Hope

Hope.

A four-letter word that held more weight than I could ever express.

I once read a quote from a book in my previous life: "Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air,...

but only one second without hope."

By that measure, the Dryad in front of me was doing surprisingly well, considering it had been at least three minutes since my words had seemingly snatched away her will to live. Her legs buckled beneath her, but my hands, already resting on her shoulders, kept her from collapsing.

"Relax, relax, everything's gonna be okay..." I whispered into her ear, trying to soothe her. "You just need to breathe..."

At first, it seemed like my words were working. She appeared to pull herself together, but then I realized I had underestimated the depth of her despair.

'How could I have forgotten?' I lamented quietly in the catacombs of my mind. 'After denial comes anger...'

She turned her gaze toward her unconscious sister, her eyes filled with a conflicting mix of love and hatred. The weight of her silent accusation was clear—she believed Isabel had betrayed her by revealing their secrets to me.

I could've let this family drama play out, but I was never one for sappy melodramas. Feeling somewhat philanthropic today, I decided to intervene with a little white lie to clear Isabel's name.

"Stop looking at her that way," I suggested gently, turning her head with a soft flick of my index finger brushing against her cheek to face me instead. "She didn't tell me anything about them. I've known for a long time, and if you want the truth, I'm practically one of them."

I smirked, letting her chew on that double negative and half-truth. "I can assure you they won't be angry about your failures."

'Especially not after I 'convince' them to forgive you...'

"Now, ho—"

"Why?"

Her voice, though weak, sliced through my words. I hadn't expected her to interrupt me, especially not so late in the game.

"Why what?" I asked, genuinely curious. She looked like she would give anything to be done with this conversation.

"Why are you being so nice to us?"

Her question made my brows furrow. 'Just what kind of impression do they have of me?' It didn't make sense. I'd "trapped" Isabel for some light-hearted chats, but I had never gone further than scaring the little brat a bit. In fact, I thought we'd reached an unspoken understanding. So why did their leader, and only their leader, have such a negative impression of me?

'Clearly, she knows something the others don't.' And I had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the being they all worshipped—a being I wasn't ready to confront until I'd gathered more strength.

"Why wouldn't I be nice to you? Just because you lot haven't exactly been the most welcoming hosts, why in the world would I get angry at you for that?" I asked, my words defying sensibility and reason.

"I was the uninvited guest who rudely made your forest my home," I smiled, my mind working furiously to cook up a finale to this great play. "I even tried so hard to make up for my rudeness by getting rid of your pests and trying to make friends with your 'pet,' but I can see now that the best thing for me to do would be to leave this humble abode..."

I wasn't dense. I could tell when I wasn't welcome somewhere, and what reason did I have to stay where I wasn't wanted?

"Toodle-oo, bye girls," I said, turning away with a half-hearted wave of the back of my hand. "Looks like I'll never see y—"

"WAIT!"

'Wow, what a shocker that they want me to stay,' I thought, my mind dripping with sarcasm. This little act had gone on far too long.

It was a trick I'd learned when dealing with Diana during the few days we had together before my 'suicide' visit to Japan. 'Chasing after someone never helps. It's only after you leave that they truly understand what they've lost and realize your worth. Sometimes, distance is the only way to see things clearly.'

Although it was a bit manipulative, what relationship isn't?

Sighhh, I let out an exaggerated sigh as I turned back to face her again. I was really starting to get tired of their leader's incompetence.

First, she wanted me to leave, and now she wanted me to stay. Even with all my strength and intellect, I found her signals harder to read than any ancient language.

"You're their leader, and you're really acting like this?" I couldn't believe the way she had handled herself up to now. Unfortunately, by the shocked look plastered on her companions' faces, it was clear her entourage was still confused about how the discussion had shifted.

"Even Isabel would make for a better leader than you. At least she had the decisiveness to make a decision and didn't let fear cloud her judgment."

The Dryads had really outdone themselves this time, finding another way to convince me never to visit this forest again, for fear of earning another headache by their antics.

'I should honestly just leave...' There was nothing keeping me in the forest anymore. The only reason I had even considered talking to their leader was to gain some more information through a friendly chat.

At first, I had assumed they would be ecstatic to earn my favor, especially considering all the good deeds I had done for them, including getting rid of that Basilisk Queen and helping keep their 'treasure' in tip-top condition. I mean, why wouldn't they want someone like me on their side? They had found themselves right in the middle of a mess—a mess that only I was equipped to clean up.

'I would lend them my strength to ensure their safety from the council, and in turn, I would earn their gratitude and soak up more detailed information about the machinations of this world.'

Unfortunately, my plan went down the drain when I realized an important flaw in my strategy after our brief conversation.

'Somehow, I don't know how, their leader knows more about me than she's letting on...'

Although I wasn't entirely certain how much they knew, I could tell that they feared me more than the council and certainly more than any common 'devil.'

The foundation of any long-term cooperation was trust, and from the way their leader looked at me—with eyes filled with horror and disgust—there was nothing I could say to change her opinion of me.

"Looks like we're at an impasse."

They didn't want me to leave, as I could bring them untold disaster by informing the council of their shenanigans.

And I couldn't leave... because they were still alive.

Their fates were sealed the moment I realized their leader's misgivings about my identity.

I wasn't in the habit of leaving loose ends, especially when they could be my undoing. It wasn't about showing no mercy to my enemies; it was a simple matter of minimizing risk.

'Although it's a long shot, there's no telling what they'll do to get rid of me.'

A game of 'what if's' was my least favorite to play, especially when it concerned my survival. 'For all I know, they could plan another one of their schemes to turn all the human kingdoms against me in an effort to eradicate me for good.'

Although becoming the common enemy of the world sounded good on paper, in practice, it would only hamper my path toward strength in the short term, especially when I had so many other avenues to explore.

'Even in my previous world, I only started playing with nations after I had exhausted every other path toward greater strength.'

At the moment, I needed to bide my time, remain hidden below the radar, and accumulate both strength and knowledge until I was ready to reveal myself once again on the world stage.

'A few kingdoms wouldn't be a problem, sure, but I wouldn't want to earn the ire of some hidden old master who comes down the mountain just to teach me a lesson.'

For that reason alone, I couldn't allow the Dryads to remain alive. But if it were that easy, I wouldn't be standing here right now, would I?

These Dryads were foolish—not only for the innumerable mistakes they had previously made but more so because they underestimated the power they possessed.

'There's no way in hell I'm gonna 'fight' their God without adequate preparation and training.'

The fear of the unknown.

It was a powerful deterrent, even for someone like me. After all, I wasn't invincible... at least not yet.

But considering how I had yet to be attacked by their supposed 'All-Mother,' the risk of a confrontation was minimal as long as I didn't do anything to piss it off, like, say, killing all of its believers.

Thus, we were at an impasse, where the first one to give in would be the loser of this little charade.

The bottom line was that I needed their loyalty and trust, while they needed my strength and support.

"So, what's it gonna be, Miss Dryad?" I asked, my gaze piercing deeply into her widening eyes as her body once again began to shiver.

"Are you ready to make a deal with the devil?"

The Dryad's eyes flickered with a mix of emotions—fear, uncertainty, and something else I couldn't quite place. Her trembling form betrayed the inner turmoil she was grappling with, and for a moment, I almost felt a pang of pity. Almost.

But pity wasn't a luxury I could afford, not now. Not when I was so close to achieving my goal.

And I was right in my judgment, for her next words caused me to reminisce, stirring an unexpected wave of nostalgia within me.

"What do you want?"