If I were to list the most flustering moments in my life, the unexpected popularity of Zenon’s Biography and the incidents it triggered would undoubtedly top the list.

Zenon’s Biography, which I had published as a hobby, became a sudden success that completely overturned the perception of demons.

Then came the countless anomalies that began with the World Tree’s root corruption. Back then, I was not only flustered but also baffled.

So, in the purest sense of the word, I hadn’t experienced many moments of true confusion—until today.

Would you believe me if I told you the World Tree’s Seed, a gift from the goddess of nature, Hirt, had split in half?

Forget believing it—how should I even react if such a thing happened?

Should I accept divine punishment for failing to properly care for a sacred gift? Or should I demand an explanation for what on earth had occurred?

At this moment, I was so stunned I couldn’t even think of those options.

"… …"
"… …"

Arwen and I silently stared at the World Tree’s Seed resting neatly on the bed. The seed, which had radiated a brilliant golden light from the moment I received it.

The crack! sound earlier—ominous as it was—was followed by an unexpected change. It sounded as if the seed had split cleanly in half.

Thankfully, it hadn’t split completely. There was just a slight gap.

Even so, this alone was a monumental accident. If divine punishment came my way, I wouldn’t even have grounds to complain.

To make matters even more surreal, a tiny, adorable green sprout was peeking through that gap.

A sprout glowing with the green hue that symbolized nature. Arwen and I looked at it, speechless.

Normally, for a seed to sprout, it needs to be planted in soil. After planting, it absorbs water and nutrients from the earth to grow.

Yet, this golden coconut—no, seed—sprouted without any of that.

No water had been poured, no soil had been involved, and yet, here it was.

In a fantasy world, you might expect laws of nature to be bent, but judging by Arwen’s expression, even she didn’t understand what was happening.

Her eyes wavered in confusion, much like mine.

She must have been wrestling with the same thoughts swirling through my head.

"…Arwen?"
"… …"
"Arwen?"
"H-Huh?"

I called her softly, and she flinched as she answered, startled. Looking at the shy green sprout, I asked,

"What were you doing while I was gone?"
"Well… I was just holding it. Plants are vulnerable to the cold, after all…"
"And aside from that?"
"My dear, I’m not even 200 years old yet."

In short, she was saying she was still too young to be blamed for this.

Not that I was suspicious of her—I wasn’t.

I just wanted to know what could have caused the seed to split and sprout like this.

Even if this phenomenon defied the laws of nature, it wasn’t entirely impossible for a seed to sprout under the right conditions.

However, no seed in existence could grow without water. I knew that much from growing beans on cotton balls back in elementary school.

“…It couldn’t be that.”

A fleeting thought of our passionate first night flashed through my mind, but I quickly dismissed it. That would be absurd.

Besides, this was no ordinary seed—it was the World Tree’s Seed. Surely, it didn’t need water.

The real question was, what did it absorb to cause this? Scratching my head, I asked Arwen,

"How exactly were you holding it?"
"I simply held it carefully, like a treasure. That’s all."
"Did you give it mana?"
"Of course."
"Hmm…"

Even so, it didn’t make sense.

Even if she had held it and infused it with mana, I had only been gone for three hours.

Could the seed really have absorbed Arwen’s mana and sprouted a shoot in such a short time? It was beyond comprehension.

With no answers coming to mind, I got up from the bed. When things got this confusing, it was best to ask the gods themselves.

"I’ll go see Mora for a bit."
"What about this?"

As I stood up, Arwen pointed at the seed. Since it had just sprouted, leaving it unattended wasn’t an option.

We had to do something—whether that meant planting it in soil or continuing to hold it.

After a brief moment of deliberation, I made a temporary decision.

"Just keep holding it for now, like you were before. I won’t be gone long, alright?"
"I’ll hold it carefully so it doesn’t get hurt."

Arwen cradled the sprouted seed with such care that she looked like a girl holding a baby. The sight made me smile involuntarily.

Waving to her, I left the room and headed for the temple again. This time, I planned to see Luminous instead of Mora.

Luminous would surely know what was happening, and unlike Mora, he would explain everything clearly.

Not that Mora was unkind—she just had a mischievous streak. At times like this, the ever-reliable Luminous was a safer choice.

"That’s something I cannot tell you."
"…Huh?"

And that trust was promptly shattered.

Hearing Luminous’s unexpected refusal, I was left stunned and speechless.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t tell me for a specific reason—he simply wouldn’t.

This was beyond frustrating—it was downright incomprehensible.

He was a god. A god who could reveal the future through divine prophecy.

Though such prophecies usually required divine power or qualifications, I was an exception.

With the abundant divine energy I possessed, I could know my future anytime.

And yet, even for me, he refused to explain anything about the World Tree’s Seed.

"You can’t tell me? Why not?"
"That, too, I cannot say."
"…What?"

 

 

 

“When Koreans are truly frustrated and dumbfounded, they say: ‘Unbelievable.’”

I sighed deeply, unable to find any other words for the situation.

Mora told me I could do whatever I wanted, while Luminous said he couldn’t tell me anything at all. The contradiction—if you could call it that—was beginning to give me a headache.

What on earth was the secret behind this seed that even gods refused to reveal the future tied to it?

Had Hirt pressured them not to say anything? As the goddess of nature, that wasn’t entirely out of the question.

But why? For what reason? I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t explain.

“Is there truly no way for you to tell me, no matter what I offer?”
“There isn’t. Do you know what heaven’s secrets are?”

Heaven’s Secrets (천기누설).

It refers to celestial secrets—divine truths so significant that revealing them would bring catastrophic consequences.

Normally, you’d take it as a metaphor, but when a literal god uses those words, the weight is far heavier.

My irritation and frustration faded slightly, only to be replaced by a creeping sense of unease.

If it was worthy of being called a “heaven’s secret,” that meant something significant was going to happen in the future.

With a more cautious voice, I asked,

“Am I going to experience some kind of disaster?”
“Not for now.”

Not for now. In other words, it was bound to happen eventually.

Still, I didn’t think it was something that needed to be called “heaven’s secret.” After all, I had already predicted as much—revealing my identity as Zenon and being targeted by demonic worshippers were more than enough cause.

And I couldn’t see how that had anything to do with the World Tree’s Seed.

“Is it that the future will change depending on what I do with the seed? A change so unpredictable even you can’t tell me about it?”
“That’s correct.”
“But the sprout has already appeared.”
“You could always smash it with a hammer—ow!”

Luminous let out a sudden yelp in the middle of his words. Alarmed, I quickly called out,

“L-Luminous?”
“Ow, ow… Sorry. Mother told me not to say anything unnecessary.”

It seemed like Luminous had gotten slapped across the back, much like Mora had before.

Sometimes the gods truly showed their divine majesty, but at other times, they revealed such human-like behavior that it was impossible not to find them endearing.

“Anyway, treat the seed with care. Like I said, don’t go smashing it with a hammer.”
“Do you think I’m crazy? I would never do that. So, you’re saying I can plant it or just leave it alone—it’s up to me?”
“Yes.”
“Is there anything I should be careful about?”
“Just nurture it with love.”

Nurture it with love. That was such a vague answer that I tilted my head in confusion.

Still, I understood now that the gods had no intention of revealing the future.

I didn’t know how the seed would change the future, but as Luminous said, I would just have to care for it with love.

“Alright, I understand. So I can really do whatever I want with it, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then…”
“I don’t care what you do with her in bed—just don’t smash it. Not that you’d be able to scratch it anyway.”

Apparently, the seed was as hard as steel. Judging by its coconut-like appearance, that wasn’t surprising.

I’d have to be careful not to accidentally bump my head against it.

After exchanging a few more casual words, I ended the connection and returned to the queen’s chambers. When I arrived, I found Arwen cradling the seed as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

“I’m back.”
“Oh, welcome back. What did the gods say?”
“They told me to do whatever I want with it. It seems the seed is special enough that it doesn’t even need to be planted in the ground.”
“Then I’ll keep it safe and warm, even if only for a short while. I’ll hold it so it doesn’t shiver from the cold.”
“Alright. But before that…”

I flashed a mischievous smile as I slowly approached the bed where Arwen was lying. Seeing my smile, she blushed furiously and placed the seed carefully beside her.

I climbed onto the bed, hovering over her as she lay there with her hands neatly folded, looking up at me.

“Is this okay?”
“As I’ve said before, I am a gift for you. So…”

Arwen opened her arms wide, welcoming me.

“You may do as you wish.”

It wasn’t even time for dinner yet.

“Then let’s ‘unwrap’ this gift again, shall we?”
“Whenever you want—ah!”

The long, heated night began once again.

 

***

The intimate affair that began in the early evening only came to an end as dawn broke. The bed, which the attendants had carefully arranged, was now a complete mess, and both the sheets and blankets were soaked with various fluids.

Arwen, who had awoken to new sensations, and Isaac, who had exhausted his stamina satisfying her, were both sound asleep.

But amid the silence, there was one thing that glowed softly like a lantern: the World Tree’s Seed placed carefully next to the bed.

Fearing it might get damaged during their passionate time, Isaac had moved the seed to the desk far away. Especially after Luminous had mentioned it was harder than steel, he had placed it even farther for safety.

Twitched—

And yet, a change occurred in the seed. To be precise, it moved.

Without anyone touching it, the seed twitched once. From the slight opening in its shell, the tiny sprout peeked out shyly.

Roll, roll, roll…

To everyone’s surprise—if there had been any witnesses—the seed began to move on its own, rolling as if it were a ball.

Thud.

Eventually, the seed fell off the desk with a heavy thud that hinted at its weight and durability.

For a moment, it wobbled side to side like a pendulum, then, without pause, began rolling again. The direction it headed toward was none other than the bed.

The bed where Arwen and Isaac lay fast asleep after their intense battle. In the dark room, the seed, glowing faintly, rolling across the floor was a sight both eerie and fascinating.

The queen’s chambers were a place no one could enter—not even Sirius, Arwen’s hidden guard, could set foot here. Therefore, no one was present to stop the seed’s mysterious movement.

Hop—!

As if rolling wasn’t strange enough, something even more astonishing happened: the seed jumped.

It didn’t just roll—it leaped like a flea, landing lightly on the bed.

Its faint movements were far too subtle to be noticed by Arwen or Isaac.

Once it landed, the seed began spinning slowly on the soiled and crumpled bed. And then…

Sluuurp, sluuurp, sluuurp—

As if a mouth had appeared on its surface, the seed began absorbing the fluids that had soaked into the sheets and blankets.

Though most of the fluids had dried after so much time, remnants still remained here and there.

The seed absorbed all of it. If Arwen and Isaac had been awake to see this, they would have dismissed it as nothing but a bizarre dream.

"Urp—"

How much time had passed? A sound that resembled a satisfied burp echoed faintly through the room.

Could this even still be called a seed? After its "meal," the seed rolled around the bed as if aimlessly wandering.

Finally, as though it had found its rightful place, it nestled snugly between Arwen and Isaac.

Conveniently, there had been just enough space for it to fit perfectly.

Crack—

As soon as it settled, an unsettling sound came from the seed.

Crack, crack—

A slow, deliberate noise echoed, as though something inside was breaking apart, piece by piece.

Snap!

And then, right beside the tiny sprout, a small arm shot out forcefully.