“You, over there.”
There was only a 2cm gap before their hands could et. They maintained this precarious distance. To see each other’s faces, they had to lower their heads as the gap closed.
“You know what you said last ti, right? About no-showing the second trial? What did you an by that?”
Maronnie, descending the stairs with shy footsteps, asked at a slow walking pace.
“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”
“Tell .”
“It’s nothing much. The tree in charge of has a severe hatred of humans. It seed like it would never let pass.”
“What? Is that even possible?”
Apparently, it was. Issues of fairness didn’t apply in the second trial. Not even a shred. There could be biased judgnts, and in the worst cases, like mine, the trial wasn’t even given at all.
“…That’s… not sothing I can laugh at.”
As she processed the unbelievable situation, Maronnie awkwardly laughed. Unlike , her trial was incredibly easy.
Bring the person you love. I don’t know why they’d make such a request, but compared to , it was like dealing with a fairy.
“Then, are you going to give up?”
“Well.”
We’d see.
The tree in charge of , rri, was the type who enjoyed tearing others down to fill her own sense of superiority. Though she was a tree, she wasn’t much different from a human. Those kinds of beings are often trapped by their own inferiority complexes.
Her remarks of superiority were simply a defense chanism.
“How are you so sure?”
“I have my ways.”
Conversations left footprints.
The tone of her speech revealed her character, and although I wasn’t an expert, I learned from my father.
rri took unusual pleasure in talking with . She cursed at harshly yet eagerly awaited my visits, even summoning in the middle of the night. She felt joy in being served.
She’s a noble but still a child.
Her image as a spoiled little lady wasn’t for nothing.
The typical high-class habit of concealing one’s true self didn’t apply to her.
She was honest with her emotions and desperately longed for soone to treat her with care. For so reason, it seed like she was being mistreated here.
“Maybe sothing happened in her past, or for so reason, she’s never been able to stand on her own. You see those types often.”
She had knowledge but lacked hardship.
Accustod to a life of being spoiled, all she could do was look down on others.
Even when her situation flipped, it was the sa. There was nothing she could do but rot away in isolation, her roots crumbling.
“The more ntally overwheld soone is, the more attached they beco even in brief encounters.”
If rri had a different personality, I would’ve approached her differently too.
But this approach was perfect for the current rri.
“You… you’re scary.”
Maronnie was stunned.
“You remind of Abie.”
“Abie?”
“Yeah, the National Tree of Germany. He’s also sly and cunning. Very dangerous, too.”
The National Tree of Germany. I had heard that na before.
Didn’t they say he was on the sa team as Bell and Maronnie? I’d better rember that na; I might et him later.
As we talked, we quickly arrived.
“We’re here. This is the place.”
Maronnie stood in front of the door, took a deep breath, placed her hand on her chest, and glanced at .
-Gulp.
“Can you act well?”
I heard the sound of her swallowing.
“Act like I’m soone you love?”
She nodded as she looked up at .
“Why? Should we hold each other as we go in?”
“N-No! Don’t say such ridiculous things. And don’t even think about holding my hand.”
It was a joke, but her response was fierce.
Maronnie, her ears bright red, turned her head away from . I could hear her breathing heavily, probably trying to calm her flushed face.
After a while, Maronnie, having regained her composure, grabbed the doorknob.
“I-I’ll go in first! Co in after I tell you to.”
“Got it.”
As soon as I responded, Maronnie twisted the doorknob and opened the door.
I leaned against the wall next to the open door, listening in on her conversation.
[Blanche!]
A sultry woman’s voice echoed in my ears, followed by Maronnie’s cute whining.
“…I told you not to call that.”
[Our sweet Blanche. How have you been?]
The conversation seed friendly.
After a few pleasantries, the tree asked her:
[So, did you bring the person you love?]
“…I did bring them, but do you really, really need to see them?”
[Of course! Soone as lovely as you, with such a beautiful na, must have brought soone just as wonderful.]
Carefully, Maronnie confird the conditions of the trial again.
The tree’s voice was as cheerful as could be, for whatever reason.
‘…A beautiful na.’
But that tone.
It sounded oddly familiar.
-Lee Shiheon.
-What a lovely na!
The voice was too familiar.
Was it just my imagination? Maybe I’ve been eting too many people lately, and I’m just tired.
It’s probably nothing.
“Co in.”
Maronnie’s voice brought back to reality.
I waited behind the door for a mont longer, then stepped inside.
Maronnie was standing right in front of the door. The tree stood tall in the center of the room, its branches glowing with a mystical blue aura.
It was smooth, with no outer bark, an all-too-familiar form-
‘…….’
My steps halted.
“This is the tree in charge of the second trial. Greet her.”
Maronnie, too shy to hold my hand, pulled on my sleeve while blushing.
The tree hadn’t said anything yet.
The World Tree of Healing. What was it doing here?
Did it not recognize ?
If so, that would be a relief.
[…….]
I slowly took a step back.
“What’s wrong?”
Maronnie blinked her innocent eyes, confused.
In that mont, countless worries flashed through my mind.
“Lee Shiheon?”
As she whispered my na, the branches of the tree twitched.
At the sa ti, a chill ran down my spine, and goosebumps rose all over my skin.
I instantly sensed that things were going downhill, and I turned around and ran out of the room.
-Bang!
“H-Hey, why are you-?”
The door slamd against the wall as I burst out.
Maronnie’s startled face flashed by, but that wasn’t important.
I crossed the threshold into the hallway.
The students returning from their etings with the trees in the basent stared at .
-Thud.
Sothing caught my foot.
Cold sweat ran down my back. I looked down to see that small roots from the room had wrapped around my ankle.
Behind , Maronnie stood with a bewildered expression.
“…Damn.”
[So, so….]
“Damn it!”
My vision flipped.
The ground turned into the ceiling, and my body spun in the air like a kicked soccer ball.
It felt like I was riding a roller coaster in an amusent park.
-Thud!
I fell to the floor, dragging myself along.
The cadets looked at in shock, but they couldn’t help.
My opponent was none other than the World Tree, the supre power of another world.
I tried reaching out desperately as I entered the room, but the mont Maronnie ca in, the branches skillfully moved and shut the door.
-Bang!
The door closed with a dull sound.
At the sa ti, I heard a familiar voice from behind .
I could feel the cold roots coiling around my shins and knees, sticky and constricting as they rubbed against .
[Husbaaaaand!]
“Eek!”
Instinctively, I reached out to Maronnie.
She was frozen in shock at the sudden situation but quickly grabbed my hand.
-Crunch!
The sound of my bones echoed through my body. A scream escaped from my mouth.
It wasn’t the pain, but the humiliation. mories deeply rooted in my mind resurfaced, making scream reflexively.
“Ack, ugh!”
Startled by my intense reaction, Maronnie pulled with all her might.
Then, in a desperate voice, she shouted at the World Tree.
“Wh-Why are you doing this all of a sudden, Tree?”
[Blanche, wait a minute. You… it’s really you, right? Ugh, let go of my hand!]
“I brought the person I love, so why—”
The World Tree of Healing, having already lost its reason, used its branches and roots to completely bind my body.
Leaving aside the hand that subtly reached toward my crotch, the chilling touch was sothing I could never forget.
It had been a long ti since we last t, and with my clothes on and my voice altered, I wasn’t imdiately recognized.
If I had taken a mont to calm down and talk through the situation, perhaps things would have been different.
But this kind of rough handling only reminded of that day.
“…Ugh, ugh!”
Maronnie, holding my hand tightly with both of hers, was being dragged along as she struggled to keep her grip.
[Blanche! Let go!]
“I can’t! Today, today he’s mine!”
[Husband, what are you saying! You’re leaving now?]
“Why the hell would I be your husband?!”
Perhaps sensing that pulling with her hands alone wouldn’t suffice, Maronnie threw her whole body into hugging my arm, pulling harder.
“Why… why are you suddenly acting like this? What’s going on between you and the Tree?”
“Well, there was this thing—”
-Plop.
My arm slipped out of Maronnie’s grasp at that mont.
And my body was pulled straight into the embrace of the World Tree of Healing.
-Creak.
The tree, having risen from the ground, pressed down on .
The World Tree of Healing.
It was dressed in a pure white, saint-like outfit.
The fact that they dressed a tree in sothing like this was already shocking.
I shook my head in disbelief at the sight of white panties adorned with lace.
[…You!]
Tears trickled down its leaves.
It embraced with its entire being.
[Ha, ha. I missed you so much. You’ve gotten even more handso since we last t.]
The tree’s branch gripped my shoulder.
Pinning to the ground, its trunk-like arm dug into the earth.
Its roots wrapped tightly around my waist.
It was as if it wanted to rge with . The knots drew closer.
No.
Hell no.
This was not what I wanted.
Her abundant branches pressed against my nose.
[Let’s not be apart this ti.]
“Aaaah!”
By the ti I regained my senses, I was covered in dirt.
Maronnie, panicked, had called for the caretaker, and only after the caretaker intervened did the World Tree of Healing finally calm down.
Half of my clothes were torn.
Maronnie brushed the dirt off my shoulders with a sulky expression.
“……”
“What’s wrong?”
“…I don’t know.”
Was this really the ti for you to be pouting?
I nearly lost my dignity here.
Have you ever seen a tree knot wrapped in lace panties? I was on the verge of losing it.
Maronnie’s face flushed. Her hands, which were brushing off my clothes, started slapping harder as if blaming .
[…I’m sorry, Blanche. I was just so happy to see him.]
“Tree, I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
[But, Blanche. Please understand. Husband and I-]
“What do you want to understand? I know you two had sothing, but I brought him here today!”
[……Sob.]
Well said.
“You should’ve told about this beforehand!”
My silence caused the bla to shift to as well.
But I was innocent.
All I wanted to do was help Maronnie. How could I have known that the tree in charge of her trial would be the World Tree of Healing?
“Idiot.”
No matter how much I tried to convey my sense of injustice, it seed to fall on deaf ears.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
Though I did have a few scratches, they had already healed.
Maronnie sighed and glared fiercely at the World Tree of Healing.
“If he’d gotten hurt, I would’ve been really angry. I’m the one who asked him to co.”
[I’m sorry…]
“Is that sothing you should apologize to for?”
[I’m also sorry to you, husband.]
The World Tree of Healing, its voice dwindling under Maronnie’s scolding, muttered apologetically.
I took it a step further and made it clear to the World Tree.
“I’m not your husband.”
[What!]
Let’s just say the assault was inevitable.
It actually helped out in so ways. Besides, with all the bad karma I had accumulated, I was not one to complain.
But love? No way.
[…But, the love we shared back then…]
“When did I ever?”
I never thought we’d et again. But now that we have, it’s ti to settle this once and for all.
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