Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Dancing with the Tree (2)
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The registration ended in an instant.
Afterward, Seoran and Straight Stem returned to the shabby sales booth and sat side by side amicably, chatting away.
The Beauty Tree Contest continued until autumn.
They were entering together, so it wouldn't do to remain awkward with each other.
From their conversation, Straight Stem's age was just over two hundred years old.
She asked Seoran to speak casually, and Seoran gladly agreed.
Having lived nearly five years under a fake age, Seoran had already half-submerged into her fabricated backstory.
Seoran, perched on Straight Stem's shoulder, asked,
"But how does the judging work for the Beauty Tree Contest?"
"It's the total of beauty scores and performance scores that determines the ranking. There are five judges, one for each attribute."
"Ah, I see."
Straight Stem asked, looking puzzled.
"Didn't you know? All the other gardeners seemed to."
"I've been registered as a gardener for less than a month."
"You're a total beginner, then. So why enter the Beauty Tree Contest all of a sudden? There are plenty of smaller contests for new gardeners, and jumping straight into such a big one must be daunting, right?"
Seoran answered honestly.
"I want the Millennium Earth Spirit Wood, so I signed up."
"That makes sense. That's why you advertised making them a star. Even third place gets to choose one of the Millennium Five Elements Woods."
Seoran didn't quite follow but nodded.
"Yeah, pretty much."
Silence fell between them.
They were still in the getting-to-know-you phase, so conversations often lapsed.
Seoran and Straight Stem rolled their eyes, pondering new topics.
Seoran spoke up first.
"But you said there's a performance score in the Beauty Tree Contest. Do you know how to dance, by any chance? Like, you learned it before?"
Straight Stem jumped on the topic right away.
"Yes, I've been practicing on and off since a hundred years ago."
"Impressive. A hundred years ago—that's from the year of the last Beauty Tree Contest. You would've regretted it so much if you skipped this one."
Straight Stem laughed.
"Hehe, yeah."
Seoran laughed too.
"Hehe."
Silence again.
Seoran asked once more.
"Could you maybe show me a dance?"
"Uh, that'd be a bit embarrassing."
"You'll have to dance on stage in the contest anyway."
"You're right."
It did make sense upon reflection.
Straight Stem stood up hesitantly and set Seoran down on the ground.
Then she began to dance with graceful movements.
Once the accompaniment-free performance ended, Seoran clapped.
"Wow, you're good! You must've practiced a ton."
"It's my first time showing anyone, but was it okay?"
"Yeah, it was really pretty. But you could use a bit more confidence. You looked a little timid. Otherwise, it was perfect."
"Confidence, right. My dance teacher always said that too, but I just can't fix it."
"Don't worry. I'll make you look beautiful. Leave the decorations and pruning to me. You just focus on practicing your performance with the mindset of aiming for first place."
Straight Stem asked,
"First place? Wasn't our goal third?"
Seoran looked puzzled too.
"Third? No way."
"Then why advertise 'I'll make you a star'? Doesn't that mean aiming for third?"
"Star? What does that even mean?"
Seeing Seoran's expression, Straight Stem realized.
This person really had no idea what she was getting into.
So she began explaining step by step.
Beauty Tree Contest.
A contest held every hundred years to select the most beautiful tree.
There are men's and women's divisions.
After preliminaries among trees of the same attribute, the top five from each advance to the finals.
In the finals, the twenty-five Five Elements Treefolk compete in beauty and performance to determine first, second, and third place.
First place is the Sun Beauty Tree, symbolizing the sun.
Second is the Moon Beauty Tree, symbolizing the moon.
Third is the Star Beauty Tree, symbolizing the stars.
In Beauty Tree Contest lingo, "became a star" was a common idiom for "took third place."
Only after this explanation did Seoran understand the indifference she'd faced.
Her shouted advertisement—promising to make them third place—had been an utterly baffling claim to the knowledgeable Five Elements Treefolk.
Having learned one more thing, Seoran asked,
"But who was the Sun Beauty Tree from the last contest? Tell me so I can reference it when planning your styling."
"The previous Sun Beauty Tree was Burning Branch, a Fire Blossom Treefolk. Her performance skills and styled beauty were both outstanding. And the youngest ever—pretty amazing, right?"
"Burning Branch? Is that her name?"
"Yes, exactly. She inherited the name from her Fire Blossom Treefolk grandmother and was always proud of it."
"I see. You know a lot about her. Are you two close?"
"No, not really... We just happened to talk once."
"Got it."
Silence returned, and the topic shifted.
They talked until it grew dark, then fell asleep.
*****
That night, Straight Stem had a dream.
In the dream, she was a child again.
Thick stem and branches for a female, and that perpetually timid expression.
Straight Stem had been an extremely shy tree.
She couldn't mingle well with peers and spoke little, overly fretting about saying the wrong thing.
She'd resigned herself to a lonely life forever, envying the pretty, confident trees her age.
Burning Branch was one of them.
Beautiful branches blazing vibrantly, a smooth stem unlike her own, and unshakeable self-belief.
Too young at fifty to enter the Beauty Tree Contest, but she shone like the sun.
She often thought she'd never stand on the same stage as such a beauty tree.
But chance brought an opportunity.
Burning Branch, always surrounded by followers, and Straight Stem, always alone.
Somehow, the two trees ended up together, just the pair of them.
She didn't remember the details clearly, but Straight Stem had stared blankly at Burning Branch.
Burning Branch noticed the gaze and asked,
"What's up?"
Straight Stem apologized immediately.
"S-Sorry... You're just so pretty..."
Burning Branch laughed brightly and said,
"Yeah? Thanks for the compliment. You're really pretty too."
Flustered, Straight Stem asked,
"Wh-Where?"
Burning Branch replied,
"Your posture is so straight. I can see the qualities to shine like a star."
"Th-Thank you..."
She didn't remember what came before or after the conversation.
But that exchange with Burning Branch remained vivid even after a hundred and fifty years.
It was an unforgettable memory for Straight Stem.
The dream ended, and Straight Stem woke.
She recalled Burning Branch's face from childhood.
She'd entered the Beauty Tree Contest right at a hundred years old.
And won Sun Beauty Tree by an overwhelming margin.
Dazzling beauty and exquisite dance.
The poise she showed after taking first in the Beauty Tree Contest.
A tree that truly shone like the sun.
That sight captivated Straight Stem.
She started learning dance right after the contest ended.
A hundred years of relentless daily practice had turned her into an excellent dancer.
Her admiration for Burning Branch had changed her.
But she couldn't take that final step.
I want to be like Burning Branch!
Can I really do that?
She said I had the qualities to become a star!
Was it just polite flattery?
I want to enter the Beauty Tree Contest!
What if I go and just become a laughingstock?
Straight Stem yearned for change but was afraid.
Her thoughts tangled, she went out for a walk.
She wanted to stroll the quiet night streets and clear her mind.
She slowly raised her massive body.
And then Straight Stem saw.
Under the bright full moon, the gardener who would enter the Beauty Tree Contest with her.
Seoran hadn't gone to bed even late at night.
Using moonlight as her lamp, she was molding clay.
Seoran saw Straight Stem awake and said,
"Ah, did I wake you with the noise?"
"No, I just couldn't sleep..."
"Good, that's a relief."
Seoran continued her work from moments before.
Legs of roots, stem and branches, and face.
Up close, the clay resembled Straight Stem.
Straight Stem asked,
"What are you doing in the middle of the night like this?"
Seoran answered,
"I'm thinking about how to style you. Just my personal opinion, but we should play up your straight, sturdy stem as a strength. You see it as a flaw, but I think it's really cool."
"So you're not sleeping?"
"Yeah, I just couldn't."
"I see."
As Straight Stem moved to leave, Seoran asked,
"Where are you going?"
"Just a short walk..."
Straight Stem wandered blankly for a long while.
Meeting Seoran had been pure coincidence.
Walking with her gaze down as usual, she spotted the gardener waving a sign: "I'll make you a star!"
The word "star" made her ask without thinking.
"By any chance, are you entering the Beauty Tree Contest?"
It was a question born from her faint longing to change, to become a star—she'd barely mustered the courage.
She regretted it the moment she spoke.
If Seoran hadn't grabbed her, she surely wouldn't have even entered.
Straight Stem recalled Seoran's face from earlier.
Seoran's face as she kneaded the clay brimmed with conviction.
But that belief wasn't directed at herself.
It was conviction in Straight Stem.
Straight Stem looked up at the night sky.
In the past, Burning Branch had said,
"Your posture is so straight. I can see the qualities to shine like a star."
Recently, Seoran had said,
"Your straight stem is so tree-like!"
Different words, but ultimately the same message.
Thick stem and branches for a female, timid personality.
Straight Stem hadn't believed in herself, but they had willingly believed in her.
Aspiration bloomed within Straight Stem.
Even if she couldn't become a star in the end.
Even if their praise was mere lip service.
Even if she erred and became a laughingstock.
Straight Stem decided to move forward with faith.
To change.
To shine on her own.
To become a star.
Hidden by moonlight, stars still dotted the night sky.
The preliminaries began.