‘Fleeting.’

I was momentarily surprised by the expression Praylee used.

‘Are Vladimire’s children naturally precocious for their age?’

Even if a clever little one is expected to have at least one childlike aspect, Praylee was still the same as the first impression I had of her.

No, even more so.

Of course, Sasha was similar, but today, a wall that was not visible had collapsed. Perhaps it was because I saw her acting unusually fidgety, but it felt like I glimpsed her truly innocent side.

Compared to that, Praylee seemed to be projecting herself onto the apple since earlier, looking into the past as if engaging in profound and philosophical conversations with a pessimistic tone.

‘By the way, there was another guy who compared life to an apple.’

I glanced thoughtfully at Praylee, who seemed lost in thought for a moment, and suddenly remembered the face of a child that brushed through my mind. Although the details of his eyes, nose, and mouth were so outdated and jumbled that they didn’t come to mind perfectly, he was a neatly dressed kid with brown hair, much cleaner than I was when I was a dirty beggar.

‘Living is like an apple falling from an apple tree.’

Yes, he said something like that.

‘Maybe what he said about life was similar to what Praylee is saying now.’

However, compared to Praylee, who had a darker and more despairing vibe, that kid seemed to have smiled faintly at the end, so the outcome might be different.

‘Finally woke up.’

Thinking about this and that, I watched Praylee unfold her bent knees, stand up, and dust off, then approached her as she spoke.

“Life doesn’t have to be thought of so profoundly.”

That doesn’t mean life is really nothing special, nor is it easy to live. When I lived in paradise, the divine consciousness made sure there was no shortage of provisions. However, after finding answers and repeating reincarnations, I realized too much about the world.

“Is that so?”

Meanwhile, Praylee, who had been looking a bit gloomy, brightened her expression at my words, perhaps wondering if the gloomy thoughts disappeared with just one word from me. When that child smiled brightly, the surroundings turned pink, and it seemed as if the light sparkled like glitter.

“I think you shouldn’t take life lightly.”

But my expectations were off. Instead, Praylee, with a smiling face, expressed an opposing opinion. Her expression, as she smiled and disagreed, overlapped with the smile of Duke Vladimire and Sasha when they exchanged opinions on some topic in the past.

It made me think about family ties.

“No, I didn’t mean it in that way.”

Well, how should I start to make her understand my intention? Stepping carefully to avoid stepping on the scattered apples on the grass, I approached Praylee even closer with Poppin.
Certainly, I felt the need to be close to have a conversation.

“In a society based on social status, valuing one’s worth is natural.”

I stared directly into Praylee’s eyes and calmly began speaking.

“But that doesn’t necessarily lead to happiness.”

Soon after, I raised both hands to my sides, and Poppin made a small squeak, looking at me, then slightly stepped back.

“I don’t know what kind of person you are, or the environment you grew up in.”

While it’s possible to find out by abusing power, there’s a penalty just for using it, and is there a reason to use it when it shortens your lifespan? That would be a waste of strength.

And what kind of person Praylee is, I roughly understood through a few words of conversation over hundreds of years of life experience. Saying I don’t know well was just a phrase that spontaneously came out to smoothly continue the conversation with Praylee.

“All I know is that you’ve been in pain for a long time and that you’re Vladimire’s beloved.”

I emphasized the feeling that I really didn’t know much, deliberately withdrawing one of the hands I had placed on my side and extending it toward Praylee.

As a response, Praylee showed interest, tilting her head. It was a gesture showing that she would physically demonstrate listening to what I had to say.

“I can’t speak recklessly because I don’t know you well, but people who feel life is fleeting generally have experienced despair.”

Feeling that I might as well bring up the reason Praylee might have felt fleeting, I explained indirectly, not addressing her directly as ‘you’ but as ‘people.’

“…….”

It was strange that she kept her mouth shut for a few seconds. Even though she had just shown me the apple with her own mouth and said she might not know if she was in pain or not, she now remained silent.

“I am of a different kind than despair, but sometimes, living feels vague or empty.”

Ignoring the fact that I hadn’t seen her reaction, I decided to continue my words.

“I’ve often felt that life is no different from walking alone through a thorny path.”

During the time when I lived in the land named Paradise, a life of being worshiped by numerous beings, including various friends outside the World Tree.