Chapter 45: 45

The stillness became a storm worse than the noise, cluttering his mind.

The boy didn’t know how many kinds of emotions passed through his heart from the moment he first met the girl until now.

Fear, hatred, abandonment, regret.

“I miss you.”

Longing.

“…I miss you.”

He missed her. 

The boy looked back at the World Tree again. 

He missed her. He wanted to be by her side. 

So he fled to this wasteland.

***

‘What kind of mess is this?’

The entrance to the Imperial Palace was devastated as if it had been struck by a storm.

On every street was the rubble of buildings that had not yet been cleared, and the hazy sand dust lingered in the warm sunlight.

While taking a break, Nike, who was servicing the carriage, clicked his tongue.

“That monster brat, how much trouble is he going to create?”

I couldn’t understand at all. Not only the sight in front of me, but the whole situation so far.

The people I met on the way only chimed in about the collapse of the duchy’s barrier, but did not even mention the riots in the Imperial Palace.

“Why don’t the outsiders know that the Imperial Palace building collapsed?”

“Because the Imperial House controls the press.”

I asked Nike, but Alan responded quickly.

“Imperial House…?”

“Yeah, I heard they decided to keep the existence of Benimus a secret.”

Was it to prevent confusion?

Indeed, a dog fight was happening just because a passerby came from the north.

‘But… is it right to hide it even when Benny ran away?’

As I thought about whether I should support the decision of the imperial family, Nike, who was servicing the wheels of the carriage in the midst of a rush, grumbled.

“Ey, how is the Imperial House getting more and more selfish with each passing day?! Only the imperial family who is well versed in this can use the barrier magic of the World Tree.”

“Nike.”

“Only they can protect the empire from evil spirits, they believe in that one thing and have such momentum. Even so, the Duke can only maintain the barrier by subjugating the evil spirits and driving away the evil energy…”

“Nike, how far do we have to go?”

Alan cut off Nike’s words, as if he would continue to chatter if he left him alone.

Nike pulled out his binoculars and looked across the ridge.

I followed him and looked away.

Towards that direction, the Imperial Palace stood tall.

The Imperial Palace was a plain cylindrical building without any decorations.

It had a very unusual shape for a palace, as if a huge horn had sprouted out of the middle of the ground.

Nike lowered the telescope and raised three fingers.

“Just by looking at it…”

Would we arrive in 30 minutes?

“It’ll take about three more hours.”

“What? I think it’s close…?”

“The Imperial Palace is very large. It’s farther away than it seems.”

Alan interrupted the conversation again and covered my forehead with his palm.

Even though the shade of the trees was almost obscuring the sun, he seemed worried that my eyes would sting.

“As the World Tree grows there, it continues to expand every year.”

As Alan’s face came closer, I swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.

‘Let’s stay calm.’

Even though he knew that I was an evil spirit, Alan treated me the same as before.

It was confusing, but there was only one thing I could do now.

“I see! Thanks for letting me know, Dad.”

I smiled brightly at Alan. Acting casually as Lily. That was the best I could do right now.

We took a short break and then rode the carriage again.

We got off the carriage, walked and got back on the carriage repeatedly, but no matter how far we went, the distance to the Imperial Palace did not seemed to be reduced.

‘Actually how big is it?’

We arrived at the Imperial Palace in the evening.

As soon as we reached the entrance to the palace, I opened my mouth.

The Imperial Palace was close to a white wall.

The width of the building, which was likely to lead to the horizon, was completely unrealistic.

“Her Majesty is waiting for you.”

The servants of the Imperial Palace were standing in a line at the entrance, bowing their heads politely to Alan and me in his arms.

Was it because they were wearing tunics as white as ivory? They looked more like priests than servants.

As we entered the palace following the guide, we came to the courtyard.

In the center of the courtyard, there was a huge statue, which was not uniquely shaped like a god or hero.

The statue was in the shape of a tree.

‘What is that?’

Numerous leaves and branches were supporting something like a tray.

If I looked closely, I could see cities and towns standing on the tray.

“It’s a bird’s eye view of the world tree.”

“…Ah.”

I had heard this explanation before. 

It was said that the World Tree was a tree that had grown by lifting an entire continent.

‘Am I living on this tree?’

Even though I already knew it, after seeing it with my own two eyes, I felt a bit strange.

Alan moved as if he had no interest in the statue.

“From here on, Lily and I will go alone.”

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He seemed to know the way around the Imperial Palace well.

Alan held me and walked down a dark hallway without a single light.

After walking for a long time, my vision suddenly became clear.

I couldn’t keep my mouth shut at the sight that appeared unannounced.

“Ah…”

A colorful forest, a wide lake, and a garden completely different from the desolate exterior appeared.

In the middle of the lake, a tree that had grown through the water was holding up the sky.

It was the same as the statue I had just seen, but the size was incomparable.

‘That’s the World Tree.’

I knew without anyone telling me. The body of the shining white tree reflected upside down on the water surface, giving the illusion that the world had been turned upside down.

The foggy energy meandered up the tree trunk, reached the tip of the branches, and shimmered like a wave.

“Your Majesty, the Duke Bauner…”

The servants of the imperial family, who had already arrived, bowed their heads.

I looked around. 

Where’s the emperor? No one was wearing a crown.

At that time, hundreds of millions of leaves swayed with a faint sound.

The thick branches of the World Tree descended slowly like arms, and the bridge of the nose and lips were dug out.

The shell cracked like eyelids while making a crackling sound.

“…Whoa!”

The World Tree had transformed into the upper body of a huge woman.

Alan bowed to ‘her’.

“I greet Your Majesty, Emperor Igdrasil.” (PR/N: the emperor is a woman.)

It was said that the World Tree was first created by the plant god, Flora.

And if the World Tree is a person…

‘The World Tree first creation… spirit.’

It was only then that I knew who the emperor was.

“Your Majesty, Emperor.”

No matter how much the servants called, the eyelids that appeared on the wood grain did not open.

‘Is it because I didn’t greet her?’

Even if I were to try to bend over in a hurry, it was hard because Alan was holding me.

At that time, the servants of the Imperial Palace had a nervous expression similar to mine.

“Your Majesty, the Duke…”

“Is she sleeping again?”

Alan narrowed his eyebrows as they said it like that.

The palace servants were visibly taken aback.

“Tha, that’s imprudent of us!”

“She reacted slowly because of fatigue.”

It was at the time when they were all in a hurry.

“Why is it so loud… I tried to sleep more.”

A heavy voice resounded through the garden. 

The World Tree slowly opened its eyes. Golden eyes, as light as fluid, looked down at me.

“Ah, Duke. You brought my sweet baby.”

Even though he couldn’t answer, Alan showed his displeasure openly.

“This is my daughter, Your Majesty the Emperor.” 

Emperor Igdrasil laughed.

It was as if she was laughing with her whole body instead of her vocal cords. I couldn’t figure out the source of the sound.

“Everyone I bear with my branches is my child, why are you burning private speculation?”

“Can you tell me the main point?”

Could he do this? I was more bewildered by Alan’s relentless attitude even in front of the emperor.

The servants murmured, but Alan didn’t care, neither did Igdrasil.

“Yes, Duke. As you may have heard… The evil spirit boy has escaped from the Imperial Palace. He even went out of the barrier.”

At those words, she grabbed Alan’s collar tightly. 

As to why Benny would do that, I had no idea yet. But he looked like he had no intention of escaping back then…

“Outside the Imperial Palace, festivals were still held without even knowing that Benimus existed.”

The emperor tilted her gigantic head slightly and replied leisurely.

“Tell the story that will shake the empire? You can’t do that, Duke.”

“It means that it’s best not to let it happen in the first place.”

Alan’s words were as good as a scolding, ‘Did you do a good job of guarding the Imperial Palace?’ to anyone who heard.

“How can you have such an attitude toward Her Majesty the Emperor who supports the empire?!”

“Please be polite!”

Igdrasil only laughed casually as I was sweating even when I did nothing.

“Isn’t the reason why the palace’s wall was lowered probably because you quit as a military commander 10 years ago?”

Even if Igdrasil scolded him in a subtle way, Alan was grumpy.

“Find someone other than me. There are aristocrats who leave their huge mansion behind and live in the corner of the Imperial Palace for several decades. They will even give their lives if Your Majesty favor them.”

“Give their… lives.”

The pure white branches of the World Tree trembled. It sounded like a playful laugh.

“It is arrogance to offer another death to me, who has lived for thousands of years.”

“It is none of my business how you feel.”

“Duke, you’ve always been like this.”

Igdrasil sighed. Then a warm spring breeze blew and brushed my forehead.

“It’s the same with this one too. The day you captured the evil spirit boy, you returned to your nest without staying in the Imperial Palace and monitoring him. To enjoy dinner with your precious daughter.”

“Is there any problem?”

“No, it’s not. Even if you give priority to your daughter over the empire… if that’s your intention.”

The emperor immediately erased the smirk that had been seen all the time.

“But I want to tell you about a problem that happened on my land.”

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