Two Women (1)

While Isaac and Adel were having an awkward encounter with the Tersian royal family, Marie and Cecily, who had left the area, arrived at a secluded spot on the outskirts of the village.

Even with the Empire's tremendous support, scattered places throughout the Maishal Territory remained untouched by human hands. This was especially true the farther one went toward the outskirts of the village.

The village and the outskirts seemed to be sharply separated, as though divided into different spaces. Thanks to that, there were plenty of places suitable for sneaking away unnoticed.

Marie and Cecily were also standing on the outskirts of the village, facing each other. A great tree that had grown by drawing nourishment from the earth for decades blocked most of the harsh sunlight.

"So why did you bring me all the way out here? What did you want to talk about?"

Marie confronted Cecily, who stood before her, with her arms folded and a surly expression. She was in an extremely foul mood.

She had originally wanted to enjoy the exhibition alone with Isaac, but because of the woman standing before her, those plans had fallen apart. To make matters worse, she was now separated from him entirely.

For Marie, who had been looking forward to a sweet and cozy date, it was only natural for her dissatisfaction to escalate into irritation. She wanted to ignore everything Cecily said, but the atmosphere made that impossible.

Her feminine intuition—and Marie's uniquely sharp instincts—told her that Cecily would have called her aside sooner or later, even if not today.

Judging that it would be best to deal with the troublesome matter as quickly as possible, she had obediently followed Cecily. And this tree was where they had ended up...