Chapter 206: The Tree Is Running Away!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest—not too far away—Lulu, Selma, and Alia were crawling through the tall grass on their hands and knees.

Small pouches hung at their sides as they diligently picked up every chicken feather scattered across the ground, stuffing them inside with serious, focused expressions.

It was strenuous work, but they kept at it without complaint…until Selma finally couldn’t take it anymore.

“Come on, Lulu, what the hell are we even doing right now?”

She demanded, frustration clear in her voice.

“You told us we could do something fun today, but here we are—crawling around picking feathers for you. What is going on?”

Alia wiped sweat from her brow and nodded.

“I’m also confused, Lulu. Why exactly are we picking feathers right here? Can you at least tell us why we’re doing this?”

Lulu indignantly stood up, planting her hands on her hips like a tiny commander addressing her troops.

“I told you already! It’s a top-secret mission! I can’t possibly tell you the classified information. If I did, your lives would be in danger!”

Selma and Elara exchanged flat looks.

“Not to mention, I gave you moonflower seeds in exchange for your labor. So stop complaining and pick up more feathers!”

She said like she was running a sweat-shop before dropping back to her knees and resumed her work, stuffing feathers into her pouch with the intensity of a squirrel preparing for winter.

Selma and Alia exchanged a long, bewildered look.

They still had no idea why Lulu suddenly needed so many chicken feathers, but they had already accepted the bribe. With matching sighs, they reluctantly went back to work.

But just then—a rustling sound came from the branches above them.

Something dropped from the tree and landed right in front of the three with a soft thud.

It was Ivy who fell.

Lulu opened her mouth, ready to scold her for slacking off on the job after taking the reward, but the words died in her throat when she saw her appearance.

Ivy’s face was pale with panic, eyes wide as if she had just seen a ghost.

“The tree…The tree over there…The tree…” Ivy whispered frantically, pointing into the distance.

Everyone turned to her in confusion.

“What? What’s wrong, Ivy?” Lulu asked, crawling closer. “What are you talking about? What happened to the tree?”

Ivy looked at all three of them with absolute amazement and shock.

“The tree…The tree is walking!”

She finally blurted out.

“The tree over there is actually walking right now!”

The three of them stared at her in dismay for a long moment before Selma sighed heavily.

“If you’re going to pull a prank, Ivy, at least make it believable. ’The tree is walking.’ Really? That’s the best you could come up with?”

Lulu crossed her arms, nodding sagely.

“She’s just trying to get out of work. Classic Ivy. Always lazy. Always making excuses. Give me back my seeds, dammit!”

Alia stepped forward, pressing her hand to Ivy’s forehead. “Do you have a fever? Are you seeing things? Did you eat something weird?”

Ivy slapped her hand away, her voice rising.

“I’M SERIOUS! I was going to take a nap in that tree—” She pointed again. “—and I heard noises. When I looked, the big tree—the dead tree—was moving! Walking! Actually walking! And it’s still moving, so I can show you!”

She turned around without another word, quickly climbing back up the tree.

“Follow me!”

Even though the three of them were still confused and didn’t entirely believe her, they followed anyway.

As elves, climbing was second nature. They scrambled up the trunk with practiced ease and soon popped their heads out through the leaves at the very top.

Lulu started with. “This is ridiculous, Ivy—” but the words caught in her throat the moment she looked in the direction Ivy was pointing.

In the distance, a massive tree was actually moving.

It wasn’t fast, but it was unmistakably shifting farther and farther away, trunk swaying slightly with each slow step.

Selma’s eyes widened like she was in a dream.

“What in the world!? The tree is actually moving. How is that even possible?!”

“Maybe it grew legs.” Alia shook her head slowly. “Got tired of standing in one place for so many years.”

“Even if it grew legs.” Ivy said in confusion. “Why is it walking away from the village? What’s it running from?”

Lulu stroked her chin, her expression growing grave.

“It’s the male elves. Even the trees can’t stand their presence anymore. They’re trying to escape!”

“Packing up their roots and leaving before the males drive them all away!”

She nodded, looking extremely pleased with her deduction.

But before anyone could respond, Selma pointed downward.

“Look! Everyone’s going after it!”

Below them, elves were emerging from their homes, pointing at the horizon.

Some were running toward the moving tree. Others were leaping from branch to branch, racing through the canopy to get a better look.

Lulu’s eyes turned fervent like she wanted to join the fun.

“Let’s go! We have to see who’s stealing our trees!”

They dropped from the branches and joined the growing crowd, racing through the forest with everyone else.

—

Leona, meanwhile, had been thoroughly absorbed in the task of covering Luca’s face with kisses.

She had started on his cheek, moved to his forehead, his nose, the other cheek.

She had even discovered that the shell of his ear was sensitive, that he shivered when she kissed it, and that shiver was the most wonderful thing she had ever felt.

She was currently sucking on his earlobe, her tongue tracing the curve, when she heard the first shouts.

“It’s over there! The tree is moving over there!”

“Look! That’s the old dead tree! It’s gone from where it was!”

“How is that possible? Is it a dryad? Are they stealing our trees?”

“I don’t know! Let’s go find out!”

A chorus of footsteps and excited voices grew louder, rapidly closing in and Leona’s blood ran cold.

They were going to be caught. They were going to be seen.

She was going to be found clinging to Luca’s back like a lovesick child while he carried a tree through the forest, and everyone would know, and her reputation would be ruined, and her daughters would find out, and—

“Faster!” She grabbed Luca’s shoulders, her voice sharp with panic. “Move faster! They’re going to catch us!”

She felt a flicker of guilt even as she said it.

He was carrying a tree. A massive, ancient, six-hundred-year-old tree. And she was demanding he run.

But Luca didn’t seem bothered. Instead, he glanced back at her, a grin spreading across his face.

“I can go faster. But you know the price.”

She did. Her face went red.

“One step, one kiss.” He said. “So, if you want me to run, you need to increase the rate.”

“You’re the worst, Luca!” She pinched his cheek, hard. “Taking advantage of me in a moment like this!”

He shrugged. “Does that mean you’re not going to kiss me anymore?”

Leona looked positively offended.

“Absolutely not! I’m most definitely going to kiss you more!”

To Luca’s surprise, she suddenly started crawling around his body like a genuine little monkey.

In one fluid motion she maneuvered herself to the front, wrapping her arms and legs around him so they were now face-to-face, bodies pressed close.

Their faces were inches apart; she could feel his warm breath on her skin, which only made her embarrassment flare hotter.

But the voices and footsteps were getting dangerously close.

With no time left to hesitate, Leona grabbed his face with both hands and started kissing him rapidly—cheek, forehead, neck, over and over in a frantic, passionate barrage.

“Mmm!♡~ Mmm!♡~ Kiss!♡~ Mmm!♡~ Slurp!♡~”

And in response, Luca instantly got the burst of enthusiasm he needed. He stopped walking and broke into a full run, carrying the massive tree with him.

Every powerful step made the earth tremble lightly under the weight, but he handled it effortlessly.

Behind them, the chasing elves gasped in collective shock.

“Oh my God, the tree is running right now! It stopped walking and it’s running!”

“I think it knows we’re chasing it and it’s running away!”

“Don’t let it go! We have to catch it before it runs away!”

They poured on even more speed, racing after the moving tree.

But Luca—tree in his arms and Leona wrapped tightly around his front—was far stronger and faster than any of them.

He soon reached a quiet, empty clearing where it was perfectly safe to set the tree down.

Without slowing, he placed the massive trunk on the ground and gave it a firm push to one side.

Gravity and momentum took over; the tree slowly toppled with a thunderous sound that shook the ground.

Boom!

Leona jerked in surprise at the loud collision behind her.

But Luca didn’t pause to calm her. He immediately jumped—launching them both high into the air.

For one exhilarating moment Leona felt like she was flying. They landed smoothly on the branch of a tall tree nearby, hidden among the leaves.

It was perfect timing.

Just seconds later, the other elves burst into the clearing and crowded around the fallen tree, staring in amazement.

“By the spirits, it really is that old tree! I can’t believe it fell all the way over here!”

“How is that even possible? It looks completely dead and doesn’t even look like it has grown limbs or anything. How did it come here?”

“I searched around—I don’t sense anyone here. And I don’t think the dryads are involved either.”

“It wouldn’t make sense for them to do something like this. Why in the world would they want to steal our tree?”

Suddenly one elf’s eyes lit up with realization.

“It has to be the Spirit of the Forest! She’s the one who did this!”

The others turned to her in surprise.

She continued eagerly.

“This tree was already rotten. Many of us were already planning to take it down, but we were struggling to do so safely.”

“It seems the spirit of the forest heard our prayers and decided to handle it for us—safely moving and dropping it somewhere else.”

Realization dawned on every face.

“Of course! Who else could lift something this big!?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense!”

Heads bowed. Voices murmured gratitude.

“Thank you, Forest Spirit. Thank you for protecting us!”

Luca watched the scene unfold below them and he felt a warm glow settle in his chest.

It was a small thing in the grand scheme of the world, but seeing their happiness made him feel like he had done a genuinely good deed today.

A quiet sense of pride bloomed inside him, the kind that made the long day feel lighter and more worthwhile.

He turned his head slightly, ready to share the thought with Leona.

“You know, seeing them like this—”

But the words died on his lips.

Leona wasn’t looking at the elves anymore. She had a dreamy, faraway look on her face, eyes sparkling with pure exhilaration.

But it wasn’t the gratitude of the villagers that had captured her.

It was everything.

The thrill of being this close to discovery.

The exhilaration of racing through the forest with a massive tree in tow.

The feeling of Luca’s body beneath hers, the warmth of his skin, the taste of his skin still lingering on her lips.

She had spent forty years doing this alone. Forty years of sneaking through the shadows, of carrying water and mending fences and leaving flowers on doorsteps.

And in one morning, Luca had turned it into something else entirely. Something electric. Something alive.

The thought of her own daughter being among the crowd below, chasing after them without ever knowing who she was chasing, made her blood sing.

She wanted more. She wanted to do even more thrilling things with him.

Suddenly her eyes snapped into focus on him, bright and eager.

“Luca!” She whispered excitedly. “There are a bunch of trees like this all around the forest. We have to take care of them as well.”

Luca blinked in surprise for a moment, then a knowing smile slowly spread across his face.

“Then…are you prepared for that, Leona?”

He asked, voice low and teasing.

“The elves underneath us are not going to let go of us so easily. If they see another tree start moving, they’re going to chase after us again.”

“Which means…you’re going to have to give me a lot more kisses if they want to make me run.”

Leona didn’t answer with words.

Instead, she reached up, gently grabbed his cheek with one hand, and looked at him with a soft, loving gaze before she pulled him close—

—and pressed a big, warm, affectionate kiss right on his forehead.

Kiss!♡~

She held there for a moment, longer than she needed to, letting him feel the promise in it.

When she pulled back, her eyes were sparkling with mischief and determination.

“I’m ready, Luca…”

She said, voice bright and full of energy.

“I’m ready to kiss you as many times as I need, so let’s go!”

She grinned mischievously, leaning in closer.

“Let’s go and play a small game of tag with the entire village!”

Something ignited in Luca’s chest. He grinned—wild, reckless, joyful—and then they were gone.

—

Below, the elves were still murmuring their thanks to the forest spirit when a shout rang out from one of the watchers perched in a high branch.

“Another tree! Another one is moving!”

Heads snapped up. Eyes searched the forest.

And there, in the distance, another massive trunk was drifting through the trees, moving steadily away from the village.

“There! I see it!”

“It’s going to get away!”

“After it! We can’t let it escape!”

The crowd surged forward, laughing and shouting, caught up in the strange, wonderful impossibility of what they were witnessing.

No one stopped to ask how a tree could walk. No one questioned the miracle.

They simply ran, chasing the forest spirit that had come to protect them.

And somewhere ahead of them, hidden among the branches of the very tree they were chasing, Leona was kissing Luca with everything she had.

Her lips found his cheek, his jaw, the corner of his mouth. She kissed his temple, his eyebrow, the bridge of his nose.

Each kiss was a payment, each payment another step, and Luca ran like he had wings on his feet.

“Faster!” She gasped between kisses. “They’re catching up!”

He laughed, the sound bright and wild.

“Then you’d better kiss faster!”

She did. She kissed him until she lost count, until her lips were tingling, until the world became nothing but the rhythm of his footsteps and the taste of his skin.

Behind them, the villagers chased. Ahead of them, the forest opened up.

And Leona, for the first time in forty years, felt completely, utterly alive.

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