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So, the point is, we need to make the World Tree capable of self-purification.

After a long explanation, Michaela said that. As the goddess of paradise, she checked the condition of the World Tree and proposed a solution.

Jeong So-ra’s World Tree had withered once due to Park Joon-hyuk. And what grew anew from the dead World Tree was Jeong Ji-hwan’s World Tree.

The World Tree, which had once completely withered, never regained its former glory. Though it was much larger and thicker than an ordinary tree, compared to its past, it looked scrawny.

“Think of Tristan as the support holding up the weakened World Tree. If we forcibly separate Tristan from the World Tree, the otherworld will collapse immediately.”

“Th-then…”

“Until the World Tree grows sufficiently, Tristan’s consciousness cannot leave the World Tree.”

The only solution to wake Tristan, who is sleeping within the World Tree, is to wait until the World Tree grows enough.

After hearing Michaela’s explanation, Bella looked at the World Tree. How long would it take for that World Tree to grow as large as before?

‘Probably at least…’

“I’ll borrow Lukaela’s power too, and I’ll do my best.”

As if reading Bella’s thoughts, Michaela spoke in a heavy voice.

“Even so, I don’t know when it will be. It could be a year, ten years, or a hundred years…”

Hearing the numbers made her heart sink. How many years would they have to wait? If that’s the case, then at least while alive…

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Please tell us anything, Michaela.”

“I, I want to help too! I want to help the Count wake up even a day sooner…”

“Hmm… Well…”

After pondering for a while, Michaela clapped her hands as if she had just thought of something.

“Ah, right. Come here every year on this day to check the growth of the World Tree.”

*

“Uh, did we get the date wrong…?”

“No way.”

Michaela didn’t show herself until they arrived at the World Tree.

“Today is the day Michaela mentioned.”

“She might have gone to take care of oppa’s body.”

Instead of Tristan’s vanished body, Jeong Ji-hwan’s body remained. And a year ago, Jeong Ji-hwan was entrusted to Michaela. Though he hadn’t woken up, his physical condition wasn’t bad, so it was better for him to recuperate near the World Tree where his consciousness slept, according to Michaela’s judgment.

“That might be the case.”

“Yes. If we wait here, she’ll probably show up soon.”

Jeong So-ra looked at the World Tree before her. The densely packed branches reaching towards the sky seemed to almost touch the clouds. Compared to a year ago, it had grown nearly three times its size. Back then, it looked scrawny, but now it resembled a small World Tree.

And it also meant that Michaela had been diligently managing it over the past year.

Jeong So-ra, waiting under the shade of the World Tree, opened her mouth.

“Hey, Bella. Can I ask you something?”

“Huh? What…”

“Were you doing a mud mask before we came?”

“Eek…?! Ugh… Yes…”

“Ahaha. Bella, aren’t you just too cute?”

Seeing Bella blush in embarrassment, Jeong So-ra laughed. She could guess why Bella had done that. There was only one person she wanted to look good for.

“Honestly, Bella, you don’t need to do that to be pretty.”

“……Thank you…”

“Ah! Saying that makes me feel left out. Sister-in-law~. That means the princess is prettier than me.”

Helga chimed in, teasing. It wasn’t the first or second time she had done this, but a strange word caught their attention.

“Sister-in…law?”

“Sister-in-law?”

“Helga. What’s a sister-in-law?”

“Hehe… In Korea, they call the younger sister of one’s husband ‘sister-in-law.’ And Sora is the Count’s sister… so!”

Helga pointed at herself with her thumb.

“Wouldn’t that make me her sister-in-law?”

Though it was silly and foolish, she often took the lead like this. Helga, who was obsessed with everything about Tristan, had a lot of such knowledge that only she knew.

Especially Bella, who had claimed to be Tristan’s wife, didn’t want to acknowledge Helga’s lead.

Bella spoke as if it was nothing.

“Hmm… Did you study alone in the forest?”

“Yes. I read a lot of books.”

“Books…? You?”

Imagining Helga, who looked like a savage, reading books seriously by the campfire, Bella shook her head.

“What kind of books are you?”

“Then do you think I lived like a savage in the forest?”

“Yes. You were a complete savage. It’s a miracle you didn’t use books as firewood…”

“True. They were handy when the fire wouldn’t light at night.”

“What about magic?!”

Bella, who had shouted without realizing it, covered her mouth. She kept forgetting her dignity in front of Helga.

“Helga. It’s not right to call Sora that way.”

As Bella stepped back, Blanshe stepped forward.

“Huh… Why is that?”

“Sora is the one who created this world with us. In a way, she’s like a mother, a great being. You’re not in a position to call her so familiarly.”

“Hmm… Then Sora Mama?”

“Ma…ma…? Don’t attach strange titles.”

“Tch. Aren’t you being too strict? Then what should I call her?”

“Sora is Sora.”

“Ah. Actually, Blanshe, you want to call her sister-in-law too, don’t you?”

“Wh…what?! That’s not it!”

Blanshe hastily denied it, but her reaction made it seem like she had been hit right on the mark. Seeing this, Helga grinned mischievously.

“Hehe. If it’s not true, why are you shouting so loudly?”

“I’m saying Sora is not a friend!”

“But I called her sister-in-law, not a friend!”

“Ugh…”

Blanshe, being played by Helga’s wordplay, was pitiful to watch. Unable to stand it, Bella stepped in.

“As Blanshe said, no one has called Sora sister-in-law yet. Since the wedding hasn’t happened yet, strictly speaking, she’s still a stranger. Someday, we’ll call her sister-in-law, but not now. Right, Sora?”

“Uh, uh?!”

Jeong So-ra, who had been listening to their conversation with amusement, was startled when the question was directed at her.

“Considering what Sora has done for us and our world, it’s more appropriate to call her Sora with respect rather than sister-in-law…”

“Uh… I don’t mind if you call me sister-in-law…”

“……If our sister-in-law says it’s okay, then it must be.”

“Ah, miss?!”

“See? Sister-in-law~.”

“Th-then I’ll call Sora sister-in-law too!”

“I’ll call her sister-in-law… too…!”

“You can drop the ‘nim.’ Wendy.”

“Okay! Sister-in-law…”

“Hehe…”

With her permission, they all started calling Jeong So-ra sister-in-law.

Jeong So-ra chuckled at the situation where the characters from her novel were calling her sister-in-law.

‘This must be what happiness is.’

There was nothing to worry about. The players’ invasion had ended. Park Joon-hyuk’s plans had all failed, and this world was saved. From now on, she could live with the characters from her novel. It was surely a happy thing. It should have been.

But…

“Sora??”

“Ah, sorry. Why am I like this all of a sudden…”

Feeling a lump in her chest, Jeong So-ra had to cover her mouth. The lump rising in her throat threatened to turn into sobs, so she curled up.

But…

“If this happens…”

She couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

“It shouldn’t… be like this…”

Not wanting to ruin the cheerful atmosphere, Jeong So-ra wiped the tears streaming down her face. She kept wiping, but the tears she couldn’t wipe away fell to the ground in drops.

The memories she had tried to suppress came back like a chill.

The day Jeong So-ra woke from her long sleep, she cried without thinking of asking anyone for help. She cried like a child, calling for her brother.

Her brother, who had become the World Tree in her place, had become the pillar supporting the otherworld they had created together through their imagination.

All to save his younger sister.

“Take care. My sister.”

When her brother’s voice came to mind, her heart ached. His smile, as if telling her not to worry about anything, wouldn’t leave her mind.

“I… I haven’t done anything for my brother yet…”

Once the tears started, they showed no sign of stopping. It was a relief she wasn’t wailing like a child.

Over the past year, Jeong So-ra had undergone rehabilitation and mental therapy at the hospital. Severe insomnia. Even when she managed to fall asleep, she would wake up from nightmares dozens of times a day.

She didn’t want to sleep. When she woke up, her brother wasn’t there. She hated starting a day without her brother.

She was anxious.

It felt like she had lost her brother forever.

It felt like her brother would never return.

“He will return.”

A firm and powerful voice held Jeong So-ra’s shoulder.

It was Blanshe.

“…Sora’s brother, the Count I know, was quite self-willed and free-spirited. To put it badly, he was like a rascal, and to put it nicely… he was like a mischievous boy. Because of that, no one listened to him. People pointed fingers, saying the Count was lying and hiding dark intentions. And I too once believed the Count was really that kind of person.”

Blanshe had hated Tristan, who had abandoned her. She had hated him for using her as a murder weapon and then casting her off like cutting off a tail. Though she found salvation through Bella, Blanshe’s heart had grown cold with feelings of revenge.

“But the Count wasn’t that kind of person.”

Tristan didn’t resent Blanshe. Instead, he accepted all her anger.

“You have every right to kill me.”

Blanshe had set aside her revenge. She thought it wouldn’t be too late to take revenge after revealing the true nature of Tristan.

But the more she learned about Tristan, the more she realized she had been greatly mistaken. Behind Tristan’s actions of abandoning her was a wish for Blanshe to live an ordinary life.

“The Count is considerate. He doesn’t show it, but he always tries to make those around him happy. I’ve watched the Count for a long time. I know what kind of person he is… I know what kind of man I fell for.”

When she realized it, Blanshe’s heart, which had frozen like the depths of winter, was filled with warmth. She had been captivated by Tristan.

“No matter what anyone says, the Count is someone who keeps his promises… I can confidently say he always keeps his promises. So Sora…”

Blanshe gently stroked Jeong So-ra’s trembling back. Jeong So-ra looked up. In front of her was Blanshe’s face, also stained with tears.

“The Count will definitely return. He will return and marry me… and everyone.”

Blanshe, who rarely showed her emotions, was crying.

“That’s right. He promised that.”

Helga sniffled and hugged Jeong So-ra from behind. Feeling Helga’s pats, Jeong So-ra sobbed.

“Ugh… I miss my brother… I miss him so much…”

“Me too…”

This time, it was Bella. She also swallowed her tears and hugged Jeong So-ra tightly.

“I’m not confident. Everyone praises me as the princess, but… without Tristan, I’m… nothing… just a woman…”

“Sniff… The Count feels like he’s right here… like he’ll appear as if nothing happened…”

“Yes. The Count will surely… return to us…”

“Please come back now… Sob… Tristan… Please…”

The five of them wept around Jeong So-ra. Though they hadn’t shown it, they had all been missing Tristan deep down. The emotions they had held back one by one burst out, infecting everyone around them.

If not for the sharp voice that interrupted, they would have surely wailed.

“You idiot! I told you not to exercise today!”

They froze.

“Rest until you recover! Lukaela and I are taking turns to watch over you. You should rest when we’re taking turns for you!”

“Do you think you’re my nanny?”

“I’m not your nanny, but I’m your niece!”

“My niece?”

“Yes! I’m your brother’s daughter! To you, I’m your niece!”

The man scoffed at the bickering girl.

“Such a noisy niece. If I don’t move my body for even a day, it stiffens.”

“Just one day of rest won’t make you stiff!”

“I’ve rested for so long, so I can’t rest anymore. Besides, I can’t appear in such a pitiful state on a day like this…”

The man who appeared from behind the World Tree paused. A man with his upper body bare, his obsidian eyes meeting the gazes of the women embracing each other.

Their eyes met in mid-air.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

A drop of sweat trickled down Tristan’s forehead. Whether it was sweat from exercise or cold sweat, it rolled down his cheek as he opened his mouth.

“……Should I wait until you’re done crying?”

“Count…!!”

“Ugh.”

Before anyone could stop her, Wendy rushed into Tristan’s arms.

 

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