The next day, early in the morning, I followed Flamel to the palace and we were led to where the emperor was waiting for us. Apparently, Flamel had already made an appointment for us. As we got in front of the emperor, I prostrated myself to greet him while Flamel just nodded his head.

‘Well, when you’re that powerful you can get away with such things.’

“The Whitefyre boy I gave the great waste to on my daughter’s recommendation. Lift your head, I want to see you.” So I lifted my head to look at him and-

‘Yep, nothing changed.’

He was still shining and I was still feeling the heat just by being next to him. I could ignore the passive gravity effects though and the heat had become more bearable to me as I had gotten more powerful.

‘If this isn’t proof I’ve grown, I don’t know what is.’

“What was the name you picked again?” He propped his hand onto his right palm as stared at me.

“Heartree, your majesty.” I replied.

“Ahh, you did mention you are half elf, didn’t you?”

‘I never did.’

“Yes, your majesty. It is a name in honour of my mother.” He looked at me for a long period of time, atmosphere heavy, before he sighed.

“My daughter was feeling a little bit resentful when she asked to give you that land, Heartree. She had never been anything but the best in her generation, barring her brother of course, and she didn’t know how to handle it. So she wanted to see you fail.”

‘See, this is why I don’t talk with children.’ I sighed.

“Over the years, she seems to have become remorseful over the fact that she took a true chance of what would have been a good reward from you and asked me to give you something better, but I refused.” His expression became serious.

“Because such decisions cannot be just wished away after they have been made and I used you to teach her that.” He looked me in the eye as if to provoke me.

“I used you to teach my daughter that actions have consequences.”

‘See, I knew you were an asshole.’ I held my poker face.

“Yes, your majesty.”

‘No need to give him any ammunition to use against me.’ His expression mellowed out as I didn’t say anything. Then he turned to Flamel with a quirked brow.

“Is he really like this, or is this just posturing?”

‘Hey, he is in the roo-’

“He really does seem to take things in stride. it’s really quite fascinating to watch when you try to push his buttons.”

‘They really are gonna talk about me like I’m not in the room?’

“So what? He’s a dead fish without any outward expression of emotions?”

‘This asshole. Did he just sa-’

“More or less. But I think I prefer it this way, no fuss when dealing with him.”

‘They’re both assholes.’

“So what is it that you guys were trying to hide from the whole world in that land?” The emperor asked.

“This guy came up with the most interesting solution to the great waste. He alchemically produced the seed for a world tree and planted it with the aid of some ritual he cooked up. The world tree has reached the stage of breaking down the curse faster than the curse is restored, meaning the great waste would soon be no more, so I decided to inform you now.” Flamel answered.

“Ohh? The elves are going to be mad then.” The emperor smirked.

“I’m looking forward to it. Those damn tree huggers never let me come close to a world tree. Kept saying it was a holy sight or whatever.” Flamel also smirked as he answered. The emperor leaned in.

“So, how does it hold up to the real thing? Since it was created from alchemy there has to be some drop off?” The emperor inquired.

“It’s definitely a pale comparison. But from what I’ve witnessed over the years, it may very well grow to be just as great, if not greater.” Flamel replied.

“HAHAHAHAHA, the elves are going to be so damn mad! When are you removing the veil covering the territory?”

“This part is a little more difficult because the boy wants the veil gone after his territory has been established.” Flamel looked at me while still talking to the emperor.

‘Wait, what. That’s none of your- ’

“He probably worded it as vaguely as he possibly could so that he had leeway in telling me when to essentially piss off.” Then he smiled and looked back at the emperor.

‘Wait, what! Where is this conversation going?!’

“I allowed him that leverage to give him a peace of mind.” The emperor then looked at me.

“The veil will not be removed until your territory has been built out and protected by suitable wards. Having a world tree in the empire will be a huge boon and I intend to make sure it stays healthy and grows into its peak. The Heartree family, from now until the end, is now in charge of the protection of the empire’s world tree.” He paused for a bit, then sighed.

“It’s a pity I can’t just kill you and take the land and the tree for myself. Alas, you have a staunch protector in Flamel who would make life difficult after your death. From a barony, you will now be a marquess. Baron is too low for the purpose of your now family name, I'll make the changes after the veil surrounding your territory has been dropped.” He nodded to himself. I clenched my fist tightly and grit my teeth.

“I’ll also need land next to the world tree to build a palace for my family. I'm sure my wife would like to go and spend some days just lounging in the mana. So, start making plans for your territory, how it would look, sewage housing and all that. When you are prepared, I’ll send in the best builders this empire has under contract to start building this all up, starting with the teleportation arc.”

I just stood there, stunned. Even as I was led out of the palace and went back to my room, I still hadn’t gotten over the daze.

‘Did those assholes just call me to stand there while they discussed my territory.’

They had unknowingly lit a fire in the pit of my stomach. I was annoyed, no, I was angry. Angry that my opinion held so little weight because I had no power when compared to those two.

‘Be prepared, then. I’ll get stronger and grow into such a significant figure that cannot be ignored like that again.’