Chapter 49

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 49

Chapter Title: The Dead Forest and the Fairy Garden (6)

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Arsen wasn't the type to joke around, but Floyd still figured he had to be kidding. Yet not a trace of a smile could be found on that handsome, picture-perfect face of his.

"That wolf was about this big when I brought it here."

Arsen held his hands apart to show the length of his forearm.

"And even after a month, it's still the same size."

"...So?"

"It won't grow, that wolf."

"And?"

"But, my lord. This is a big problem. That wolf is definitely sick. I need to take it right away."

"Why do you need to take a sick wolf?"

"Because I'm the expert."

Those reddish-brown eyes staring straight at Floyd were utterly serious.

"You just want to raise it yourself, don't you?"

"My lord, I don't act out of personal desires like that."

"You sure look like you're acting out of personal desires right now."

"Beasts grow so fast in their cub stage, you can see it with your own eyes. After just a week, you can feel how much bigger they've gotten. But that wolf..."

"Enough."

"My lord."

"That wolf belongs to the princess. If you want to take it and check it out, go ask the princess yourself."

Arsen shut his mouth. Seeing the way his lips tightened, it was clear he would rather die than go ask Roxiana.

Floyd knew Arsen had zero flexibility in him, so he didn't reprimand the man for his attitude toward the slave-branded Roxiana.

"If you're thinking of asking me to put in a word for you, forget it. I'm too busy to clean up after someone who can't even bow his head like a child."

"My lord, that's too harsh."

"I know."

Floyd patted Arsen on the shoulder and left the spot. Arsen stood there blankly for a while longer, staring at the archway leading to the Lily Palace before finally turning away.

Elledrun invited Roxiana to her mansion two days after their first conversation.

The Hills Countess's estate was near the Grand Duke's palace, upriver, so Roxiana wondered if the garden there might have suffered even before the palace grounds.

Elledrun, who had taken the day off, welcomed Roxiana with open arms.

The Hills Countess's estate wasn't overly lavish, but it had a modest, elegant charm, like a countryside house built where fields outshone the city.

"I want to see the garden first."

She told Elledrun, who was about to guide her to the drawing room. Elledrun, already troubled over her garden, didn't even pretend to refuse out of courtesy and led Roxiana straight there.

Even before reaching the garden behind the building, a nose-stinging stench hit her. The moment they arrived, Roxiana let out a heartbroken groan.

"Ah..."

Elledrun gave a wry smile.

"It's far worse than you imagined, isn't it?"

It really was.

The Lily Palace had only contaminated water, so there was no visible damage, but Elledrun's garden looked like it had been ravaged by magical beasts—no one could argue otherwise.

Trees blackened and withered, grass wilted away, black, sticky soil, and a stench like rotting corpses.

"I was so stupid—I drew water from the well and diligently watered them. I had no idea the well water was contaminated, so when these poor things started wilting, I kept watering them and spraying nutrients."

Elledrun spoke in a sigh-laden voice.

"Normally, I wouldn't just pour water endlessly if they looked weak, but back then, it was like I was possessed. I just kept sprinkling it. If I hadn't overwatered them, it wouldn't have gotten this bad... It's all my fault."

Roxiana felt a twinge of lost confidence at the scene, far more horrific than she'd imagined.

'Can I really fix this?'

No life stirred in this garden. It felt like a land of death that wouldn't recover even after years, let alone three or four.

'No, I have to. I must make it happen.'

Roxiana had nothing left. She'd lost her kingdom and family, branded a slave and fallen to the lowest rung on this continent.

But those who had driven her to this?

They sat high above, out of reach no matter how far she stretched. Making them pay what they deserved would be far harder than reviving this garden.

So if she couldn't even do this...

'I'd be capable of nothing. I have to do it.'

Roxiana asked Elledrun to give her some space.

"Something strange might happen. Don't come out to the garden until I call for you."

Elledrun looked anxious but couldn't let go of her last straw and followed Roxiana's instructions.

Left alone in the garden, Roxiana closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

'It's time for you all to help me.'

A murmur came from far away, like a distant buzz. A breeze rustled, brushing Roxiana's hair.

-We can't stay here long. It's agonizing.

'I know. But you have to help me.'

-Roti.

'Everything's dead. I've lost it all. You're all I have left—if even you won't lend me your strength, what's the point of me living? If I can't revive this land, I'll swallow the soil here and die.'

The threat was almost a gamble.

She wondered how much rudeness the spirits would tolerate. They stirred uneasily but didn't lash out at Roxiana.

-The gnomes who lived in this land have fled far away. Even the naiads don't want to pass through here.

Roxiana vaguely guessed gnomes were earth spirits and naiads water spirits.

'Did they run away in fear? Are spirits weaker than magical beasts?'

-We're not weak.

-We just don't want to encounter magical beasts.

-It's not fear.

The sylphs, wind spirits with wounded pride, cried out in quick voices. Roxiana instinctively knew how to handle them.

Wind gathered in her outstretched hand. The sylphs couldn't resist the sweet life force emanating from her body and were drawn in.

'Sylphs, bring the gnomes and naiads.'

Roxiana flung the gathered wind over the garden fence like tossing a ball. Amid the southward breeze, only the wind she stirred headed north.

'Because I have to restore this land!'

The gnomes and naiads summoned by the sylphs were drawn by Roxiana's power.

Spirit mages traditionally had various ways to command spirits.

Winning the favor of high-rank spirits to form contracts, forcibly sealing them in magic tools for use when needed, or paying with something of their own to borrow their power.

But the power Roxiana wielded was different from all that.

The spirits pitied the few remaining spirit mages, and Roxiana's mother, Angelia, had been born with exceptionally strong affinity among them. It was through Angelia's desperate prayers and pleas that Roxiana had been saved from death.

Roxiana, who had strongly inherited her mother's power. Roxiana, pulled back from the brink by the spirits' affection.

They saw her as their own child, their sibling, so they were captivated by her without demanding any price.

What the spirits didn't know was that they had been born to love the life of this land in the first place. Though humans had betrayed and persecuted them first, turning their hearts to hatred, they couldn't erase the affection that bloomed toward those who could communicate with them.

That affection took root in Roxiana, purifying the land tainted by demonic energy. The blessings of gnomes and naiads settled on the sticky, dead soil, slowly driving out the corruption.

The murky black earth gradually regained its color, and a few seeds buried within began to sprout with life. In soil that had held only death, pale green shoots poked up, tiny but vibrant.

And Roxiana collapsed with a thud.

"Hah. Hah."

No matter how much the spirits demanded no price, channeling their power consumed stamina. Harmonizing with them while guiding them to her will required immense focus and strength.

Her breath came in gasps, as if she'd sprinted hundreds of meters without rest. Her heart pounded like it might burst.

Roxiana panted heavily as she surveyed the garden.

The dead trees and flowers wouldn't regrow just yet, but the soil had visibly turned fertile. A few seeds spared from the corruption had sprouted, revealing tender buds above the earth.

-That's as far as we go. Any more is dangerous.

As Roxiana reached out to try once more, a low, gruff voice rang in her ear. She figured it must be a gnome.

-"The earth spirits are incredibly taciturn. I hear even their king is remarkably quiet."

Words from her mother floated up in her memory. Back then, by the fireplace, Angelia had brushed Roxiana's hair while whispering everything she knew about the spirits in a soft voice.

'Just one more time...'

-Enough now. Stop forcing it. Your soul is fraying.

The gnome vanished after those words. Though invisible, Roxiana could sense its departure. The naiads and sylphs quieted too, as if their tasks were done.

Alone in the silent garden, Roxiana sat on the ground, mulling over the gnome's warning.

'My soul is fraying?'

She recalled how, in the treatment room, she'd forcibly taken Undine into her body to heal contaminated patients. Undine had said this method wasn't right.

'So what?'

Roxiana gazed at her trembling hands, drained from using her power.

Her soul didn't matter.

If she could reach them with this power and deliver the punishment they deserved, she didn't care if her soul wore away or shattered.