Chapter 156: Not just me

“You… are really only twenty-one right now?”

There was a trace of stiffness in Olivia’s voice—something even she herself hadn’t noticed.

That number, measured against her long lifespan, was so small it was almost negligible.

“Otherwise?” Peleti turned back and rolled her eyes slightly, her tone matter-of-fact. “What did you think I was—thirty-eight? Or thirty?”

This was the first time Olivia had ever gotten a clear answer about her age.

Before, whenever she asked, she never received a response. She had assumed it was simply Peleti’s personality—disdainful of such trivial matters.

But now it seemed… that wasn’t the case.

She knew Peleti’s original family wasn’t particularly wealthy, but it had been enough to let her live a safe and stable life—far better than many struggling commoners.

By that logic, the time this girl had spent outside the academy, stepping into this cruel world… likely hadn’t even reached two years.

Her understanding of the world’s complex workings was still shallow—let alone any real cunning or experience.

Even by roughly converting human years into elven terms, twenty-one years of human life was equivalent to an elf’s early, immature stage—around two hundred years old.

And Olivia herself had already lived through five centuries.

—

That existence—

The one who had traveled across nations, offered unbelievable assistance, and left an indelible mark in her heart…

…was, in essence, just a child who had only recently taken off her academy uniform?

Perhaps “child” wasn’t entirely accurate.

Because certain things settled in Peleti’s eyes had already surpassed ordinary young humans.

But the difference in life stage brought by age—

That feeling lay unmistakably heavy in Olivia’s heart.

—

“Alright, why care so much about age?” Peleti clearly didn’t mind at all.

Her attention had already been completely captured by a stall not far away, filled with all kinds of plush dolls. Her eyes sparkled.

“For long-lived races, isn’t age supposed to be the least important thing?”

As she spoke casually, she skipped lightly toward it, not forgetting to turn back and call out—

“Olivia, come look at this!”

Of course… she also needed this elven princess to pay, or maybe use a bit of her “special privileges.”

“…Alright, coming.” Olivia suppressed the complicated emotions swirling inside her, sighed helplessly, and followed.

Looking at Peleti’s curious, carefree excitement toward new things—

Age, to her, truly seemed like nothing more than a meaningless number.

Yet even Olivia, an elf accustomed to the flow of long years, found herself shaken by that number.

Did she really… not care at all?

Olivia wondered silently.

—

“This is… a hand puppet? It looks really familiar.”

Peleti had already leaned over the stall.

Neatly arranged were all kinds of dolls, but what attracted her most were the finely crafted puppets that could be worn on the hand.

Back when she was still human, Josuna had loved collecting hand puppets—most of them classic characters from fairy tales, like the Apple Princess or the Ocean Knight.

Influenced by that, Peleti felt a natural fondness for these small, cute toys.

Elven puppets were similar to human ones, mostly based on characters from elven fairy tales. But among them were a few designs that didn’t seem to belong to widely known stories—

At least not ones humans would recognize.

Peleti picked up a particularly ornate puppet of an elven woman.

It had brilliant golden hair embroidered with silk thread, and delicate red stitching on the cheeks that added a lively touch.

She lifted it up and held it beside Olivia’s face, comparing the two. Then she burst into laughter.

“Wow, it really looks like you! I didn’t expect they’d sell an elven princess puppet here.”

She felt the material—coarse linen. Among elven textiles, it wasn’t considered high quality.

“My… puppet?”

Having lived for so long, this was the first time Olivia had seen a doll made in her own likeness. Curiosity drew her closer.

But after just one glance, she fell silent.

The tips of her ears flushed faintly red.

“This outfit… why did it have to be this one…” she muttered softly, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

It was clearly modeled after her—but specifically after a public image from her childhood.

Seeing this little doll—one of her “black history” moments—being played with in Peleti’s hands sent a strange mix of embarrassment and something else creeping up her cheeks.

—

“Boss, how much is this puppet?” Peleti was already asking enthusiastically.

The stall owner looked up—and immediately recognized Olivia standing beside her, trying to hide her discomfort. A knowing, friendly smile spread across their face.

“Oh my, has Her Highness snuck out to play again?”

“Again?” Peleti instantly caught the keyword. She raised an eyebrow at Olivia, her eyes full of teasing.

So this elegant, composed princess wasn’t quite as proper as she seemed.

Olivia grew slightly flustered under that look, her gaze drifting as she muttered, “Uh… just… occasionally… sometimes like this…”

“Pfft—” Peleti couldn’t hold back her laughter. “And you were saying things about me—you’re the one sneaking out to play like a kid!”

—

The stall owner watched their natural, intimate interaction and seemed to understand something. With a generous wave, they said:

“Then this puppet is a gift for this beautiful witch—consider it a welcome present!”

Though they didn’t know which witch Peleti was, the general term was safe enough.

“No, we must pay.” Olivia immediately returned to her usual composed demeanor—perhaps also to change the subject.

She decisively took out several silver coins shaped like leaves and pressed them into the owner’s hand.

“Your Highness, this—” the owner tried to refuse, but Olivia had already grabbed Peleti’s hand and quickly turned away, almost fleeing the stall.

Wait! That’s too much money, Your Highness!

The owner stared at the overly generous payment, watching their retreating figures with a helpless smile.

—

“Huh? It looked like the owner wanted to say something,” Peleti glanced back while being pulled along.

“No, you must’ve seen wrong,” Olivia denied immediately, quickening her pace.

“But I clearly saw them reach out their hand…”

Peleti muttered inwardly, but since the owner didn’t chase after them, it probably wasn’t anything important.

She stopped worrying about it.

—

Happily, she slipped her hand into the puppet—thumb and pinky controlling its arms—then lifted the tiny “Olivia.”

She made it perform an elegant noble bow, then switched to a hands-on-hips, imposing pose, entertaining herself all along the way.

Meanwhile, the real Olivia watched as her childhood likeness was made to perform all sorts of silly, cute movements in Peleti’s hands.

The heat on her cheeks never quite faded—spreading all the way to her ears.

—

Perhaps to escape the growing embarrassment—or perhaps because she wanted to share something more important—

After walking a while, Olivia suddenly spoke, her voice softer than usual:

“Peleti… would you like to go see the World Tree?”

“The World Tree?” Peleti lowered the puppet and looked at her. “I remember… isn’t the God of Decay still there?”

“No… it’s not the same.”

Olivia shook her head, her emerald eyes turning toward the depths of the forest—where even from here, the silhouette of something massive could be faintly seen.

“That being resides within the inner region of the World Tree—that’s a domain ordinary people cannot reach. The place I want to take you to is the outer area, sheltered under the World Tree’s canopy.”

She paused, then looked back at Peleti.

There was something complex in her gaze—expectation, solemnity, and a trace of indescribable tension.

“There… I want to show you something.”

“Sure,” Peleti agreed readily, her curiosity piqued. “Now I’m really curious what kind of surprise you’ve prepared.”

Olivia shook her head gently, her voice lowering even further—as if afraid of disturbing something, or as if stating an extremely important truth:

“No… it’s not just something I prepared.”