Observing her severed hand, Elma felt an inexplicable surge within her.
only found at _e-mp|y,r
Losing a hand wasn't a problem for her; as a dryad, she didn't experience pain nor did she shed blood.
So, what if her arm had been severed? She could grow a new one with a few days of rest.
However, what truly mattered was the man standing in front of her. Summoning all the courage she could find, Elma slowly raised her head to et captivating blue eyes that scrutinized her.
"...M-My... M-My King... please... forgive this disgraceful servant of yours," her voice stuttered as she spoke each word.
She was unsure about her choice of words and wondered if she had used the right ones to address her king.
She used to address the World Tree as "queen" since the World Tree herself claid Sam to be soone like her kin. Elma felt it should be appropriate to address him as "King."
Elma could sense the sa kind of familiarity that she grew up feeling from the World Tree emanating from Sam.
If the World Tree had given her a sense of belonging, ho, and a motherly presence, Sam's existence was like comfort, security, and ntorship.
"King?" all the won exclaid in shock and with an unpleasant tone.
"What does she an, my king? This chick really has a screw loose," Lorraine said in dissatisfaction.
"Tch, he is my son," Helena's eyes glead with mild killing intent. She automatically assud that these spirits were trying to separate Sam from her.
A spear, much like the one Adriana was wielding, appeared in Helena's hand.
If Elma spoke one word she didn't like, Helena would kill every dryad on the spot.
She felt like every girl Sam encountered was trying to hit on him, which she didn't like one bit.
Seeing a weapon in her sister's hand, Ava broke out in a sweat. She quickly held her arm. "Big sister, calm down. We won't let them take him away from us."
"Ava is right. Don't act recklessly. We will hear what they have to say first before we jump to any conclusions," Victoria said seriously.
Helena, upon hearing their pleas, lowered her spear, diverting her attention from Sam to the dryads.
"Why are you calling king?" Just as the dryads could feel the essence of the world from him, Sam could sense sothing similar.
It wasn't as defined as the dryads', more like a small, thin line of connection, almost nonexistent, as if it were unimportant.
Sam assud this connection had sothing to do with the dryads being here.
"...M-My King... Do you not like being referred to as king? This servant will accept any punishnt," Elma said in a pained tone.
"It's not that. Why are you looking for ?" Sam refrad his earlier question as he waved his hand, letting Elma know she could stand.
Seeing that her king didn't seem to be angry anymore, Elma recovered a portion of her composure. "The World Queen asked us to et up with you... She asked you to co and et her in the Black Tortoise Continent. She said she misses you terribly."
"Are you saying the World Tree wants to et her, and she misses ?" His tone was casual.
If it were Adriana who spoke like this, the Dryads would have attacked her for disrespecting their queen.
But with Sam, in the Dryads' minds, he was soone on the sa level as the World Tree, and he had every right to be casual with the World Queen.
"...Yes... yes, my king."
Sam's eyes scanned the area. Unlike before, all the hundreds of Dryads in the dark woods turned into their human forms and knelt, showing their respect to him. "I understand. What do you expect from to do now? You want to co with you because that's not happening."
"But your majesty... The World Queen asked us to bring you with us," Elma said politely.
"And if I say no, would you use force to make go with you?" Sam smiled.
"We wouldn't dare, your majesty," Elma quickly replied.
"Mm."
"There is a battle in two days which I cannot miss. Once the battle is over, I will personally et your queen in your continent. How about it?" Sam offered a solution.
Elma exchanged glances with the other Dryads, communicating with them in her mind using her racial ability. Then she turned her gaze back to Sam, "Your words are our wish, your majesty."
"Good. Since we have no problem here, you guys can go back to your place."
Elma and the other Dryads nodded their heads but didn't move from the place, just looking at Sam with an odd expression.
"What? You guys want sothing to eat?"
"Your majesty, aren't you going to punish us for disrespecting you?"
"It's alright, but..." Then he rembered the scene where Elma threw insulting words at his won. "I won't punish you as long as you apologize to my won for insulting them earlier."
Adriana and the others were already in a daze, contemplating the possible connection between Sam and the World Tree, as the Dryads addressed him as their king.
They snapped out of their daze when they heard Sam openly calling them his won.
Elma quickly stepped before her won and perford a ninety-degree bow, apologizing, "I humbly apologize for my earlier words and for the way my fellow Dryads acted... I deeply apologize."
Adriana and the other won glanced at Sam before looking at Elma, giving her a firm nod in acknowledgnt.
"Don't ever repeat this ever again. Just because you have the protection of the World Queen doesn't give you any right to insult anyone," Adriana said, shaking her head.
Elma didn't respond to that comnt and returned her gaze to her king. "My king... I thank you on behalf of the Dryads for blessing us with your presence. If the king wishes, we will now return to our continent."
"You can go," Sam shook his head, observing Elma's indifferent deanor as he gave the order.
Elma and Twig slowly got up and joined the Dryads who were now standing obediently around the pavilion.
Once regrouped, all the Dryads bowed for the one last ti before disappearing into the darkness.
...
[A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider supporting it with a few Power Stones. And if you absolutely loved it, you can even contribute a Golden Ticket. Your support ans a lot to ! Thank you very much! - Arigato! 🙏]
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