Chapter 52
“Is this your first time seeing the Guardian Tree?”
At the sudden sound of an unfamiliar voice, Vieta turned her head.
The one standing firmly on the white-painted floor was the Marquis of Ahan.
“Why do you ask?”
Vieta set down the laundry basket tucked under her arm and adopted a respectful posture.
“You were staring at the Guardian Tree so intently that it caught my attention.”
The marquis came to Vieta’s side, gripped the railing, and gazed at the Guardian Tree.
The two of them were standing in a high, open area set aside in a secluded corner of the castle.
It was customary in the South to have separate spaces for drying laundry.
The marquis’s profile, bathed in the hot sunlight and wind, exuded inexplicable regret and responsibility, along with his characteristic composure.
“Simply because it’s beautiful.”
At Vieta’s words, the marquis nodded.
They said Guardian Trees took after their owners.
Whether thanks to its owner’s handsome appearance or his gentle nature,
Blanc’s Guardian Tree, with its pale leaves glowing softly gold, was exceptionally charming.
“If merely seeing a Guardian Tree can make you fall for it this much, then if you ever see the World Tree, you won’t be able to tear your eyes away.”
“Have you ever seen the World Tree, my lord?”
The Marquis of Ahan had participated in the Demon Realm War.
So it was possible that he had encountered Vieta at least once.
“I have. I saw it before it burned, as it burned, and when only ashes remained.”
After he finished speaking, the marquis’s black eyes grew wistful.
Judging by his words, he seemed to have participated in the battle in which the World Tree was used as bait.
“It was incredibly sacred and beautiful.”
Vieta quietly nodded.
She had never seen the World Tree as it was now,
but the World Tree she had seen during the Demon Realm War had been overpowering simply to behold.
And Vieta had used that sacred World Tree as bait.
No matter how strong Vieta and her companions were, as human beings, they were bound to have their limits.
For every one they caught, two more came;
for every two they caught, four more charged at them.
Unless she had ten bodies, there was no way to face every magical beast pouring out like a flood across the vast Demon Realm.
With no other choice, Vieta gave up on capturing every magical beast.
Then, accepting her companions’ advice,
she decided to create bait to draw the beasts’ assault toward it, take a detour into the depths of the Demon Realm, and strike at the Demon King.
Vieta’s decision had been an entirely rational and reasonable tactic.
There was only one problem….
The sacrifice chosen as that bait had been the World Tree.
The only place close enough to the Demon Realm
and strong enough to hold out long enough for Vieta to attack the Demon King had been the World Tree.
Moreover, low-level magical beasts had a habit of charging blindly toward the vitality and mana possessed by living creatures.
In that sense, the World Tree, filled with abundant life force and mana, had been the perfect bait.
The elves had rebelled against Vieta’s proposal.
Surrendering the World Tree, the elves’ homeland and the source of their race’s powerful life force and mana, to the magical beasts was absurd.
However, Siran, the former leader, had taken Vieta’s side.
He did so in exchange for the continent’s recognition of the elves—and, beyond that, for the sake of the continent’s peace and prosperity.
Thus, the World Tree became the final line of defense and bait that drew in the magical beasts.
The World Tree resisted fiercely, but overcoming the poisonous hostility of the magical beasts, vast as the sea, had been impossible from the start.
When Vieta finally arrived at the World Tree, Siran was sobbing helplessly as he stared at the enormous flames burning without end. Even so, he swung his spear and cut down the magical beasts to the very end.
She later heard from one of his close aides that Siran had burned the World Tree with his own hands before its core was corrupted.
“Even as it burned, the World Tree was beautiful.”
The marquis gazed at Vieta, who had forgotten even her manners and was staring endlessly at the Guardian Tree.
When he had met her by the window of the office, he had followed Vieta without realizing it.
Whether because he had been watching her from the beginning or because she had not displayed any particular power, this time he had not lost track of her.
‘She really does resemble her.’
He had sensed that she was extraordinary when they met in the hallway,
but now that he looked more closely, those unfathomably deep pink eyes were exactly like those of the warrior he had once met on the battlefield.
Alicia, the hero who had once led the battle against the magical beasts more boldly than anyone else, though she had now gone mad.
People around him would have called him insane if they heard this,
but from the moment he first met her until now, Alicia had been the marquis’s idol and his true liege.
'So that’s why I was drawn to her.’
Not only did she possess outstanding abilities, but she also had the exact same eyes as his idol, Alicia, so it was only natural that he was drawn to her.
“I hear the newly grown World Tree is exceptionally beautiful as well. If I could have my way, I would run to the World Tree right now, but I cannot. What do you say? Would you see the World Tree in my stead?”
For the marquis who had faced the final battle, the burned World Tree had remained an indelible wound.
“Yes, I will definitely do so.”
For Vieta as well, the World Tree was a bitter past she could never escape.
She gave the marquis a pained smile and bowed at the waist.
***
“Then I’ll be going.”
After a brief farewell, Blanc climbed into the carriage.
Compared to when they had first arrived in Ahan, the number of people participating in the pilgrimage had fallen by more than half.
That was only natural, since they were now leaving Imperial territory.
Receiving proper supplies abroad was practically a miracle,
so everyone except the minimum necessary personnel, including two knight units and the group of mages led by Fulcare, had to leave Ahan Territory.
Blanc’s maids also had to leave,
but Marlene and several other maids objected, so some of them were allowed to accompany him.
The condition was that they could provide no personal service whatsoever.
All the maids except those who were young and healthy had their contracts terminated.
“Please return safely.”
The marquis personally affixed Ahan’s flag to Blanc’s carriage and paid his respects to Blanc.
The pilgrimage procession began its slow departure, and the marquis searched for Vieta one last time.
The moment he saw Vieta climbing into the golden carriage, the marquis bowed to her without realizing it.
He had been captivated by her air, so much like Alicia’s.
‘Could it be that Lady Alicia was married?’
If Prince Roen ever returned,
the marquis vowed that he would go to the capital and meet that maid named Vieta once more.
***
“Will Fulcare be all right?”
Vieta said this while forcing back the sigh that was trying to escape.
For three days, she had rested while regularly taking him to the subspace to receive treatment from Theodor and Iseria, but it had only been three days, after all.
And now they had to take another long journey to the World Tree, so she could not help worrying.
“Why are you so worried?”
Blanc handed Vieta a snack with half its wrapper peeled off.
The marquis had given it to them specially, calling it one of Ahan’s specialties.
Since their walk along the coast, Blanc had been unusually attentive to Vieta.
Perhaps he was mindful of Vieta’s remark that he seemed to have distanced himself from her,
but outside of official settings, whenever they were alone, Vieta always came first.
And Vieta was pleased by Blanc’s kindness.
Without Laura around, it felt as though she was acting spoiled with Blanc or Fulcare.
But she was thinking that perhaps, every once in a while—just once in a very great while—that was all right.
“As for Fulcare, what do you think, Blanc? Does he seem all right?”
“I’m not sure. He’s not as well as before, but he doesn’t seem bad.”
After hearing Blanc’s answer, the sigh she had been holding back escaped in a deep exhalation.
“What has you so worried?”
“No, it’s just that I can’t quite put my finger on it….”
Vieta raised one hand, placed it on the windowsill, and rested her chin on it.
Even when she spoke to him warmly, Fulcare seemed unnatural somehow.
On top of that, his face and neck would occasionally flush bright red, making him seem as though he had a fever.
Whenever she tried to touch his forehead while asking if he was really all right, he would subtly avoid her hand.
“If he were sick, wouldn’t he say so?”
“…Then that’s a relief.”
“Yesterday, he even helped me with my magic practice in the subspace. Don’t worry too much.”
Vieta was not convinced, but if he could do that much, then his condition had definitely recovered to some extent.
Vieta nodded dubiously and pointed to the bundle of papers Blanc had hurriedly set down.
Torn snack wrappers were scattered messily across the thick stack of papers.
“By the way, what are you writing right now?”
“Oh, it’s nothing important. Official correspondence about Ahan’s magical beast incident and requests for cooperation to send to the places we’ll be visiting from now on?”
A magical beast.
Come to think of it, while working as a maid and overhearing things in passing, Vieta had heard that there had been a great deal of discussion about Eli’s fate.
“What happened to that black-haired girl named Eli?”
“…For now, we decided to send her to a monastery.”
Blanc answered while pretending not to care.
She was a pitiful young girl, but the crimes she had committed were too grave.
That was only natural, since she was a human who had offered another human to a magical beast.
Even so, it was difficult to impose the harshest punishment on Eli, who was only fourteen years old.
If she had not made a contract with the magical beast, she would certainly have starved to death long ago.
According to Eli’s testimony, she had made the contract with the magical beast in order to survive.
She had lost her parents in the war and been unable to find proper food for more than a week, and she had made the contract after encountering the magical beast while in a daze from hunger.
It was impossible to simply dismiss her words as lies,
because although Eli claimed she had not missed a meal since making the contract, she was extremely emaciated.
“…I see.”
Vieta’s eyes grew somber.
Who could possibly punish a child who had made a contract with a magical beast in order to survive?
She had thought that everything would be resolved once the war ended,
but as time went on, the old wounds they had left to fester continued bursting open, leaving a bitter taste in her heart.
“I have to do better.”
As though he had read Vieta’s mood, Blanc casually spoke up.
“Yes, you’ll do well.”
Vieta took out a snack and put it in her mouth.
***
The Imperial Consort Rahellin’s palace, Sampleu.
The more Prince Roen’s achievements piled up, the quieter Sampleu became.
That was only natural, since the Imperial Consort’s hysteria had grown considerably worse.
“Mother.”
Charles called out to the Imperial Consort from before the tightly closed door.
Before long, the door opened quietly, and the Imperial Consort appeared with a deeply furrowed expression.
“Oh, Charles. Welcome.”
Her complexion was poor, but the Imperial Consort’s attire was still alluring and beautiful.
She personally escorted Charles to the table, then ordered a maid to bring tea.
Fortunately, the maid who served the tea this time escaped the room without giving the Imperial Consort and Charles anything to criticize.
“Mother, what has been troubling you so much lately?”
“It’s merely the usual complaints of a woman.”
Recently, the Imperial Consort had been suffering from nightmares.
Whenever she slept, her eldest daughter, Avril, appeared and screamed at her mother.
Why had she sent her to Roen instead of Gabin that day?
Her lovely daughter, covered in blood, screamed that this was why she had died.
However, she could not tell Charles about this.
The fact that she had brought Avril in as Gabin’s maid in an attempt to secure the Crown Princess’s position was a secret shared only by her and that devilish Roen.
“By the way, have things made any progress with the Kingdom of Madak?”
The Imperial Consort hurriedly changed the subject.
If Roen ascended to the position of Crown Prince, she could become Empress,
but it was only natural that Charles’s position would become difficult.
That snake would surely move to rein in her beloved son Charles first, so the Imperial Consort had been building a bridge between Charles and the Kingdom of Madak for a long time.
For example, by arranging a marriage with the Third Princess.
“This time, too, I was able to learn quite a few useful spells.”
“That’s wonderful.”
Although their exchanges seemed to be progressing in a direction different from what she had hoped,
for now, she had to be satisfied with Charles’s support base merely growing.
Charles lifted his teacup and wet his lips.
Even so, his gaze remained fixed intently on the Imperial Consort.
‘My poor mother, I shall surely lay the Empire at your feet. Only then can I repay you.’
With that resolve, Charles smiled at the Imperial Consort as smoothly as possible.