TGBWT 09

Chapter: 09

After that, Aitana walked straight over to the army Edrian had been preparing for her rescue and joined them of her own accord.

The siblings spent more than five long years wandering the continent while preparing for a rebellion.

And finally, they joined hands with the Crown Prince, who had kept his head down and waited for the right moment, and deposed the tyrant Razer. That was the plot of Part One of the original story.

“I heard what happened. You caused quite a stir with the World Tree, didn’t you?”

“That’s…”

Aitana’s stern voice snapped Liris out of her thoughts.

The three administrators from the previous day had clearly been eager to run straight to the imperial couple and tattle on her.

Since they were particularly timid when it came to the World Tree, it wasn’t difficult to imagine how much they must have pestered Aitana about Liris throughout the entire evening.

‘Don’t be scared, Liris. Keep your wits about you.’

Aitana’s expression, which Liris cautiously glanced up at, was extremely displeased.

Well, this was the normal reaction.

They had brought her in to take care of the World Tree, only for her to enthusiastically commit sacrilege instead? Anyone who was pleased about that would have to be insane.

‘If I were a commoner, I’d probably be lying here as a headless corpse by now.’

But Liris was a direct descendant of House Noella, one of the four ducal families supporting the Empire.

No matter how powerful the Empress was, she couldn’t simply cut off Liris’s head on a whim.

‘So she’ll probably try to persuade me first. She’ll admonish me not to commit sacrilege again and try to quietly smooth things over.’

If Liris wanted to be banished from the Imperial Capital, she had to be firm as well.

She needed to show that she was someone who couldn’t be persuaded, no matter what threats or pressure were brought against her.

As an expert in horticulture, she had to leave the impression that she would continue doing the same thing regardless of whatever orders came from above.

“I heard there were many voices condemning the atrocities committed by you, Lady Noella, yesterday.”

“I am aware.”

“There were even opinions that you should be permanently expelled from the Imperial Palace.”

The timid trio had done well.

Liris enthusiastically gave a thumbs-up beneath the table while calmly nodding on the outside.

Aitana continued speaking with the same stern expression.

“You carelessly tore off the World Tree’s leaves, cut its branches, and poured dirty water over it that had not been purified by divine power.”

“……”

“Why did you do that? You must have known that this was sacrilege.”

At last, the moment she had been waiting for had arrived.

It was time to show that she was an obstinate, thick-headed horticulture doctor who couldn’t be swayed even by money or power.

If she was lucky, Aitana might become completely fed up with her and come up with a way to break off the engagement herself.

There were certain things nobles couldn’t do, but members of the imperial family could…!

“Yes, I know that what I did constitutes sacrilege. But I do not regret my actions.”

“You don’t regret them?”

“His Majesty the Emperor appointed me, a horticultural expert, as the caretaker of the World Tree. Therefore, I believed it was only right for me to do my best as an expert, based on the knowledge I possess.”

“Even so, there are lines that must not be crossed.”

“How could I turn away when there was a dying tree right before my eyes? As a horticulturist, that is something my pride and self-respect cannot tolerate.”

Liris could distinctly feel Aitana’s blazing gaze fixed upon her.

Her heart was pounding so hard she thought she might die from fright, but Liris didn’t stop speaking.

“The leaves of the World Tree had faded yellow. Anyone could see that it was suffering from severe dehydration. And its shape was such a mess that even cutting several branches wouldn’t make much of a visible difference.”

“……”

“If I may be so bold as to say this, Your Majesty, from my perspective, it was actually the caretakers who had crossed the line by neglecting the World Tree’s condition.”

Having finished speaking, Liris bowed her head.

Knowing Aitana’s fiery temper, the silence that followed felt extremely ominous.

‘Why isn’t she saying anything? Why is it so quiet?’

Her heart felt as though it were about to burst.

She regretted saying that last part, but she had no choice. She needed to be forceful if she wanted Aitana to become thoroughly sick of her.

“……So that is what you’re saying.”

Aitana slowly rolled the large ring on her finger.

Perhaps it was just Liris’s imagination, but even Aitana’s breathing seemed slightly rougher.

‘Why, why do I have such a bad feeling about this?’

No matter how Liris looked at it, Aitana’s movements seemed like warm-up exercises before throwing a punch.

The more she watched, the more obvious it became!

‘I think I’m seriously screwed…’

Liris trembled inwardly, her large, bead-like eyes glistening anxiously.

At the same time, Aitana was lost in thought as she stared intently at the girl standing before her, whose large eyes were shining with anxious light.

‘Interesting.’

She had such a delicate appearance that she looked like a sugar figurine that would shatter if lightly tapped.

Lovely, pale pink hair as soft as melted cotton, and clear, transparent eyes like the sky on a spring day.

Her cheeks were flushed red and looked almost deliciously plump, perhaps because she was nervous despite speaking so bravely.

Aitana had heard that the girl had turned eighteen this year, but she was so adorably tiny that every one of her movements reminded Aitana of a small, fragile rabbit.

‘I had heard she was physically weak, but…’

The members of House Akshad, a family that had produced Four-Star Generals for generations, were all tall and broad-shouldered.

Women were no exception, and Aitana herself stood nearly 180 centimeters tall.

To someone like her, Liris really did look like a living doll.

‘So this little lady is the one who did something so outrageous.’

Remembering her conversation with Kairos, Aitana leisurely rubbed her wedding ring.

‘The report was true. The World Tree really has changed noticeably.’

‘Then do you intend to execute Lady Noella?’

‘Execute her…? No. Listen to the rest first. Aitana, from what I saw, that “change” didn’t seem so bad. This may be an odd way to put it, but the World Tree looked like it had regained some color.’

‘Did you meet Edrian?’

‘Yes. I also heard what Lady Noella did to the World Tree.’

She had torn off the golden leaves, calling them dry leaves, pruned the branches, and poured dirty, unpurified water over it.

She had even boldly declared to the other caretakers who tried to stop her that she wasn’t afraid in the slightest and was prepared to take responsibility for her own actions.

‘She really is a talent, isn’t she?’

‘Kairos?’

‘No, no. A truly loyal subject doesn’t appear that easily… Don’t worry about it and go back to sleep, Aitana.’

In truth, Aitana hadn’t believed everything he said.

It was her idiot, good-for-nothing little brother who had given the report. How could she possibly take it at face value?

Naturally, he must have embellished everything to make his beloved fiancée look good.

Kairos was an unparalleled sage king, and because of that, he was always thirsting for people with the potential to become loyal subjects.

Only a few days ago, the Prime Minister had requested his resignation for the one-hundred-and-fiftieth time, citing his health, and Kairos had rejected it without hesitation.

Kairos’s philosophy was that loyal subjects should work like oxen for the sake of the people until they died.

‘Edrian knows Kairos’s personality better than anyone.’

And since the caretakers were naturally timid and tended to exaggerate even the smallest matters, Aitana had simply listened with one ear and let it go out the other.

But now, after meeting Liris la Noella face-to-face, Aitana was certain.

‘This girl is the real deal.’

Despite being as small and fragile as a doll, despite her face having gone pale with fear of the Empress’s authority and her fingers fidgeting nervously—

when she spoke about the World Tree, she was as upright and confident as the ninety-year-old Prime Minister.

Even in the face of the enormous crime of sacrilege, she refused to bend her convictions.

This girl was truly a talent worth trusting.

“Hehe.”

At Aitana’s soft laugh as she rolled her ring between her fingers, Liris’s shoulders stiffened.

She looked so small and fluffy, like a little rabbit, that she was just…

‘Cute, perhaps.’

Aitana didn’t know why, but she suddenly felt like she wanted to punch a wall.

Steadying her aching heart, Aitana finally spoke.

“Lady Noella.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What do you think I am about to say?”