Chapter 131

As soon as Theo opened the door, Father, Holanghee, and Noquia charged into the house like a pack of bulldozers. Theo staggered back, caught in the wake of the three, but Blaine quickly caught him, allowing him to narrowly avoid losing his balance and tumbling over.

Watching the three of them fan out through the house like a crane-wing formation, Theo glared at their retreating backs with a lamenting look, feeling a sudden pang of regret for bringing them along. But the water was already spilled. Letting out a low sigh, Theo followed them inside with Blaine.

Father, who had entered the house with high expectations, came to a halt after only a few steps with a dissatisfied look in her eyes. Holanghee was the same.

The two slowly scanned the interior of the first floor. Noquia was scurrying around and poking into things like a frantic monkey at the edge of their vision, but they didn’t pay her much mind.

After surveying the interior, Father turned around with a furrowed brow as she sensed a presence approaching from behind. She addressed Theo as he drew near.

“Hey, what is this house even supposed to be…? It’s a complete mess.”

“Huh? What is?”

“The furniture. Did you gather them like a ragtag bunch of soldiers? None of it harmonizes; they’re all doing their own thing.”

“Arranging them like this is actually a talent in itself,” Holanghee added.

Faced with their reactions, Theo looked around the interior again and scratched his head awkwardly.

“Ah… back during the Fortification State, the supply of handmade furniture was low, so there wasn’t much to find. Most of this was stuff we bought at random after Blaine’s luck triggered an NPC Secret Shop…. I meant to go back to the Bazaar once the Fortification State was lifted, but I haven’t had the chance.”

Father clicked her tongue at Theo’s excuse and looked at the furniture once more. It was an understandable explanation, but not one she could simply overlook. Father rolled up her sleeves and declared,

“…Forget everything else; let’s start by fixing up this furniture.”

With those words, Father sat Theo and Blaine down in a corner of the house—as if they were in the way. Then, she began discussing things with Holanghee and Noquia. It seemed the homeowner’s permission wasn’t required.

The three held a fierce debate in the middle of the living room before bolting out of the house. A long while later, they returned and began moving in earnest.

Having been granted decorating permissions by Theo, the three first decided to reform the existing furniture to match the house’s atmosphere. Any pieces that wouldn’t fit even after a reform were boldly tossed out. They decided on colors that matched their chosen interior concept, leaving the color mixing and dyeing entirely to Noquia.

They hammered, painted, added, and subtracted, finishing the furniture in a flash. Furniture that looked brand new took on a vintage, lived-in feel, and pieces they had never seen before were added to the mix.

Theo watched as the interior began to take shape, thinking it looked like a countryside cottage somewhere abroad. He asked,

“What’s the concept? At least tell me that.”

Father, who was moving tools near the window and decorating the area with items like garlic braids, herb bundles, and kitchen utensils like frying pans, replied,

“Ever heard of a Southern French farmhouse interior?”

“Southern French?”

That was surprisingly specific.

“Lucilvania is a village modeled after European regions. That’s why this style of interior fits so well.”

At Father’s answer, Blaine pulled up his display and began searching for images of ‘Southern French farmhouses.’ As countless photos filled the screen, Theo’s gaze naturally followed.

The numerous interiors on the screen looked peaceful and warm, evoking a strange sense of nostalgia. A ticklish feeling rose in his chest.

The two sat close together, looking at the photos and making sure not to miss a single change happening inside their home. The drab and disorganized house was transforming into something bright and warm, just like the atmosphere in the pictures.

“Oh, and this.”

Father, having finished the kitchen decorations, wiped her hands and approached, holding something out.

“What is it?”

As Theo reached out with a curious face, Father casually handed him an item.

“A housewarming gift.”

Theo tilted his head and checked the item he had received, only to freeze in shock.

“The Tree of Abundance?!”

The Tree of Abundance was a player-cultivated variety inspired by the Horn of Plenty held by Copia, the Roman goddess of abundance. It was a Rare-grade item known for blooming different flowers and bearing various fruits all from a single tree. Because the seeds were reasonably priced, practical, and aesthetically pleasing, the tree had garnered significant attention from the player base. However, the problem was that cultivating the tree itself was so difficult that seeing a fully grown specimen was like catching a falling star.

Consequently, it became a case of high demand and low supply, leading to a situation where a single mature tree traded for astronomical prices. Giving such a tree as a gift—and a mature one at that, not even a seed—was enough to make one’s eyes pop out.

Father waved her hand dismissively at the two, who had turned stiff as boards at the sight of the Tree of Abundance, as if it were no big deal.

“You said you have a backyard. If you plant one there, it’ll be pretty to look at and very useful in many ways.”

Hearing the word “backyard” suddenly reminded Theo of the Full Moon in the Courtyard. Theo quickly stood up, tugged on Blaine’s arm, and addressed the group.

“Then we’ll head to the backyard for a bit. Can we leave the interior to you guys?”

Father, Holanghee, and Noquia looked up at Theo for a moment. But they quickly turned back to their tasks and replied.

“Not being here is the best way to help.”

With that blunt dismissal, Theo and Blaine headed to the backyard. The modest backyard was divided into two sections: one side was a vegetable garden, and the other was planted with fruit trees.

Since having just one Tree of Abundance meant other fruit trees weren’t really necessary, Theo cleared out all the existing trees and planted the Tree of Abundance in their place.

“Whoa.”

However, the tree was much larger than expected. Theo thought it over for a moment, consulted with Blaine, and decided to remove the vegetable garden as well. Then, they installed a circular flower bed with border stones in the center of the yard and planted the Tree of Abundance there.

By installing just one tree, the yard truly looked abundant, living up to the tree’s name. The small yard, which had looked cluttered with various plants, became tidy and aesthetically pleasing.

The two looked at the Tree of Abundance with satisfied faces before taking out the Full Moon in the Courtyard.

“Shall we install it?”

Blaine asked, and Theo nodded. Both their eyes were full of anticipation. With hearts fluttering over what it would look like and how it would feel, they activated the Full Moon in the Courtyard. In the blink of an eye, day turned into night.

And before their eyes, a massive full moon hung brilliantly, large enough to fill the entire backyard sky. It was a moon so vast that even if they stretched their arms out as wide as possible, they wouldn’t be able to embrace it.

“Wow….”

The same exclamation burst from both their mouths simultaneously.

“Oh, Hyung, it says you can even designate the color of the moon.”

As Blaine spoke, he seemed to be clicking through various settings, as the moon’s color shifted continuously from red to blue to yellow.

“Blue. The blue is pretty.”

As soon as Theo spoke, the moon turned a deep blue. After standing dazed for a long time, staring up at the night sky where the blue moon had risen, the two headed back inside to show this spectacle to the three people indoors.

“Wow….”

Another identical exclamation escaped them as they stepped inside. The interior had changed so drastically that it was incomparable to when they had left. The walls and floors had been recolored to match the furniture and décor; a fireplace now sat on a once-empty wall, and the window overlooking the alley now featured a cozy window seat.

The ruggedness that had practically screamed “two men live here” had been wiped away, replaced by a layer of bright warmth. It felt like they had walked into a completely new house rather than the home they had been living in until this morning. Theo felt a tickle in his chest.

While the two stood there with dazed expressions, Father, who was coming down from the second floor, spotted them and spoke up.

“Hey, the second floor only has bedrooms. Since those are personal spaces, we didn’t touch them.”

“Oh? Oh… okay.”

As Theo nodded blankly, Father reached the bottom of the stairs and glanced toward the backyard through the window behind Theo.

“Did you install the tree?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. It turned out to be really big.”

Theo turned around and pointed out the window. However, looking through the window, the backyard appeared as bright as day. Theo tilted his head, wondering if the Full Moon in the Courtyard had deactivated, just as Holanghee and Noquia approached.

“Hey, move aside. Let’s see if the backyard needs any work,” they said, pushing past Theo, Blaine, and Father to open the back door.

“Whoa! What is this?”

Noquia, who was about to step out into the yard, instinctively shouted and scrambled backward. Holanghee also froze, her eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?”

Startled by their unusual reaction, Father approached. After glancing at the two with a puzzled look, she turned her gaze toward the backyard. “What in the world is this?” she muttered, her jaw dropping.

Seeing the three react the same way, Theo and Blaine also checked the view from inside the back door. In the backyard, the massive full moon they had summoned was filling the entire night sky.

“?”

Theo quickly stepped back a few paces and looked at the window again. Through the window, the backyard was still daytime. But looking out through the open back door, the backyard was night.