The golden door didn’t open easily.
There wasn’t even a slight movement until Cheshire had struck it about ten times with the axe. Then, it slowly began to transform.
The curved patterns shifted languidly.
As the branches twisted and grew, the jewel-like flowers that had bloomed so vibrantly began to shed their petals.
The petals drifted down, and the increasingly lush branches stretched out, seeming to fill the entirety of the golden door.
When the patterns completely covered the door, leaving no space at all, the golden door slowly began to slide open to the left and right.
A blinding light poured through the widening gap.
Cheshire squinted.
“Ugh…….”
Meanwhile, the rabbit doll, who had been quietly silent, was now in a complete frenzy.
The doll hopped up and down, its long ears flapping wildly, grabbing Cheshire’s clothes and scrambling up him.
The rabbit doll, perched on his head, stretched out its stubby feet.
“He who breaks the egg must endure the pain!”
“You can’t gain anything if you’re afraid of change!”
‘What is he even saying…’
He was having a grand time playing the philosopher all by himself.
Cheshire felt the urge to knock the rabbit doll off his head, but he resisted for now.
‘Because it seems a little useful.’
He needed to get home quickly.
The men of the Vasilios family were naturally a concern, but Hata, whom he had left alone, was the most worrying.
Hata couldn’t come to the square because he was in his dog form.
He wouldn’t have seen Cheshire disappear, either.
No one would explain the situation to the dog in detail, so he must be very surprised and worried all alone.
Cheshire squeezed his eyes shut and stepped into the light.
Whoa, the view turned completely white.
At the same time, Cheshire took a deep breath.
It was because of the strange sensation that washed over his entire body.
An indescribable ticklish feeling enveloped him, and he involuntarily shivered.
And finally, when the light faded, before Cheshire’s eyes stood a colossal tree.
It was a tree reminiscent of the pattern engraved on the golden door.
All kinds of flowers were in full bloom on the tree.
They bloomed by winding vines around the trunk and branches, and they also blossomed directly from the branches themselves.
There were countless flowers on the vines hanging down.
Roses and dandelions, peonies and violets…
It was while he was gazing at the sight of all kinds of flowers blooming on a single tree that, with a pop, a pink flower burst from Cheshire’s chest.
The flower, wrapped in sparkling light, flew like a meteor toward the tree.
The moment Cheshire’s flower touched the tree, he knew instinctively that he was ‘registered’ in the Fairy Kingdom.
Now Cheshire could freely enter and exit the Fairy Kingdom through the transfer gate. The huge golden door would no longer block Cheshire.
He was rubbing his chest with his palm, where the flower had popped out, because the feeling of belonging was unfamiliar, when thump…
A low, heavy vibration echoed all around.
The floor was shaking so much that Cheshire almost stumbled. The rabbit doll also clung tightly to Cheshire’s head and held on.
Giant flower buds sprouted from all over the place.
The flowers, much larger than adult men, were of a size that couldn’t exist naturally.
Cheshire was instantly surrounded by dozens, hundreds of flower buds.
They were much larger than the child Cheshire, but they didn’t feel threatening.
Sparkling light burst from the closed flower buds.
Then, one by one, they slowly began to bloom.
Between the opening petals, women with surprisingly beautiful appearances could be seen.
Dressed in dresses decorated with flowers and leaves on fluttering, thin cloth, they slid down as if riding on the petals.
In the vibrating floral scent and the gazes fixed on him, Cheshire stood there with a slightly dazed feeling.
It was a little overwhelming to meet so many fairies all at once.
‘First, I should say hello, right?’
Should he say he’s the Enchantress Richessia, or Cheshire Vasilios?
While hesitating for a moment, the fairy at the very front smiled softly.
She knelt on the floor with a happy and joyful smile.
Starting with her, the fairies knelt down one after another as if a wave was rising.
No one kept their gaze above Cheshire. Everyone looked up at Cheshire.
The rabbit doll on his head spread its arms and shouted loudly.
“The Queen has returned!”
***
The Sun Emperor of the Palan Empire was the most sublime being under the heavens.
It was believed that only the Holy Emperor of the Holy Empire could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Sun Emperor.
However, the Holy Empire was, after all, a power subordinate to the name of God.
It was not comparable to the power of the Sun Emperor, who ruled over humans.
In this era, the Palan Empire was prospering more overwhelmingly than any other country.
The Emperor of the Palan Empire was in a position that was not at all insufficient to be given the title of Sun.
Therefore, the Sun Emperor was a being who wielded power that would make even a flying bird fall…
“Heok, cough, cough…”
He was now crawling on the floor with an ugly grimace.
Still wearing the flowing and ornate imperial robes, he crawled around on the floor like a dog, panting.
In front of the desperately wriggling Emperor, a man was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed.
The man, looking down at the Emperor as if he was bored, was fiddling with a silver pocket watch in his hand, with his arms folded.
He quietly fiddled with the watch, and only after seeing the Emperor retching on the floor did he snap his fingers.
“Heok…”
The Emperor hurriedly gasped for breath, his face pale.
With a face that had barely escaped a terrible nightmare, he bowed his head before the man.
“Count, Count…!”
The Emperor rubbed his palms together and pleaded.
“Please, at least tell me. What did I do wrong? I wrote the petition as you wanted, and I did everything you told me to…”
He was so desperate and humble that he looked as if he would kiss the man’s polished shoes.
The man looked down at his shabby appearance and chuckled.
The Emperor despaired even more at the man’s laughter.
“Prince Hebaton, I couldn’t do anything about it! That was the Cardinal…, Ah!”
He hurriedly spat out excuses, but pain soon descended.
Feeling the agony of his flesh being crushed, the Emperor finally vomited.
He shouldn’t have touched that man.
If only he could go back to that day in the distant past when he ordered the investigation of Count Vasilios…
But no matter how much he regretted wanting to turn back time, he could not change the past that had passed.
The Emperor had long since become a doll manipulated at will by Kiern Vasilios.
Click, the pain subsided with the snap of a finger.
The Emperor hurriedly turned his head, trying to calm his trembling body.
The illusions and hallucinations he had just experienced were truly terrible, but Kiern could inflict even greater pain if he wanted to.
The Emperor anxiously swallowed dry saliva and tried to please Kiern.
“I know you lost your adopted daughter, no, your youngest daughter. Should I devote all my efforts to the search? If I search the entire continent with an imperial order from now on…”
“Haha.”
Kiern chuckled briefly at the Emperor’s words.
It was a laugh that seemed pleasant at first glance, but his coldly hardened red eyes were not laughing at all.
“If I could have found her with that kind of thing, I would have found her a long time ago.”
A month had passed since the end of the Minor Saint Prayer [a religious ceremony]. The adopted daughter of the Vasilios County family, who disappeared along with the Fairy Queen’s crown, was still missing.
Despite the Vasilios County family’s best efforts, they could not find even the slightest trace, as if her existence had been erased.
The Emperor begged, crying, to Kiern with his cold eyes.
“Then, what should I do? Please tell me.”
“Well.”
Kiern narrowed his eyes slightly.
“What should I do to feel better…”
He tapped his toes lightly.
Then, he tapped the Emperor’s chin with the toe of his polished shoe and smiled.
“Shall we have a war with the Holy Empire or something?”