Chapter 75
“…….”
I should have jumped up the moment I heard the groan.
Lying in an empty white space, I thought that to myself.
It was a place with an alien feeling, like something you’d only see in a movie.
No way… I’m not dead, right…?!
I quickly got up and scanned my body.
All my limbs were intact, and my condition wasn’t any different from before.
Except that Pyu wasn’t here.
I grabbed my cheek and pulled hard.
“Ow, ow, ow…….”
It hurts. It hurts.
I wondered if this was reality, but then I saw the tree in front of me and changed my mind.
“What is this?”
It was a huge tree with leaves in all sorts of colors that didn’t seem like they could exist in reality.
It was like someone saying, ‘I’m going to color this coloring book, and I’m using all 48 of my colored pencils,’ and coloring it with great enthusiasm.
And the fact that there wasn’t a single bit of black—wow, the worldbuilding here is perfect.
“…….”
I looked around the space once.
Other than the tree, there was nothing else……
“Hmm…….”
I fell into deep thought.
Then, cautiously, I opened my mouth toward the tree.
“Sir.”
I might look like a strange person talking to a tree right now.
But I was the only one here, and I had a hunch—something like intuition.
‘This isn’t ordinary.’
I narrowed my eyes.
The appearance of that tree, so dignified it looked like sacred music might start playing from the sky at any moment.
Just moments ago, I’d been experiencing something like a ‘midwinter night horror experience.’
And now I was in a holy place that would suit His Majesty’s looks perfectly.
Either this was a dream, or I was dead, or only my mind had come to another space.
One of the three.
And the kind of being that a ‘saintess’ like me might meet in a situation like this was—
“Seikan-nim?”
Shraaa—.
The tree shuddered.
The multicolored leaves brushed against each other, making a sound.
Really…?
The day my wild guess was right actually came.
I clapped a hand over my mouth.
“Wow. Are you like… the incarnated form of that tree?”
It’s been about nine months since I came to this world.
Am I finally meeting Seikan, whom I’d only heard about in stories…?!
My heart wouldn’t stop pounding.
I took a few steps forward.
The tree was now right in front of my nose.
“So it really is Seikan-nim. Wow…….”
Thud.
I kicked the tree with all my strength.
I thought it wouldn’t even budge, like some centuries-old ginkgo tree at the entrance of a village.
Shraaaaa—.
As if startled, the tree shook even more violently than when I’d called it Seikan.
Ugh. I hurt too.
I kicked it, and the vibration went all the way into my thigh bones.
“You know you don’t really have the right to complain even if I hit you once, right?”
I’d actually been planning to try using holy power, but it didn’t seem to work here.
What a shame.
“Well, I mean. I am grateful you let me meet His Majesty, but still.”
I don’t have any lingering attachment to my previous life, and I am satisfied with my current life in Zendal.
But that doesn’t mean I haven’t gone through emotional hardship.
Being thrown somewhere after getting an explanation, and being thrown somewhere without knowing anything—
Even if the environment you’re given is the same, the difference is huge.
The tree showed no reaction, but I poured out my heart as if I were talking to a bamboo grove.
Complaints, life counseling, love counseling.
After thoroughly making use of the bamboo grove by talking about all sorts of things, I finally brought up what I really wanted to ask.
“……So, I just want to know why you brought me here.”
My life goal was steady, long-term devotion to His Majesty.
But surely you didn’t send me to this world just to fangirl.
Yet if there was a purpose, Seikan’s attitude toward me had been neglectful from start to finish.
“Why did you choose me as a saintess? If you brought me here without my consent, you should at least explain things properly.”
Shraaa—.
The tree shook again.
……Communication. Is this really the best you can do?
Seikan-nim, unfortunately, I’m human, not a druid.
Leaf rustling sounds…… I can’t understand a single thing…….
Just as I was growing frustrated at the insurmountable language barrier.
From between the sounds of the leaves brushing together, a beautiful voice of indeterminate gender flowed out.
[It’s still too early.]
“Seikan……?”
[Go back.]
When I opened my eyes again, I was on a soft bed.
An unfamiliar, luxurious ceiling came into view.
‘Where is this…….’
I blinked.
It was a scene I’d never seen before, yet it felt strangely familiar.
I wondered why it felt so much like déjà vu, and then it hit me.
This is that thing you see all the time in novels……!
(Kim Yeojoo, 2x years old)
[After meeting a god from another world and coming to my senses, I realized I’d possessed a complete stranger. (laughs)]
Maybe because I’d experienced something unreal and then come to a place that felt real.
A sense of dread wrapped around my entire body.
‘What did I say to that tree earlier?’
Things like how my dream used to be becoming the youngest child of a chaebol family,
Or how I thought that if I ever went to another world, I’d become a rich, jobless freeloader.
I think I said stuff like that.
No way Seikan decided to grant that dream now of all times…….
“No, no!”
That— that’s not okayaa—!
I said I’m perfectly happy as things are right now……!!
With His Majesty’s face filling my mind, I shot my upper body upright.
I thought I needed to look in a mirror immediately, but in my lowered field of vision, I saw black hair.
‘Black!’
Could this familiar black hair really be mine?!
I needed to check.
In a panic, I grabbed a lock of hair and brought it in front of my eyes.
I stared at it wide-eyed, shoved my nose into it and even sniffed it.
After turning my ring-wearing hand this way and that, I performed the final confirmation step and pinched both my cheeks hard.
‘It hurts!’
Waaah. It’s my body! My body!
“Wait, if there’s another weird tree around here, then this isn’t real—”
“…….”
Still clutching my cheeks, I looked around—and froze.
Those pure, transparent, sapphire-like eyes without a single impurity.
On a sofa a short distance from the bed, standing up awkwardly and looking at me with a startled expression……
‘Why is His Majesty there……!’
……Khup. No wonder the room was bright even without any lights.
I slowly lowered my hands from my cheeks.
“……How long have you been there?”
“From the beginning.”
His Majesty naturally sat back down on the sofa and answered as if nothing had happened.
Even if you pretend you didn’t see my embarrassing antics, it’s still embarrassing……!
But thank you for your consideration.
“Pyu! Pyuu!”
Beside His Majesty, Pyu hopped up and down, greeting me.
Come to think of it, the room is really dazzling.
It looks like the bedroom of some rich king somewhere.
“……Is this perhaps Your Majesty’s room……?”
“Yes.”
That’s why the bed is so big and nice……
Wait, then that means the place I’m sitting right now is…….
‘Y-Your M-Majesty’s b-bed…….’
The hand I’d placed on the blanket began to tremble.
‘I-I need to get out of the bed immediately……!’
My head was spinning, but I can’t dirty His Majesty’s bed—!
No, I can’t!
‘Ugh. Move, move!’
My body refused to budge, frozen stiff.
How can my body be like this……!
“……Are you okay? If you still don’t feel well, lie down.”
……With him saying that, maybe it’s okay to stay a little longer.
Yeah, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
‘His Majesty’s bed……. It’s amazing.’
It’s raining outside like that, but there isn’t even a hint of damp smell—just a wonderful fragrance.
I should’ve taken a few deep breaths when I was lying down earlier……!
Now my nose is way too far from the blanket. Sob.
“Oh? But why am I in Your Majesty’s room?”
I’d definitely collapsed in a deserted place.
I don’t understand why I’m in His Majesty’s room.
“I picked you up on the road.”
“You picked me up?”
“I saw a pair of legs, so I thought there might have been a dismemberment murder in the imperial palace and went closer. Turns out it was a saintess wearing the director of the laboratory’s cloak.”
Ugh. That’s scary to imagine.
His Majesty is amazing for going closer to check.
Come to think of it, where are my coat and cloak?
When I glanced aside, I saw my familiar clothes hanging over the back of a chair beside the bed.
Unlike the coat, which had been soaked with rain and was sagging, the clothes I was wearing were fluffy and dry.
I guess good fabric is waterproof too.
“You seemed to have lost consciousness, so I brought you to my room in a hurry.”
Even though he said that, His Majesty was still dressed for going out, despite being in his own room.
And maybe because he’d been caught in the rain, his hair was still half wet.
“I was going to call a healing priest, but this helped.”
His Majesty shook what he was holding in his hand.
It was the brooch I had given him as a gift.
At its center, a healing-type holy stone was shining brilliantly.
“What?! I used it first?!”
That’s not why I gave it to you—!
Seeing my dejected expression, His Majesty let out a small laugh.
“The performance is good.”
“Ugh……. I wanted you to use it only for yourself. It’d be bad if its effectiveness dropped because of this. ……Your Majesty, please lend me the brooch. I’ll recharge it for you!”
If you possessed holy power of the same type, you could infuse holy power into a holy stone.
There are enemies even among the nobles who enter the imperial palace!
Only if you carry a fully charged holy stone can my heart be at ease!
So I stretched my hand straight toward His Majesty sitting on the sofa—
“No need.”
I was rejected.
I’ll secretly recharge it later.
“Ah, Your Majesty. When you picked me up, was the building door damaged? That’s my last memory.”
“That’s not something a saintess needs to worry about.”
So you did break it.
Looks like I’ve got one more thing to confess to Prime Minister Ebon, on top of the carriage.
As I was thinking that expenses had been high this month and I should ask to postpone compensation to next month—
My eyes met His Majesty’s.
Could you give me some time to prepare my heart before we make eye contact?
My heart is pounding……!
“W-Why?”
“Have you been feeling unwell lately?”
“No? I’m totally fine?”
“There’s no such thing as a perfectly fine person collapsing unconscious on the road. It’s fortunate I found you right away. If I hadn’t…….”
His Majesty’s voice gradually sank.
Gasp. Is he angry?
I hurriedly countered his words.
“It’s not because I was sick—it’s because I was startled!”
“Startled?”
“Your Majesty, earlier I…….”
Just thinking about it again made my chest flutter.
“I heard a ghost’s voice.”
“A ghost?”
With a serious expression, I nodded slowly.
“I’m telling you. Wow. I got chills from head to toe! I think that’s why I fainted.”
“…….”
Even so, His Majesty still looked unconvinced.
“You don’t believe me? I guess you wouldn’t know, since there’s nothing you’re afraid of…….”
Rumble.
Kra-boom—.
A huge clap of thunder shook the bed.
I stopped speaking mid-sentence—not because I was scared.
But because Hazel’s words from before suddenly came to mind.
“On nights with thunder and lightning especially, you had trouble being alone.”
The young His Majesty who had gone to Hazel, clutching a pillow.
“……Shinary?”
Khup. Just how scared of thunder and lightning must you have been……!
It was night, it was raining, thunder was crashing, and the young His Majesty overlapped with the present one.
[Headmaster……. I’m scared……. Could you sleep with me……?]
In an atmosphere perfect for over-immersion, my mouth moved on its own.
“Your Majesty, should I stay with you tonight?”
“…….”
At that, His Majesty slightly leaned his body back.
Ah, right.
The flower language.
