The spirit garden was located deep within the marquis’s residence, in an area ordinary guests could not easily enter.
At first, when I heard “garden,” I imagined a glass building.
But the closer we got, the more that thought began to change.
Rather than a garden, it was a place where an entire small forest had been moved beneath a vast glass dome,
and a beautiful full moon hung in the sky.
Transparent crystal panels overlapped in layers across the high ceiling,
and through them, moonlight and mana filtered down softly.
The ground was a mixture of dirt paths and stone paths, with little streams flowing here and there.
The trees were not ordinary trees.
Trees with tiny lights gathered at the tips of their leaves.
Trees with turquoise mana flowing inside their trunks.
Flowers that gave off a sound like the faintest ringing of bells when approached.
There were many spirits.
Truly many.
‘……Wow.’
I couldn’t help but marvel.
It was far quieter and deeper than the academy’s spirit garden.
If that place was a managed space meant for students, this place felt like a portion of an ancient forest had been wrapped in a barrier and preserved.
Elysia asked through thought.
‘Are you all right?’
‘Yeah. Better than I expected.’
There was a lot of mana.
But it didn’t feel tightly arranged like the crystal barrier indoors.
If anything, it was closer to a living current. Rather than clashing with the demonic energy inside my body, it felt as though it slipped past me.
I was fine.
Wanting to get down from Elysia’s arms, I moved my forepaws.
Elysia noticed right away.
“Do you want to get down?”
I nodded.
Elysia carefully set me down on the dirt path.
The soil touching my paw pads was soft.
I took one step forward.
At that moment.
All the spirits in the garden stopped moving at once.
A water droplet spirit froze in midair, and a wind spirit lowered its breath among the leaves.
The light spirits dimmed their sparkle, and the small earth spirits near the tree roots poked out their faces.
Then, slowly, very slowly.
A path opened.
The spirits moved aside to the left and right.
As if clearing the way for me to pass.
‘……Here we go again.’
I folded my ears back.
Elysia drew in a breath.
Iris and Clarice stopped at the same time.
Noel’s eyes widened.
Lady Sereniel smiled quietly, and Marquis Theodore watched the scene without a word.
“I did not think it would be to this extent.”
Iris spoke in a low voice.
Clarice whispered with bated breath.
“Iris. Isn’t this something we can’t afford not to record?”
“We cannot.”
“I know. I do, but.”
“Just remember it.”
“I already am.”
Their hushed exchange was so serious that I actually lost strength.
Then, from deeper within the garden, a slightly larger presence approached.
The surrounding spirits grew even quieter.
What emerged between the trees was a spirit shaped like a small deer.
Its body was a translucent green, and leaves and small fruit like starlight hung from its antlers.
It wasn’t quite a high-ranking spirit, but it seemed to be the central spirit that managed the inner part of this garden.
The spirit looked at me.
I looked back at it.
A moment of silence.
Then the green deer spirit folded its forelegs.
Lightly, but unmistakably, it was a gesture of respect.
Behind us, Noel drew in a very small breath.
Marquis Theodore’s voice sank low.
“The guardian spirit of the garden…….”
Lady Sereniel seemed a little surprised as well.
“To think that child would pay respects first.”
I found myself in a truly awkward position.
‘Elysia.’
‘Yes.’
‘What am I supposed to do?’
‘I don’t know either.’
‘Don’t be flustered with me.’
‘But I’ve never seen this before either.’
What was I supposed to do at a time like this?
Should I bow back?
I was a fox cub right now. If I folded my forepaws, I would just look like I had sprawled on the ground.
After agonizing over it, I lowered my head slightly.
Politely.
By my standards, it was an extremely awkward greeting.
Then the air in the garden swayed softly.
The spirits gave off small lights.
It was a reaction closer to relief than cheering.
The green deer spirit quietly opened the way.
“It seems to be telling us to follow.”
Iris spoke in a low voice.
Clarice looked at me and asked carefully.
“Haku, are you all right?”
After thinking for a moment, I turned back to Elysia.
‘Let’s go.’
Elysia relayed my intention.
“Haku says he’ll go. But Young Master Noel, please take it slowly and don’t overdo it.”
Noel immediately nodded.
“Okay. I’ll go slowly.”
I deliberately did not walk quickly.
With my small paws, I slowly proceeded along the dirt path.
Elysia followed behind me, while Iris and Clarice kept their distance on either side.
Noel walked slowly while holding Lady Sereniel’s hand. Marquis Theodore watched over everyone from the rear.
The farther we followed the path, the gentler the texture of the mana became.
And Noel’s breathing also stabilized.
It was enough that not only I, but everyone could feel it.
“Noel.”
Iris called softly.
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah.”
Noel touched his own chest as if surprised.
“Here…… it’s quieter than I thought.”
Lady Sereniel’s gaze deepened.
“Normally, he had difficulty staying here for long, too.”
Marquis Theodore’s hand stiffened almost imperceptibly.
“Is this Haku’s influence?”
Iris did not answer immediately.
Instead, she looked back and forth between me and the spirits.
“It may not be only that Haku is directly stabilizing Noel,
but also that the movements of the surrounding spirits have changed, softening the flow of mana itself.”
Clarice quietly added,
“So while Haku is here, the garden has lowered its breath to match Noel.”
Iris nodded.
“That expression may be more accurate.”
I stopped walking.
What had I done?
I had only walked.
And yet the spirits moved aside on their own, and the garden’s mana quieted down to suit Noel?
‘……I didn’t do anything.’
Elysia’s thought brushed against me gently.
‘Maybe it’s because you’re here, Haku.’
‘That’s the most troublesome part.’
If it happened because I did something, I could stop it or control it.
But when something happened just because I existed, I didn’t know what to do about it.
I turned my head and looked at Noel.
Noel was looking at me.
His eyes were a little wet.
“Haku.”
He spoke very softly.
“This place was always pretty, but hard to be in. Because there were so many spirits…… there were too many sounds.”
Noel slowly inhaled.
“But right now, it’s only pretty.”
The weight in my heart that had felt burdensome just moments ago settled a little.
I looked at Noel for a long while, then tapped the dirt path once with my tail.
Then that was enough.
As if he understood, Noel smiled.
“Yeah.”
Iris lowered her head slightly.
Her expression was truly… how should I put it?
A face that looked happy, yet as though she might cry.
Clarice lightly nudged Iris in the side with her elbow.
“If you cry, Haku will feel burdened.”
“I am not crying.”
“The corners of your eyes are red.”
“It is your imagination.”
“No, it’s not.”
Iris did not reply.
Instead, she averted her gaze.
Seeing that made me feel a little relieved.
It was a good thing Clarice was by Iris’s side.
If Iris had been alone, she might have swallowed all those emotions and later tried to sort them out by herself in her room.
But with Clarice lightly prodding her from beside her, she had room to breathe.
The green deer spirit guided us to a small clearing deeper inside the garden.
At the center of the clearing stood a low tree.
Compared to the other trees, it was not large.
But strangely, only the air around that tree felt different.
Its bark was silver-gray, and its leaves were turquoise.
At the tips of its branches, tiny lights like stars had gathered.
When I approached beneath the tree, the demonic energy inside me quietly reacted.
It wasn’t unpleasant.
Rather, it felt like something I had seen long ago, but could not remember.
Without thinking, I took another step closer.
‘Haku?’
Elysia called carefully.
‘I’m fine.’
I really was fine.
I sat beneath the tree.
At that moment, the tree’s leaves trembled ever so slightly.
Even though there was no wind.
A soft light descended.
And all the spirits lowered their heads at once.
Noel held his breath, and Iris and Clarice said nothing.
Lady Sereniel lowered her eyes as though she were witnessing an ancient prayer.
For the first time, Marquis Theodore completely lost the face of a scholar.
As if he were neither father, nor marquis, nor scholar, but simply one person, he murmured,
“……The Ivorywood has responded.”
Clarice whispered in a low voice.
“That tree hasn’t responded to anyone in decades.”
Iris’s voice trembled.
“According to the records, this is the first time since Mother first came to the marquis’s residence.”
Lady Sereniel slowly nodded.
“That’s right.”
I looked up at the tree.
Ivorywood.
Was it an ancient tree that symbolized Asteria?
I carefully raised a forepaw.
I did not touch the tree. I merely brought it close.
Then one of the small lights at the end of a branch fell.
It was a small leaf like starlight.
The leaf slowly descended and stopped right in front of my nose.
I blinked.
The leaf swayed slightly, then plopped onto my head.
“…….”
The inside of the garden became completely silent.
I froze.
There was a leaf on my head.
The spirits were watching.
The Asteria family was watching.
Elysia was watching too.
‘Elysia.’
‘Yes.’
‘What am I supposed to do with this?’
Elysia’s thought trembled slightly.
She was holding back laughter.
‘It suits you.’
‘Not that.’
‘You’re cute.’
‘Elysia.’
I protested seriously, but it was already too late.
Noel clasped both hands tightly and said in a small voice,
“A star-leaf on Haku’s head…….”
Clarice covered her mouth.
“Wait. This is seriously…….”
Iris said in a very low and solemn voice,
“It is adorable.”
You people, seriously, stop.
I tried to shake my head and make the leaf fall off.
But the leaf did not fall.
As if it had lightly attached itself to my fur, it sat neatly atop my silver-pink head.
The spirits sparkled ever so faintly.
It felt like they were laughing.
I smacked my tail against the ground.
‘Don’t laugh.’
The spirits sparkled even more.
I was doomed.
Even here, there was no such thing as dignity for me.
Maybe there was, but at the very least, the leaf on my head felt like it had canceled it all out.