Nox, wearing a rabbit-shaped half-mask, gazed up at the brilliant display of fireworks filling the night sky. Just moments ago, the procession following Luinel and Evelyn’s successful coronation ceremony at the Grand Temple had concluded. The empire’s citizens enthusiastically welcomed the ascension of their new emperor, who appeared with the blessing of the Saintess, a hero of the continent in his own right.

All that remained now were the grand festivals and banquets that would continue for a month. However, Nox’s interest wasn’t in the banquet that was essentially an after-party for the coronation. His focus was on finding ‘Evelyn’ among the bustling crowd faster than the other male leads.

“It’s been a while, Knight Commander. It’s sad that even that rabbit mask can’t fulfill its purpose since you’re so recognizable from afar.”

Hearing the smooth voice from behind, Nox turned around with a grimace. Hezel, adorned like a peacock from head to toe, was giving him an eye-smile.

“That’s rich coming from you.”

“I’m deliberately making myself obvious. You never know, Evelyn might want to catch my eye first of her own accord.”

“Even if it’s a futile dream, you’re free to dream. I’ll support you.”

Hezel burst into laughter at the utterly soulless encouragement.

“Being around Evelyn is always the most fun. I wonder who will win the game Evelyn proposed today.”

A few days ago, Evelyn had sent them all a messenger with a rather interesting note attached. It roughly stated that at this rate, her body wouldn’t survive, so she wanted to set up a rotation system where she would spend one month with each of them in turn.

The condition that whoever found her first at the banquet following the coronation, where she would be disguised among the crowd, would get the first turn was an added bonus. The use of magic or artifacts was prohibited, and anyone caught cheating would be pushed to last place. Remembering this threat, Hezel’s lips relaxed into a smile.

“Even her threats are adorably like her.”

Ignoring the giggling Hezel, Nox passed by him and entered the banquet hall first. With imperial nobles and foreign delegations in attendance, the hall was literally packed with people. Evelyn had said she would be in disguise among the people, but Nox was confident.

Even if she transformed into a magical beast, he could find her instantly. And the same was true for the other male protagonists. Including Luinel, today’s banquet host, and Ian, who was formally representing the tower and leading the sages, all had eyes that were casually yet persistently scanning the banquet hall.

Luinel, who had just finished dealing with the delegation and come down from the platform, put on a cat mask handed to him by the head butler and asked.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Obviously you.”

“Hearing you say that makes me want to find Evelyn as quickly as possible.”

It was a golden opportunity to have Evelyn exclusively for a whole month. Although he didn’t like the constraint of having to wait several months until his turn came around again. But as always, every rule had loopholes. And even if there weren’t any, couldn’t one just make them?

Luinel disappeared into the crowd, continuing thoughts that would have made Evelyn grab him by the back of the neck had she known. Ian, who had been tilting his head back to thoroughly scan the three-story banquet hall, had the corner of his lips curl up smoothly.

“You’ve prepared an interesting prank, Evelyn.”

The mastermind behind the game, Evelyn, wasn’t here. The trace of magical energy he had injected into Evelyn’s body along with his s*men long ago couldn’t be felt anywhere. Realizing this, Ian quietly turned around.

He briefly felt the urge to take Evelyn and disappear like this, but he needed to have insurance in case the unknown power attached to Evelyn went berserk. Closing his eyes, Ian sent a telepathic message to the other male leads scattered throughout the banquet hall searching for Evelyn.

-The game is over.

Evelyn has disappeared.

It was time to bring back the bird who had dared to leave the manor while keeping all of them tied up here, and to clip her wings.

At the same time.

After confirming that all the male leads had headed to the banquet hall, Evelyn put on a robe that covered her entire body and left the annex palace. Shortly after, she arrived at the tower and immediately ascended the spiral staircase. Most of the tower’s mages seemed to have attended the banquet, as the interior was not only empty but had a chilly wind blowing through it.

Thanks to Ian giving her free access, she moved without hindrance to the floor connected to the wide-area teleport zone. There, she encountered the youngest sage, Lime, who was on duty alone. Lime’s eyes widened upon seeing Evelyn approaching rapidly, almost flying toward him.

“Huh? Saintess? What brings you here? Didn’t you go to the banquet—”

“Sage. I have an urgent and discreet favor to ask. Could you spare a moment?”

Lime nodded reflexively at Evelyn’s forceful request that was practically grabbing him by the collar with her eyes.

“What kind of favor? Besides, this floor has a large magic circle connected to the vicinity of the rift.”

“Someone of your caliber can activate this level of magic circle alone, right?”

“…Gasp. Are you planning to move to the vicinity of the rift? The Tower Master will be furious if he finds out.”

He was backing away slowly, looking ready to run straight to Ian and tattle.

‘It would be more than just trouble; it would lead to a confinement ending.’

For some reason, the male leads were extremely averse to her leaving the imperial palace. Because of this, for nearly a year, her range of movement had been limited to the imperial palace and the tower, except for purification ceremonies.

“That’s why I want to return as quickly as possible. And for that, I need your help.”

Already knowing that Lime would be on duty today, Evelyn smiled brightly. Looking alternately at the large magic circle spread out behind him and the smiling Evelyn, Lime shook his head.

“Please count me out. I’d prefer to live a long, quiet life… Aack!”

“Since we’ve already met like this, aren’t you an accomplice? Consider it a contribution to the world and come with me.”

Her business was a public business heavily tinged with personal interest. If she truly succeeded in closing the rift, humanity would also win. Despite Evelyn’s firm promise that he wouldn’t suffer any disadvantages from this, Lime hesitated. He seemed quite afraid of Ian.

“Even so, operating a magic circle of this scale without the Tower Master’s permission is a bit…”

“Sage, I heard you’re starting new research. Short on funds, aren’t you? I’ll cover that for you.”

On the condition that he kept secret her visit to the tower today and everything he was about to witness. If she completed the final main quest, the system would reward her with 100 million gold. That would make her, if not as wealthy as Hezel, the master of the underground economy, at least join the ranks of the extremely wealthy.

True to the characteristic obsession with research that sages were known for, Lime quickly changed his stance.

“Actually, my career aspiration is to be a mage who creates secretive and rewarding secrets. Follow me.”

Evelyn closed her eyes as she stepped onto the magic circle interwoven with complex geometric patterns alongside Lime. A moment later, the texture of the wind brushing against her cheek changed, and a chill that was hard to believe for early spring swept over her entire body.

“It’s, it’s, it’s damn, cold.”

The sentence broke into fragments along with her chattering teeth. Quickly casting a temperature maintenance spell on Evelyn’s robe, Lime tightened his cloak and replied.

“I guess being near the rift makes the temperature much lower than elsewhere.”

Another reason was added to return to the banquet hall as soon as possible. Evelyn looked up at the rift, which had shrunk to exactly half its original size since she first saw it.

‘I once fell into that place and even met Satan.’

Though it had been only half a year ago, it felt like ancient history. Lime was horrified as he watched Evelyn resolutely walk toward the rift after briefly staring at it.

“Was the rift your destination?”

“Yes. I’m not sure if it’s possible, but I’m going to try to close it.”

“…No way. You’re doing this so suddenly?”

“It’s the day of the new Emperor’s coronation, so wouldn’t one more joyous event be nice?”