I opened the eyes I had been keeping half-closed.
‘What is it?’
The flow of mana, which had been gently settling until just a moment ago, split apart again—this time from somewhere even deeper.
It was not a threat.
If anything, it was the opposite.
But it was far too vast.
It felt as though the entire broad forest were bowing its waist to welcome a single person’s step.
Instinctively, I raised myself from Elysia’s arms.
Elysia tensed at once as well.
‘Haku?’
‘I don’t know. But…….’
Before I could finish, a green-gold light bloomed from the depths of the garden.
The leaves of the ivory tree all trembled at once.
Though no wind blew, the branches struck against one another, producing a clear sound.
It was like the sound of water, and also like the low resonance of an ancient woodwind instrument.
Someone walked out from within that light.
At first, he looked like a person.
But I soon realized he was not merely human.
A tall man with broad shoulders.
His long hair was a mingling of deep green and gold, and between the strands, tiny leaves and particles of light flowed down.
His eyes were the green-gold of a deep forest.
His skin looked human, but up close, it held a very faint grain like tree bark.
Above his head, instead of a crown, was a horn-shaped circlet that spread like branches,
and the cloak draped over his shoulders swayed translucently, as if made of leaves, wind, and light.
When he took one step forward, the spirits all lowered themselves at once.
It was different from before.
Back then, it had been courtesy.
This time, it was worship.
The green deer spirit was the first to fold its forelegs.
The light spirits sank close to the ground.
The droplet spirits descended low in the air, maintaining their round forms.
The wind spirits silenced their voices and bowed their heads beneath the shade of the trees.
And it was not only the spirits.
Marquis Theodore was the first to kneel on one knee.
Astonishment and awe appeared on his face at the same time.
Lady Sereniel also quietly lowered herself to her knees.
Iris and Clarice swallowed their breaths almost at the same moment, then bowed their heads after him.
Noel, too, clutching the starleaf to his chest, carefully lowered himself with Lady Sereniel’s support.
Elysia, still holding me in her arms, seemed flustered, but soon tried to show proper respect as well.
At that moment, my body within her arms stopped.
No.
To be precise, I was not the one who stopped.
Something deep inside me opened its eyes.
Cold moonlight.
The scent of an ancient forest.
Wind blowing over snow-covered mountains.
And one name I had known for a very, very long time.
Arbion.
Before I could even recall that name, the green-gold man burst into loud laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
The sound of his laughter shook the entire garden.
It was as if the trees were laughing, as if the wind were laughing, as if every life in the distant forest were laughing all at once.
“I have come, Wolyeong!”
At that moment, my mind went blank.
Wolyeong.
The instant that name was called, something deep within my body rose clearly.
It was not something I permitted, nor was it something I pushed away.
It was like a door that had long been shut recognizing its master and opening on its own.
I was flustered.
‘Wait, what is this?’
But that voice did not come out.
Instead, entirely different words leapt from my mouth.
“You damned tree-deer bastard.”
The garden froze.
Truly.
Everyone who had been kneeling until just now stopped breathing, even with their heads bowed.
Iris’s shoulders went rigid.
Clarice nearly opened her mouth, then barely managed to close it.
Marquis Theodore seemed to have his head bowed while his eyes alone were wide open, and Lady Sereniel swallowed a breath somewhere between shock and bewilderment.
Noel froze in place, hands tightly clasping the starleaf.
Elysia nearly tightened her arms around me.
But she instinctively knew.
The one who had just spoken was not my usual self.
And the green-gold man.
The Spirit King Arbion, instead, laughed even louder.
“Hahahahaha! Yes, yes! That tongue of yours hasn’t changed!”
“What tongue? Your habit of making your laughter echo through the whole forest the moment someone sees your face hasn’t changed either.”
The voice coming from my mouth was clearly my voice.
It should have been small, frail, close to the cry of a fox kit.
But now it was different.
The sound was still small, but there was a resonance layered within it.
A voice like low, clear moonlight.
A voice carrying the scent of an ancient night.
Listening to that voice from inside myself, I thought blankly.
Without pushing my body aside.
Without suppressing my consciousness.
Simply to greet a friend he had met again after far too long.
Wolyeong was borrowing my body and lifting his head toward the Spirit King.
Arbion looked down at me, scattering leaf-colored light through his long hair.
In his eyes, before the dignity of a king, there was the joy of meeting an old friend.
“I never thought I would see you again so soon! Hahahaha!”
“Shut up. I didn’t think it would turn out like this either.”
“Hahaha! Still, it suits you. Looking at you again, you’re small. Very small.”
“Call me small one more time, you bastard. I’ll pluck every leaf hanging from your horns.”
“Oh my, how frightening.”
The Spirit King said it with a face that was not frightened in the slightest.
If anything, he looked delighted.
Far too delighted.
Only then did Wolyeong slowly turn his head.
To be precise, he looked back at Elysia and the others with my small body.
The people kneeling.
The spirits with their heads bowed.
The Asteria family, who could barely even breathe.
And Elysia, holding me in her arms while suppressing her astonishment.
Wolyeong looked at them for a moment, then let out a small sigh.
“Ah.”
A very faint trace of embarrassment was mixed into that voice.
“You must have been startled.”
Of course they were.
Wolyeong fell silent for a moment, then laughed very softly, as if he had heard the thought inside me.
Then he spoke to Elysia and the others.
“I am not trying to harm the Haku you know. So do not be too alarmed.”
His voice was gentle.
But beneath that gentleness was a strange weight.
It was not a command.
And yet it had the power to settle the hearts of those who heard it.
“I am closer to an old remnant that remained inside this child.
My name is Wolyeong. You could call me the original owner of this body.”
Elysia’s hand trembled very slightly.
“Original…… owner.”
Wolyeong nodded.
“Yes. But the one living in this body now is Haku. I did not come out to take that away.”
At those words, I flinched inside.
As though speaking to me, and yet at the same time letting everyone hear, Wolyeong continued.
“When this child entered this body, a very small fragment of my soul remained with it.
The end of a severed bond, or perhaps a shadow left in moonlight. Ordinarily, it sleeps quietly inside Haku’s body…….”
Wolyeong’s gaze turned to Arbion.
“But that noisy tree-deer called my name too loudly, so I woke for a moment.”
Arbion laughed again.
“Hahahaha! Is it my fault?”
“It is your fault. Whose fault would it be, then?”
The atmosphere strangely loosened again.
Was it all right to speak like this in front of the Spirit King?
I still could not believe it.
But none of the spirits grew angry.
Rather, with their heads bowed even more deeply, they accepted even this manner of speaking as though it were part of a very old tale.
Still kneeling, Marquis Theodore carefully opened his mouth.
“Then…… are you an existence remaining within Haku?”
Wolyeong looked at him.
The little fox’s eyes shone with a deep silver light for a moment.
“You may see it that way. But there is no need to fear.
It is not as though I will emerge every time this child’s heart wavers, nor do I intend to live this child’s life in their place.”
Wolyeong paused briefly, then looked at Elysia.
“Especially you.”
Elysia swallowed.
“You must have been the most startled.”
“……Haku.”
Elysia’s voice trembled faintly.
“Is Haku all right?”
Wolyeong’s eyes softened ever so slightly.
“Haku is all right. Though quite flustered inside.”
I shouted inwardly.
‘Of course I am! Don’t just come out all of a sudden!’
Wolyeong smiled very faintly.
“As I said, I did not push this child aside.
I merely reacted upon seeing Arbion. When one sees an old friend, even a sleeping fragment is bound to open its eyes.”
Elysia loosened her arms around me.
She was not completely reassured.
But at least, the tension that had come from fearing my body had been stolen eased a little.
Wolyeong looked back at the Asteria family.
“And you need not be so stiff either. Just because he is the Spirit King does not mean he is a being before whom you must stop breathing.”
Arbion spoke heartily from beside him.
“That is true! I do not particularly like such rigid formalities!”
Even so, the Spirit King’s presence filled the entire garden.
His words were light, but each time he moved his head, the spirits’ lights swayed along with him.
He was smiling, but that smile alone made it clear whose domain this garden was.
Wolyeong glared sidelong at Arbion.
“When you say that while scattering the aura of a king all over the garden the moment you appear, of course everyone kneels.”
“I was simply so glad to see an old friend.”
“That gladness of yours is going to make a few people faint, you bastard.”
“No one has fainted yet, so it is fine.”
“What a thing to boast about.”
Their conversation was so natural that it felt even stranger.
Elysia was listening to it blankly.
Iris and Clarice wore expressions as if they were enduring the desire to record this almost like physical pain.
Marquis Theodore was frozen somewhere between awe and scholarly shock,
and Lady Sereniel quietly steadied her breathing while holding Noel protectively.
Noel clutched the starleaf tightly and murmured in a small voice.
“Inside Haku…… Lord Wolyeong is…….”
Hearing that, Wolyeong looked at Noel.
“You do not have to attach ‘Lord.’”
Noel was startled.
“Pardon?”
“I am not in such a grand state right now. Look.”
Wolyeong slightly lifted my forepaw.
A small, short forepaw.
Fluffy fur.
And no matter how one looked at it, the body of a fox kit, far removed from dignity.
“Trying to act dignified in this form would only be laughable.”
Arbion nodded vigorously.
“You certainly are adorable.”
“Shut your mouth, Arbion.”
The Spirit King laughed again.
The entire garden rumbled low once more.
Inside, I had nearly given up.
What is this?
The Spirit King appeared.
Everyone knelt.
Wolyeong borrowed my body and came out.
He cursed at the Spirit King.
And the Spirit King was pleased to hear it.
Truly.
This world was sometimes strange in directions I could not handle.
Wolyeong turned his head toward Elysia one last time.
“You said your name was Elysia.”
Elysia answered cautiously.
“Yes.”
“You have been watching over this child well.”
Elysia seemed at a loss for words for a moment.
Then she lowered her head very slightly.
“Rather than me protecting Haku…… Haku helps me a great deal.”
Wolyeong fell silent for a moment after hearing that.
Then he laughed very softly, so softly it was almost inaudible.
“Is that so.”
That voice was a little strange.
It sounded like longing, and also like relief.
“Then that is enough.”
Wolyeong looked back at Arbion.
“I am glad to meet you again after so long, but I cannot remain out for long right now. This body is still small, and Haku is tired.”
“I know.”
Arbion’s laughter subsided a little.
For the first time, his face turned serious.
“But I wanted to confirm it. Whether you had truly returned.”
“I am not the one who returned.”
Wolyeong said quietly.
“The one alive now is Haku.”
Arbion’s green-gold eyes looked at me—no, at Wolyeong and me at the same time.
“Then I must greet that child once more as well.”
His gaze deepened.
I flinched inside.
Wolyeong whispered very softly.
“Do not be afraid. He may be noisy, but he is not a bad man.”
He may be noisy.
To think that was the explanation attached to a Spirit King.
I could not answer.
Arbion slowly lowered himself.
The Spirit King, before the kneeling people,
lowered himself in order to meet the eyes of a little fox.
And in a very low, warm voice, he said,
“It is a pleasure to meet you for the first time, little Haku.”
Within his eyes, the forest swayed.
“I am the Spirit King Arbion. Long ago, I was a friend of Wolyeong.”
Wolyeong’s presence withdrew very slightly.
My consciousness floated back to the front.
My body felt heavy.
But it did not feel as though it had been stolen.
It felt as if I had stepped aside for a moment, then returned.
I looked up at Arbion.
The Spirit King.
Wolyeong’s friend.
And the being who had just been called a “damned tree-deer bastard” through my body.
I stared at him for a long while, then cried very softly.
“Kya.”
Low laughter spread through the entire garden.
This time, it was not only Arbion’s laughter.
The wind, the leaves, the water droplets, and even the ivory tree.
It felt as though all of them were laughing very quietly.
Arbion nodded with an expression of utmost satisfaction.
“Good. Very good.”
I muttered inwardly.
‘What’s good about it?’
Strangely, however, I was not afraid.
Wolyeong’s remnant still remained very faintly deep inside my body, and that presence was telling me.
That king was not an enemy.
He was a friend who had once laughed together beneath the moonlight, long ago.
And it was all right to believe that.
Elysia’s intent cautiously reached me.
‘Haku?’
I curled up a little more in her arms.
‘Yeah.’
‘Are you back?’
‘Yeah. Probably.’
‘Are you okay?’
I thought for a moment.
The Spirit King had appeared.
Wolyeong had cursed at his friend with my body.
The entire Asteria family had knelt.
And another piece of this body’s past, one I had not known, had suddenly popped out.
If asked whether I was okay.
Honestly, I was not okay at all.
But my body was strangely stable.
The spiritual power that had settled beneath the ivory tree had not yet fallen into disorder, and Arbion’s presence did not press down on me either.
I answered Elysia through intent.
‘I’m okay.’
Then I added a little more.
‘But I definitely need to be brushed.’
Elysia’s intent paused for the briefest moment, then swayed gently.
‘Yes, I’ll make sure to do it.’
And so the Spirit King truly did nothing more than greet us before laughing and leaving, and the garden returned to how it had been.
Iris’s family each had things they wanted to say and wanted to record, but they did not.
And we returned to the mansion.