The Wind Chime Tree
Leon was stunned for a moment.
Then a faint smile touched his lips.
He slowly straightened and turned toward Selena and Rias. The evening breeze swept through his long black hair. His midnight robes stirred gently, and the thin amethyst patterns woven into the fabric caught the fading light.
"See that wind chime tree by the door?" he asked. "My Teacher planted it."
Selena and Rias froze.
Both girls turned to look at the tree.
They had passed it countless times. It stood beside the old residence, its branches swaying whenever the wind blew. Its leaves made a soft, delicate sound, much like the distant ringing of wind chimes.
They had always thought of it as an ordinary tree.
Nothing special. Nothing worth a second glance.
Yet their Grandmaster had planted it with his own hands.
Neither of them had ever imagined that.
