Chapter 8
Again with the fairy tree. Just a few days ago, Siafil had brought up something similar.
“Don’t you feel it too, Sister?”
I stayed silent at Lidan’s question.
Honestly, I didn’t know how to answer because, well… I wasn’t a “true” Crayden. Why do I think that? It’s already widely known that Craydens have a unique way of responding to fairy trees compared to the nameless siblings.
It’s only natural that they would treasure and revere the fairy trees—the source of their power. So it makes sense that Lidan and Siafil could feel something I couldn’t.
In other words, I was too powerless to feel anything at all.
I wondered how to phrase that politely, but eventually just said it plainly:
“I don’t feel anything.”
“Really?”
“Yes, because I’m not a Crayden…”
“Ah.”
Lidan nodded, seemingly understanding. And that, in truth, made it sting even more.
‘Should I be grateful he at least understands?’
They say geniuses can’t understand the average person. What seems easy and natural to them can be impossible for others, and they don’t get that.
So in a way, this was better than hearing, “You can’t feel this?”
“But you really didn’t secretly transplant a fairy tree?”
I mean… no. Definitely not.
When I stared at him speechlessly, Lidan tilted his head, as if he found that strange. Honestly, I thought he was the strange one.
“Why would I move something that can’t even grow outside the forest…”
I resisted the urge to facepalm and said it calmly. Then Lidan said something baffling:
“Who knows? Maybe the idea that it can’t grow outside the forest is just made up.”
“…What? Are you serious?”
“Of course not.”
What the…? I stopped following him after that.
Lidan kept wandering by himself until, some time later, he suddenly turned around.
“I get it now.”
He approached me with a confident smile.
“It wasn’t the place. It was the person.”
For some reason, the way he looked at me while saying that gave off a slightly sinister glint.
After Lidan’s visit to my palace, I tried to stay indoors as much as possible. I was afraid of bumping into another Crayden outside.
But that effort proved meaningless. Visitors to my palace only increased.
“Hello, Sister.”
The person who should’ve been napping by the library window at this hour was waving at me with a lazy smile.
“…Third Prince.”
“I’m kind of getting used to that cold greeting.”
It had already been a week. Lidan came to my palace every single day, faithfully like a schoolboy. Just like with Siafil—once a connection was made, they followed up for reasons only they knew.
No wonder I couldn’t go out. I’d been heading to the garden, but ended up aimlessly wandering instead. Meanwhile, Lidan casually held out a book.
“This is…”
“Haven’t read this one yet, right?”
It was the final book in the Survival series, Surviving in a Dragon’s Lair. Honestly, it wasn’t surprising that Lidan knew what I had and hadn’t read. He visited daily just to watch me, after all.
‘Well… this is kind of convenient.’
Thanks to him, I didn’t have to go to the library or bother Pell anymore. Saying that makes it sound like I treat him like an errand boy, but…
‘Convenience is convenience.’
I didn’t ask him to do it. He brought the books on his own. It’d be weird to complain about that.
So far, five books had piled up in my room thanks to Lidan. I hadn’t even finished Surviving on a Volcano yet—I needed to catch up.
“So, where were you off to today?”
Lidan trailed behind me and asked. I put the book down and replied,
“I was headed to the garden.”
“What’s there to see in the garden?”
“…”
Right. I forgot Lidan considered my garden nothing more than wasteland.
“I have work to do.”
Today was the day I planned to install supports so the plants I’d transplanted could grow straight. Pell and Sheila had probably started without me. I needed to hurry.
“Are you going to keep following me?”
“Well, I haven’t been doing much these past few days except following you.”
He said it so shamelessly. But he wasn’t wrong, so I had no choice but to take him with me to the garden.
“What… is this?”
Upon arriving, Lidan stared at the scene before him in disbelief.
Seeing him with me, Sheila and Pell lowered their heads silently. Pell, in particular, moved far away like he had when avoiding Siafil.
“This is where I grow crops.”
“Crops?”
Lidan gave me a look like he wanted to say, Didn’t you say it was a garden? As if he ever believed that.
I picked up some string nearby and headed for the field. Lidan didn’t follow, instead hovering around.
“What are you doing, Sister?”
“I’m installing supports so the plants don’t fall over. They need something to grow on.”
“Why are you doing that?”
“We’re short-handed. And I’m the one eating this stuff anyway.”
“You actually grow your own food?”
Lidan’s face twisted as if he’d heard something outrageous. It was the first truly unfiltered expression I’d seen from him.
“I can’t even imagine that.”
He’s probably never seen crops up close. Just the dishes on the table.
‘Well, Siafil was the same.’
I hadn’t seen Siafil since that day. He must’ve been genuinely shocked.
‘Wait a sec…’
Would Lidan also stop coming if I put him to work?
The idea flashed through my head—Crayden Extermination Tactic No. 1.
But I didn’t have the guts to make the high-and-mighty Third Prince do chores. Siafil had volunteered himself into that mess.
Then, as if on cue, Lidan asked:
“Need help with anything, Sister?”
“!”
I almost answered right away, but then he stepped back and said,
“Nah. I’d be more of a burden since I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“….”
I’d been outmaneuvered. I began to think of ways to change his mind.
Maybe I could say it was easy, beginner-friendly? As I tied a string, laughter rang out. Of course, it was Lidan.
After laughing to himself, he picked up a string—without me asking.
“Alright, I’ll help.”
“…Sorry?”
“You made that face—how could I not help?”
What face? Lidan always talked about my expressions and laughed, but I never knew what he meant. I didn’t carry a mirror, after all.
Just as I wiped my cheek with my dirt-stained hand—
“There, you’ve got something on your face.”
Lidan reached out and brushed my cheek. At the same time, a dull clunk sounded nearby.
We both turned to look—and there was Pell, staring at us with wide eyes. A shovel lay at his feet, dropped from his hand.
…Did he throw it?
I looked around for the source of the sound.
Then Pell glared at me, picked up the shovel, and turned away. His sharp gaze surprised me. For someone so scruffy, those eyes were piercing.
‘What’s with the look?’
The word menacing came to mind. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. That’s when Lidan said beside me,
“Sister, that attendant—”
I turned toward him—and my eyes widened.
Behind Lidan stood someone else, just as shocked as me.
“Sister? And… Brother Lidan?”
It was Siafil, wearing worn clothes and a straw hat.
What… what was with that over-prepared outfit?
“Huh? Look who it is.”
“What are you doing here, Brother?”
At Siafil’s murmured question, Lidan’s lips curved into a sharp smile. The look sent chills down my spine as he answered,
“What brings our beloved youngest here?”
That tone didn’t sound loving at all—it sounded threatening.
Lidan was unusually sensitive to Siafil’s appearance. Especially when Siafil greeted Revesia so familiarly—Lidan’s eyebrows shot up.
‘So they knew each other before?’
That outfit was definitely not something he normally wore. And he’d found this garden—or farm—way too easily. He must’ve been here more than once.
‘Even if I set aside how he knew, this is suspicious.’
Lidan glanced at Revesia beside him.
He still didn’t fully understand her abilities. But being around her brought a strange sense of calm and confidence, as though he could do anything. Just like being near a fairy tree.
She was a stimulant that had broken the monotony of his life. And now he realized—Siafil had discovered her before he did?
‘And that reaction—like he’s been caught.’
Lidan met Siafil’s eyes. Siafil quickly covered his expression and smiled innocently, but Lidan had already seen everything.
‘So he was scheming something.’
Siafil must have sensed something from Revesia too—whether it was the same as Lidan or something else—and had tried to hide her from others.
Even now, Siafil spoke like someone trying to gloss over a situation—or dig something out.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, Brother Lidan.”
“I didn’t expect to see our dearest youngest here either.”
At that moment, Lidan’s view of Siafil changed.
‘We’ve been raising a fox all along.’
A very cunning little fox, at that.
