I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-439

**Chapter 439: I Wanted to See You**

—

Dietrich couldn’t close his mouth.

*What am I even looking at right now?*

It was a scene utterly devoid of reality.

Just entering the Primordial Forest and being treated as an honored guest by the elves had already felt unbelievable.

Yet now, Dietrich was witnessing the usurpation of a queen in real time.

What was even more astonishing was Phantom.

Intervening in the middle of the duel, handing over a sword, and then raising the hand of the elf who had seized the throne and proclaiming her queen!

*······ What kind of person is he, really?*

Is he even human to begin with?

The elves called him a “druid.”

But the queen had said he was human.

Which was true and which was false, Dietrich didn’t know—but one thing was certain.

No one in human history had ever witnessed a scene like this.

And he was standing there holding the Guardian Holy Sword of the Cernil Kingdom, no less.

As if it had found its true master, the Guardian Holy Sword changed its form of its own accord as it was wielded in Auril’s hand.

Every single one of these events unfolded under Phantom’s direction.

Each scene was something so unbelievable that even seeing it with his own eyes didn’t help.

Born as the child of the Pirate Queen, Dietrich had grown up seeing countless wonders, but even all of those combined couldn’t compare to this single ceremony of usurpation now taking place.

“······.”

“······.”

The elves’ reactions were no different from Dietrich’s.

Blank expressions, unable to grasp what had just happened or what they were witnessing.

The most shocking part was that, at Phantom’s single word, every elf had dropped to their knees.

Yet every elf Dietrich had encountered here was strong.

Having experienced countless pirate battles since childhood and having been trained by the queen herself, Dietrich could tell instinctively.

*Elves far surpass humans in strength.*

Compared to humanity’s numbers, elves were few—but each individual possessed incomparable might.

To the point that even most transcendents wouldn’t stand a chance!

And yet, to subdue all of them with a single sentence.

*······ Is Phantom a god?*

Could he truly be some kind of god?

Otherwise, there was no explanation.

And only Dietrich himself had not been forced to kneel.

Perhaps it was because Phantom thought there was no reason for a human to kneel before the new Elf Queen.

The more he learned, the more it felt endless.

He had gone far beyond human limits.

A one-man army.

*Clap!*

Dietrich brought his hands together.

*Clap clap clap clap!*

He began applauding repeatedly.

Part of it was to celebrate the ascension of the new queen, but Dietrich had also made up his mind.

*I can do it too…*

Auril’s situation resembled his own.

Forcibly seizing the throne to surpass the limits of one’s given status.

Somehow, Auril’s success felt like his own.

“Ah…!”

“T-The queen has been defeated…!”

“Is a new queen really being crowned? And not even a High Elf, but a regular elf?”

Only after hearing Dietrich’s applause did the elves snap back to their senses.

Even so, their expressions were full of doubt.

It was only natural.

The current queen had been their queen for as long as most of them had been alive.

For her to be replaced so suddenly felt unreal.

“Now, before the World Tree, please swear that you acknowledge me as queen.”

Auril spoke confidently.

Though she had won the duel, the succession of the throne could only be completed by the queen herself.

Only by swearing before the World Tree could one become its new guardian.

“······.”

The queen’s eyes trembled incessantly.

Defeated before all, there were no other possibilities left.

All that remained was to appoint Auril as the new queen.

But if she did that, she would die.

The World Tree only sent its vital energy to its guardian.

Through that energy, the queen had lived far beyond her natural lifespan.

Naturally, the moment she relinquished her title, the flow would be cut off and she would return to dust.

The problem was…

Even if she refused, it didn’t seem like she would survive.

*He’ll kill me. Either way… I can’t live.*

The Druid of the Golden Scale.

He was a monster.

Having slain another form of Destruction—Annihilation—his power was far beyond what a mere elf could resist.

Even for a queen, it was the same.

That monster was staring at her with eyes like a bottomless abyss.

If she denied or resisted, she would be killed by him.

If death was inevitable anyway…

“······ I’m sorry. I behaved disgracefully.”

Yes. She would accept it.

She would put an end to it as a queen should.

The queen lifted her head.

“Auril. Ever since you were young, your desires were strong. You learned quickly—teach you one thing, and you’d grasp ten. You were brilliant… and never hesitated to learn something new.”

At the sudden praise, Auril smiled awkwardly.

“It’s all thanks to you, Your Majesty.”

“No. I was mistaken. I thought rejecting outsiders was how to protect the forest.”

Having experienced the outside world, Auril had grown strong at an abnormal rate.

But as a child, she had simply been a troublemaker.

Compared to other elves, her desires were stronger, and she always tried to resolve things quickly.

She wasn’t humble, and her curiosity was intense.

These were taboos among elves.

Traits closer to those of Dark Elves.

Perhaps those urges and desires had been pushed to the extreme after encountering the outside world.

But maybe Auril herself represented the direction elves should move toward.

Accepting differences and expressing oneself properly—was that truly a bad thing?

There was no need to condemn it as arrogance or insolence.

The queen wore a sorrowful expression.

“After living for so long, my thinking became rigid. I believed that only I could protect the World Tree, the forest, and the elves. I thought remaining unchanged was the best course. That’s why I couldn’t easily let go of this position. But…”

Looking up at Auril, the queen continued with a bitter smile.

“…It seems my conviction was wrong. Auril, you may be able to change the Primordial Forest for the better.”

“······ Your Majesty.”

“Auril, I appoint you as the guardian of the World Tree and the queen who will protect the Primordial Forest. Please… bring prosperity to the forest.”

*Whooosh!*

In that instant, a golden crown appeared above the queen’s head.

A crown formed of the lines of the Golden Scale.

The queen straightened her knees, stood, and placed the crown upon Auril’s head.

Thus, the succession was perfectly completed.

And at the same time—

“Y-Your Majesty?!”

Auril cried out in shock.

The queen—no, the former queen’s skin was rapidly aging.

Her withered skin cracked like a dried desert.

The light faded from her pupils.

A sign that the queen, having returned to her original time, was about to return to the forest—to the soil.

“I was happy, being with all of you.”

The queen gave her final smile.

Though she had shown disgrace, she intended to preserve her dignity to the very end.

The longer she had lived, the stronger her desire to survive had grown.

She still wanted to live—but she had realized she could not.

It was at that moment.

As she faced death head-on.

He—

Phantom spoke.

“What a pity. If you had simply handed over the queen’s position, you could have lived.”

“······ What do you mean?”

What was he talking about?

There had been a way to live?

No matter how she thought about it, there wasn’t.

There was no possible way for her to survive.

She had acted after calculating everything.

“There was no choice, was there? Because the succession took the form of a duel, I had no room to intervene. The same goes for the World Tree.”

“······ You mean there was something you could have done?”

“There was. The idea that there must be only one queen applies to elves—but at least to the World Tree, it doesn’t.”

“······!!!”

“When Auril becomes queen, the World Tree will recover. In fact, it will be stronger than before. It could have easily extended your lifespan.”

Ah…!

She had overlooked it.

That the current World Tree had already lost nearly all its power.

That if it regained its former state, its vital energy would overflow once more.

Above all, he was the Druid of the Golden Scale.

Druids were a race that carried the seeds of World Trees.

When it came to knowledge of World Trees, they were unmatched.

Even if he was human, once he became a druid, he would instinctively understand the World Tree.

And more than anything—

He already possessed several World Trees.

So it couldn’t be a lie.

“What a pity.”

…A pity?

Then why say it only now?

If he had told her earlier, she would have sought a new queen without hesitation.

She would have personally chosen the elf she wanted.

Instead, everything had been lost through the duel.

…There had been a way to live.

She thought there was none.

She believed death was inevitable!

*I could have lived!*

Regret surged forth.

But it was far too late.

*Shrrrk—*

Her body began to turn into soil.

She could no longer even move her lips.

*N-No…!*

*

*

 

The first thing Auril did upon becoming queen was to seek peace.

She allowed the Dryads—another forest race—into the Primordial Forest and welcomed them as guests.

“Haha! Brother!”

“Rommel. It’s been a long time.”

“Was the last time we met at the Tower of Rifts?”

High Dryad Rommel.

The king of the Rustling Forest embraced me enthusiastically the moment she saw me.

And to think she recognized me at once, even though I was in Park Hyun-myung’s form rather than Randolph’s.

Was it because I was the master of the Verdant One in the Rustling Forest?

“I heard there was a great war in the labyrinth. Why didn’t you call us, brother?”

She looked genuinely hurt.

I shrugged.

“You had to protect the Verdant One. It couldn’t be helped.”

“What nonsense! If our brother calls, we’re ready to run even to the ends of the earth!”

I let out a small laugh.

Unbelievably reliable.

“Druid of the Golden Scale.”

At that moment—

A voice came from behind.

I turned my head to see Auril.

“Hm?”

“There’s something I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

At my question, Auril hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke.

“Are you… Lord Randolph?”

“And why would you think that?”

“When our duel with the former queen ended and you grabbed my arm, I felt it. I had felt something similar from Lord Randolph before.”

I see.

The fact that she came to ask me, even in such a busy moment, meant she was already certain.

I nodded lightly.

“That’s right. I am Randolph.”

“Ah…!”

Auril’s body trembled.

Then—

*Grab!*

“I wanted to see you, Lord Randolph!”

“Gah—!”

*Clatter!*

As Auril pulled me into an embrace, the Guardian Holy Sword slipped from Dietrich’s hands and fell to the ground.