Mother's Awakening
Upon arriving at the mansion and meeting Riel’s brother, Andrew, we followed the knight’s guidance into the reception room. Several people were already seated there.
“It’s been a while,” Aine said with her usual dignified expression. Beside her, Garrett bowed his head slightly.
On the opposite side sat a woman in white priestess robes. As we entered, she rose and greeted us. She appeared to be from the World Tree Church, yet the uneasy feeling I remembered from northern missionaries was absent.
Someone sat at a table near the window on the far side of the room. Long blonde hair, striking blue eyes, and those unmistakable elongated ears marked her as an elf. She held a cup of drink and stared into it.
“…An elf?” Riel murmured, noticing her too.
The elf turned at the sound of Riel’s voice, offered a light bow, and greeted us. Kyou and Riel reflexively bowed in return.
“It’s been ages since I’ve seen an elf,” she said.
“Eh? You’ve seen one?” Riel asked.
“Yeah. A little back home.”
Although there were a few elf settlements in the north, they had adapted well to the harsh northern life.
“Ive will likely arrive late at night, so shall we speak among ourselves first?” Aine suggested.
Everyone took their seats as she spoke. Once all were settled, Aine turned to the seated priestess.
“Then, Priestess Alicia. It would be troublesome, but could you recount what you told me?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Alicia’s gaze lingered on Riel as she spoke. “…It seems this will be a very important matter.”
“…Hoo. You went there after all.”
Zenon, the commander of the Second Holy Knight Order under the Central Church, wore a hollow expression. He had searched for Alicia after she was sighted near a village close to the border of Grace Duchy, but the sighting report claimed she had already taken a carriage and departed. Given the kingdom’s current tensions, he judged it too dangerous to wander freely inside the realm. He reported this to Cardinal Gerald, only to receive orders to capture and execute the apostate at any cost, followed by a demand to confiscate every possession afterward.
This was absurd even beyond simply capturing the apostate—now they wanted everything taken too. It felt more like a bandit’s demand than a holy mission. Still, he could not ignore the cardinal’s command. Zenon removed his holy knight armor, changed into another set, and disguised himself as a mercenary. He selected only a few subordinates with matching disguises, searched the kingdom for Alicia’s sighting details, and eventually learned her destination.
‘Ignis Duchy, Brimton City…’
Unlike small villages or towns, Brimton City’s checkpoints were strict. Without prepared false identification, entry was impossible at present.
“Damn it. If only I could prepare a fake identity and assign the search mission…”
Zenon grumbled inwardly to Gerald while stomping his feet. Several holy knight subordinates witnessed the scene but remained silent. They too resented the mission.
“…No other choice for now. We’ll return and report first.”
“Yes.”
After giving the same order to his disguised subordinate, Zenon turned and left. His men followed, and the small group of fewer than ten slipped away from the Ignis Duchy’s vicinity. None of them suspected they were being secretly watched.
Priestess Alicia’s words were deeply shocking. Even when the “Child of Yggdrasil” story emerged, the real surprise came afterward. The World Tree that was already dying. The “Child” chosen by the World Tree to birth the next generation. Saint Belia, who had killed the World Tree and stolen its power. And Saint Belia, consumed by jealousy toward the “Child” chosen by the World Tree and who had tormented her obsessively. And the true identity of that “Child”…
“Riel… is the Child of the World Tree Yggdrasil?”
“The World Tree said so.”
I turned to Riel. She stared back in surprise, mouth slightly open and eyes wide.
Alicia reached into her robes and withdrew something. “Riel-nim, this is…”
It was a small orb, roughly the size of a fist, with a hue between green and brown. Yet it radiated a faint, otherworldly light that felt strangely sacred.
Riel hesitated, swallowed hard, and accepted the orb into her palm. It continued to glow softly.
“Riel, are you all right?”
“U-um… yeah. It doesn’t feel strange at all. Ah…!”
Riel flinched and let out a sound. I startled and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Ah… I’m fine. It just suddenly felt very warm…”
Riel stared at the orb in her hands. Alicia watched her and spoke.
“The World Tree said this is the seed of the new World Tree.”
“This is it?” I asked.
It resembled a bead or large pearl more than a seed. The color was seed-like, yet given its origin, perhaps even the seed was special.
“The World Tree instructed me to deliver it to Riel-nim, the Child she chose.”
Hearing Alicia’s words, I considered several things. Allen was not the “Child of Yggdrasil” as in the original story. In fact, even in the original, he had not been. The concept of the Child mentioned in the original work was simply the one blessed and protected by the World Tree Yggdrasil who had chosen him—nothing more, nothing less. But Alicia’s explanation of the Child’s nature was entirely different. In this world, the Child of the World Tree was the vessel blessed and protected by the dying World Tree to become the next generation. The more positive emotions—joy, happiness, love—the Child felt, the stronger the next generation World Tree would grow. It was a kind of relay device. Why Riel? It made sense. Before Saint Belia’s interference, Riel had enjoyed a happy childhood thanks to her kind family and loyal servants. There was a sense that the original story had diverged greatly, but to alter even this fundamental element…
What on earth had the original novel been?
While these thoughts swirled, Andrew spoke. “I don’t understand everything… but Alicia-nim, is there no harm to Riel?”
“Yes. The World Tree said she would only gain power from the happiness Riel feels and would not harm her. …Above all, a benevolent World Tree would never do something to hurt the one she calls her own child.”
“…Is that so?”
Andrew still looked doubtful as he gazed at the World Tree seed in Riel’s hands. Yet when he saw Riel clutching it tightly with both hands as if it were precious, a gentle smile touched his lips.
“My happiness to this seed…”
Riel murmured while staring at the seed held in both hands.
Happiness meant different things to different people. Some were happy because they had money, others because they had many friends, still others because they helped others. In the extreme, some felt happiness by witnessing others’ misfortune. So what made Riel happy?
While pondering this, I watched Riel’s profile as she stared at the seed. Her red eyes seemed fixed on it, then her head turned and met mine. Our gazes locked.
“…Hehe.”
“…!!”
Riel smiled brightly. Without realizing it, I felt my cheeks heat and lowered my head.
…Suddenly, the forced confession incident at the entrance earlier flashed through my mind. What could I say? I had been thinking about a somewhat romantic confession situation, but was this really it? The faint light from the World Tree seed in Riel’s hand seemed to brighten slightly.
I stood before a door on the upper floor of the mansion. Phyllis waited behind me, and a knight under Aine’s command stood guard right beside the door as if protecting the place.
“I’m worried,” I said.
“Speaking of which, Phyllis also had a connection to this?”
“Yes. Lady Rachel was a very kind and good person.”
After Alicia finished her story and we agreed to discuss future plans once Eve arrived, Andrew’s suggestion and Riel’s strong wish led us to the ducal couple’s room. Even so, as an outsider I waited outside the door.
“If you’re worried, how about Phyllis going in to check?”
“No. I’m already a servant of the Wentos family. I cannot leave the young master alone.”
Still, in this regard, she could be called stubborn. After hearing Andrew’s account of the duchess’s condition caused by fairies, I thought about fairies. I did not know much about them. The only one I had actually seen was the light fairy summoned by Allen. In the original story, light fairies and a few assisting fairies appeared as summoners, but there were no detailed descriptions. A fairy as the World Tree’s errand boy… Using power to manipulate human minds sounded troublesome. Of course, magic tools existed to prevent it, but such tools were not inexpensive. While I pondered this, the door opened and Riel emerged. Seeing her gesture for us to enter quietly, Phyllis and I stepped inside.
Indeed, the ducal couple’s room was decorated with lavish splendor. Compared to our parents’ room, which favored outdoor activities, it seemed even more so.
On the bed adorned with luxurious veils lay a duchess with light brown hair. Aside from the hair color, she looked like a woman resembling Riel if one subtracted her age.
“Mother, this is Kyou. He calls him Kyou.”
Riel held my hand tightly with one of hers and spoke to her mother. “When I was little, Mother worried because I was so shy I couldn’t make friends. I made many friends—Emi, Senior Iris, and recently Ari and Peris…”
Riel’s expression was a little gloomy. Probably because she was looking at her mother who had not regained consciousness, she felt quite depressed.
“We’ve even found a lover. I wanted to introduce him to Mother right away…”
A hint of tears colored Riel’s voice. In fact, tears welled up slightly in her eyes, and she began to sob quietly.
Andrew’s expression standing beside Duchess Rachel was also somber. Quietly sobbing, Riel let Andrew take the hand that had been holding mine with his other hand.
…Eventually, Riel’s sobs gradually faded.
“…I’ll come back again.”
Riel said this and kissed the duchess’s cheek. Andrew followed, pressing his lips to the duchess’s cheek as well. Phyllis watched the scene with a slightly darker expression than usual.
After that, Andrew led the way, and we all left the room. At that moment.
“…Riel?”
A weak voice came from behind. Hearing it, the previous movements froze instantly. Riel turned her trembling head back.
“Riel…?”
“Mother!!”
The duchess, still lying weakly, lifted her eyelids and looked this way. Riel ran to the duchess as if propelled by force.