The same word left their lips at once.

Their eyes widened as they looked at each other.

“Are you certain?”

Elysion’s voice cut in, directed at Jaina, who was still facing Cadel.

“……”

“If you pour holy power into the false one, you will be the one in danger. You must be careful.”

Jaina turned back to the two trees.

The one on the left had withered by almost half, losing more than half of its leaves in the process. It looked almost dead.

The tree on the right was similarly withered, yet it still had a faint vitality compared to the tree on the left.

It was only natural to assume that the tree on the right, where even the slightest trace of life could be detected, was the true Elim Tree.

“Your Grace.”

Jaina called to Cadel.

“In Your Grace’s opinion, which one do you think is the real one?”

“…Isn’t that a rather strange way to address me?”

Instead of answering, Cadel frowned faintly.

Jaina, who had been staring intently at the trees, turned her head towards him.

“Pardon?”

“The way you’re addressing me. It’s strange.”

“The way I’m addressing you? What about it—… Ah.”

Only then did she realize she had not called him by name, as she once had.

‘But I don’t want to call him Lord Cadel.’

She had no desire to use the same form of address as Violet.

It wasn’t just jealousy, although that certainly played a part in the complex web of emotions churning inside her. It was something more complicated and harder to define.

Whatever it was, she refused to address him in the same way as Violet.

“Why won’t you call me as you usually do?”

“This isn’t the time to be worrying about that.”

“It is the time. You’ve always called me by my name. So call me as you usually do.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

She couldn’t bring herself to admit that she disliked Violet calling him by his name. Saying it out loud would only make her seem petty and narrow-minded.

So Jaina pressed her lips together and remained silent.

Cadel turned fully towards her.

“Then let’s settle how we address each other properly.”

Here. Now. The escort knights were standing right behind them, listening.

Jaina’s brows drew together sharply.

Cadel continued, unfazed.

“Darling. Or Cadel. Choose.”

“I hate both.”

“Then sweetheart?”

“What is wrong with you?”

She let out a short, incredulous sigh.

“I call you by your name. So you call me by mine.”

“I said I don’t—”

“Cadel.”

He cut her off and smiled, his eyes curving faintly.

“That’s enough.”

“……”

Her expression shifted ever so slightly.

Cadel turned his gaze away from her and back toward the Elim Tree.

“The one on the right seems real. What do you think, Jaina?”

It was clear he was ending the matter there. Finding the true Elim Tree mattered more. So she forced the issue aside and looked at the trees again.

“I think it’s the right one too, but…”

She was not entirely certain.

Having heard that pouring holy power into the false tree would put her in danger, she found herself hesitating even more.

Shifting her gaze between the two trees, she said quietly,

“I was told that if I channel holy power into the false one, I’ll be the one in danger. That’s why I’m unsure….”

Cadel seemed to consider something briefly.

Then he drew his sword.

“You must not be the one at risk.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, he drove the blade into the Elim Tree on the left.

“You fool!”

Elysion shouted in alarm and an enormous surge of black light suddenly erupted from the pierced tree, flooding the garden.

Startled, Jaina seized Cadel’s hand instinctively and gathered her holy power to er*ect a barrier.

Cadel looked at her.

His pitch-black eyes gleamed.

“It’s the fake.”

Jaina’s eyes widened to the point of bursting, and Elysion, utterly aghast, shouted at Cadel.

“What kind of madman drives a sword into the Elim Tree just to test which one is false?!”

“……”

“Do you not fear death at all? And your husband—what on earth is she to you?!”

Elysion’s voice rang out sharply, but Cadel could not hear a single word. Instead, he looked almost proud as he repeated to Jaina.

“You can trust me. My magic is telling me this tree is the fake.”

Jaina lowered her gaze to the sword lodged deep in the tree.

The pitch-black light pouring from Cadel’s blade collided violently with the dark aura emanating from the tree’s interior.

Both were black, yet unmistakably different. The light from Cadel’s sword was darker, purer, and far more defined.

The two forces writhed against each other as if locked in a fierce battle for dominance.

“Brute force and nothing else.”

Elysion muttered irritably, clicking his tongue as he glanced at Cadel. Then he turned to Jaina.

“Even so, observe a little longer, just in case.”

‘No. That won’t be necessary.’

Jaina shot him a brief glance before stepping forward and placing her hand on the Elim Tree to the right. It was an unconscious gesture, born of her absolute trust in Cadel — a fact that escaped her own notice.

The moment her palm touched the rough bark, she knew.

This one was real.

Without hesitation, she began channeling her holy power into the tree.

Elysion let out a soft, despairing sigh, unsettled by her recklessness.

As her power flowed into the tree, the faint outline of the Elim Tree gradually became clearer. The withered leaves slowly regained their color, one by one, as life returned to them.

“Truly, a rash pair, the both of you.”

Elysion frowned as he watched Jaina, who was almost as impulsive as Cadel.

At that moment, Cadel pulled his sword free from the fake tree. He clicked his tongue, his expression tightening as though he had tasted something unpleasant.

“It’s dark magic.”

His black mana had already swallowed the dark magic that had poured from the fake tree.

“Are you all right?”

Jaina asked, continuing to pour her holy power into the true Elim Tree.

“As you can see.”

Cadel nodded lightly and answered as if it were nothing.

Then he added, almost as an afterthought.

“Well… I’m not entirely sure. Are you worried?”

“……”

“To be honest, I might feel a little nauseous—”

“Stop it.”

Jaina cut him off and shot him a sharp look. Cadel let out a low laugh in response.

“Why are you suddenly acting in ways you never used to?”

She asked because she truly wanted to know.

Cadel gave her a strange answer.

“I rarely behaved that way in front of you.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Well. What do you think I mean?”

“Honestly, you’re strange. The way you are now—it’s not like you.”

“That’s because you never saw the real me.”

His words struck her more deeply than she expected.

‘You never saw the real me.’

Had he never shown it before?

After they got married, she was the one who endured those long, lonely years on her own. He was the one who left her to bear the burden alone.

‘And now, he says that?’

“I think so too. Your mate is lacking. He acts first and thinks later.”

Elysion, still displeased with Cadel’s earlier recklessness, added his own remark.

“A man in his position should be more cautious. What if that had been the real tree? Because of him, you might have missed your chance to taste the fruit of the Elim Tree. It’s crazy to risk something so important on nothing more than a hunch…”

He clicked his tongue, clearly unsettled by the mere possibility of things going wrong.

However, he didn’t seem especially concerned for Cadel. What truly bothered him was the thought of losing the Elim fruit.

As she continued to channel her holy power into the tree, Jaina reflected on her impulsive actions.

She had reached out without hesitation.

Only now did she realize that her body had moved because she trusted Cadel completely.

Her feelings for him had not vanished after all.

Of course, that didn’t mean she wanted to fall in love with him again. Love was something else entirely.

But her instinct to trust and rely on him remained unchanged. Perhaps that part of her didn’t need to change.

As the lord who ruled the North, he lacked nothing. If not for his issues with women, he would have been the ideal husband — someone who wouldn’t make his wife suffer.

‘Though, as a spouse, trouble with women is the gravest flaw of all.’

At that moment, Cadel grasped the wrist of the hand she had placed against the Elim Tree.

“Don’t channel too much holy power. You could put yourself in danger.”

Lost in thought, Jaina had not realized how much holy power she was releasing.

“Ah—”

Startled, she quickly pulled her hand away from the tree.

The Elim Tree had already absorbed a great deal of her power. Its leaves, which had once been withered, were now a vibrant green. Moreover, the tree no longer appeared weak or unstable. It stood perfectly clear, majestic and brimming with life.

The two overlapping forms had merged into one.

The false Elim Tree that Cadel had pierced had vanished long ago, its outline dissolving into nothingness.

“Amelie, how does the tree look to you?”

Jaina turned to the knight standing behind her.

From the outset, neither Amelie nor the other knights had seen the tree as two separate things. They did not understand why Cadel had drawn his sword, and remained confused throughout.

“Ah—the withered leaves are completely gone.”

“They are?”

“Yes. I witnessed it with my own eyes. Your Grace’s holy power restored the tree.”

At Amelie’s words, the knights behind her chimed in one after another.

“I saw it as well! Your Grace’s holy power healed the tree!”

“I saw it too! With my own eyes—Your Grace restored it with holy power…!”

“I saw it!”

“I did as well!”

She hadn’t meant to confirm whether they had truly witnessed her ability. Yet they seemed to think this was what she wanted, raising their hands to emphasize that they had seen everything clearly.

And then—

“I saw it too.”

Cadel, standing beside her, slowly lifted his hand and said the same thing.