“Jade.”

“Asela.”

Asela, Felix’s daughter, also approached silently and exchanged glances. Her graceful movements, as if painted, remained the same.

“You seem to have lost some weight.”

“I was very worried about you.”

The quiet whisper might have been sincere, but today it didn’t sound particularly pleasant.

“I’m grateful. Thanks to you, I must have returned safely.”

Then Jade turned her head to Bernard and said loudly.

“I’m going back to wash up and get some sleep, so bring me the list of gifts to send to His Majesty. Ah, we can’t forget the Hias family either.”

Felix and Asela’s faces hardened. Jade was speaking indirectly. ‘You had no part in my return.’

Jade passed by her family members with an expressionless face.

“You did well. The elders of the family also criticized Felix’s actions this time. His attitude of distancing himself too much was too obvious.”

As Bernard whispered, Jade smiled faintly. But that smile soon disappeared like snow melting in the sunlight.

The work she had been doing for over a decade suddenly felt tedious and terrible today.

For a moment, Jade thought she caught a whiff of the fresh forest scent, but the heavy stone smell of the old castle erased everything.

There was so much to do as soon as she returned.

After quickly flipping through the documents that had piled up during her absence, Jade jotted down a rough to-do list on a summarized paper, then threw her pen down with a disgusted look. Judging by the listed contents, it was so packed that she might need to schedule time just to breathe.

Still, she had to do it. What else could she do?

She decided to handle the tasks that didn’t require moving first. Starting with visiting and greeting Grandmother.

She didn’t even come out to greet me. I guess she didn’t even know the family’s heir had disappeared.

Inwardly sneering, she walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. She heard a voice telling her to come in. As she poked her head in, Mabel, with her piercing eyes, put down her teacup.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the old woman seemed to have maintained her daily routine admirably. Judging by her unchanged cold face staring at Jade.

“Were you worried?”

As Jade smiled slightly, Mabel closed the book she was reading.

“You must have spent your days lazily since you had nothing to do.”

Jade hadn’t expected concern or a welcoming greeting, but it was still bewildering to hear words that made it sound like she had been on vacation. Moreover, to use the term “lazy” without knowing anything about the busy life in the forest.

Inwardly, Jade was indignant, as if she had become a member of the Athanase Forest, but outwardly she maintained a calm face.

“Yes, that’s right. I lazily cooked, picked herbs, and stirred potions.”

Jade approached and sat down without permission.

“Have you heard all the details?”

“I heard a teleportation mage made a mistake. That mage must have been surprised that such a thing happened to you, of all people.”

Mabel was the former head of the Broen family and a mage with decent skills in various fields. So, she couldn’t have been unaware of what she was saying. A mage had to take responsibility for their magic. Rather than hearing concern.

I wonder since when she’s been so kind to others. Well, it doesn’t matter. That’s not what I need to find out.

Jade poured tea into an empty cup and drank it herself.

“Well, maybe. I was wondering if you might have done some background investigation.”

“There wasn’t time for that.”

“I see. That’s understandable. Oh, I heard there was talk about almost holding my funeral.”

Smiling as if she knew nothing, Jade asked, and Mabel responded calmly.

“Felix was so shocked by the news of your disappearance that he couldn’t come to his senses. He said that after grieving for weeks, just in case. Don’t mind it. Isn’t prayer for the dead very important?”

It seems Uncle led this, and Grandmother just watched. If Grandmother really wanted to hold my funeral, it would have proceeded regardless of any opposition.

So Mabel still doesn’t intend to change her stance of supporting Jade as the heir. Although it’s in a very passive state.

Anyway, this was the most important information, and any conversation after that would be completely worthless.

It was a given fact that the old woman acknowledged Jade but didn’t love her. Just as it was that she protected Felix, who was utterly pathetic, simply because he was her child.

Jade took a couple of sips of tea and stood up.

Mabel’s indifferent gaze briefly touched somewhere in Jade’s hair before moving away. The part that most resembled her father, Yanik. Then she opened her book again without a word.

It was a meeting after a very long time, but as always, it was dry.

Leaving Mabel’s room like that, Jade stopped halfway down the stairs, pressing her chest and catching her breath.

Although everything seemed the same as usual, for some reason, she felt much more stifled than usual. It was strange, since she hadn’t expected anything, so there should have been no disappointment.

Is it because it’s been a while since I met Grandmother?

As she tilted her head in confusion, the people of the Athanase Forest came to mind. Those who smiled brightly at even small things. Those who listened to everyone’s words.

How would they react if Jade returned to the forest? She wasn’t sure, but it certainly wouldn’t be as cold as this.

Lost in thought, recalling the faces of Ollie, Nina, and Pavel, Jade quickly shook her head to clear her mind. She had been lost in useless thoughts for too long.

After meeting Grandmother, she decided to quickly inspect the territory. Bernard wanted her to handle other matters first, but Jade judged this to be more urgent.

She rode along the well-maintained road.

Fortunately, the territory was peaceful. Whatever Felix had done while she was away, he hadn’t interfered enough to disrupt the lives of the territory’s residents.

In the warm weather, people sorting soil in the fields and those repairing shop signs with new colors all cheered when they saw Jade.

“The young lady has returned!”

“See, I told you all those rumors were nonsense. Look at this!”

Riding quickly on horseback, sometimes stopping to check something, there were cases where territory residents would run up with newborn babies in their arms.

Then Jade would draw small stars in the air with sparks. As a wish for the child to grow up healthy.

When the baby blinked and waved its hands towards the sky, everyone laughed heartily.

It was only at the sound of that laughter that Jade could finally feel she had returned to the land of Broen. It was a feeling she couldn’t experience at all within the family castle.

Standing on top of the highest hill, she gazed at the setting sun.

The land I must protect. The land I must inherit and cultivate.

She clearly reaffirmed the goal she had forgotten for months. With that, her heart, which had been restless for unknown reasons since leaving the forest, settled a little.

As tasks were handled one by one, they also piled up again one by one.

After inspecting the territory, it was time to thank the king and other nobles who had prevented Jade’s funeral. Fortunately, the visit schedule submitted to the king was quickly accepted.

“I apologize. I caused you trouble.”

It was a small apology to the king who had to hastily fill the position with another person when Jade suddenly disappeared from the subjugation team. The king, who appeared in casual attire without wearing a crown, smiled gently.

“Don’t worry since everything turned out well. Instead, I’ll draft you again next time. You agree, right?”

“Are there still places left to go?”

“It’s gotten worse. The king of Jisen abandoned the capital and fled. Well, who’s going to deal with the monsters when the king of a neighboring country has given up his land?”

“The border must be in chaos. I understand.”

The king nodded.

“We plan to expand our influence over the Jisen Kingdom during this opportunity. It’s unfortunate for the people of that country, but if we can properly deal with the monsters, it will be a great benefit for us. As you know, there are areas that used to be our kingdom’s territory.”

Jade rolled her eyes.

The past the king spoke of was truly a very long time ago. At least a few hundred years ago, when a princess of the El Sion Kingdom married a prince of the Jisen Kingdom and took land as her dowry. Of course, it happened because the area was considered quite useless at the time.

In fact, it was in the northwest, so it was an extremely cold region and terribly inefficient for use as farmland. Moreover, the fish living in the attached coastline were too large to be properly caught.

However, as time passed, technology advanced, crops that could grow in cold places were discovered, and giant fishing boats capable of catching large fish were built.

Furthermore, scholars of El Sion predicted that there would be many minerals hidden in that land. It was indeed a land worth coveting.

Even so, aren’t there too many monsters in that area now?

But not knowing how far ahead the king was looking, she decided to just nod.

“By the way. I heard you fell into the Athanase Forest?”

“Yes…”

Jade flinched at the word ‘Athanase Forest’ that came flying like an attack. The king had brought up the word she had been deliberately trying not to think about.

What Jade realized while meeting her grandmother, inspecting the territory, and handling documents was that she couldn’t properly concentrate on work whenever she recalled the Athanase Forest.

As if suffering from homesickness, she found herself staring blankly out the window several times.

She didn’t have the luxury for that. Now that she was out, she had to run towards her goal again.

So she shouldn’t recall the Athanase Forest. Even a moment’s distraction might make her do something stupid.

An example of something stupid would be rushing back to the Athanase Forest right now and babbling something as a final farewell to the people. Since she owed Axel the biggest debt, she should go to him first.

‘I came back briefly to say a final goodbye. Thank you, Axel. Take care.’

She wondered what expression he would make. Would he say, “What kind of crazy thing is this?” Would he be regretful? Would he feel relieved that an unwelcome guest was leaving? Or would he say she could stay a little longer?

But whatever his answer might be, Jade felt like she would ask this.

‘Don’t you want to come out of the forest? If you’re okay with it, you can stay at my castle.’

How could she handle having such crazy thoughts in a string just from one word?

“Jade Broen?”

When she came to her senses, the king was looking down at her with a puzzled expression. The eyes of the attendants surrounding them were also fierce. It was understandable since she had dared to ignore the king’s words.

“Ah, I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I asked how you spent your time in the Athanase Forest. You were there for quite a while. Oh, did you perhaps meet anyone there?”