A tear rolled down Tie’s cheek and fell.

“When you walk, always watch where you’re stepping, Astie.”

Nordix had been an incredibly kind person.

As kind as the old men who played baduk in Jongno—

no, far kinder than even they were.

“Astie. The stars say something very good will happen tomorrow.”

“Grandpa, how do stars talk?”

“The stars speak through their light and the places where they rest. Do you see those four large stars over there?”

“Yeees!”

“That is the constellation Kanefra. And when the small star Pelune begins moving backward across it, it means misfortune is fading away and something good is about to begin.”

Nordix was not only highly skilled in healing magic, he also knew how to read the movement of the stars.

Maybe that was why he gave a different answer every time someone asked what his profession was.

“Just who are you supposed to be, old man?”

“I told you already. A fortune teller.”

“You told the little one yesterday that you were an astrologer. And sometimes you said you worked as a healer too.”

“Ho ho ho. Then perhaps I am all of them.”

“Basto! Are you seriously sure it’s okay to just leave this old man alone?! Huh?!”

He was full of secrets.

No one even knew his real age.

“Uncle Bale, Uncle Basto! Grandpa Nordix said he’s seventy eight! Tie asked him herself!”

“What nonsense. A few days ago he ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) was talking about something that happened ninety years ago and said, ‘when I was young.’”

“R really......?”

“Yeah. And just look at his face, little one. Do you really think he’s only around eighty? No way. He looks way older than that.”

“Ho ho ho...... Bale, you’re especially cruel today.”

“That’s right, Bale. He’s still an elderly man.”

“Exactly! Big Brother Bale has no manners at all!”

And yet everyone loved Nordix.

Because he had a special gift.

When the deepest wounds hidden inside someone’s heart came out through his mouth—

they somehow stopped feeling frightening.

“Basto, have you ever thought about marrying again?”

“......Marrying?”

“Yes. You cannot spend your entire life carrying emptiness in your chest. Someday, even that place deserves a little sunlight.”

“.......”

“Don’t stand in the shadows for too long. Your late wife and daughter would not want that either.”

Even the pain of losing his family.

“Bale, you still push yourself too hard.”

“What’s that supposed to mean all of a sudden?”

“You don’t have to carry everything alone. Not everyone is meant to bear burdens entirely by themselves.”

“What am I even.......”

“If you keep holding your back rigid forever, one day it’ll break. Sometimes it’s fine to bend a little. You already have money, your juniors have grown up— what are you still so afraid of?”

“......Ahem! Enough already, just eat. You like jerky, don’t you, old man? Your hair’s gone white, but your teeth still seem pretty strong.”

“Ho ho, I suck on it.”

“Then that works out perfectly. The little one already chewed on this meat a few times and left it for you. It’ll probably soften quickly.”

“Ho, ho-ho-ho.......”

Even unbearable responsibility.

All of it.

Tie felt the same way.

Whenever she was with Nordix, bad things seemed to fade away.

That was why she loved him.

But now she knew Nordix had been one of Papa’s people.

Their first meeting.

And the way he had suddenly disappeared recently.

All of it had been part of Papa’s plan too.

Strength slowly drained from her body.

“Tie.......”

Papa and Mama’s faces appeared before her eyes.

And beside them, an unfamiliar boy was wailing loudly.

“Young lady! Thank goodness you’re safe! This Marbas believed in you! I believed you would never bow before that arrogant and overbearing absolute being......!”

Tie froze when she saw the lion ears on top of his head.

The little girl stayed silent for a long time before finally speaking in a trembling, tearful voice.

“But I’m not the young lady.......”

Marbas’s eyes widened.

Tie began trembling faintly.

“Tie isn’t the young lady. Tie isn’t Pupu’s mama, and Tie didn’t become friends with Kkamani because...... ngh, hic.”

Tears rolled from her eyes one after another. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“None of it was real. Tie isn’t some secretly overpowered person...... Tie was just borrowing someone else’s power and acting like she was the strongest......!”

Ardiana gripped the blanket tightly.

Tesetan’s face hardened instantly.

He understood everything at once.

‘She met the World Tree.’

The fever that had made the little girl’s body feel like it was melting.

The vines that briefly filled the room.

It was all too similar to what had happened in Jongno when he encountered the World Tree himself.

“Marryr, y you remembered everything too, didn’t you?”

Tie lifted her tear-streaked face, wet with tears and snot.

Her damp green eyes stared directly at Marbas.

“You know everything because your memories came back too, right?”

Confusion crossed Marbas’s face.

“M my memories really did return, but......”

“Ngh, hic.”

Tie burst into tears even harder.

“Then Kkamani and Pupu too.......”

The little girl curled into herself.

If her guess was right, then Lucarion and Pupu had recovered all their memories too.

That they were actually spirits of the World Tree.

And that the one they were meant to love and follow was not Tie—

but the World Tree itself.

“......Ugh.”

At that moment, a quiet groan sounded out.

Everyone turned their heads.

At the far side of the room—

Lucarion, who had been unconscious, staggered upright.

“Damn it. My head feels like it’s splitting apart.”

Pupu, in human form, also straightened while grumbling awkwardly under his breath.

“L Lucarion.”

Marbas’s eyes darted anxiously around.

His gaze shifted uneasily between Tie, Lucarion, and Pupu.

Lucarion braced himself on one knee after standing.

He looked around the room as though searching for someone, then the moment he spotted Tie—

“......Astie.”

But before he could approach the bed—

“Tie!”

“Young lady!”

Tie suddenly jumped up and bolted toward the door.

The door slammed shut with a bang.

And beyond it, the sound of rapidly retreating footsteps echoed farther and farther away.

Tesetan was about to run after her when—

“Wait.”

Ardiana grabbed his wrist.

Then she shook her head.

Lucarion was already leaving the room after Tie.

“......Everything’s become far too complicated.”

Left behind alone, Pupu— no, Krazar— frowned.

Shaking out the folds of his long white robe, he too strode toward the door.

Meanwhile—

Tie ran breathlessly through the garden.

Grass crumpled beneath her bare feet.

After passing the place where the fence once stood, she spotted the old base building Papa and Tregava had used before the merger.

Tie ran toward the storage shed behind it.

Then hid herself among the dense bushes nearby.

“By now, those children should have regained their memories too.”

The World Tree’s voice echoed loudly inside her ears.

Her hands trembled, her heart pounded violently.

It felt as though her chest might burst apart, and Tie choked back a sob.

“Ngh, ngh.......”

She was scared.

Terrified beyond words.

What if Kkamani—

What if Pupu—

“That power was never yours to begin with.”

“It is time for you to become one with me, seed.”

What if they said the same things to Tie that the World Tree had said?

Dark thoughts kept growing larger and larger inside her head.

“I remembered everything, Astie. Now return the power you stole from my master.”

“Kkyu! Kkyuit!”

She buried her face between the knees she had pulled tightly against her chest.

“Why.......”

Why did only terrible things keep happening to Tie?

‘I tried so hard. I was brave all the way here.’

Her tears soaked through her knees as the wind rustled through the bushes.

And then—

“Astie!”

Someone suddenly grabbed Tie by the wrist.

Before she could even be frightened, she was yanked out from the bushes.

Strong arms caught her as she stumbled.

“What are you doing here?!”

Lucarion stood before her.

His expression remained blank, but Tie understood immediately.

“......Ngh, ngh.”

Lucarion was furious.

The reason was obvious.

Probably because Tie had not returned the World Tree’s power.

“You!”

Lucarion frowned deeply.

“I’m sorry!”

Tie squeezed her eyes shut and shouted first.

At that exact moment, the wind died down, and silence settled around them.

Lucarion froze speechless.

“In front of the World Tree, Tie didn’t do anything wrong. But, hic... to you, Kkamani, Tie did something wrong.......”

“.......”

“I know you don’t want to be friends anymore. You can say Tie is selfish. But even so......”

“Who said that? Who said you were selfish?”

Lucarion cut her off immediately.

Tie hesitantly raised her head.

Lucarion was gripping her hands tightly.

“......You understand nothing.”

He whispered quietly.

“No matter what I say, you still won’t believe me.”

And in the very next moment, something flowed into Tie’s body.

It was an extremely familiar, comforting energy.

And then—

a scene unfolded before Tie’s eyes.