Chapter 204
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 204
Tulia’s mother—no, my mother—was truly an incredible person...
‘But why did her daughter turn out like this?’
I know you can plant a watermelon and end up with a peach, but this was more like planting light and having an evil orc sprout up to go around ripping people’s heads off.
‘Then again, Tulia’s mother is also the mother of the true male lead, Lisian, and that jerk Leon Frezier.’
I suppose since they were born first, they must have hogged all of Mom’s divinity for themselves.
“But what exactly is a Divine Tree?”
“It’s a very sacred tree with stars encircling its crown,” Klaus answered flatly. He had been staring at me with his arms crossed the entire time. Kaitan shouted in excitement.
“To think we’ve discovered a lineage thought to be extinct! As expected, Your Highness, you are amazing! How did you manage to pick a partner who is such a perfect match!”
“Shut it.”
“Yes, sir!”
Unlike Kaitan, who looked ready to fly away in his excitement, Klaus looked troubled. He was gazing at me with complex eyes, like a man standing before a labyrinth.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did you really not know? About your mother...”
“I knew half of it, but not the other half.”
In other words, I knew about the Guardian lineage, but I didn't know anything about a Divine Tree.
Especially the fact Klaus just mentioned.
‘Stars encircling its crown?’
Ha. Well, isn't that something.
I happened to have a star wandering around over my head, too.
‘I’m talking about you, Kim Ddong-byul.’
I let out a hollow laugh and stood up.
“I’m going to head back a bit early.”
“Pardon? My lady!”
I had said my goodbyes to Klaus, but Kaitan was making a fuss, grabbing my wrist.
“Is that all the reaction we get? This is truly a monumental discovery! It’s an incredible bloodline! Is it because you’re from the Spring Continent that it doesn't quite sink in? Tsk! My lady, you are currently more significant than the only Princess of this Empire! There’s no comparison!”
“Right, right. Thanks. But don’t go saying things like that outside; it’ll put me in a difficult spot.”
“This really shouldn't end with such a lukewarm reaction...”
Kaitan, who had been bursting with excitement, deflated like a punctured balloon.
I strode over to Klaus and stood right in front of him.
“...What is it?”
“Klaus, listen to me.”
“Huh?”
Klaus took a sharp breath.
It was because I had reached out and yanked him down by his collar. I whispered softly into his ear as he stood there, stiff as a board.
“You got that?”
“...”
“Did you hear me?”
“...Yeah. I got it. I said I got it.”
“Good.”
I followed Adel back toward the main building.
Or rather, I intended to, but...
“Dad? Why are you standing at the entrance?”
“Ahem. I was just taking a walk to discuss some matters with your grandfather.”
“At the entrance of the Summer Annex?”
‘Were they waiting here because I was out too late?’
Well, the timing was perfect!
I gave a light laugh and ushered the two of them inside.
Both of them looked like they were dying to know why I had gone to the annex and what I had been discussing with Klaus until this hour, but resolving my own questions came first!
“Dad. I have something to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about Mom.”
In an instant, Dad and Grandfather exchanged looks.
* * *
At midnight that night.
The soft muslin curtains fluttered endlessly through the open terrace windows.
Just standing there and watching them made me feel as though I were being pulled into a dream.
The moonlight was exceptionally thick, making the man who leaped through it look unnervingly beautiful.
“I’ve arrived exactly at the time you requested.”
“That thing you do, hopping across the rooftops... is that something I could learn?”
“Well, maybe if you’re reborn. As part of the great Wolf King’s lineage, that is.”
“You’re so full of yourself...”
How could he be so shameless? Is that also a requirement for a male lead?
I was exasperated, but I approached Klaus anyway. My mind was crowded with the conversation I’d had with Dad and Grandfather earlier.
“Your mother was, yes... originally the successor to the Guardian who protects the Divine Tree of the Summer Continent.”
“The successor?”
“Yes. But Lailan—your mother—forfeited all her rights as a Guardian in exchange for marrying me. So, one of her other sisters was supposed to become the Guardian. We didn't know much beyond that.”
“Then why did Mom go back to the Summer Continent?”
“...Because Lailan’s sisters were all massacred.”
“What? Massacred? Why? Why would my aunts be killed?”
I couldn't forget the shock I felt then.
Dad had wiped his weary face with both hands before continuing.
“We couldn't find out why. The immediate problem was the qualification of the successor.”
“...”
“They say the succession of the Divine Tree follows the maternal line. Your mother had forfeited all her qualifications as a Guardian, but the problem was...”
I didn't need to hear the rest of Dad’s explanation to know.
The Guardian of the Divine Tree. Where—and to whom—that heavy, immense power had flowed!
The only daughter among the surviving lineage of the successor.
Namely.
“They said it flowed into me.”
“...”
“That’s why Mom... took me and left for the Summer Continent. So she could take the Guardian’s power back through a ceremony.”
I relayed everything I had heard from Dad to Klaus.
Regardless, this was a story closely tied to the Summer Continent.
I judged it best for Klaus, a prince of the Lupinus Kingdom, to be fully informed.
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
When we were young, Leon Frezier had hated me because he couldn't forget how Mom had taken only me and left, never to return.
As a mother, it must have been as agonizing as tearing off her own flesh.
But I was her only daughter, and the Guardian’s power was passed from mother to daughter...
“Above all, a Guardian cannot leave the side of the Divine Tree. Your mother, Lailan... she only wanted you to grow up as a precious lady in this safe and prosperous Empire.”
“...”
“That’s why she tried to become the Guardian herself through a complex ritual...”
Dad’s voice had grown thick with emotion.
“She said she might be able to visit the Spring Continent every few years, at least...”
“Mom never made it back in the end.”
I murmured quietly.
“They said she died... and not a single member of that tribe could be found...”
A silence as heavy as moonlight settled between us.
“Tulia.”
Klaus was the first to break the stillness. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Aren't you curious about the name of the Divine Tree your mother protected?”
“...!”
I looked up immediately. A rare, soft smile played on Klaus’s lips.
“What is... the name of the Divine Tree?”
“Beta Crucis. It’s shortened to Becrux. It’s the Divine Tree of the Southern Star.”
“The Divine Tree of the Southern Star...”
Stars.
Stars again.
It felt like the whole world was covered in stars.
The thing Mom protected was a star’s Divine Tree.
The thing I was currently catering to was Kim Ddong-byul.
After a moment of thought, I spoke slowly.
“Klaus.”
“Yeah.”
“That Divine Tree of the Southern Star, Crucis... what happened to it now?”
“It withered and died.”
“Oh my god.”
“Perhaps because it lost its Guardian, it died. Since then, it’s been unofficially called Mimosa.”
“Mimosa?”
“It might sound unpleasant, but that name was given to it by those damn fanatics who crossed over from the Autumn and Winter Continents.”
“What does it mean? Does it have a meaning?”
“As far as I know, it’s derived from the Ancient Language words for ‘to mimic’ or ‘to imitate.’ That old man Lassen told me once, sounding quite disgusted by it.”
“...”
“I suppose they thought a withered Divine Tree couldn't handle its original sacred name. And don't ominous names always spread faster?”
“That’s true. It’s the same on the Spring Continent.”
I was a victim of that myself; I knew firsthand how far the rumors of young Tulia’s misdeeds had spread.
“So, the commoners all call it that in private. Mimosa.”
“Mimosa, Mimosa...”
I suddenly frowned.
“I don’t need to call it that. I’ll call it Becrux.”
“Go ahead. The glorious royalty of the Summer Continent still call the tree by that name.”
Klaus seemed unaccustomed to offering comfort, but his words were full of sincerity.
“It is, after all, the Divine Tree your mother protected as a Saintess.”
My expression froze instantly.
“What did you just say?”
“I said it’s the tree your mother protected?”
“No, before that.”
“Your mother was a Saintess?”
“...!”
I bolted upright from my seat.
