After naming the cat, I turned around. Due to sitting for a long time, the hem of my dress was too dirty, and it seemed like I needed to change.

When I called, Phoebe rushed over in one step. With Phoebe’s help, I changed into a new dress.

“Your Majesty. I really missed you.”

“Have you been well?”

“Yes! I wanted to follow Your Majesty because I missed you so much. I even regretted not doing it.”

“So, you wanted to follow me?”

“I wanted to, but Your Majesty told me to wait!”

While adjusting my hair to match the dress, Phoebe cutely smiled.

“When Your Majesty was away, I worked hard to keep the palace from accumulating dust. After the maids finished cleaning and left, I wiped it again with a dry cloth!”

“No wonder it’s so clean. Thank you.”

“Oh, by the way, I worked hard on this!”

“Hmm?”

Phoebe put down the comb and took out a neatly folded piece of paper from her pocket.

“When Your Majesty was away, you told me to take good care of the palace. So, I wrote down all the big and small events!”

Phoebe handed me the paper with a proud expression, and it contained various things, such as the gardeners taking turns tending the garden, Muse not returning for several days after going for a walk, the cat scratching the tree, and someone coming to see me.

Thinking of Phoebe diligently taking notes every time something happened, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you, Phoebe. You’ve done well. I’ll read this carefully later.”

“Yes! …Um, did you check the situation with Ascal’s mistress earlier? You asked me to do it.”

“I asked you as soon as I arrived at the palace. …Do you know about Ascal’s mistress?”

“Well, it seems there were rumors since she was the organizer of the salon. After receiving a gift of precious and delicious tea, she became noticeably depressed.”

Looking around cautiously, Phoebe whispered softly, making sure no one else could hear.

“This is a dirty rumor, so just listen and let it pass. …There’s a rumor that Ascal’s mistress had a man, and the man gave her a gift of parting, a precious and delicious tea. So, there’s also a rumor that she’s depressed because of that.”

“Thinking like that is truly disgusting.”

“Right? Just listen and let it pass.”

“If there are any related rumors, let me know.”

“Yes! Don’t worry, Your Majesty. …Oh, by the way, the book you borrowed earlier is still left without returning. What should I do?”

“Book?”

I turned to look at Phoebe, who was smiling broadly.

“I borrowed a book related to the sacred ritual from you on the day the sacred ritual unfolded. You asked me to keep it for you!”

I squinted my eyes and searched my memory. It seemed like I had mentioned that before the incident with the temple.

“I borrowed a book back then, right?”
“Yes! It seemed like Your Majesty was busy, so I put the book on the shelf, but you haven’t found it now. If you don’t need it, shall I return it? I forgot about it and found it while cleaning!”

“Hmm.”

Now I know well about Muse, but… it might be good to know about the Goddess Semula.

“I did ask Elihu about it back then, but I was dozing off, and I don’t remember much.”

However, there were many things to catch up on at the moment. I rubbed my chin, contemplating, then nodded.

“I’ll read it later. Just return it.”

“Yes! If you need, shall I tell you what I read?”

“Phoebe, did you read that book?”

Surprised by my question, Phoebe blushed and smiled shyly.

“Hehe. Yes. I thought it might be helpful for Your Majesty. There is another copy of the same book in the Central Library, so I borrowed and read it!”

“Can you summarize it for me?”

“Yes! The book was thick, but… actually, there was no new content. The Goddess Semula, who loved a human, divided her power and rooted it in the form of a World Tree to correct the balance of the world.”

It was a story that anyone born on the continent would hear so much that they would memorize it from birth.

“But a few hundred years ago, it turns out that this World Tree, which grew from then, actually died and was reborn repeatedly.”

“The World Tree dies and is reborn repeatedly?”

“Yes. It sounds a bit unbelievable… but it’s written in the book. When the life of the tree is exhausted, the power of the World Tree produces a seed, and when it becomes midnight, a new tree grows where the flower bloomed.”

“A flower? I’ve never heard that there’s a flower on the World Tree.”

“I heard it for the first time too! It was written that when the existing World Tree rots and disappears, a new tree grows in the blink of an eye where the flower bloomed!”

“…Is that possible?”

“Since this generational change occurs in a moment, it is said that it never catches the eyes of people!”

As Phoebe finished speaking, a strange laughter flowed out of her. Phoebe, who had finished speaking, also laughed with me as if it were absurd.

“Hahaha!”

“Hehehe.”

“No matter how much it doesn’t catch people’s eyes, it’s been several hundred years since the World Tree. If what is written in the book is true, it’s absurd that no one noticed.”

“I think the same way, Your Majesty!”