Sedina Roschen was a girl born with a tragic fate.
She was a half-blood born between a human and an elf—a half.
Even in a world where demi-human races existed, the relationship between humans and demi-humans had not been good, due to a war that took place a hundred years ago.
Countless were sacrificed because of the conquest wars waged by humans.
A hundred years later, the humans from that era had all grown old and died, replaced by new generations—
but the demi-humans were not like that.
Especially the long-lived elves—many of them still remembered what happened on that day.
Sedina was born as a union between such an elf and a human.
When considering the past, her existence was less a blessing heralding a new age and more akin to an impurity.
‘And beyond simple love, Sedina’s lineage itself was extraordinary.’
Sedina’s mother had been the head of the Plante family.
Plante was the family that, generation after generation, oversaw the World Tree and communicated with it.
And the head of the family—the gaju—was the only being capable of the most perfect communion with the World Tree.
Sedina, who inherited Plante blood, was the elf closest to the World Tree.
Even if half of that blood was human, its value was never diminished.
‘But Plante committed the forbidden act of trying to multiply the World Tree, and the entire family was expelled from the elven kingdom.’
The Plante family shattered into countless fragments and disappeared,
and Ella Plante, the head, had to flee from pursuers.
Ella Plante left the forest and entered the human world.
But the Lifret family, which sought the total erasure of Plante, persistently pursued her.
Their pursuit did not stop even when Ella took refuge under the Roschen family.
A life of running and repeated assassination attempts eventually weakened Ella Plante,
and she passed away when Sedina was still a child.
Because of this, Sedina grew estranged from her family and lived lonely, painful days.
‘Warped by grief, she hated everything and joined the Black Dawn Order, but even there she did not fit in.’
Assigned only trivial tasks the other Orders avoided, Sedina eventually met one man.
The First Order — [John Doe].
Or rather, Ludger Cherish, who had unintentionally taken on that identity.
‘So many things happened.’
After working as part of the Black Dawn Order and discovering Ludger’s true identity, she then joined [U.N. Owen].
Even then, Sedina was abducted by First Order Ventmin Lifret, who discovered her lineage—
and nearly became a puppet sacrificed for communion with the World Tree.
The civil war that broke out in the elven kingdom that day was likely the first and last in all elven history.
Even after that, Sedina joined the Holy War to help Ludger.
A war spanning the continent—one that could decide the fate of all humanity.
A chaotic battlefield where she could have easily lost her life.
‘But Sedina overcame all of that—and stood here.’
Ludger had lived many lives, but Sedina’s tumultuous life was no less extraordinary.
“How have you been these past three years?”
“You mean after the Holy War ended. A lot happened.”
As an elf, Sedina had participated in the agreement made by those gathered after the war.
They decided that the elven kingdom had nothing to do with the war and that all plant-related phenomena were the Demon King’s sorcery.
Of course, some of the soldiers who had fought in the Holy War did not believe that—
but they had nothing to dispute with.
Compared to the things they had witnessed during the Holy War, the World Tree Sedina deployed was nothing.
A colossal iceberg.
Endless terror and hordes of beasts.
The Wind Elemental Lord summoning massive storms.
A gigantic white castle rising into the sky.
And beyond the night sky—Lumenis’s form through a shattered dimensional rift.
It was a series of unbelievable sights—as if in a dream.
There was no way some special elf-prepared plant weapon would be what remained in their memories.
“The leaders of each nation gathered there reached an agreement. To minimize and conceal the incident as much as possible.”
“Not a bad decision. Nothing good would come from letting the truth of that time spread.”
Truth was important—
but truth did not always lead to the right outcome.
Sometimes, for the sake of people’s well-being and sanity, a pleasant lie was necessary.
“So after I returned, I focused on stabilizing the elven kingdom’s chaotic internal affairs. We were wounded by the civil war too, after all.”
“It must not have been an easy process.”
“But everyone worked together. Even though we fought, that helped us unite stronger than before. And the World Tree’s power played a great part.”
The kingdom and the capital had been half destroyed.
But the World Tree’s power restored the ruined capital to its former state—
even bigger, grander, and sturdier than before.
“Grandmother Ambella, Teacher Vierano, and my father all helped greatly.”
The Roschen family assisted greatly in rebuilding the kingdom.
Sedina’s father, the head of Roschen, provided massive amounts of materials.
It was possible because Roschen commanded the empire’s economy.
The elven kingdom was rebuilt and became stronger than ever.
And in this new era of peace, Sedina—now the new head of Plante—established a treaty with humans.
“I signed a peace agreement with the Empire. The idea is that no one fights anymore, and everyone gets along.”
The scene of Sedina and Aileen meeting and speaking was such a major moment it made the newspapers.
“It’s a shame I couldn’t witness that.”
“Ahaha, it only looked good on the surface. In reality, it was tedious and very long. There was plenty of opposition too.”
There was opposition among both elves and humans.
Though they lived in the same world, they were still different races.
Not understanding or rejecting other races was—ironically—“natural” for them.
“But the world is improving. Slowly, but it’s picking up speed. Maybe one day, true peace will really come.”
The treaty was not just words.
The elven kingdom opened exchanges and trade with the Exilion Empire.
And the Roschen family served as the bridge.
“Was that intentional?”
“Well... Father is meticulous, but I don’t think he planned that far.”
“Indeed. Without seeing the future, predicting that would be impossible.”
“If anything, goodwill acted in a positive way.”
Thus Roschen became the trade intermediary between elves and humans—
already wealthy, they now gained wings.
“Father is investing that money into various businesses, welfare, and charity. Since it was earned from goodwill, he believes its profits should return as goodwill too.”
“He has changed quite a bit.”
“It’s all thanks to you. Ah—should I not call you ‘teacher’ anymore?”
Sedina smiled shyly.
“Well, you’re a graduate now, and I’m no longer a teacher. Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
“I received an offer—to return as a teacher at Theoran Academy. I said I’d think about it.”
“You’re considering teaching again?”
“I’ve only just regained my freedom. I haven’t decided what to do next. So I’m leaving it as one possibility.”
Just then, a breeze blew through.
The wind, infused with the forest’s essence, was fresh and pleasant—
it cleared his complicated /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ mind.
“So I’ve come to search. What I will do from now on—what I can do.”
“You came here... to find one of those answers?”
“Sedina. I spent three years alone in an empty space. But when I came back, I found that everything in this world had changed.”
The world had changed—
and so had the people living in it.
Everyone he met had changed.
The members of Owens.
Aileen.
Rine.
Casey Selmore.
And Sedina standing before him.
Facing that change brought him pride—
but also a sense of isolation.
“I can’t stay stagnated forever. I must move forward. But taking that step blindly is not easy. So I want to look back. To retrace my steps and meet people again—to understand something I’ve missed.”
“So you need a kind of motivation.”
“I could simply move forward without thinking. That too might be a fine method. But not for me.”
Sedina hesitated, then spoke.
“You feel a bit of loneliness, don’t you? Because everyone has changed except you.”
“Something like that. Even if I try to deny it, the heart isn’t easy to control.”
Before, when he lived only for a single purpose, such feelings would have been dismissed as trivial.
But not now.
Even the faintest ember—Ludger no longer wished to let it die out.
Nothing was trivial to him anymore.
Everything was part of who he was.
He had become more emotional than before.
He didn’t know if that change was good or bad,
but he accepted it.
No one knew what awaited at the end of one’s path—
but he would continue walking.
The unknown road ahead was surely better than the blood-soaked thorny path behind him.
“I don’t think you need to feel that way. In fact, I wish you’d be proud.”
Sedina had noticed his change.
She had stayed by his side more closely than anyone.
Though their time together wasn’t long,
it was more meaningful and dense to her than the entirety of her life before.
“I was able to change like this entirely because of you.”
That was why Sedina wanted to support him.
“You taught magic to someone who was nothing. You showed me the path forward. You saved me when I was in danger. You even cured the problem I was suffering from.”
“That was possible because you had the will.”
“Maybe so. But the spark that lit the fuse—that was you. Because of that past, I was able to come this far.”
Not everything had been good.
She suffered, faltered, was swept by negative emotions.
Most painfully—she had lived through the belief that Ludger was gone from this world.
What value did a world without him have?
Denying she ever felt that darkness would be a lie.
But she endured—thanks to Ludger’s advice.
This world was one he fought desperately to protect.
She could not speak carelessly of it.
Yes. Believe it. He will return.
The Empire was researching dimensions.
Rine worked tirelessly.
Sedina poured full support into their efforts—
so that when he returned, she could proudly show how she had grown.
“Just like now.”
In Sedina’s unwavering eyes, countless emotions swirled—
but above all, shining like starlight,
was pride in who she was now.
“And it wasn’t just me. Everyone you met along your path. So don’t feel guilty. You’ve done something truly incredible.”
Sedina did not know how well her heart was conveyed.
Putting such feelings into words was incredibly difficult.
All she could do was face him honestly.
She anxiously watched Ludger,
worried he might not understand.
“I see.”
Ludger nodded with a lighter voice, as if something had clicked.
A gentle smile touched his lips.
“What I’ve done... wasn’t wrong.”
Sedina’s sincerity had reached him.
Ludger felt deeply comforted.
As Sedina’s face brightened—
A new voice resonated within the space that had held only the two of them:
[Oh my, son-in-law, you’re here?]