Anastasia's pale blonde hair was at the earlobe like a golden apple.

Her amber pupils were as clear and transparent as tan-like wine.

The girl wasn't even as tall as Ivace's chest - about the same as Yulia.

Compared to the average height of the elves, she is significantly shorter...... Ivas had hardly seen an elf shorter than Isabel, and he had seen it today.

And Ivas also realized in a trance why the timid Yunus suddenly became brave, and even saved Anastasia from the bandits - Ivas didn't know if Isabel had this kind of sister's short hair when she was a child, but her hair color was exactly the same as Isabel's.

She looks about the same height as Isabel did when she was nine years old.

Obviously, Anastasia hasn't grown in height since she was sent to the Elven Realm.

And Isabel at that age...... It was when Yunus left the island of glass that he remembered Isabel.

…… He must have been stressed.

Perhaps it was only after he made the move that he realized it wasn't Isabel; Or maybe just the resemblance would make his heart ache.

Anastasia trotted all the way to Grace's side, spread her arms, and leaped into Grace's arms with a skillful jump.

If it was outside, Grace would have been able to easily hold the girl in her arms. But Grace, who is also smaller now, can only fly back two steps with her wings like a butterfly in embarrassment before she can barely hold Anastasia into her arms.

"Aya......"

Grace affectionately called Anastasia by her nickname and stroked her hair lovingly. With the same hair color and different hair lengths, the two look like sisters.

As her hair turned, Ivas could smell the fragrance in her hair. It was a fresh smell of pine mixed with orange peel.

This is the smell of Grace's home shampoo.

…… What's going on?

Ivas hesitated.

As he concentrated on the path, the power of devotion flowed through him—his right eye, which had been turned amber yellow by Ivus, glowed red like a lit fire.

This is an unknown ability similar to True Sight.

And under his gaze, he saw that Anastasia's edges began to blur.

Ivus's heart moved, and he closed his left eye.

There wasn't any darkness - his eyes were still bright.

Completely different from the outside world, when Ivus was in the Fairy Country, the vision in his right eye seemed to have fully recovered. In other words, his right eye, which could see the power of the path, saw the whole world exactly as Ivas saw with his naked eye.

I'm afraid that this entire world is an illusory world condensed by the power of the Dao.

Only two things are different.

A large number of runes appeared on Grace's body—mysterious patterns that looked like tattoos and totems, and were radiating a yellow-green glow. Basically, a large area is light green and dark green, except for a small patch of dim yellow.

It looked like a large piece of jade had been wrapped on the skin of an elf, and a pattern had been carved into the skin to reveal the brilliance within.

Anastasia, on the other hand, gradually became illusory in front of Aihuas's eyes.

Her form became unusually blurred, like a highly myopic person without glasses, and like ink smudged in water. But Anastasia was the only one who was stunned...... Nothing else has any effect. Ivas looked at a blurred patch of color lying in the arms of Grace, who was full of tattoos, and couldn't see her expression clearly.

Ivus looked back again, only to find that the "little tree" was still there.

- It wasn't in Grace's arms at all.

As if sensing Aihuas's gaze, the little tree shyly turned its head and turned its back so that Aiwath could not see her face.

Hearing the conversation in his ears come to an abrupt halt, Ivas opened his left eye.

It was as if she had put on glasses - the silhouette of Anastasia in her maiden form became clear in an instant, and the tree disappeared without a trace, drowning in the bright midday sun.

“…… May I call you, Mr. Ewass? ”

The little girl's soft and glutinous voice came.

She looked into Evas's gaze with wariness and a hint of reluctance. If it weren't for Grace reaching out and encouragingly putting her on the shoulders and holding her down, I am afraid that she would have turned around and ran.

…… I see, I sensed my gaze.

Evas's heart flickered.

It makes sense.

After all, he is a person who is good at illusion, and he must know if his illusion has been broken...... However, Anastasia's illusion can make the fourth-level Ivus unable to see through without his true vision, which is really amazing.

This means that she has at least reached the depth of the fourth energy level - or even the fifth energy level.

Although the inheritance has been accepted, the most important thing is the awakening of the bloodline. It's like a legendary dragon.

Unlike Ningpo, which is essentially a psychological problem, arboreization is a special phenomenon that flows in the blood and occurs randomly. There is no possibility of a cure because it is not a disease at all...... It's sublimation.

It is like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, and the life form is promoted in a fundamental sense. However, at the cost, the flesh and blood of the caterpillar are melted and used as nourishment for a new form.

In a way, this may also be regarded as a kind of metamorphosis - from an elf with hands, feet, and a lifespan to an immortal tree-form illusion.

"Hello, I'm Ivus."

Ivas smiled softly, and his voice became softer, "You don't have to call me 'sir'. Just call me 'brother'. ”

Half-kneeling, he reached out and shook Anastasia's hand gently.

It was soft, warm, slightly damp hands. The silky skin does not feel the texture of the bark at all from the touch, and the palms of the hands are a little sweaty because of tension.

"Brother Ivus, are you here to burn me?"

Anastasia whispered.

“…… Why do you think so? ”

Ivas was a little surprised.

He subconsciously looked back at Grace: "What else do you elves have...... Burning at the stake against heresy? ”

"How is that possible...... I think it was the joyful spirits who told her something. ”

Grace shook her head: "They have a short lifespan, and they don't actually understand a lot of things, but they just like to talk nonsense." And when the goblins say, the children will believe it...... After all, the Fairy Kingdom is essentially a world built by their common imagination. In a sense, their nonsense will also come true, which makes it even more difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. ”

"But that's what Mom said."

Anastasia defended: "They said that they were going to burn me when I was completely turned into a tree." ”

"That's to make sure you can ascend to the dream realm properly, Aya."

Grace whispered seriously and seriously, "Otherwise, you may be stranded in the material world." ”

"But I just want to stay with my mother."

“…… I want to be with you too, Aya. ”

Grace smiled bitterly and whispered, "But no. Are you ...... now? I can't stand the noise anymore. Waiting for you to transform further...... Even if you plant it in the yard, you may be woken up from time to time by the noise around you.

"The voices of those happy spirits, you must have started to feel noisy."

When Ivus heard this, he suddenly realized that both Anastasia and Grace spoke softly and softly. It's like the volume of a bedtime story for a child.

He's not a noisy person himself, and his surroundings are quiet. So I didn't feel anything before.

But now I look at it......

"The dryad is a nuisance...... Or rather, they're afraid of noise. ”

Grace turned her head and leaned over to Ivus and whispered, "The sound that can wake people up is unbearable for the dryad. The dryad can be seen as 'sleeping all the time', and can be 'woken up even more awakely' even when awake.

"Remember to be quiet, Mr. Ewass."

(End of chapter)