"I do feel like I'm not destined to pick white cherries," Elara sighed as she watched the sun begin to rise.
White cherries were a rare fruit that only grew in the early morning before the sun fully rose, and they had to be picked at that precise moment. If picked even a fraction of a second too late, they would turn red, becoming ordinary red cherries once again.
Besides having the same size as regular red cherries, white cherries have a unique characteristic: they have no taste at all. Nevertheless, people always compete to obtain these white cherries.
The reason behind the frenzy was that white cherries were a crucial ingredient for crafting elixirs, powerful and challenging-to-make remedies that could cure critical illnesses. Alchemists in this world always placed bulk orders for white cherries.
Therefore, many nobles buy these white cherries from a group of merchants. The merchants can only purchase and obtain their stock from two villages, Flora and Fauna, given the proximity of these villages to the natural habitat where white cherries grow.
This is because white cherries can only thrive in fertile soil around the forests of the Galatea territory. Only the residents of these two villages have the privilege to access and pick them freely.
Those who sought to profit by cultivating these cherries couldn't do much, as all the land in this territory belonged to Queen Titaia, before whom even the three Kings had to bow.
Elara had never had the chance to pick white cherries herself, but she had eaten them in significant quantities.
'More precisely, I was forced to eat them when my mother panicked seeing me suddenly fall unconscious due to my strange illness....' Elara thought, shaking her head. She could never forget the bland taste of those fruits.
She remembered that at that time, there were many rare fruits that she had only seen and even herbs she couldn't find in any book, all gathered in her mother's hands as her consciousness began to fade.
One of the things she recognized was white cherries.
"Speaking of white cherries...." Elara paused.
Truth be told, Elara had overheard a serious conversation among some farmers who had just finished harvesting and were taking a lunch break.
<"There's a myth that says intentionally letting a group of white cherries, once picked, be replanted in the fertile Galatea soil and left there for a whole year will result in those cherries growing into a cherry tree over 12 meters tall with the best quality.">
<"You don't need to wait for sunrise because the white cherry tree will continuously produce the best quality white cherries.">
<"But if you pick them at a specific time, the best-quality white cherries will turn into golden cherries.">
Golden Cherries.
No one knew their size, shape, scent, or taste. Golden cherries were believed never to have appeared on this surface world because this fruit supposedly caused a major commotion, as it was said to have the miraculous ability to revive even those on the brink of death if eaten whole.
There was a myth that claimed anyone who violated the rules within Galatea territory would incur a terrible curse. According to the legend, this curse could be lifted with a 50:50 chance by eating golden cherries.
Elara was left awestruck as she recalled the information about golden cherries from her home encyclopedia.
"It sounds like a fruit too incredible to be real in this world...." she murmured.
Lost in thought, Elara resumed walking down the available path, which led to a nearby small forest she knew well.
"Speaking of the incident four years ago...." she suddenly found herself talking. "What happened?"
Elara repeatedly tried to remember but couldn't recall it. Since she had avoided the forest for four years and nothing unusual had happened during that time, she felt that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
"I don't know what happened, but it seems like I vaguely remembered being too excited and full of energy because I had successfully picked a large quantity of red cherries... What happened next... Oh." Elara came to a halt, realizing she had entered an open forest.
Her mind suddenly felt remarkably refreshed, as if a bundle of negative energy that had accumulated in her head vanished in an instant upon inhaling the refreshing aroma emanating from the woods.
Swoosh~
"..."
Seeing the sight where tall trees stretched as far as the eye could see, Elara felt something long dormant within her slowly coming back to life, deep within the depths of her heart, the moment she caught the refreshing and cooling scent of this forest.
However, Elara was oblivious to it. She preferred to focus on recovering her memory. Fortunately, ever since she stepped into the forest, her once foggy memory had gradually improved. No, now she felt she could recall many things that had mysteriously been forgotten all of a sudden.
"So... I ate all those red cherries and fell asleep for a long time because of being so full... After that, my mother came to get me before the sunset..."
"..." Elara blinked her eyes.
"Huh, is that all that happened four years ago?" Elara tilted her head, feeling peculiar about her memory.
"Weird...." Elara murmured while looking around at the current surroundings, a forest with not-so-dense trees, but rather densely packed.
Elara glanced around. After making sure there was no one nearby, Elara took a few steps and stopped in front of two medium-sized trees growing closely together, almost like conjoined twins.
Placing her hand on them, Elara quickly felt herself transported to a different place in the blink of an eye.
The scene where she had been in a small, not-so-dense yet pleasantly lush forest was now replaced by a view of a cluster of medium-sized trees, growing sparsely and with striking colors, a bright orange-like brown.
She was now inside her own Orange grove.
Although for 4 years she had avoided visiting the forest, occasionally she stealthily came here to check the condition of her precious Orange trees.
Of course, who would allow trees with wood that had such a potent effect, resisting all sorts of form attacks, to be neglected? Moreover, it wasn't just one or two trees, these trees had gathered into a small grove!
Even though its location was hidden, she couldn't completely ignore this valuable grove. Elara understood its value was too precious and had to be carefully guarded and well-maintained.
Until now, Elara herself still doubted whether this precious Orange grove had any owner at all.
"Well, since Mother said I found it, then it's mine, so it doesn't matter, right?" Elara said while stroking one of the Orange trees beside her with a contented expression.
Unfortunately, she wasn't a botanist or anything of the sort; Elara was just an ordinary office worker in her previous life.
"I must quickly find someone skilled who is willing to take care of my precious trees...."
Since she didn't know what her future held in this world, Elara was at least certain she would be quite busy. Her bakery business was bound to be successful, considering the majority of people in this world were almost obsessed with the taste of her bread.
Elara appreciates her unique and valuable Orange trees, despite not being a botany expert. She feels the need to find someone skilled in caring for this grove, considering its potential and the uniqueness of its trees.
"Maybe I can search for the right person when I leave this small village, no, when I have successfully exited the Galatea territory first," Elara murmured, her words carried away by a sudden gust of wind.
Elara had to move swiftly and secure her valuable grove before a major problem arose that she wouldn't be able to handle later.
Whether it was intuition or Elara just being overly sensitive lately because the incident from 4 years ago still felt hazy in her mind. At least for now, what Elara believed and trusted was that she needed to remain vigilant.
She had to remember that this was another world, distinct from her modern life, filled with various strange powers beyond logic. There were powerful beings like the Goddess, along with other influential individuals such as the great Queen Titaia and the three Kings.
"Okay, good."
After ensuring her Orange grove was safe, Elara promptly left the area cautiously, making sure not to leave a single trace that could draw anyone's attention and reveal the existence of her precious orange trees to the public.
"I feel calm after making sure everything is okay," Elara said to herself.
While humming, she continued her search to find new main ingredients for her experimental bread recipe. She knew that the world was full of exotic and unique fruits that could be interesting choices for her new bread.
With an empty woven basket in her hand, she explores small forests with a calm and somewhat cheerful heart, ready to find the perfect fruit for her new recipe. Elara begins to contemplate, trying to imagine what flavor would suit the taste buds of the people in this world.
"Hmm, perhaps an exotic fruit with a sweet and slightly tangy taste would make an intriguing addition to this bread," she thinks while continuing to walk through this wondrous natural forest.
For some reason, today, she wanted to take the straight path instead of turning left, the safe and easily accessible area where ordinary red cherries grew and were picked by village children like her.
Swooooooosh~
A series of gentle breezes continued to blow towards her, making her feel cool and as if guiding her to venture deeper into the forest.
Elara felt her steps today were exceptionally light, to the point that she felt like she could fly anytime.
"Haha, what am I even thinking?" she chuckled to herself.
Elara remained completely unaware that a pair of blue horizontal eyes were watching her from a safe distance, their gaze shining brightly.
The blue eyes continued to send a series of gentle breezes toward the little girl with waist-length brown hair before they finally stopped as their head was gently nudged by a pair of large and dark golden-pupil eyes.
"Stop, do not disturb the ■■■■," Came a voice, softly echoing in the forest.