It all began with a renowned Professor from an esteemed academy, often attended by members of the royal family. He was taking a break after conducting research in the deepest part of the Galatea territory, an area inaccessible to just anyone.
The Professor lost a crucial research book that needed to be reported to the palace.
While he was busy searching, he unknowingly stumbled upon a large wooden house atop a hill, which should have been covered in grass just a few years earlier.
Driven by hunger and the enticing aroma, he approached the wooden house. However, what he saw in the front yard was a young child engrossed in reading his thick research book, with a serious expression as if she understood it.
Feeling shocked for the first time in his life, the white-haired Professor with a long white beard couldn't resist asking something that a three-year-old couldn't possibly comprehend. But his instincts as an educator and researcher compelled him to inquire.
"So, what do you think? Can you easily understand the writing?"
The child nodded briefly but then shook her head. "But some parts are missing. This section should have additional explanations... and this part has overly complicated explanations...."
The Professor, who had initially decided to return to the academy as he couldn't find anything else to research, was mesmerized by her brief explanation. It was as if his research, which had felt lacking in various areas, was now complete and perfect thanks to the insights of the young child before him.
After the incident, he immediately recounted his experience to the village chief of this village, who was with the owner of the WheelWorld caravan.
"That child is a genius! She must join the academy after the Spirits Contract Ceremony!" the Professor exclaimed to the two of them with great enthusiasm.
Due to this commotion, merchants who accidentally overheard began discussing it among themselves, eventually causing the rumor to spread beyond the borders of Flora village, further amplifying the little girl's fame.
Not only that, but the nobility also grew intrigued by the rumor, curious about the prodigious child and eager to exploit her for their gain
However, strangely, as they attempted to gather more information, none could be found. The merchants who had established their headquarters there had united to safeguard the true identity of the little girl, Elara.
Unable to gather any information from the merchants, the nobles opted to dig for information among the residents of the village of Flora. But sadly, they also came up empty-handed, as if the villagers had collectively decided to remain silent to protect the innocent child.
One noble finally approached the village chief—or rather, Becca Safi, the village chief's only daughter—to obtain information.
Becca Safi was initially delighted by the first-ever tea invitation from a noble. However, her joy turned to fury and disappointment upon discovering that the noble's motive for the invitation was to inquire about Elara.
Becca, who had long believed in attracting noble attention through her beauty and aristocratic etiquette, found herself grappling with anger for the first time in her otherwise seamless life.
"How can someone like you, from such a lowly background, dare to behave like an aristocrat? It's utterly disgusting to witness someone with your impure blood pretending to be one!" Becca yelled hysterically, leaving her two followers in shocked silence.
Listening to Becca say that made Elara take a deep breath.
'This kid... She really does hate me...!' Elara thought, feeling a headache coming on.
Becca Safi. Her pride was exceptionally high, given her title as the village chief's only daughter. That implies she is genuinely confident in wielding influence as the foremost woman in these two villages, leveraging her father's power, especially given that the head of Fauna village only has sons.
Therefore, offering advice to someone like her would be like water off a duck's back—utterly pointless and a waste of time.
Becca Safi was the type of person who wouldn't listen to advice unless it came from someone with an absolute high status, such as a young lady from a noble family.
So, Elara decided to stop advising her and opted for a different approach, one that would intimidate her until she learned her lesson.
"..."
Elara swallowed hard. She couldn't believe she was about to say this aloud.
"... Have you ever heard the rumor that my father is a noble? If so, do you believe it?"
Becca widened her eyes, not understanding Elara's sudden question. "W, What do you mean?"
"What if I truly am a noble's daughter? How would you reconcile all the insults you just hurled at me? Are you prepared to take responsibility for your words?"
!!!
The calm tone emanating from Elara's mouth felt like a dagger piercing Becca's racing heart.
Becca had heard that rumor before, but she dismissed it.
'No, not dismissed it, but I've been working hard to suppress the rumor, so the possibility of that lowly girl becoming a noble's daughter never happens.'
Just imagining that girl becoming a noble's daughter almost drove Becca insane, with a tumultuous mix of anger and envy coursing through her.
"There's no way you're a noble!" Becca Safi wanted to shout that sentence in her usual confident and arrogant tone, but her tongue felt tight. This was because she could vividly recall all the unusual advantages that Elara possessed, which were far from typical for an average village girl. Hence, she refrained from saying a word at all now.
"..."
Elara sighed once more, interpreting Becca's silence as agreement.
"Are you not afraid I'll report what you said today to my father, a noble? You, who have acquired some knowledge of noble education, must be aware of the consequences of insulting a noble, particularly when the one doing the insulting is a commoner," Elara said in a cold tone.
'That's a lie. Even if my father is a noble and we do meet, I would never inform him of such childish behavior,' Elara thought, shaking her head inwardly.
But there was no other choice. Elara had to say this to intimidate these three unruly girls so that they would think twice before bothering her again.
'Please, just leave! I just want to pick fruit in peace...!' Elara silently prayed in her mind.
"..ar...!"
"Huh?"
"LIAR!"
Contrary to Elara's expectations, instead of being intimidated, the girl with bright brown hair started screaming even more hysterically, causing Elara's eardrums to ring.
"The rumor must be a lie!" Becca shouted. "If you really are a noble's daughter, you wouldn't be living in a remote place like this!"
"You must be an illegitimate child who will be cast aside for tarnishing the noble's reputation!"
Elara stared, rendered speechless.
As Becca became more entangled in her own words, her expressions took a darker and more malevolent turn.
"Yes! You must be an illegitimate child! Look at your mother's scarred face, huh? You two are just disgusted——"
SLAP!
'Huh?'
Becca immediately ceased talking, wearing an expression of shock and disbelief, while Becca's two followers, Lia and Silvi, looked at Elara and her with pale faces. The atmosphere between the two had suddenly changed drastically.
Only Elara regarded the three of them, or more precisely, Becca, with emotionless eyes, as if she perceived something lowly and useless.
"I had intended to let this matter go if you had just insulted me. But now, I can't because you've dragged my mother's name into this," said Elara as she approached Becca, whose body was frozen.
"Congrats." Elara smiled coldly, clapping her hands, completely ignoring her red and sore palm after delivering a forceful slap to Becca's cheek.
'I... can't move!' Becca panicked in her thoughts. 'What happened?!' Becca couldn't even scream in pain because her cheek had been slapped so hard.
The slap from Elara caused Becca's body to freeze abruptly.
She felt as if a group of large, strong, translucent roots were wriggling, tightly gripping her entire body as if to strangle her.
Ignoring their situation, Elara stood right in front of the still Becca.
When Becca's eyes accidentally met Elara's emotionless gaze, Becca felt as if she were being stared at by a large, dangerous, terrifying being. This made Becca's frozen body go limp, and she collapsed, sitting on the dirty ground.
"Let's clarify this matter now," Elara said, tilting her head slightly.
After that statement, Elara fell silent for a moment, then started laughing stiffly in the heavy atmosphere.
She realized that she had no idea what had triggered this trivial matter in the first place.
"Haha... If you think about it, from the start, I never caused any problems for you at all...." Elara grumbled in annoyance without emotion, making the three girls choke, finding it difficult to breathe due to the stifling air. The surroundings felt painful as if contaminated by pollution.
"So, why are you bothering me like this even though I've never caused you any trouble?" Elara muttered to herself, making the winds start to roar around this place.
'I...'
'Can't... breathe!'
"Oh, I know." Elara looked straight at Becca, whose face changed from anger to fear.
"You."
Elara pointed at Becca with her short, tiny index finger.
"Yes, you. You must be very jealous of me. Especially with the rumors circulating about being a noble's daughter. Unlike you, even though your father is the village chief, you are not a noble."
"You must be worried to death to see that the lowly girl you have ignored all this time is the noblewoman you have always dreamed of."
"Because you are just a lowly commoner," she said, laughing in a low voice.
Becca, seated on the ground and soiling her expensive dress, opened her eyes wide. Gritting her teeth and shaking her head forcefully, she tried to silence Elara. She didn't want to hear anything the girl in front of her had to say.
Because whatever this girl said was true.
But Elara, who had grown tired of restraining herself after her innocent ears had heard relentless insults that she shouldn't have, didn't care. She just wanted to vent her frustration for now.
"Listen," Elara leaned down slightly so her mouth could reach Becca's ear.
"If I am indeed a noble's child, I would never let an incident like this slide. Remember my words, Becca Safi, the beloved daughter of the Flora's village chief."
Elara stepped back a few steps, intentionally giving Becca room to contemplate her warning. She hoped that Becca would understand and become a bit more obedient, even though she didn't continue her warning in more depth. Elara believes Becca is a smart girl.
'Ah, I can't wait to pick some fruit!' Thinking about all that made Elara feel calm, causing the tense atmosphere to instantly return to normal.
"..."
"Quiet...!" Becca mumbled.
But once again, contrary to Elara's hopes, Becca became even more hysterical, as if this alternate world was about to collapse. Even her two friends, who were with her, were confused by Becca's behavior.
"I SAID, BE QUIET!"
Elara stared at Becca, who suddenly started screaming, making Elara step back in surprise.
"Crazy, that's startled me," Elara muttered unconsciously, amazed.
"Yeah! So what if you are a noble's daughter? Do you think that by being a noble, you can insult me as you please?"
Elara narrowed her eyes, not accepting this.
'Isn't that what you've been doing all along? Using your status as the village chief's daughter, you've been insulting me, a mere baker's daughter,' thought Elara, baffled.
"Then why, if you are a noble's child and want to threaten me? The most important thing is that you are still a baker's child now! I, as the village chief's daughter, can just as easily threaten you to leave this place!"
Of course, Elara knew about that. But at the very least, Elara was confident about a few things regarding the village chief's daughter in front of her, who always appeared while dressed up when the nobles stopped by to rest at the village's only inn.
Her actions made some nobles uncomfortable, and they chose to camp outside to avoid being bothered by her.
Afterward, the inn's owner protested to the village chief, and the village chief issued a ban on Becca and her friends from disturbing businesses in the village.
Therefore, Elara felt confident that the village chief would not expel her and her mother, who had brought many benefits such as their bakery and Elara's fame in this remote village.
"You can't," Elara replied confidently.
Becca bit her lip as she wanted to scream that it was possible for Elara but stopped.
Because she knew very well that her father, the village chief, cared more about the interests of this cursed small village than her, his only daughter.
Seeing Becca silent and no longer screaming made Elara quietly exhale a heavy sigh.
'It's tough to adapt in a world that's still so fixated on social status like this,' Elara thought, feeling tired.
Elara decided to give in for now and let this issue pass, as she felt embarrassed for getting caught up in such a trivial matter.
"You..."
"Sorry--" Elara was about to bow and apologize, but Becca's next words made Elara stop abruptly.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOST AND DEAD AT THAT TIME! WHY DID YOU COME BACK SAFELY!!!!!"
"... Huh?"