The existence of my daughter.

I had them spread rumors that treatment would resume at Vanclift Manor, while the King and Queen remained ill.

Patients who had gathered in the capital suddenly began streaming this way.

I knew full well we’d end up in the same situation as the capital, so I asked the great spirits who could use healing magic—Cleiren and Reven—for help.

By the time people arrived at Vanclift Manor, many would already be too weak from illness and die.

So I asked Reven, who governs life, to restore their strength and boost their natural healing abilities.

No matter how much medicine you give, if the body has no strength, it’ll lose the fight to illness.

Then, I asked Cleiren alone to treat only the most severe cases.

But just having this medicine alone caused a fuss. If people saw their health snap back overnight thanks to healing magic, they’d start whispering that there was something special about this territory. Another scandal would erupt, no doubt.

That’s why I asked Cleiren not to heal everyone. I only asked her to ease symptoms within the range that natural healing and medicine could handle.

As we entered the Vanclift territory from the capital, I quietly set up wards that gradually restored strength—like a slow, steady spell.

I posted notices prioritizing the most severe cases, and argued with everyone who didn’t understand.

But there were still plenty of other problems.

When a crowd gathers, you need food for them, too.

Niesel and Reigen, who command the rain.

Boden, who rules the earth.

Fran and Ophost, who guide the plants.

Licht, who controls the light.

I called upon them—the great spirits—and then used magic to create nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, turning myself into fertilizer.

These three are known as the three essential elements of fertilizer. But just these three alone make plants prone to magnesium and calcium deficiency—sometimes even disease—so I’ll add a little more. Now it’s what’s called the five essential nutrients.

I called upon the soil’s Borden, and spread the five elements I’d created evenly across the field.

Rain fell lightly, just enough to stay unnoticed. And I made sure it mostly happened at night. If I watered during the day, the sun would just evaporate it all—no moisture would reach the plants.

During the day, I asked Licht, the spirit of light, to keep the skies clear. And I asked Fran, the spirit of plants, and Opust, the spirit of growth, to bless them with strength and a bountiful harvest.

A harvest so staggering, people would start to breathe easy again.

And Sauvel suggested—rather cleverly, if I do say so myself—that instead of selling the crops, the villagers should give them in taxes. The people were overjoyed.

Sauvel distributed the crops to those suffering from illness.

The villagers watching this scene were struck one after another—soon, the crowd overflowed with people volunteering their help, eager to join in.

He scraped together the money by selling medicine to the nobility.

This cycle repeated again and again. Gradually, the sick grew stronger and left.

But more and more people decided this place was too good to leave—so many came to settle here.

If you were ill, the lord would provide medicine. The bountiful fields were always short on hands. More workers meant more trade, and merchants started showing up, drawn by the activity.

It became obvious—the population was growing fast. Sauvel, once just a man, was now busier than ever.

Eventually, Vanclift came to be known as "Zegen Vanclift"—a land beloved by spirits.

People started greeting each other by whispering "Zegen," offering thanks to the spirits.

＊＊＊

I said my thanks to the great spirits who’d helped me out.

Thanks to all of you, the Vanklyft Family now had a land so enviable, even the common folk would stare in awe.

"Really, thank you so much."

Smiling, I spoke, and the spirits who’d helped me—each in turn—gently stroked my head, their expressions calm, almost like they were amused.

Bouden, the stern-faced earth spirit with a wild beard and a look like he was fifty, chuckled heartily.

"Your idea was a real laugh, Princess! Just us helping out, and Fran and Opust were gaping like they’d seen a ghost!"

The spirits were individuals, each unique—but when they worked together, their combined power created something new. That was what surprised them most: the way one spirit’s strength could spark another’s.

"I didn’t expect it to work like this. This could be fun to test out in all sorts of ways."

Licht, the spirit of light, chuckles warmly. He’s a handsome young man in his late teens, with platinum hair and silver eyes—curiously similar to my mother’s features. To anyone else, we’d probably look like siblings separated by years.

I call him “onii-chan” and lean on him like a little sister.

Niesel and Regen, spirits of rain, are twin siblings. They’re identical in appearance—blue hair, blue eyes, and the same mischievous face—but their personalities are opposites, always pulling pranks. They look a little older than me. I casually invited them to play, just for fun, and they agreed, saying it sounded entertaining.

They were always the kind of spirits who drenched everything in rain. People grew tired of it, so now they’ve decided to stop raining altogether.

Humans would pray for rain. And we’d laugh, watching them scramble, then pour down downpours just to see them panic. That’s the kind of mischievous spirit we were, really.

But now, just a quiet, steady drizzle at night… apparently, that was enough to make humans ecstatic. Honestly, we didn’t expect that.

The two of us, who used to find joy in watching humans flail in panic, were now reflecting. We’d become the kind of rain people thanked as a blessing.

Even funnier? Flora and Openst—the spirits who govern plants—were yelling, “Why don’t you do this more often?!” like it was some kind of revelation. The siblings just laughed at that.

Flora and Openst had been endlessly preaching how essential cooperation was, how they needed others to survive. But the other spirits? They just didn’t get it.

They only understood existence through the instinct that they could survive as long as Origin herself was present.

They cried, saying they’d only ever gotten the same reply: “If you want to exist, ask the Queen.”

They expressed immense gratitude for the outcome that proved that very idea true.

Both of them were beautiful, voluptuous sisters with the meaning of abundance—plump, bouncy, and alluring.

Being doted on between the two of them, I was squished and pressed by their four full hills, and thanked for it. It’s not exactly a pleasant kind of thanks when it hits my insecurities.

Everyone involved had grown closer since the incident. The warmth of that new closeness made me smile again.

Eternal spirits don’t move much in time or thought. They rarely initiate anything themselves.

But their personalities, like nature, can swing wildly—sudden and extreme one moment, calm and gentle the next.

Sometimes, when angry, they can trigger massive disasters—earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, the whole shebang.

Watching them up close, you start to understand what spirits really are.

It’s not just about ruling this world. It *is* ruling it.

＊＊＊

From afar, Lovell and Origin watched Elen playing with the spirits.

“Elen really is kind….”

“Hmph, she’s my child and yours, isn’t she? Naturally.”

“But I’m worried. She cares so much about humans…”

“Oh, but *you’re* not human, are you?”

“Since I took on your power, I’ve begun to think about this world. Humans… they’re so small. So fragile.”

Thinking about how things are, Lovell spoke.

“My mother and younger brother matter to me, sure… but now, Ori and Elen… they’re the ones I truly care about. And yet… I wanted to save humans so badly….”

Lovell fought with his life on the line to protect the capital from the Monster Tempest.

But now that he knew the true nature of spirits... and had seen what humans were capable of... Lovell was lost in despair.

"…When did I end up on that scale, anyway…?"

Looking at Elen, Lovell remembered how he used to feel back then.

Origin smiled warmly at Lovell’s hesitation.

"Your feelings… I think they’re just the way you care deeply about me and Elen."

"…I guess so."

He’d always disliked Agiel, dismissed his family, dumped everything onto his younger brother.

Come to think of it… maybe he’d already given up on them back then.

"…Thanks to Elen, I suppose."

The image of Elen’s grandmother, smiling like a mother, burned into his mind.

And seeing Isabella dote on Elen—Lovell suddenly remembered something he’d long forgotten.

"My daughter’s something else…"

Elen loves everything. She proves it with her whole being—spirits, humans, their very existence, their cooperation with one another.

Her presence blurred into the image of Origin, her wife, as the ultimate mother.

"Elen is my daughter, you know. And she’s yours too. Caring for each other’s kind—of course it’s natural."

"Yeah… yeah, you’re right."

Lovell stared at his daughter’s back, reflecting.

He finally realized, clearly, that he’d already written off the royal family for their contempt toward spirits.

And it was his daughter who’d set him straight.