afraid that one day, no one would be there to protect me.”

After saying that, Calvin pulls a piece of paper from his coat and places it in my hand.

“Helena, I’m not asking you to forgive me. I don’t deserve that. I want to start as a beginner rose farmer and work my way up. Will you let me stay? I want to help you.”

The paper is a basic rose–picking registration form for the garden, a simple position as an ordinary

rose worker.

Isigh.

“Start with picking roses. And don’t let me catch you slacking off.”

Calvin immediately looks up and nods firmly.

My mother stands beside him, her eyes slowly turning red with tears.

That evening, Nathan comes to the rose garden. He watches the rose farmers working in the distance before speaking quietly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know Olivia was going to come here.”

“Helena, the Northern rose garden is in a dangerous position right now. The partners are pulling out, the rose farmers are upset, and you can’t carry all of this alone.”

I finally look up.

He takes a step closer.

“Come back. You still have me in the South. My pack can help you, too. You don’t have to carry everything by yourself.”