“I’ll tell you when you’re a little older. It won’t even take an hour then.”

When Jeff saw my face stiffen slightly, he gave a gentle eye-smile and handed me another chocolate cookie.

‘He really thinks I’m just a little child!’

Although he probably thought that way because my outward appearance was truly that of a young child, I realized that insisting further here would only tire me out. No matter how eloquently I could come up with excellent reasons like flowing water, Jeff had no intention of telling me from the start.

“Alright. I’ll listen next time.”

Ugh, now that he’s made it clear he won’t tell me, I’m even more curious, but what can I do? I turned my head abruptly and continued with a sullen face.

“Instead, take me with you when you have to go to the temple. I didn’t get to see the garden last time I visited because there wasn’t enough time.”

“Of course. I promise.”

Jeff seemed satisfied only after I withdrew my intention to neatly extract information. He even went so far as to accept the alternative proposal I put forth, swearing to keep his promise by linking pinkies.

Knock, knock-.

Just as Jeff had returned to his original seat, someone knocked on the door.

“Your Majesty, Lord Lilith is here to see you.”

“Tell him to come in.”

Upon hearing who it was, Jeff immediately returned from his warm demeanor to that of an emperor imbued with dignity.

“Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting, but Her Majesty the Empress is looking for you.”

A moment later, Lilith walked in with dignified steps, placed one hand on his chest, bowed, and stated the reason for his visit.

“I’ll go now.”

Jeff stood up, uttering the words charismatically, and as he headed towards the entrance, he suddenly turned to look at me in front of the screen at the entrance of the short corridor leading to the door.

I looked at him with interest, thinking he might have remembered something he hadn’t said yet, while Lilith waited, keeping his head slightly bowed and pretending not to see.

“See you later, my daughter~”

Ugh.

I stepped back, startled by Jeff’s display of affection, which made my insides shrink every time I saw it, just when I thought I might be getting used to it.

I wonder how long he’ll keep up that winking business. It’s truly embarrassing for someone who’ll be in his 40s in a few years.

‘I’m going to die.’

I drained the now-cold tea and rubbed my chest. When I looked up again, Jeff had already disappeared through the door with quick steps, and Lilith was about to return to the office.

I wondered if Hecate might have a message for me, but it seemed she hadn’t sent any separate message, probably not knowing if I would be where Jeff was.

‘It’s not like I was expecting anything.’

I made a “hmph” sound and crossed my arms, then looked at the World Tree leaf in the box pushed to the corner of the sofa.

As I gazed at the mysterious leaf with its beautiful light that alternated between gold, ash, and yellow, appearing and disappearing repeatedly, a question about the World Tree suddenly struck my mind like lightning.

When I first saw the World Tree leaf, I didn’t have time to think deeply as Carlyle spoke to me, but now it was different.

Taking advantage of this moment of leisure, I was overwhelmed by a strong curiosity, like the rushing waters of a waterfall.

Unlike me, who was trapped in the cycle of eternal life and banished from paradise for not answering the god’s question correctly, the World Tree remained in paradise.

The fact that the World Tree’s leaf was passed on to me through the hands of High Priest Diomer ar Men meant that the World Tree was still alive under the management of the Ariel Temple.

It meant that the life granted to the World Tree by the god had not yet ended.

But why did the god not take back the World Tree and allow it to fall into human hands?

Was it because if the World Tree left paradise, all life on the entire earth where paradise had taken root would be in danger?

If that was the case, why didn’t the god just hide the World Tree from human eyes with divine power, instead of letting it fall into the hands of the Ariel Temple?

“Hey!”

Since speculation alone wouldn’t solve anything, I called out to Lilith to stop him. Unlike me, Lilith had been free and had traveled the world for hundreds of years, so I thought he might have heard something.

“You look free, spare me a moment.”

No sooner had I raised my voice to call him than Lilith stopped in his tracks and immediately turned to walk towards me.

“You may leave now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

I ordered the maids to leave, as the conversation about the World Tree might include things they shouldn’t hear. I told them to go somewhere else and not to come back until they were called.

As we talked, stories of my past life might come out, and it would be a big problem if the maids overheard while waiting nearby to serve.

Thump, thump-.

After Miranda and Hayley left the room and their footsteps faded away, I placed the box containing the World Tree leaf, which had been pushed to the corner of the sofa, on the table.

“Oh my, there must be something important in there.”

“Of course. It’s something so amazing that you’ll know as soon as you see it.”

Having succeeded in piquing Lilith’s interest, I immediately opened the lid of the box and took out the World Tree leaf.

Even the usually smirking Lilith stiffened for a moment and showed a genuinely surprised expression at the brilliant energy and splendor of the golden leaf.

That was to be expected, as Lilith had left paradise and the god’s land much earlier than I had, and hadn’t had the chance to know about the World Tree’s recent situation, so his reaction was naturally stronger than mine.

“You know why this is here, right?”

I gently waved the World Tree leaf back and forth like a baby bird flapping its wings.

“Well?”

No, this kind of response isn’t right. I tilted my head and looked up at Lilith.

“You really don’t know? Didn’t you stay in the empire during the gap period after I died as the previous emperor and before I was born as a princess, seeing and hearing various things?”

When I made a face suggesting he might be hiding something, Lilith shrugged.

“I too once lived in paradise, so I knew of the World Tree’s existence. After all, the World Tree is the master of paradise, so a resident of paradise couldn’t not know about it.”

Resting his chin on one hand and reminiscing about the past, Lilith looked down at me.

“But I only knew that much. Besides, detailed information about the World Tree was confidential even to the residents of paradise, and only one being could communicate with it, right? No matter how unbound I was compared to you, what more could I have figured out?”

I clicked my tongue, thinking I had hoped in vain.

“Rather, I’m very impressed right now. It must have been at least 500 years ago when I left paradise, and for someone to send the World Tree’s leaf as a gift now, its life must be quite tenacious indeed.”

Lilith chuckled and smiled with his eyes, then bent his waist and knees slightly to look at me more closely, and quietly gazed at the World Tree leaf.

“More than that, don’t you know more about the World Tree than I do, Your Highness? You were, after all, the only friend of the World Tree permitted by the god.”

Straightening his bent waist, Lilith placed one hand on his side and continued.

“When the god created paradise on the ground far below the floating sanctuary in the sky, that is, the land of the god, and brought forth the World Tree… you were the being that was carefully crafted with all His might and sincerity for the lonely and struggling World Tree. That’s why you were so lovable and always received the god’s full attention.”

“You remember such trivial things.”

Lilith seemed to find it even more amusing when I responded indifferently.

“It’s all the story you boastfully told me when I was a snake lurking around you. I remember it vividly because I heard it so often it was like brainwashing.”

Lilith laughed cheerfully and stretched.

“Ah, come to think of it, why didn’t the god give you a proper name back then, even though He cherished you so much?”

Tapping his cheek with his index finger and muttering how strange it was, Lilith groaned.

“No wonder the god’s representative and the second mankind called you ‘Eden,’ taking the name directly from paradise.”

“Stop with the boring old stories. It was better than being called the primordial human every time.”

I made a “tch” sound and lightly kicked the sofa.

“By the way, I called you over to ask some questions, but how come you’re the only one rambling on?”

When I complained, Lilith told me to calm down.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. Seeing the World Tree leaf suddenly brought back so many thoughts.”

Adding an insincere apology in an unapologetic voice, Lilith said he would now listen to my story with his utmost attention.

“If you ruin the mood in the middle, I won’t let you off easy.”

“I won’t, Your Highness.”

Lilith smiled broadly and finally took a proper listening posture, and I opened the preface while fiddling with the World Tree leaf.

“Actually, I thought the World Tree had withered and died. But the fact that this is here means the World Tree is still alive, right?”

“That’s right.”

Encouraged by the positive response, I calmly continued my story.

“But when Jeff and Fleur went to the temple with the children, I couldn’t feel the World Tree’s energy. Why was that? As you said, I was the World Tree’s only friend, and we had a special relationship of sorts.”

“Ah, I think I can answer that. I once went to the temple with His Majesty before the Grand General conceived you. At that time, I encountered the World Tree in the temple’s backyard after hundreds of years. Of course, I couldn’t greet it since I don’t have the ability to communicate with the World Tree.”

Lilith, who had initially misunderstood my intention, chuckled and said,

“The World Tree I saw then seemed more trapped than free. It gave the impression of being slowly cracking and drying up, wrapped tightly in several large iron chains.”

“What? Who trapped it? Humans? Those priests?”

While I had a chance to see Yongyong one last time, the World Tree’s main body was in tree form, so it couldn’t move. So I couldn’t see it for hundreds of years after I was banished, and my heart sank at the mention of it being trapped.

“No, the World Tree is absolutely not trapped. When I asked the guide then, they said it was a tree they discovered while doing logging work to rebuild the Ariel Temple. They said they kept it alive because they felt a sacred energy and didn’t cut it down.”

Lilith remained consistently calm and gentle.

“That’s strange.”

I rested my chin on my hand and tilted my head.

“Anyway, if it was near the temple, when I was the previous emperor, I once destroyed the Ariel Temple, right? There’s no way it wasn’t discovered then.”

When I made a gesture of disbelief, Lilith chuckled and raised the corners of his mouth.

“The size of the temple when you were the previous emperor is different from the size of the temple now, isn’t it? The temple used to be smaller than it is now, so you probably couldn’t detect it because there was no reason to go in the direction where the World Tree was.”

“Is that so?”

As I squinted my eyes and groaned, Lilith subtly changed the subject.

“Anyway, the World Tree is being punished.”

Lilith approached me and lightly tapped the top of my head with his index finger.

“Just like you.”