Chapter 56: Gentle Yet Cruel
After Ron and the others departed, Eveum indulged in the treats. This marked her inaugural experience tasting snacks crafted by someone other than her mother. Savoring the delightful sweetness, she discovered Susuan’s culinary skills held a unique flavor.
Unintentionally, she polished off the snacks in the bamboo basket—out of respect for Susuan’s delectable creations.
Upon realizing the emptied basket, tears welled up in Eveum’s eyes. She wiped away the tears and blood from her face using the handkerchief Ron had given her, murmuring, “This world is both gentle and cruel.”
Eveum grappled with evaluating this dual-colored realm. Here, numerous people appeared adorable, yet equally numerous were frightening. They seemed so similar, yet many felt profoundly unfamiliar to Eveum.
Were they truly the same kind of humans as herself, or was she the anomaly?
If the terrifying individuals were the norm, where did someone like Ron fit in?
She stood up, intending to return the handkerchief to Ron, but unbearable pain surged through her body as she cleaned it.
“What’s happening?” She murmured, recovering after a few breaths.
“Magic is about to lose control again,” Eveum acknowledged with closed eyes, her enchanting voice now resembling noise.
Having experienced this before, she prayed not to be consumed by the black mud again. Otherwise, no one could restrain the Mother Holy Tree’s frenzied growth beneath the Wind Veil Basin.
In the burned treehouse lay a small crystal ball.
The crystal ball’s bottom was murky black, indicating the extent of the Mother Holy Tree’s erosion of the Wind Veil Basin.
The murky black color now engulfed more than half. This grotesque appearance revealed the widespread erosion during Eveum’s magic rampage.
Even with her home in ruins, Eveum continued suppressing the Mother Holy Tree’s roots amidst despair. However, the Mother Holy Tree’s roots had overtaken too much of the Wind Veil Basin, making it challenging for Eveum to resist.
She sighed, her hand on the bamboo basket. Suddenly, a familiar tall female figure appeared and vanished, leaving behind two sentences.
“You don’t need to imprison yourself here anymore. You’re already tired.”
“You can rest now.”
“Mr. Ron! Did Miss Eveum say anything!?”
As Ron returned, Susuan rushed out, her floral crown askew.
Blushing, she asked, “Did she say the snacks I made were delicious?”
As a lady, she couldn’t be so impolite. Her behavior had to be more refined.
“Haven’t eaten them yet,” Ron waved his hand.
They placed the condolence gifts down and were escorted out by Eveum.
So he didn’t know if Eveum found those things tasty or not.
Upon hearing Ron’s words, Susuan immediately lowered her head in dismay. “Does Miss Eveum think that what I made isn’t tasty?”
She thought Eveum must believe that what she made wasn’t flavorful enough, explaining why Eveum didn’t have an appetite. Otherwise, she would have surely enjoyed the snacks when they were delivered.
“She didn’t say that,” Ron reassured, “Maybe she’s savoring the snacks you made right now.”
He was genuinely concerned that Susuan might become melancholic, so he had to explain. If it were the old Ron, he wouldn’t explain so much. He felt like he had become too kind.
“Really!?” Susuan instantly perked up.
“We’ve all tried the snacks you made, and she’ll surely like them too,” Ron felt that comforting the Phylin tribe was no different from comforting a child.
Even Susuan’s father used a similar way of comforting. Honestly, Ron didn’t understand how to differentiate the age groups among the Phylin tribe. Susuan’s father only had a few extra whiskers compared to the regular Phylin tribe members.
The only Phylin tribe members Ron could distinguish were the little ones because they were quite small.
“Wow! If we see Miss Eveum again, we must ask her ourselves!” Susuan clapped her hands, excited.
“Goodbye, we need to attend to other matters now,” she waved energetically and then skipped away.
Ron casually waved his hand and sighed, “Where do these guys get so much energy?”
He felt he had only a tenth of the Phylin tribe’s energy. For example, at this moment, he was already tired.
Ron really wished he could enjoy a maid’s lap pillow. Unfortunately, he felt too embarrassed to ask Moluna and didn’t dare to approach Lilian either.
Seeing Ron’s dejected expression, Moluna tugged at his sleeve and whispered, “Lord Ron, Eveum is in great danger now.”
“Great danger?” Ron questioned.
He didn’t know if Moluna meant that Eveum was dangerous to others or if she was in danger herself.
Moluna said with a serious expression, “There are signs of a magic surge in Eveum’s power.”
As fellow witches, Moluna was aware of how unstable Eveum’s magic was at the moment.
“I’m afraid she might be consumed by the black mud again,” Moluna said, looking at Ron with pleading eyes, “Can you save her once more?”
Even though Moluna was a witch with seven power levels in the dual-colored world, if what Moluna said was true, then this witch seemed excessively unstable.
“There’s no other way. I’ll have to go see her again.” Since Moluna mentioned the risk of Eveum losing control again, Ron visited her again.
As for the timing – well, that would be tomorrow. Ron was already tired today. He needed to get some sleep.
But, truth be told, Ron hadn’t expected that the quietly sitting Eveum in front of the treehouse would have the risk of losing control at any moment.
