The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 139

Sweet, so sweet. His attitude toward Evelyn was insanely sweet, as if he’d dipped it generously in honey. They had been having such a good time together that he didn’t want to get caught between the two of them. Even with his eyes closed, the king’s affectionate tone that reached his ears through his pierced ears was too spine-chilling. What was even more absurd was the fact that while he acted like that with Evelyn, he gave him orders without batting an eye.

However, Ruba got up immediately without complaining. It seemed better to get out of here rather than drag things out and grumble. The sanctuary had no prying eyes so this could happen, but outside Cassis would have his dignity to maintain so he’d probably tone it down—please!

The flower carriage set off again, carrying Cassis who tilted his head at an angle and looked at Evelyn with a satisfied expression, and her, who was busy looking out the window.

“Ah…”

“Mm?”

Her gaze, which had given up on continuously looking beyond the glass window, turned back and met his eyes. The sparkling eyes that had glittered with curiosity earlier had gone somewhere, and they fell weakly to the seat.

Cassis knew why Evelyn was acting this way, so he didn’t avoid her gaze and quietly met her eyes. The residents who had been startled by his threat were beginning to slink back to the festival grounds, and it was obvious that Evelyn was still afraid of their stares. She couldn’t live like that forever.

Should I just open the carriage roof wide? If it’s a moment that will come eventually, wouldn’t it be better to prepare for it from now on….

Cassis, who had been pondering briefly, saw the morning glory vines dangling down against the glass window and remembered that doing so would cause all the flower pots to spill onto the street, so he kept his mouth shut. Indeed, the blessings gained from not speaking carelessly are countless.

The flower carriage, which had been traveling for quite a while along the winding path through the trees and then the straight road, stopped somewhere. Evelyn craned her neck, trying to figure out where they were.

Cassis gently helped her down as he had done in front of the sanctuary, then pointed somewhere with his chin.

“Come this way.”

Inside the small hall was quiet. Beyond the road and where sculptures were installed, residents had gathered and were making a commotion, but here was silence itself. Evelyn looked around as she entered and was startled when she looked straight ahead.

Clay dolls filled a rectangular board. The quaint buildings made in fine detail also had unpainted clay walls, and the sculptures worthy of admiration were undoubtedly the trees planted here and there. Only those were well-painted, and the lush green leaves of the tree models were truly full of life.

Cassis bent down and pointed at them with his finger.

“It’s a diorama. Do you know what a diorama is?”

“Um… I’m not sure.”

Cassis’s judgment from the carriage that it would be advantageous to reduce his words melted away futilely like snow in the face of Evelyn’s curiosity.

“It’s a board that gathers small models made so you can see and understand things like forces or directions of movement to various places with your eyes. This diorama is filled with our clan from long ago. I told you before, didn’t I? That this festival was an attempt to recreate those times when we lived no differently than tribesmen.”

Following his words, her gaze that had been turning around in wonder stopped somewhere. Though very small, she could see everything! The yellow stamens that looked like they’d been dotted with a pen tip, the pink petals, and even the light purple morning glories. It was exactly the same as the flower carriage they had ridden.

Evelyn was so surprised and delighted that she almost stammered.

“This…! This…! That’s it, right? The carriage we rode in.”

“That’s right.”

After finding one thing she recognized, she seemed thoroughly captivated by enthusiasm and examined the diorama thoroughly with fire in her eyes. She even tilted her head to check the dolls that weren’t painted at all. However, regrettably, there was nothing more that she knew. The small farmhouse and clay buildings, the barn and chickens and chicks, the trees decorated in brown and green were familiar pastoral scenes, so there was nothing special to be gained from them.

When the light of longing was about to fade from her sparkling eyes, Cassis threw out a question.

“How is it? Did any questions come to mind?”

“Um… well, but even if the other trees are like that, where is the World Tree? There are so many trees that I can’t tell.”

“There isn’t one.”

“What? An elf village without a World Tree?”

Evelyn was shocked. She couldn’t help but know how important the World Tree was since she had heard about it from him, and her own life depended on it. In some ways, the beings who would revere the World Tree even more than she, who was desperate, would be the elves…

“That’s right. Just as there’s a first for everything, our ancestors at this time did not worship the World Tree. They knew of its existence, but simply saw it as one of the trees with great power. Like the sanctuary’s tree we just saw, for example.”