Chapter 1792

Scarlet placed both hands on her hips. "Naturally."

"You did a good job."

"Thank you."

"Even if the first branches were unsuitable."

Scarlet’s smile faded.

"Why must you always mention that?"

"Because it’s true."

Jude laughed as he carried the last empty basket toward the storehouse.

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly. Sophie and Serena returned from the eastern farms with fresh vegetables. Zoey and Lucy came back from the western path, carrying a bundle of dry leaves and complaining that the path was longer than they remembered.

Natalie finished tying the vine to its new support. Susan sorted the vegetables, and Layla added the day’s discoveries to her journal.

As the sun began to lower, everyone gathered around the garden.

Stella stood beside the little wooden markers, reading the names she had written.

"The violet flowers are here. The tall meadow plants are at the back. The eastern herbs are beside the stones. And the new seeds are in the centre."

"When will they grow?" Scarlet asked.

"Some may take several days. Others could take longer."

"Can we make them grow faster?"

"No."

"Can we talk to them?"

Stella stared at her.

Jude looked away, trying not to laugh.

Scarlet shrugged. "It was a reasonable question."

"Plants need time," Stella replied.

"Then we’ll wait."

She sat on the new bench and crossed her arms, apparently prepared to wait for the entire garden to bloom.

The others returned to their evening tasks.

Jude helped Susan carry the vegetables to the cooking area. Rose and Emma prepared bread, while Grace mixed herbs into a pot of soup. Serena and Sophie washed the remaining fruit. Natalie brought fresh water, and Layla placed her journal safely inside the cabin.

When the meal was ready, they gathered around the firepit.

The soup was warm and fragrant, the bread was soft, and the roasted vegetables tasted sweeter than usual. Scarlet claimed that the day’s hard work had made her especially hungry, although everyone knew she would have eaten just as much regardless.

After dinner, the conversation turned toward the village itself.

"We should improve the path between the cabins," Rose suggested. "It becomes muddy whenever it rains."

"We could lay flat stones along the centre," Jude said.

"And build a small roof over the storehouse entrance," Susan added. "The rain keeps reaching the baskets near the door."

Natalie wanted another water barrel near the vegetable garden. Grace suggested making more clay pots for storing herbs. Zoey and Lucy proposed adding a rope railing along the western path.

Scarlet listened to all the suggestions.

Then she raised a hand.

"Before we start building anything else, I have one request."

Jude looked at her. "What is it?"

"A table for the flower garden."

Rose laughed.

"We knew you were going to say that."

"It would be useful."

"For what?" Sophie asked.

"For sitting things."

"People sit on benches," Lucy said.

"Not everything is a person."

Jude leaned back and looked at the garden beyond the firelight. The small markers were barely visible now, but the new bench could still be seen beneath the tree.

"A table might actually be useful," he said.

Scarlet turned toward him with a satisfied expression.

"But not tomorrow."

Her expression immediately changed.

"Why not?"

"Because tomorrow we’re repairing the western fence."

Scarlet groaned.

"And after that," Jude continued, "we can work on the path near the cabins."

"Then the water barrel," Natalie added.

"And the storehouse roof," Susan reminded them.

Scarlet looked around the firepit.

"Does anyone remember when we used to have free time?"

"Today," Rose replied. "You spent half the afternoon sitting on a bench."

"That was testing."

Everyone laughed.

The evening grew quieter as the fire settled into glowing embers. One by one, the women began returning to their cabins. Sophie and Serena carried the empty bowls to the washing area, while Emma helped Grace cover the remaining food.

Jude remained by the fire for a little longer.

Stella came and sat on the new bench, holding her journal against her chest.

"I think the garden will look beautiful when everything grows," she said.

"I think so too."

"I want to add flowers from every part of the island eventually."

"That might take a while."

"I don’t mind."

She opened the journal and showed him a drawing of the meadow flowers. The small violet petals had been carefully sketched, and the silver markings were represented by tiny dots.

"You’ve improved your drawings," Jude said.

"Really?"

"Definitely."

Stella smiled and closed the journal.

Across the village, the lanterns were being extinguished one by one. The wooden cabins stood quietly beneath the trees, and the soft sounds of the forest drifted through the darkness.

Jude looked toward the garden once more.

It was a small place, nothing remarkable compared with the vast forests, rivers, mountains, and hidden corners of the island. Yet it had become something they had made together. A patch of soil, a few seeds, a wooden bench, and a path bordered with stones.

Tomorrow, the seeds would still be waiting.

The fence would still need repairing.

The storehouse roof would still leak if the rain returned.

And Scarlet would almost certainly ask about the table again.

Jude smiled faintly.

There was always something to do here. Something to build, something to grow, something to repair. Their days were filled with little tasks that would have seemed unimportant once, but now gave their lives a comfortable rhythm.

He stood, brushed the dust from his clothes, and walked toward the cabin.

Behind him, the flower garden rested beneath the stars.

And for the first time since they had begun preparing it, the village had a proper place where anyone could sit, watch the flowers grow, and do absolutely nothing.

The rain arrived before sunrise.

It began as a gentle tapping against the wooden roofs, then gradually grew into a steady shower that washed the leaves, darkened the paths, and filled the little channels running between the cabins. Water dripped from the edges of the treehouses, and the forest beyond the village disappeared behind a soft curtain of mist.