Chapter 6: Ten Years Later

The harsh winter passed, and the season turned to spring.

From there, spring passed again, summer arrived, the trees turned red and gold, and then another cold winter came.

During that time, Lydia made many attempts to get outside, but every single one ended in failure.

“…I suppose there really is nothing to do but wait for the two of them.”

Having reached that conclusion, she accepted it and continued living at her own pace.

She held tea parties with the small animals and spent her days cooking and researching medicine.

However, no matter how long she waited, Veronica and the others never appeared.

And then came the tenth spring.

Inside the giant tree, now tinged with fresh green leaves, Lydia sat before a mirror, brushing hair that had grown down to her waist.

‘It’s grown so long.’

Thinking that it had only reached her shoulders when she first came here, she began braiding it.

When she finished braiding it all the way to the ends, a squirrel beside her held out a ribbon as if to say, “Here you go.”

“Hehe, thank you.”

Smiling, Lydia accepted the ribbon and tied her hair.

She casually looked up at the wall, where notes with dates written on them were posted.

“It’s already been ten years…”

She let out a small sigh.

Standing up slowly, she headed to the kitchen, and as she gazed at the many jars of jam lined up there, she sighed deeply.

“I’ve had too much time and ended up making far too much.”

Murmuring that she couldn’t possibly eat all of this by herself, she picked up the rabbit at her feet.

With moist eyes, she pressed her cheek against its soft white fur.

“…Will I ever be able to get out of here?”

The small animals gathered around her feet.

They looked up at Lydia with worried eyes.

At the sight of them, she chuckled softly and wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes.

“Hehe, thank you. I’m fine. Today I’ll bake walnut cookies for a snack.”

Saying that, she crouched down and gently petted the animals.

Then, just as she was about to head to the kitchen to make cookies—

Boom!

A loud sound echoed throughout the inside of the giant tree.

The tree shook violently, and books tumbled down from the shelves.

“Eek!”

Lydia instinctively grabbed onto a desk.

When she looked toward the source of the sound, smoke was billowing.

“What!? What just happened!?”

Gripping her magic staff, she hurried toward the smoke, and an unbelievable sight spread out before her eyes.

“Huh? A hole… in the wall? And someone…?”

A large hole had been blasted into the wall that hadn’t budged no matter how much magic she used, and beyond it, she could see someone standing there.

As she stood there dumbfounded, that person stepped over the hole and came inside.

He was a tall young man with beautiful black hair, cool red eyes, well-defined features, and a large sword at his side.

When he spotted Lydia, his eyes softened happily.

“Lydia, I’ve missed you!”

Then, before the stunned Lydia, who couldn’t even find the words to speak, he knelt down and looked up at her with a joyful smile.

“Sorry it took so long. I came to get you, just like I promised.”

Blinking repeatedly, Lydia asked in astonishment.

“Um, uh, you are…?”

The young man smiled, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m Leohart.”

“What!”

Lydia’s eyes flew open in shock.

“Leohart! You’ve grown so much!”

“Yes, I’m eighteen now.”

Leohart stood up with an embarrassed smile and took Lydia’s hand.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”