Chapter 95

95

"I think it would be good to pass it on to the prince later. What do you think, Empress?"

"It seems she has no interest."

"Is that so."

The Emperor, upon hearing the Empress's immediate response, narrowed his eyes and shrugged as if disappointed.

He slowly turned his head. Among the mages stationed in the Colosseum, one stood out.

The Emperor's eyes narrowed.

'...This one is neither from Silophia nor a court mage.'

He had changed subtly since the first time the Emperor saw him.

The figure, shrouded in a black robe, seemed to be looking up at the image sphere.

Specifically, the image sphere of the Clown family.

The person standing there initially was not this one. It was clear that he had infiltrated unnoticed among the many spectators.

The Emperor subtly moved his fingers.

In an instant, a shadow silently appeared, noticed the Emperor's gaze, and then vanished without a sound.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

The Emperor slowly turned his head back to the image sphere.

Sharent Clown and Sherina Clown still stood firm in their places, unchanged.

Except for the land becoming more desolate and barren, nothing had changed.

* * *

"Are you angry, Shifu?"

"I said I don't know."

Does it make sense that you don't even know if you're angry? Outraged, I lifted my head, and at that moment, a mole-like creature suddenly sprang out of the barren ground, and the soil that had seemed fertile began to dry up instantly.

The mole moved around, gnawing on the earth.

The soil it ate came out as waste.

The problem was that it came out almost like sand, as if it had absorbed all the good nutrients.

"Why is this happening!"

I screamed in shock.

Sharent Clown was silent.

I recalled the text I had seen earlier. It clearly mentioned penalties for lying.

Sharent Clown was definitely lying now.

"You lied!"

Sharent Clown's expression seemed momentarily awkward and flustered upon hearing my accusation.

He then drew his sword and swiftly cut the mole in one stroke.

Thud.

Half of the once fertile soil had dried up.

Despairing, I collapsed to the ground.

What should I do? Where do I even start? How can a garden be designed in a question-and-answer format?

Shaking with anger, I decided to start with an easy question.

"Shifu, do you like skewers?"

"...Yes, I do like them."

Surprising. I thought he would prefer clean food, like fish or vegetables.

At that moment, the barren soil instantly returned to its original state.

It became fertile again.

"Great!"

I jumped up and kicked Sharent Clown's leg.

Sharent Clown moved his leg slightly backward, clicked his tongue, and nodded.

"Your turn, Shifu!"

"...What kind of food do you like?"

He asked very slowly, his voice heavy, as if he found the situation extremely unpleasant.

If he didn't have patience, he might have drawn his sword and destroyed this space right away.

My favorite food? Well, I don't really know many foods.

'Do they count desserts as food?'

In the mage tower, I mostly ate bread or stamina potions.

Occasionally, I attended banquets, but I mostly ate salads, and none of them were to my taste.

"Strawberry jelly pudding?"

"...I see."

As my answer ended, seeds were scattered on the fertile soil.

The seeds planted themselves without my help.

'Indeed, a noble's garden design...'

The fact that it did everything automatically was very much in line with a noble's thinking.

Admittedly, it wouldn't have suited Sharent Clown to see him holding a trowel and planting seeds one by one.

'If this is the result of just one question, how many more questions will we need?'

Progress seemed slow.

Of course, the biggest problem was that I had no real questions to ask, as I wasn't curious about anything.

I closed my mouth and thought hard.

"Hmm... Do you have a favorite skewer?"

"Skewer?"

"Kewt!"

"Ah."

Sharent Clown let out a low exclamation. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed.

"Rose."

"Jangmi?"

"Yes, I like blue roses the most."

This time, a sapling took root in the center.

Sharent Clown and I continued our question-and-answer session. Most of the questions were superficial, like the skin of a watermelon.

We talked about important people, favorite drinks, favorite colors, and weather—things that weren't really that important.

I didn't ask him anything, and he didn't ask me anything, even though he must have had many questions.

If I were in his position, I would have used this situation to my advantage. But Sharent Clown didn't.

"Do you have any questions for me?"

Sharent Clown didn't give a flippant answer.

A few times, due to our slips of the tongue or reflexive lies, monsters appeared, and the garden became a mess.

Now, though the flowers hadn't bloomed yet, it was starting to look like a proper garden.

He seemed to have found the meaning in my question after a long silence.

"Yes."

He answered my question.

As soon as Sharent Clown finished speaking, the flowers began to bud.

"But if you wanted to ask me something, you would have. Would you tell me just because I forced you?"

Sharent Clown, having answered, then asked a question and sat down under the shade of a tree in the garden.

I was a bit surprised that he would sit on the ground, even though there was nowhere else to sit.

My legs were also sore, so I approached him and sat down nearby.

"No."

I shook my head.

There were too many things I couldn't tell him, even if he forced me. I regretted bringing up this topic.

Somehow, I didn't think Sharent Clown would back down now that I had opened this line of questioning.

'It's my turn.'

I really had no more questions left.

At this point, it seemed I couldn't leave without asking something very personal and intrusive.

Yes, it was a direction I didn't want to go.

"Are you thinking about Mu Sheng now?"

After much deliberation, I asked the simplest question.

Sharent Clown's lips curved slightly.

He looked down at me calmly, not avoiding my gaze.

"What lie did you tell me? What kind of nightmare would I have if I appeared like this? Who are you?"

Sharent Clown's lips moved very slowly, as if time had slowed to half speed.

He still wore a smile, maintaining his composure.

His voice, which reached my ear, was calm and gentle, yet also suppressed, like a predator holding its breath to catch its prey.

"I am thinking about these things."

He stopped there and closed his mouth.

Since I had asked, it was now his turn to ask.

Sharent Clown seemed to be thinking hard about his question and didn't speak for a while.

In fact, I no longer cared about winning. I just wanted to leave this place.

The garden was almost complete.

It was perfect except for the lack of butterflies, bees, and insects.

It would probably end with two or three more questions.

"What are you thinking about now?"

Instead of asking something complicated, Sharent Clown returned the same question to me.

I closed my mouth, forgetting to breathe. If I didn't answer, everything we had done would be for nothing.

Sharent Clown crossed his arms and waited quietly for my answer.

I couldn't lie, and if I didn't answer, we couldn't move on.

Yes, I had to reveal my thoughts to him.

I had to expose the line I had drawn. I opened my mouth slowly.

"...What if I ask you the things you mentioned, Shifu?"

Flap.

A butterfly fluttered past me, as if the garden was now complete.