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Kingdom of Verdant Woods was a country full of fertile fields and overgrown trees of vibrant green colors. Very few rocky regions existed within the kingdom’s domain.
As a result, the production of crops, livestock, and high-quality lumber was its primary source of income.
In fact, the Kingdom of Verdant Woods held the highest food production within the seven witch kingdoms and had no competition. None of the other six witch kingdoms could come close to it in terms of food production.
As such, the Kingdom of Verdant Woods was also commonly called the Kingdom of Food or the Kingdom of Farmers by the other six witch kingdoms.
Naturally, the residents of the Kingdom of Verdant Woods had always been unhappy with such a reputation.
After all, farmers had always been considered plebeians, whether it was the past or present. So even though wealthy farmers existed among them, the people would always feel like they were poor, lower-class people.
The capital city, Emerald City, the city of trees, was founded in the Holy Tree Forest, filled with overgrown oak trees that reached up to four hundred feet in height.
However, they weren’t just abnormally tall due to the blessing of mana; they were also tenacious and sturdy, comparable to Rank 3 materials and above.
That said, the oak trees in Emerald City had even more impressive heights, having reached a staggering twelve-hundred foot and beyond.
But while they were impressively tall compared to their ancestral past, their appearance hardly resembled oak trees. Their growth was artificial, and their forms were even more unnatural, having been weaved into spires.
They were magic towers.
At the heart of Emerald City, Queen Sybil’s magic tower was the most impressive of them all, reaching a colossal height of three-thousand feet and lording over all other oak trees and magic tower.
It wasn’t just Queen Sybil’s magic tower but also the holy tree of the forest, possessing partial sentience and defensive strength comparable to Rank 5 magic tools.
Oak trees were precious, but the holy tree’s value couldn’t be measured.
All magic tools and equipment made from its branches would be Low-level Rank 5 at the very least, even if they were created by incompetent artificers.
At that moment, Henrietta Rosegarden was confined in a spacious cage formed by seemingly unbreakable roots intricately weaved together underneath the holy tree.
All forms of magic inside the cage had also been sealed by a Transcendent-level spell fueled by the holy tree’s seemingly endless vitality.
Only a select few knew of Henrietta’s situation, including Queen Sybil, who planned out the trap to contain her.
After Henrietta exhausted all methods to break free from her containment within the past two weeks, she had given up on trying to escape entirely.
She simply sat in a meditative position with her eyes closed and conserved her energy.
Even when Queen Sybil arrived to see her, Henrietta did not show the slightest reaction to her presence, simply treating Queen Sybil as air.
Unlike Henrietta Rosegarden, who appeared to be the epitome of youthful beauty, Sybil Lundqvist was much inferior in terms of looks.
In fact, Sybil was lacking in human resemblance and beauty.
The Green Flower Transcendent looked more like a sculpted wooden doll that had been sanded and polished. She possessed long leaf-like green hair, emerald eyes, a woody-olive complexion, pointy ears, and an inverted triangle figure.
If she stood still with her eyes shut, she could be mistaken for a tree that looked like a human and not a human that looked like a tree.
“Still stubborn and aloof, huh? But for how much longer can you remain as such? You know, you wouldn’t be stuck here if you had been cooperative. You only need to tell me the secret of your power, and you’ll be freed,” Sybil stated.
Over the past three hundred years, six out of the seven Transcendent Witches had been stuck at the initial rank since acquiring their power.
Only Henrietta had continuously improved and eventually reached the peak of Rank 5 power.
As a result, Henrietta had also attracted the envy and greed of other witches, not just the Transcendent Witches.
Even so, she had never shared her secret, no matter how much the others asked.
“Hmph! Stubborn to the end, I see,” Sybil snorted when Henrietta ignored her. Then she said, “Well, I don’t think you can stay silent for much longer!”
“Let me share a piece of interesting information with you; I’ve just recently received news that the next step of my grand plan is ready to be implemented. Soon, you will lose your kingdom to the Holy Knight Empire.”
“Of course, that can be avoided if you just share your secret. Don’t you think you are too selfish to keep such important knowledge to yourself?” Sybil mentioned.
Henrietta slowly opened her eyes, revealing glints of cold light.
“I may have been foolish enough to believe you were finally willing to sell some of your holy tree’s branches to me, but that doesn’t mean I am stupid!” Henrietta coldly spat. “You know as well as I know that you won’t be spared from my wrath once I am released!”
“That’s why even if I told you my secret, you would still keep me here. Don’t think that I don’t know an insatiable wench like you have been eyeing my land. Your ambition is great, but unfortunately, you are too ignorant! You don’t even know what kind of irreversible mistake you’ve made.”
“But since I am generous, let me enlighten you! Even if others learn my secret, no one can replicate my feats, especially you. You fused with the holy tree for more power and gave up whatever meager potential you had.”
“You might be unstoppable in your domain, but you will be forever stuck with the holy tree, unable to go anywhere. Over time, the holy tree will steal from you, your intelligence, power, and ultimately your life for its own evolution.”
“So congratulations, you have doomed yourself,” Henrietta ridiculed.
“Bullshit! Do you think your scare tactic will work on me?!” Sybil argued distrustfully of Henrietta’s words. “I just need to stay stronger than the holy tree in order not to be devoured by it! Your secret is needed for that cause!”
“This is why I am too lazy to speak with you and the others. Neither of you listens to me,” Henrietta coldly replied before shutting her eyes
No matter what Sybil said, Henrietta no longer paid attention to her.
“Hmph! Since you want to be stubborn to the end, you wait for your kingdom to burn in the fires of war!” Sybil spat before leaving disappointedly.