Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

While Liu Shu thought about Fortuna's World Tree, she heard Cinderielle ask. "Say, Tiantian, did you read the books I shared with Flor?" 

Liu Shu answered with a cheerful tone. 'I ate them!'

Cinderielle's mouth twitched. 'Right, I forgot she eats books.' She smiled, not knowing how else to react. "Ah… I see. So, did it taste good?"

Puzzled, Liu Shu asked. 'How can books have a flavor? The earth and sun have taste, but not books. You didn't know this?'

The Sylvan looked at the World Tree, feeling like everything she asked about had been wrong until now. 

In Liu Shu's canopy, Flor was trying her best not to burst into maniacal laughter at how badly Cinderielle was fumbling her conversation with Liu Shu. 'T-This is too funny, hahahahaha.' 

Cinderielle felt that if she continued trying to make small talk, she would probably fail to advance the relationship. However, after thinking for a few moments, she actually didn't change her methods. 

A smile appeared on her lips. 'Well, I will take this chance to learn about her. Go slowly, get to know her, understand how she thinks, what she likes, what she dislikes… Even if I fumble my questions, does it matter? I will eventually know and understand her.' 

Cinderielle laughed. "Well, I didn't know about the Sun having a flavor! How does it taste, Tiantian?"

Liu Shu focused on her leaves, which were gently absorbing the Sun's nutrients, and answered slowly. 'The flavour is… strong. It gives me energy and makes me feel comfortable. When I don't regulate my intake, sometimes I feel sleepy as well, hahaha.'

The Fire Sylvan approached and lit up a flame on her palm, approaching with it one of the branches that dropped low enough for her to reach. With Liu Shu's willow-like shape, plenty of her branches reached low enough for her action not to feel uncomfortable. "How about my flames, Tiantian? Do they feel like the Sun?"

Liu Shu was at first surprised when seeing fire. As a tree, her first instinctive reaction was to avoid it. However, these thoughts only lasted for a moment. 'Hm? It doesn't burn?'

Cinderielle saw everything with a deep smile in her eyes. At first, seeing the branches part away in fear made her heart hurt a bit. Still, when the branches moved back slowly and approached very carefully, her eyes shone with happiness. 

Like a gentle flame that grew by the second, her orange eyes looked at Liu Shu deeper the more she interacted with the fire she summoned. Seeing the branches curiously move inside her own fire gave the Sylvan a satisfaction like no other. 

Liu Shu was curious, so she couldn't help but play around with a gaze filled with interest. 'Wow~, your fire doesn't burn, why? It's… warm and comfortable.'

Cinderielle laughed. "Perhaps it is because our affinity with each other is good." 

Liu Shu was doubtful. 'Really? Does affinity matter with fire? I thought it always burnt!'

Cinderielle leaned on Liu Shu's trunk, slowly releasing her own flowery scent and aura. "Well…" Cinderielle smiled. "You are right. My fire is a bit special, that's it. It doesn't use organic materials as fuel, so unless I want it to, I can avoid burning any organic matter. Of course, I can also create a normally burning fire."

Liu Shu's voice sounded pouty. 'You lied to me.'

Cinderielle shook her head. "I didn't, Tiantian. Can't you really feel it? For example, right now, how do you feel with me around?"

Liu Shu remained silent. She understood a bit why Cinderielle released her scent and aura. Because of the book she read on Sylvan's behavior, she knew that these actions were done when a Sylvan was interested in another creature. 

Of course, for Liu Shu, the concept of "being interested" was foreign. 'Interested in what? Forming a pair? The book said something about finding a life partner, but…' The World Tree felt confused. 'What is a life partner? Someone who will be with you forever? Someone who supports you? The book said that some Sylvan could become a World Tree's partner. But how does that work?'

As it was a book about biology and history of the Sylvan race, it didn't really delve deeply into anything further than a few biological parts and what types of companions they searched for. 

Cinderielle did it on purpose. While she didn't mind teaching everything to the World Tree, at that time, she understood that Liu Shu was still relatively young. She herself was 19 years old, and Liu Shu was just Level 4 at that time. 

Inside her, the desire to imprint her existence in Liu Shu's deepest parts burned strongly. Yet, there was a barrier called "love" that made her desire the best for the World Tree, which impeded her from becoming an actual predator and rushing things as fast as possible.

Verdantia's appearance made her feel rushed; that was a fact. Still, she understood that with Liu Shu's being as it was, possessing the entire World Tree was almost impossible. 

Now, did she want to share Liu Shu's affection with other Sylvan's? The answer was no. She didn't want that. Not only did she not want it, but the thought of it made her uncomfortable. 

Nevertheless, looking at how things were developing, her mind had started recreating many situations. Her many thoughts ended in a very undesirable situation. 'What if I am not the chosen one?' 

Imagining a situation in which the beautiful World Tree she was leaning on stopped paying attention to her and separated from her life was hard enough to make her stomach churn and her legs weaken. 'Is there really no other option? Sharing or not getting it?'

Cinderielle's orange eyes darkened and became muddy. 'There is… another option…' 

Her thoughts veered in a dangerous direction, but she regained light in her eyes quickly. 'But that option… It is really not possible.'

'Cinderielle, you asked how I feel around you, but I don't know how to answer.' 

Cinderielle's mind refocused on the beautiful and ethereal youthful voice. 'I don't understand what partnership is… At least as you want it. Does it mean we get to be together forever? Why is it different from friendship or my relationship with Flor?' 

Cinderielle looked up to the lush canopy and saw gorgeous rays of light piercing through the leaves and creating an enchanting view. "Tiantian."

'Hm?'

"Don't worry about that for now. You are young." Cinderielle smiled and gave up for now. "Grow slowly, focus on the challenges ahead of you. Develop your mind, your thoughts, your knowledge, and… when you understand it… answer us." 

Cinderielle spoke. Her voice was relaxed and peaceful, accompanied by the rustling sounds of leaves when caressed by the soft forest gales. "Just know that I am yours. No one else's. Just yours until I give my last breath." 

Liu Shu focused on Cinderielle's face, and she couldn't help but find her beautiful. The smile so free of worries was attractive to an extent. She felt compelled to ask from deep within, eager to solve the confusing feelings inside her core. 'Mine? Why are you mine?'

Cinderielle hummed and laughed. "Who knows? Does it even matter? I'm yours, Tiantian. Nothing more, nothing less. Just… yours." 

The World Tree stayed silent, and Flor, who was lying down and looking at the sky, also didn't say anything. The Rose Fairy Queen had a calm facial expression, and her red eyes looked peaceful and somewhat glad. 'Are they obsessed? They are. But… I feel that their obsession is selfless. It's not a selfish desire of possession, but a selfless wish to be with Liu Shu and deepen their relationship.' 

Flor knew that such deep loving feelings could warp. Ignatia has taught her a lot about humans, Sylvans, and the deep emotional intelligence of the so-called "Intelligent races."

Sometimes, their emotions were so strong that rationale was set aside or considered as less important. In a way, for "intelligent races," their deep and complex emotional intelligence was a blessing and a curse. A driving force that often could swallow all they built for something that, from an outside perspective, would seem insignificant. 

For example, a King goes to war because their wife was murdered. Was it logical? It was not. How many wives and husbands would die in that war because of one single person? 

From a rational perspective, it was nothing but madness to instigate a massacre of thousands or more because of the death of one person. 

Yet, for that King, his wife was probably his world. More important on an emotional level than anything else. Important enough to throw everything they've built into the trash just to avenge her. 

That tale felt foreign to Flor. When Zinnia, a relatively young Rose Fairy whom Flor considered almost like a daughter, died, the thought of ordering all the Rose Fairies to go out and slaughter all creatures, regardless of the cost, never once crossed her mind.

Was she angry? She was.

Was she sad? She was.

But, using the lives of others to avenge her was not something that would feel right to do. 

The reason Flor was not against sacrifice to protect Liu Shu was a mix of caring about her and Liu Shu being something like salvation and a lifeline for the Rose Fairies' development. 

In just one year of being around Liu Shu, their average tier has risen from F to F+. Their numbers were similarly increasing exponentially. And now, with the new fruits, that average would probably rise to E-, and with time, to E. Moreover, the affinity fruits would allow them to fight creatures realms above themselves at the same Level. 

The strength difference between an F Rank creature and an E Rank creature was abysmal. Yet, in just a few years, Liu Shu's existence will be able to change an entire race's tier. How crazy was that? 

Knowing all of this, Flor felt comfortable listening to Cinderielle's willingness to set aside her deep feelings to look over Liu Shu. It meant that while her emotional side was clearly irrationally obsessed, the rational side was strong enough to keep those emotions at bay.

'Now, the problem is…' 

"Good morning. You woke up early, Miss Cinderielle." 

Flor's gaze moved, and observed the new arrival. '... Will her emotional and rational balance remain untouched if another creature manages to close the gap you chose to leave open?' 

Cinderielle looked over and laughed. "Morning, Verdantia. How was your sleep?"

The Life-Attributed Sylvan observed Cinderielle's posture and closeness, her eyes flashing with many thoughts. However, she answered normally while approaching Liu Shu. "It was the best sleep I've had in my life. The beds were all filled with a trace of Liu'er's scent~." Verdantia smiled at Liu Shu and said. "It's a very pleasant and refreshing smell."

Liu Shu took the compliment at face value and giggled happily. 'Thanks, Verdantia!'

Hearing her voice, Verdantia's eyes flashed with a deep obsession for a fraction of a second, something Flor and Cinderielle noticed. "No problem, Liu'er. You complimented my flowers, so we are now very close friends~." 

Liu Shu was puzzled and asked. 'Are we? Just because I thought your flowers were pretty?'

Verdantia's legs faltered for a second, hearing that directly from her, but she managed not to fall as she leaned on Liu Shu's trunk. "Of course~."

Flor's gaze moved from Verdanita's hand to Cinderielle's face, and she saw her orange eyes locked on the hand touching the World Tree's trunk. 'Now the real test starts, I guess. The things you say when the competition is behind you will be different than when they are ahead of you…' 

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Author Note: Hello, dears; it has been a while, so here's a little reminder about Pa tre on benefits, which, by the way, have become quite a few! First of all, up to 15 extra chapters in both my novels! Next? A GIANT gallery of 45+ Complete images with a few R-18 ones~, hehe. Plus, there are 120+ sketches of those images! Then, the right to participate in the Celestial Theater and polls I do from time to time!

Give it a look~. pa tre on.com/Mortrexo