She had already thrown off her cumbersome shoes that hindered her running as she passed the prison entrance. She had long since tied up her dress, leaving only the petticoat.

When she tried to escape to the first-floor hall after climbing the stairs, she saw more servants gathered than usual, probably due to the unexpected visitor.

‘I’ll get caught if I go that way.’

Sure enough, she faintly heard voices from behind giving instructions to the servants in the hall.

Melissa immediately changed direction.

‘He must be quite anxious about His Highness seeing me in this state.’

Her cheek was swollen, clearly showing signs of being hit.

Her eyes were hollow from suffering since yesterday, and she’s running around without shoes and with her skirt all gathered up.

Everyone who saw Melissa would think the same thing.

Something must have been happening in the Shortiras ducal family, which everyone had believed to be peaceful.

‘I’m glad Lloyd came right away.’

She had sent a letter asking him to come immediately, but she worried what would happen if he couldn’t come due to scheduling conflicts.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Lloyd.

But he was the Crown Prince of the Artzen Empire.

There could be unavoidable circumstances that would prevent him from coming no matter how much he wanted to. Considering that, she was quite lucky now.

‘The more witnesses, the better. I hope he brought as many knight guards as possible.’

With such thoughts, Melissa hesitated at a fork in the road. One led to a small door to the garden, and the other to stairs going up.

Where should she go? How could she better catch the eye of the visitors outside?

‘I should probably go outside…’

Melissa, who had been thinking naturally, shook her head.

From what she had seen earlier, servants were likely already waiting in the garden too. Expecting to meet Lloyd without any problems was too risky.

Even if she failed to escape, she needed a place where Lloyd could clearly see her condition.

After a brief deliberation, Melissa quickly climbed the stairs.

She had to go to a high place no matter what.

‘I need to hurry. I’ll get caught at this rate.’

She heard murmuring sounds not far away.

Her mind was urgent, but she was too slow in running.

Melissa bit her lip while running and whispered a small spell. The moment she finished speaking, the scenery before her eyes changed instantly. Suddenly, she was in a room on the fourth floor.

‘I expected this, but I couldn’t go far.’

Melissa let out a small sigh.

It was frustrating, but unavoidable.

Teleportation is a magic that consumes a lot of magical power. Melissa wasn’t a skilled practitioner like Edgar, and her young body didn’t have enough magical power to travel long distances.

Even just moving this far had drained all her strength. Her already poor condition felt like it was screaming for help.

‘But I can’t give up here.’

Melissa barely squeezed out her remaining strength and headed toward the balcony.

After walking a few steps……

A sword that suddenly appeared from behind touched her neck.

“Lady Lucid, let’s go back now.”

“……”

“The duke has ordered that if you cause any more trouble, he won’t leave you alone.”

A knight of the ducal family had already followed her here.

Melissa slowly turned her head.

The sword that had been right next to her neck grazed her skin. Blood flowed along that trajectory.

“D-don’t move anymore……”

The knight shouted, flinching.

But Melissa moved regardless. This kind of thing didn’t hurt at all anyway.

Really. Not at all.

“Tell him to do as he pleases. I’ll do as I please too.”

Melissa left those words and stepped back.

After walking a few steps, her body had completely moved out to the balcony. Her long silver hair fluttered in the wind.

She hadn’t noticed because of the confrontation with the knight, but it was noisy behind her.

Looking down slightly, she could see knights from the ducal family and the imperial knights arguing. Melissa caught a familiar voice amid the commotion.

“Lady Lucid?”

Green eyes that had likewise discovered her widened in surprise. Lloyd, who had been slowly examining her from head to toe, contorted his face mercilessly.

Seeing him about to step forward as if he would enter the mansion immediately, Melissa lowered her head toward the ground.

‘It’s higher than I thought.’

She could use her remaining magical power to slow her fall a bit, but she wasn’t sure if she could entirely avoid an injury.

Melissa glanced at the knight approaching her cautiously, then looked forward again. She immediately placed her hands on the balcony railing.

Eventually, Lloyd rushed toward her as she leaned her body toward the railing. Melissa’s body flipped over in an instant. The scenery before her eyes changed rapidly.

‘Ah.’

The sound of the wind, louder than expected, rang in her head. Urgent voices grew closer. It felt strangely peculiar.

This action was the same as at the end of her previous life, but unlike then, now it was to survive.

Due to using all her strength, her body fell rather slowly. Of course, not slow enough to avoid injury completely.

But Melissa believed.

In his upright character, willing to make a magical contract on a promise with someone he had just met. In his kind heart that rushed here immediately without any hesitation upon receiving her sudden letter.

And as expected, Lloyd safely caught her as she fell. He lived up to his reputation for excellent swordsmanship.

Her limp body fell into his embrace, which was larger than expected.

“Are you in your right mind?”

Lloyd shouted, wrapping his trembling hands around Melissa’s shoulders. Various emotions quickly passed through his eyes as he examined her.

‘Today too, this person is worried about me.’

A deep sense of relief washed over her at the thought that the face she had seen that day wasn’t a lie. Even though she thought Lloyd wasn’t that kind of person, she also felt anxious about being deceived again.

Melissa looked at him and smiled slightly.

“You can smile at a time like……”

“You kept your promise, Your Highness.”

Lloyd’s body stiffened.

After moving his lips for a moment, not knowing what to say, he murmured with a faint sigh.

“I said I would come when the lady called. No matter what happens, without exception.”

“Yes, really…… thank you so much.”

With those words, Melissa closed her eyes.

With the amusing thought that this was already the second time she had fainted in front of this person, despite not having known him for long.

* * *

“Yes, really…… thank you so much.”

Melissa left those words and lowered her eyelids.

Soon her arms went limp. The sight looked just like her soul had left her body, so Lloyd urgently placed his finger at the tip of Melissa’s nose.

His hand, which had been trembling with surprise, only calmed down after feeling the faint breath. She seemed to have simply fainted from exhaustion.

Lloyd let out a long sigh of relief.

This was already the second time.

That this person had collapsed in front of him.

He had felt something was strange since receiving the letter.

Though it contained simple content asking him to visit the Shortiras ducal mansion, it had been enchanted so that no one except him could see it. And the handwriting showed the trembling characteristic of a frightened person.

Just in case, he had rushed over with his knights immediately after sending his reply, but he never expected to encounter such a scene.

When Melissa jumped from the railing up there, his heart nearly stopped. He never wanted to experience something like that again.

“Duke Shortiras.”

Lloyd quietly called Lionel while holding the fragile body tightly. Lionel, who had been approaching to explain the current situation, stopped in front of him.

“I need an explanation for what’s happening right now.”

Lloyd said with cold eyes.

While speaking, a grinding sound came from his teeth.

It was true that he was particularly angry because the person involved was Melissa, with whom he was acquainted, but even if that weren’t the case, this was an unacceptable situation.

A young child, and a member of the Lucid clan at that, in such a state. Lloyd remembered the words his father used to mutter habitually.

[The Lucid are precious beings chosen by the deity. With that bloodline, anything can be achieved.]

[We must make them our allies.]

The Lucid clan are those who receive the deity’s love.

It was an undeniable fact.

Lionel would know this. No, he would know it better than anyone, so why had something like this happened?

Regardless of his rising anger, deep suspicion grew in Lloyd’s mind. Noticing this, Lionel sighed. He quickly frowned and then relaxed his expression.

“Your Highness, there seems to be a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

Lloyd cut off the excuse that was about to flow smoothly.

He sharply questioned.

“The duke can say such things even after seeing this?”

A face clearly showing signs of assault with hand marks and swelling, bare feet with injuries from not wearing shoes, and a skirt tied up to avoid hindering her walk. It wasn’t difficult to infer the unfavorable situation.

The image of Melissa at the funeral suddenly flashed in Lloyd’s mind.

Her words when he asked what compensation she wanted, spoken with a bright smile.

[Then please become my friend, Your Highness.]