“……Even though you won’t even see his face, you still call the young duke by his name.”

Lloyd’s usually bright face darkened.

Melissa, who was organizing her books again, didn’t notice him and asked while picking up a book,

“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you well. What did you say?”

“I was talking about the letter from the imperial palace I mentioned earlier.”

That didn’t seem right.

Melissa tilted her head but didn’t bother to ask.

If the person didn’t want to talk about it, she had no intention of finding out. The small question that suddenly arose disappeared to the back of her mind, buried under Lloyd’s continued words.

“Actually, His Majesty wants information about the north. He seems worried since the number of monsters has increased recently. While my schedule is flexible, I was planning to stay a bit longer to look around, so I wanted to check if that’s okay with you.”

“If it’s a letter from His Majesty, then it’s an imperial order. You should obviously do it without concerning yourself with me.”

“You hate being the center of attention. With me around, you’ll attract even more attention than usual.”

Lloyd approached Melissa with large strides.

When he bent his waist slightly, his face came so close they nearly touched noses. Lloyd’s unique fresh scent wafted over her.

“I don’t want to do anything you hate.”

After finishing his words, Lloyd straightened his body again.

By the time Melissa came to her senses, Lloyd had already taken the book she had been holding.

He effortlessly held the books that Melissa had needed to exert some strength to carry. He looked like someone holding just a few sheets of paper.

Lloyd lifted the books slightly and asked,

“These are for returning to the library, right? I’ll carry them for you.”

“Ah, I can carry them myself……”

“No need. You’re still a patient. It’ll be faster if I carry them anyway.”

Lloyd turned around before Melissa could answer.

He strode out, opening the door, forcing Melissa to quickly dress properly and follow him.

Lloyd didn’t say anything special until they reached the library. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something. He only spoke after they had completely entered the library.

“I just need to give these to the librarian?”

“Yes, that’s right. If the librarian isn’t there, you can just leave them on the desk.”

“I’ll return them, so why don’t you look around for other books you might want to borrow.”

Lloyd went to return the books.

Left alone, Melissa opened her mouth slightly at a sudden realization.

‘Ah, there aren’t any more books worth looking at.’

She had heard there were no new magic books this time.

Having already read all the magic-related books in the library, Melissa had nothing new to borrow.

‘Should I follow him?’

Melissa watched Lloyd’s retreating back for a moment, then shook her head.

It had been a whole week since she’d ventured outside to avoid Edgar. Today she had only come out because it was supposedly his departure day.

Since she was already out, it seemed like a good idea to walk around the library for a change of scenery. She needed to search for her savior anyway.

Having been to the magic book section so many times she was sick of it, Melissa walked around exploring other areas.

After passing several bookshelves,

“Ah, have you heard about that?”

Voices came from somewhere.

They seemed to be coming from bookshelves across from where Melissa stood.

Though she ended up eavesdropping, it would be awkward to deliberately announce her presence, so Melissa quietly continued looking around while walking.

She planned to check if her savior was among those people a bit later.

Meanwhile, the conversation continued.

“What is it?”

“You know, that mage who came from the Magic Tower for support. The one who efficiently handled all the invading monsters right after arriving.”

“Ah, the son of the Shortiras ducal family? I remember the adults making a huge fuss about the future Tower Master suddenly coming for support.”

Melissa stopped abruptly at the name she suddenly heard.

They were talking about Edgar of all people.

‘Is it because today is his departure day?’

Melissa let out a small sigh.

She had intended to just pass by casually, but given the topic of conversation, it became awkward to leave.

After some deliberation, Melissa decided not to move further and continued listening from where she stood.

Thinking about it, since her goal was to avoid Edgar, it might be good to know what image he had among other people.

“I heard he hasn’t met with Lady Lucid at all since the day he first arrived? I thought they were childhood friends who grew up together. Isn’t that a bit strange?”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Could it be because of that incident at the ducal family before? Maybe that’s why they’re not on good terms.”

This was the part Melissa had expected to come up.

Lloyd had already asked about this before coming to the library. If he asked so directly, it wasn’t strange that completely unrelated people would gossip about it too.

‘I know this was bound to come up, but it still doesn’t feel good.’

Thinking that everyone normally talked like this, her head began to throb. Melissa raised her hand to her forehead. For a moment, she considered revealing herself to stop their conversation.

Though she didn’t actually do it.

“I don’t think that’s it. Haven’t you heard about what happened when he first arrived in the north? He used time-stopping magic right away. They say it was because of Lady Lucid!”

Time-stopping magic?

This was news to Melissa.

Not just anyone can use magic related to time. Even at the Magic Tower, filled with skilled mages, hardly anyone knew how to use it—it was magic only someone at the level of Tower Master could perform.

It was superior even to the high-level nullification magic.

To think he had used such magic to save her.

‘Why did he do that?’

Melissa felt confused. Meanwhile, the conversation continued.

“They say he rushed desperately to save Lady Lucid. Afterward, he personally took her to the doctor.”

“Gasp, really?”

Whatever fantasy they were spinning, the people exchanging stories let out small screams of “kyaak.”

Melissa was about to step forward, thinking this had gone too far.

“Ah, maybe the two of them have already been meeting secretly.”

Words like a bolt from the blue reached her ears.

“I heard that mage said he won’t return to the Magic Tower but will stay in the north for a while?”

“What did you just say?”

Melissa walked toward the source of the conversation, forgetting her intention to remain quiet.

The people talking were two women.

Startled by her sudden appearance, the two women stared at Melissa with round eyes. Their open mouths couldn’t even close.

“La-Lady Lucid……”

“What did you just say?”

But Melissa had no capacity to notice such things.

Her mind was in chaos because of what she had just heard.

What? What was Edgar going to do?

“W-well, it’s nothing special. We were just saying that the mage who came for support will be staying here for a while……”

One of the women answered in a shrinking voice while watching Melissa’s reaction. She seemed worried that Melissa might have heard the earlier part of their conversation.

“Why is he staying in the north?”

“He said he would stay longer in the north to inspect the wall. I don’t know the details.”

The woman looked confused.

She seemed puzzled that Melissa, who should know this reason better than anyone, was asking her. Noticing this, Melissa was about to say something but closed her mouth.

This wasn’t the time to argue.

There was no special feeling, so these two didn’t seem to be her savior anyway.

“……Thank you for telling me.”

Melissa left after saying just that much.

Unable to believe this situation, she even pinched her arm slightly.

It hurt. It damn well hurt.

‘This can’t be happening.’

She had been counting the days until Edgar would return to the Magic Tower. But now he wasn’t going back?

Why on earth?

Though she posed the question, Melissa actually knew the answer. It was because of her.

‘That’s why he didn’t look for me during the past week.’

If he was staying in the north longer, there would be plenty of opportunities to see her in the future.

He had already confirmed Melissa had regained consciousness and they had greeted each other, so there was no need to make time to see her during his busy schedule.

After all, she was within reach anytime, so he could visit after handling his work first.

‘Why are you doing this to me? No, why did you come now of all times?’

After not contacting her even once all this time.

She had been somewhat relieved since the time of her death in her previous life had passed. This made it feel like he had come to take away her life that hadn’t ended on time.

She kept having ominous premonitions.

‘The northern people would never agree if I asked them to send Edgar back.’

These were people who always worried about what would happen if the wall collapsed when no Magic Tower mages were around.