CH 257

By the time only the last world remained, the Archwitch had become worn down from exhaustion and fury. That is why she chose to do nothing in the end. No… To be precise, she imprisoned her daughter from the beginning and used all her power to prevent the event that had occurred in all the previous worlds: the meeting of Cecile and Estian.

[All. In. Vain.]

Due to one of its branches being linked with the last world, the World Tree could see that Estian’s dice wasn’t destined to land on the kingdom of Navitan… And yet it had. The two were destined to come together no matter how many times they were obstructed or hindered. It was inevitable. Moreover, from the deepest part of its roots, which connected to the last remaining world, the tree sensed something strange.

[Out. Si. Der.]

Was it because this was the last one? Something strange had squeezed itself into the world. There was something off about the last world. It was the end of everything, so it should’ve been filled with grim sorrow. Yet, the air in this world was lighter than ever and overflowed with vitality.

[The. Last.]

The Archwitch had done many things as she pleased because it was the last. Since she had her way, the World Tree felt that it deserved some freedom of action itself. That’s why it told Aled about all the things it had borne witness to. It was curious as to how the beings of this last world would react when they discovered the state of their world, as well as the fate they would have to face.

The World Tree examined the branches where Cecile and Estian had been standing earlier. A second later, it shook the branch that had been bearing fruit and muttered to itself sourly.

[They. Got. Me.]

It was missing one fruit.

* * *

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light above the imperial villa in Aluna. A portal gate opened and spewed out objects—fragments of things that didn’t exist in the human world. They were the corpses of the beings Estian had slaughtered in the other dimension. Cecile, Estian, and Ayura came tumbling out right behind them.

“Is this… the right place?” Ayura gasped. The spirit sounded like it was on its dying breath. After seeing Cecile, who was wrapped securely in Estian’s arms, look around and nod, the spirit immediately passed out.

Cecile turned away from the spirit and tried to move, but Estian’s voice made her halt.

“Are you okay? Not hurt anywhere?” His voice was full of fatigue. The emperor was in an even worse condition than he’d been when found his wife. It was the consequence of dealing with the many creatures that stood in their path on their way back from the World Tree to the human world.

Cecile gazed at her husband’s face for a moment, before suddenly taking out something from her clothes and putting it in Estian’s mouth. He reflexively bit down without the slightest bit of hesitation since it was offered to him by Cecile. With a satisfying crunch, an unbelievably fresh and sweet juice spread throughout his mouth. ‘What is this?’ he wondered.

“Estian, I’m sorry to say this right after we returned, but there’s something I have to do.”

‘Something she had to do?’ Not following his wife’s train of thought, Estian continued to munch as he cast a quizzical look at Cecile.

“I need to visit the Navitan Kingdom for a bit,” Cecile added in a serious tone. Meeting his eyes, she continued, “And also… could you lend me part of the Imperial Guard?”

She clenched her fists as the visions the World Tree had shown flitted through her mind. There was something she needed to confirm in Navitan. There was also a lot to settle. An old vow resurfaced in Cecile’s mind—a vow for payback that she had made on the morning of her wedding day.