The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 170

「Don’t just stand there like a fool, sit down properly. I’ll find you something to eat later. Now! You can sit here, right?」

With dirt all over her snout, she swung her horned head once. Then amazingly, a space appeared that looked like an oval egg laid on its side and split in half, and it was wider than expected. Wide enough for someone like Evelyn to go inside and lie down with all her limbs stretched out. She was genuinely amazed.

“Wow…. This is magic, isn’t it?”

「What did I tell you? If you trust and follow the great unicorn, everything gets resolved, right? Hehe, sit down.」

Evelyn did as told, went inside, sat with her knees pressed together, and smiled brightly. Pleased with that smile, Ruba gulped down the tasteless tree roots she wouldn’t normally even glance at and flopped down flat.

「Ahh, good. Much cooler than the wind blowing from the castle and great for a change of mood. Hey, baby nymph. Let’s sleep to our heart’s content to commemorate our outing….」

With those words, her eyes resembling an enchanting sunset slowly closed. Evelyn reached out to scratch between her head a little, saying sleep well, and then she too closed her eyes. Even so, she didn’t feel like she would fall asleep suddenly, so all sorts of thoughts came to mind. Suddenly, she felt no regret about having committed the act with the unicorn that he had absolutely forbidden her to do.

It was not a wicked heart that would blame him unjustly, but only a handful of hope remained. If it really was a plan to observe whether the World Tree’s flowers and fruits would appear as Ruba had said, he could have casually mentioned that he would be busy for a while.

Even if it was awkward to confide secrets to me, he could have said it in a roundabout way. I…. I think it’s bad to force trust on others, but I also think it’s lonely to be left in a state where you can’t trust too much.

The time when she thought she had grown close to him was all lies and mere delusion, and reality was cruelly different. Before the joy she had gained from being with him could turn into sadness, she wished it would all scatter away, carried by this wind. To desperately hold back the tears that were about to flow, she lifted her head high.

The sky was clear and bright. White clouds were floating far away in the distance, but the space Ruba had created with magic was not hot because she could hide under the roof by leaning back just a little.

‘I don’t cry and must endure. Today and tomorrow, even if he ultimately doesn’t come looking for me and our chaotic runaway quietly comes to an end, I mustn’t feel disappointed. Being out here like this is something that wasn’t supposed to happen in the first place.’

Glancing sideways at Ruba’s legs as she lay sprawled out, she closed her eyes again.

The fresh, youthful scent of grass blades reaching her nose felt pleasant. Evelyn leaned against the rounded edge and closed her eyes for a moment, then at some point was awakened by Ruba’s movement as she pulled her skirt hem tight.

“Uh, mmm….”

「Hey, I’m going over there to pick something for you to eat. You sleep to your heart’s content. Just lie down and keep your eyes closed, got it? You’ll be in trouble if you open them.」

Deep in her sleep, she hung her lips limply and lay there powerlessly, unable to even respond. Other thoughts did come to mind: No, you can’t. How are you going to pick anything with your hooves, Ruba… All the trees will be ruined. I’ll take care of it myself. She only thought she had answered that way.

「Sleep to your heart’s content, you fool. Hmph. Right now, sleeping is doing the right thing. It’s the perfect condition for turning a certain someone’s insides upside down!」

The unicorn looked at Evelyn sleeping peacefully in the space she had created, smiled slyly, then slipped away toward the back along a small path in the hills.

Not long after that, the clear sky became gloomily overcast and the dark clouds that had been far away began to gather below. Even as the weather changed rapidly, she didn’t notice and continued sleeping, when a long, long shadow suddenly fell across her.

“Ha….”

Found her.

“Ha….”

He let out a sigh as if dumbfounded. Cassis bent his knee and checked on her, the sole reason he had rushed to this place.

She was sleeping. Only after confirming her steady breaths flowing in and out did he finally see that this was undoubtedly the space that darn Ruba had created.

Lately, he had been so busy he couldn’t spare a moment. When Iel proudly brought Evelyn, boasting that her own kin had single-handedly taken down the Ghost Tree, there had been a heated debate in the Senate, with many finding it hard to believe. Nevertheless, he had instructed them to officially grant her the position of Guardian.

After all, if her true abilities weren’t real, the truth would eventually be revealed. He figured there was no need to doubt anyone; everything would become clear with time. Just as a thick moon shadow, no matter how dense, could not forever fill the sky and hide the moon.

Around the time he was slowly proceeding with some matters for Evelyn, a perplexing situation arose for him.

From the day Polyxene was officially granted Guardian status, difficult situations exploded all at once like fireworks.

The World Tree suddenly began to bud, preparing to bear fruit.

The King of the Devran Kingdom, which was also Evelyn’s homeland, had collapsed and completely lost consciousness for several days.