“The tea has a lovely aroma.”
In the Evergarden territory, where the green leaves had begun to dress in vivid red and yellow hues of autumn, Estel sipped her tea leisurely, savoring the lingering scent of the season.
The refreshing autumn breeze wafted through the slightly open window, carrying with it the serene ambiance of the moment.
“I never thought I’d live to see such a view again. I couldn’t have dreamed I’d experience this once more.”
“In the passionate days of youth, I didn’t realize how precious this was. Now, as an old soul, I can finally enjoy these finer moments.”
Though her outward appearance was that of a young elven girl, there was an undeniable air of wisdom and experience in Estel as she leaned against the windowsill, savoring the taste of her tea.
“Grandfather…”
Freya, watching her from behind, paused before speaking.
“Even if you’re trying to set the mood, you do know you’re extremely late, right?”
“Cough—!”
Her sharp remark hit the mark.
“You said you’d conduct the meeting this morning. Did you drink that much again last night?”
“Well, uh… you see, Yoonhwa suggested a light drink, and…”
Estel, who was supposed to start a meeting with Freya right after breakfast, had indulged herself in a heavy drinking session with Dariann the night before.
Consequently, she overslept, leaving Freya waiting endlessly until she could no longer bear it and came to find her. To her dismay, she found Estel setting a contemplative scene with her tea.
Estel, who had once fervently pursued her first life’s goals, was brimming with passion even now. But the prolonged hospital life had wearied her.
Once she found herself in Estel’s body, with newfound freedom, she couldn’t resist the temptation to let loose and enjoy life recklessly.
“Your timing is impeccable when it suits you.”
“…Ahem.”
Dariann, fully aware of Estel’s inclinations, often encouraged her in their drinking sprees, much to Freya’s chagrin. Her patience wore thin, though her naturally refined features made her frustration manifest only as a slight furrow of her brows.
“…”
“Are you… very angry? I’m sorry.”
“Sigh. Still, I’m grateful to see you like this, Grandfather. Just try to moderate your drinking.”
“Understood! Thank you.”
Despite being the once-dignified and commanding chairman of Hanseong Group, Estel now wore the expression of a guilty child caught in mischief.
Freya, seeing this, felt her anger dissipate. She sighed softly and called Estel over.
“Well then, the meeting. Let’s proceed.”
At Freya’s urging, Estel quickly brightened and approached the seat where Freya sat.
“First, these are the documents related to the experiments on the World Tree leaves.”
Freya handed her a bundle of papers she had meticulously prepared.
The World Tree leaves.
To elves, they were commonplace items. To other races, however, they were invaluable treasures, often sought but rarely obtained.
While the Great Forest produced them and Evergarden handled their distribution, using the leaves themselves for sale posed a problem.
The elves, who had not yet disclosed their alliance with humans, needed to find a way to process the leaves for commercial use without revealing their origin.
“So, is there any progress already?”
“First, we’ve tested using the leaves directly as cigarettes or tea leaves, and the results show that the magic absorption rate is significantly higher compared to the traditional method of chewing the leaves raw. Please refer to the documents for the detailed findings.”
“Hmm… using it in a processed form increases the effect by approximately 25% compared to raw usage. This… is troublesome.”
“Exactly.”
Despite the impressive performance of the product they were meant to sell, both Estel and Freya wore troubled expressions. The World Tree leaves were exceptional—so exceptional, in fact, that it was a problem.
Although there weren’t enough samples to determine the effects on other races, the leaves demonstrated extraordinary efficiency when used by humans.
If such a product were released to the market, its extraordinary nature could arouse suspicion.
“It seems we’ll need to extract and dilute the components as much as possible.”
“I agree. I think the best approach is to brew the leaves into a solution, dilute the extract, and then sell it. Using the leaves directly might make it too easy to trace back to us.”
“Hmm… but how do we establish a sales route?”
“Even if we start within our own territory, the fact that this would be considered an unlicensed drug poses a problem. It seems that even in this world, the sale of medicine is strictly regulated, especially when it pertains to healing.”
“Mercenaries here often face the monsters we only imagined. For them, reliable medicine might matter more than advanced medical technology.”
As Estel pointed out, this world’s medical technology had not progressed much compared to its magical advancements.
When injuries occurred, people usually sought healing from priests at temples rather than visiting doctors. With a single healing spell, broken bones mended and deep wounds closed, leaving little need for surgical procedures.
In situations where priests weren’t available, potions were the go-to solution.
Though slower than priestly healing, potions were a practical alternative, especially for adventuring parties without a healer. Even when a priest was present, cheaper potions were often carried as a backup.
For mercenaries, the quality of a potion could be a matter of life or death, so they placed great importance on it.
As a result, potions distributed in most regions carried the official seal of the Alchemist Guild, and anything without it was largely ignored.
In such a landscape, selling high-performance potions unconnected to the Alchemist Guild would attract suspicion and resistance.
Worse, if the potion’s ingredients were analyzed and discovered to contain World Tree leaves, their secret would be exposed.
“And declaring outright that elves are actively intervening in human affairs would create even more chaos.
The elves are still inexperienced in human-world matters and haven’t established a firm footing. They’d inevitably be placed at a disadvantage.”
Revealing that the potions were made with World Tree leaves wasn’t a viable option either.
The Great Forest of the elves and the Empire of the humans were separate nations.
While they were officially allied, any actions taken without consulting the Empire’s leadership could be perceived as an economic intrusion by the Great Forest.
If their activities were discovered while keeping the operation secret, they could argue it was an unauthorized smuggling scheme, which might allow the elves to distance themselves diplomatically.
However, openly marketing potions made from World Tree leaves could lead to accusations of treason against Evergarden and escalate tensions into a political disaster.
Even if discussions were held with the upper echelons, the elves were still in the position of exporting their goods to the human world.
Moreover, there was a real possibility of being overrun by the empire, which had grown significantly in size thus far.
Therefore, the best course of action was to hide the identity of the elves and the Great Forest, allow the elves to establish themselves in the human world to some extent, build their power, and then proceed with official negotiations.
“While weakening the effects of the potion is certainly possible, I’m not sure how we can sell it naturally.”
“If we claim it’s a trade secret, wouldn’t that only make us more suspicious?”
“Exactly. To other potion makers, we’d look like intruders trying to take over their territory. They’ll definitely push back and try to interfere.”
“The only idea I have now is to contact the Alchemy Guild that deals with selling such potions. No matter how united a group may seem, it’s made up of individuals, and not everyone will have the same agenda.”
“Yes, gathering information related to the Alchemy Guild should be the first step. I’ll ask Sir Fenrir for assistance with that later.”
The two, who both knew the best way to dislodge an established entity was to exploit its flaws, were perfectly in sync.
As the founding chairman of Hanseong Group, a leading conglomerate, and a strong candidate for its next chairman, they fully understood how dangerous this matter was and why reckless involvement was not an option.
Hanseong Group had risen to become a representative company of Korea by single-handedly surviving brutal corporate wars.
Competing with thriving corporations and crushing those that couldn’t rise, they had long realized that capitalism was a fierce game where negotiations could decide whether a knife held at one’s throat would be fatal or a mere threat.
“By the way, how is that rascal faring?”
“If you mean Viscount Bjorn, he hasn’t made any major moves yet, but it seems he’ll be approaching us again soon.”
“I see. I’ll leave that to you.”
As the meeting seemed to wrap up, Estel began organizing her papers while Freya finally lifted her teacup to take a sip.
“By the way, how have things been lately?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know… your marriage.”
“Pffft─?! Cough, cough! Hack~!”
Caught off guard, Freya spat out the milk tea she had been sipping and began coughing uncontrollably at Estel’s sudden inquiry about her marital relationship.
“G-Grandfather?! Why are you suddenly bringing that up?!”
“Well, isn’t it obvious? I’ve heard it hasn’t been going well. Your bedroom life, that is.”
“W-Wha—?! I, uh… wait, what?!”
Flustered and unable to conceal her embarrassment, Freya stammered incoherently as Estel nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.
“Well, it’s not my place to meddle in my grandchild’s marriage. But you should at least talk to each other. Imagine how desperate he must be to complain to me about it every day.”
“…”
“I know you and I both have complicated feelings about becoming women, but you’re aware of it too, aren’t you? Men tend to be the more… impatient ones.”
At Estel’s candid remark, Freya’s face gradually regained its composure. Deep in thought, she pressed her lips into a firm line.
“Okay, I’m going to go.”
Estel quickly stood up and left the room.
“…Whoa. I don’t know.”
After Estel left the room, Freya, who had been lost in thought for a while, blushed, covered her eyes with her hands, and muttered, “I don’t know.
“I don’t know.
The truth was, she knew.
She hadn’t shown it while they were together, but soon, after the manor was cleared of the two children and Tene, Freyas
She’d been quietly avoiding Dariannn since she’d left the manor with her two children and Tene.
But.
“Do you like it when I touch you like this?”
“Hmph! Oh, no…! I’m a man…”
“Really? Even with boobs like this, you still do.”
“You’re too much… Hmph, touching me like that is disgusting… Hae-ae… ♡”
“I did, but you looked so ugly…how could I tell you first…”
Thinking back to that time on that bed, when they had kissed each other and soaked their lower half, Freya mumbled, her feet shaking with embarrassment and shame.
Ever since then, whenever she saw Dariannn alone, it was all she could think of, and her embarrassment grew as if she were back in adolescence.
Even more embarrassing was the fact that she had gasped at his wife, a man in her female form.
“…Still, I can’t just avoid it like this, haha…”
She knew she shouldn’t be doing this, but it was hard to get her head around the fact that it was completely out of whack.
And so today, Freya’s troubles continued to deepen.