Building a New Home (2)
Having learned how to climb the ladder, Monia began her ascent up the tree. "Oh, oh-oh. Oh-my-god! Che-Chester! Chester!" she cried out in a panic as she climbed higher.
"What?!" Chester's voice drifted up from below. His voice, which had always echoed down from high above, now came from beneath her. Even though she hadn't climbed very far yet, it sounded as if he were shouting from the depths of an abyss.
"Chester!"
"What! Just speak!"
"I-I'm climbing! Isn't this way too high?! How much further do I have to go?!"
"You've only taken three steps!"
Chester watched Monia inching her way up the ladder. Paralyzed by sheer terror, she struggled to take even a single step. The only reason she was making any progress at all was because Chester was holding the bottom of the ladder, pulling it taut to minimize the swaying. If it had been shaking wildly like before, she wouldn't have been able to move an inch.
"Whoa! Whoa! Is this... is this what high-altitude air tastes like?!"
"Sure, sure. Now, don't look down!" Even though he was right beneath her, Chester raised his voice on purpose to boost her morale and courage.
"Okay!"
"Don't worry, I'm right down here! If you fall, I'll catch you!"
"Can you really catch me?!"
"Don't worry! Trust me! I will absolutely catch you!"
I will absolutely catch you. At those words, Monia looked down at the rope tied around her wrist.
"You trust me, right?"
"Yes, I trust you."
Monia mustered her strength, climbed the rest of the ladder, and finally reached the floor of the treehouse.
"Phew!" Exhausted from the climb, Monia collapsed onto the bamboo floor, panting heavily. A moment later, Chester climbed up after her.
"How is it?" he asked, sitting down beside her.
Catching her breath, Monia looked around. A breathtaking view, completely invisible from the ground, unfolded before her eyes. A vast green canopy woven from sprawling branches and lush leaves stretched out in every direction. The brilliant sunlight filtering through the gaps shattered against the foliage, sparkling like a cascade of scattered jewels.
"Wow..."
"Nice, isn't it?"
As they took in the scenery from within the heart of the giant tree, a gentle breeze swept through the leaves. The cool air brushed against their skin, soothing their bodies, which had grown hot from the hard labor of building the house.
"Incredible..."
"Not bad at all. I think we picked the perfect spot."
"Yes. But... is it really safe to light a fire up here?"
"Hmm?"
"I'm worried a stray spark might set the whole tree ablaze..."
"We'll cover the hearth area with dirt and surround it with stones, just like we did at the Beach Villa, so it'll be fine." Chester stood up and walked across the bamboo floor to test it. It seems sturdy enough, but... The long bamboo stalks laid across the branches seemed to sag slightly toward the center. Is the bamboo bending under my weight?
Chester recalled the X-frame support method he had used when constructing the Beach Villa. It would be a good idea to lay down two support beams across the entire width of the floor from now on.
"We've rested enough. Let's head down and grab more materials."
"Okay."
Chester slung his basket over his shoulder and climbed down. Monia prepared to follow him, but as she watched him descend, her eyes locked onto the swaying ladder and her own basket sitting far below on the ground. Her pupils dilated. Wait. Was... was it always this high up?
She stared at the ladder. It swayed gently back and forth. Sway, sway. Her vision seemed to wobble in sync with it. Her heart fluttered with sudden panic, and the entire world felt like it was tilting on its axis. Oh dear... Did I really climb up this high?
It was high. Terrifyingly high. To make matters worse, the ladder—their only way down—was swaying precariously. I have to climb down that?! That flimsy, shaking thing? How on earth did Chester make it look so easy? Dizziness washed over her, and her knees buckled. Just as she was about to tumble forward over the edge, she realized she was staring down a sheer drop and frantically threw herself backward.
Landing hard on her backside, Monia crawled forward and cautiously peeked over the edge again. In that brief span of time, Chester had already reached the ground and was waiting for her.
"Monia? What are you doing up there?"
"I-It's too high! It's way too high!"
"What?"
Chester looked up at the ladder. Granted, since they were building the house high up in the branches, the ladder was indeed quite long. "...I guess there's no helping it." Understanding her fear, Chester dumped out all the contents of his basket onto the ground and climbed back up.
"Here. Get in," he said, presenting the empty basket to Monia.
"What? In there?"
"Yeah. You're petite enough, so you'll fit easily."
"..."
"Once you're inside, I'll carry you down on my back."
"W-Will it hold?"
"Of course it will. How much do you weigh anyway?"
"How dare you ask a lady such a question!"
Chester scanned Monia's figure. Since arriving on the Floating Island, her physical activity had skyrocketed while her food intake had plummeted. She was noticeably slimmer than she had been before her exile. I've lost weight too... Well, our food situation has improved lately, so we'll probably gain it back soon. In any case, considering her weight loss, he could easily estimate her weight. It was a load he could carry without any trouble.
"I know you can handle it, Chester! I'm talking about the basket!"
"Ah." Chester looked at the basket, then back at Monia. "Yeah, it'll be fine."
"It's made of woven wood!"
"Haha. Nature is a hundred times tougher than you think. Naturally, a basket woven from its materials is just as strong."
Reassured slightly by his confidence, Monia eyed the basket warily before carefully climbing inside, curling herself up.
"How is it?"
"My butt hurts."
"I bet. It wasn't exactly designed for passengers."
Chester hoisted the basket onto his back and stepped onto the ladder. "Kyaaa! Ah! It's shaking!"
"Stop squirming. You're going to make us fall."
"Mph...! ...!!"
"I didn't tell you to stop breathing, you know." Chester chuckled as he steadily made his way down.
Monia cautiously poked her head out of the basket, trembling as the ground rapidly approached. "S-Slower! Go slower!"
"I'm not even going that fast."
The moment Chester reached the bottom and set the basket down, Monia scrambled out, threw herself onto the dirt, and began to sob. "Waaah... Heights are so scary..." She literally clung to the earth, weeping.
"You know, your bedroom back at the Duke's estate was much higher than this."
"The structural stability was on a completely different level!"
Chester pulled her to her feet and led her back to the bamboo grove. Together, they split, cut, and hauled the bamboo. They also carried the two long bamboo stalks intended for the under-floor support frame. During their brief rests, they chewed on smoked meat to stave off hunger, munched on wild fruits they gathered along the way, and quenched their thirst with fresh water. Step by step, they worked tirelessly on their new home.
"Um, do I tie it like this?"
"Yeah, not bad. You actually did a great job."
"Really? You mean it?"
"Yeah."
Unlike the Beach Villa, which Chester had built entirely on his own, this treehouse was a joint effort. As they worked, Chester taught Monia his plans for the structure and the specific survival skills required to build it.
"See? It's simpler than it looks, right?"
"A lot of these knots are surprisingly straightforward."
"There are more complex ones, sure. But if you can build something quickly and sturdily using simple methods, simple is always better." In truth, he was holding back on the more complex knots, figuring they would be too difficult for her to grasp just yet.
"..."
"What is it?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking... there's no room for useless vanity here."
"Hahaha. True enough. Nobles can't even greet each other without making it long and complicated."
"Yes. Just exchanging pleasantries, compliments, and inquiries about one's health takes up half the day." Monia nodded in agreement. Chester smiled, amused to hear her dismiss noble etiquette as mere vanity and useless fluff.
She really has changed. The old Monia would have proudly defended those customs as marks of dignity and refinement. But her time on the deserted island was rapidly stripping away her aristocratic conditioning. Chester lifted the second section of the floor—which had been reinforced with two long bamboo frames running across it—placed it onto the branches, and slid it into position. He aligned it with the first section and lashed them together. Next, he threaded a thin rope through the gaps in the first platform, securing it tightly to the bamboo frame. With the frame bound securely, the floor sagged much less and felt far more stable.
"Alright, let's make the third section the same way."
"Okay!"
Once again, Monia descended to the ground with Chester's assistance, and the two headed back into the forest to gather more bamboo. "I can't wait to see the finished house!"
"Really?"
"Yes! I think it's because I'm actually helping build it."
"I'm looking forward to it too."
"I knew it! I knew you'd say that!"
"Tiara, do you see it? That is the villa where we will live together until we graduate from the academy." As Jordy spread his arms wide toward the construction site, Tiara's eyes went wide with astonishment. The academy had been noisy lately due to the ongoing construction, sparking endless gossip among the noble students. She had never imagined that the massive project was a villa meant for her and the prince.
The villa was being built on a staggering scale. Even though they had only poured the concrete foundation and erected the heavy timber frames, its sheer size already dwarfed the surrounding academy buildings, completely overwhelming Tiara. A villa? She had thought they were building a fortress. But its grand scale was only the beginning. Every single window was designed with intricate, beautiful frames to be fitted with stained glass.
Jordy planned to commission master sculptors to craft exquisite statues, hang paintings depicting their blissful future, and hire a team of elite chefs to remain on standby so Tiara could enjoy whatever delicacy she desired at a moment's notice. He had ordered rare, frost-emitting flowers to keep the villa cool in the summer, and special heat-retaining stones to ensure warmth in the winter. He had even commanded his agents to procure exotic beasts so Tiara could have unique pets. It was a dream palace—a monument of absolute indulgence built from every resource Jordy could possibly muster.
"How is it?"
"It's... it's magnificent."
It was the pinnacle of extravagance. In an academy populated only by noble children who had yet to inherit their families' estates, only Jordy, the prince, could afford such lavishness. "And that's not all. I'm planning to build a pond out front..."
"A pond? Oh, wow."
While Jordy excitedly described the villa to Tiara, one of the construction workers slipped away unnoticed. Using his status as a laborer hired by the prince to move freely through the campus, the man made his way toward the academy's carrier pigeon coop. While the academy employed couriers to deliver messages to various noble estates, carrier pigeons were reserved for emergencies. However, these trained birds, capable of navigating to noble houses across the kingdom, were incredibly rare and valuable. Their use was strictly capped each month, permitted only to those who had received official clearance for urgent matters.
Seizing a moment when no one was around, the worker unlocked the coop using a key he had been given before entering the academy. He pulled out a carrier pigeon, showed it the crest of a specific noble family, and attached a thick letter packed with sensitive information before releasing the bird into the sky. He then replaced it with a decoy pigeon he had kept hidden in his toolbox and slipped away. Once clear of the academy grounds, the pigeon spread its wings and soared into the kingdom's sky, carrying the heavy dispatch.
As the bird flew, a flag signaling a 'relay point' rose from a certain building. The pigeon touched down, and a masked man intercepted the letter. In truth, the noble family listed as the destination was a decoy; the man waiting at this relay point was the actual recipient. Stepping over the fresh corpses of the government officials who had 'lived' at the relay station, the masked man exited the building and vanished into the labyrinthine alleys of the capital.
Weaving through alleys and navigating the capital's subterranean sewers, the man finally arrived at his destination. Who could have possibly guessed? This dilapidated, ordinary house was the secret residence of the leader of the Revolutionary Army—an organization that had operated in the shadows for nearly a century, hailed in whispers as warriors of liberation and freedom.
"Good work."
"It was nothing, sir. We succeeded entirely due to your meticulous preparations." The dignified, middle-aged man accepted the thick envelope, dismissed his subordinate, and broke the seal to review the intelligence.
After reviewing the intelligence, the man summoned several of his waiting subordinates, issued swift directives, and dismissed them. Once they had departed, he called in another agent. "Leak this information to our sympathizers among the academy guards."
"Understood. Are we instigating a direct clash between the Revolutionary Army and the academy guards?"
"Precisely."
A sudden, violent assault by the Revolutionary Army targeting the noble children—specifically the prince. Under the cover of the chaos paralyzing the capital, the provincial nobles would seize the opportunity to raise their banners and march. While the royal army's attention was entirely consumed by the revolutionary uprising, the rebel lords would move swiftly, crushing the royalist factions and advancing directly on the capital.
What a terrifyingly brilliant mind. After dismissing his second wave of subordinates, the Revolutionary Army Leader smiled to himself. Truly remarkable. Did he foresee that a day like this would come? Indeed, who could have ever imagined? The true founder of the Revolutionary Army was none other than the Duke's grandfather, and the leadership of the revolution had been passed down through generations of loyal vassals of the Duke's family.
The rebels, who cried out for freedom and liberation in the annals of the kingdom's history, were nothing more than a tool—a mechanism to sow chaos in the capital whenever the Duke's family required it. And now, they needed a conflagration larger and more violent than ever before. To blind the capital to the fires of war spreading across the provinces, they would ignite the flames of revolution in the heart of the city.
The warriors of freedom and liberation, who had bled and broken their bones training to raise their swords for the common people, would serve as mere kindling. Their sacrifice would fuel the chaos that would pave the way for The Duke—the new king. The Revolutionary Army Leader closed his eyes, his heart racing with pleasant anticipation as he envisioned the glorious day his master would finally ascend the throne.