In such circumstances, when a Magic Tower mage offered to stay in the north temporarily, and not just any mage but the future Tower Master, the northern people would never refuse. They would cling to Edgar regardless of Melissa’s opposition.

Of course, there was also the option of falsely claiming she had seen something in her precognition to turn public opinion against Edgar, but she couldn’t predict how he would react to this.

The risk was too great.

Then there was only one option left.

‘I need to go talk to him directly.’

That seemed the only way to ease her mind a bit.

She couldn’t stay cooped up in her house the entire time Edgar was in the north, and she hated continuing to live with this anxiety.

Melissa walked quickly to the library door.

She would have left immediately if Lloyd hadn’t grabbed her wrist after finishing returning the books.

“Lady, what’s wrong?”

Lloyd asked with a worried face.

But Melissa’s mind was filled only with the thought that she needed to talk to Edgar quickly. She wished Lloyd would let go of her wrist soon.

Feeling impatient, Melissa shook her head and said,

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing? Do you know what your expression looks like right now?”

The hand holding Melissa’s wrist tightened.

Lloyd’s face distorted roughly, unable to bear it. His eyelashes, the same color as his hair, trembled slightly.

“You look terrified, like you’ve seen something frightening. Your hands are too cold. What on earth happened?”

Terrified.

Melissa silently repeated those words to herself.

It wasn’t unreasonable that she appeared that way.

She was afraid she might repeat the same process as in her previous life. The thought that she might never escape this pain made her dizzy.

So yes, Melissa was indeed afraid. But she couldn’t tell Lloyd this.

‘I can’t tell him anything anyway.’

She couldn’t suddenly confess that she had actually regressed, and that if she continued to be entangled with the Shortiras ducal family, she might die again.

She couldn’t burden Lloyd with such knowledge.

‘If only this person were my savior, that would have been nice.’

But that wouldn’t be the case.

The oracle clearly said she would recognize them immediately. She felt nothing special with Lloyd.

Melissa completely abandoned the idea of telling Lloyd.

However, she couldn’t just say it was nothing again, or Lloyd would truly get angry this time.

In the end, Melissa decided to reveal just enough of the truth.

“Well, Edgar is staying longer in the north.”

“Young duke Shortiras? Wasn’t he supposed to leave today?”

“That’s what I thought too, but I just heard he’s staying longer to examine the wall.”

Melissa’s voice trembled slightly at the end.

Noticing this, Lloyd relaxed his face a bit and gently wrapped her hand.

“Lady, something did happen between you and young duke Shortiras, didn’t it? Otherwise, you wouldn’t make such a face.”

“I told you. We fought.”

Melissa averted her gaze slightly and quickly added before Lloyd could say anything,

“We fought so badly that even after quite some time has passed, I didn’t want to see his face. But when I suddenly heard he’s staying longer in the north, I guess I was surprised. I thought Edgar wouldn’t want to see me either.”

[I missed you, Melissa.]

Edgar’s voice echoed in her ears again.

But this time, Melissa didn’t shake it off. Since she planned to confront Edgar right away, she couldn’t run away anymore.

‘It’s not like I’m afraid of Edgar.’

What Melissa feared was living the same life as before. To prevent such a miserable death, she was willing to do anything.

She needed to find out Edgar’s true purpose for coming to the north.

“I’m going to talk to him and find out what he’s thinking. I think I’ve been avoiding Edgar too much.”

Yes, hiding for a week wouldn’t solve anything. She should have done this sooner.

Melissa took a deep breath. After doing this several times, she felt warmth returning to her cold body.

“So please let go, Your Highness.”

Melissa looked straight up at Lloyd.

Her eyes, which people always praised for their mysterious color, sparkled steadily. The moment he met that gaze directly, Lloyd realized:

When Melissa had this look in her eyes, she would accomplish whatever it was, no matter what.

It had been the same when she saved him from the brink of death, when she asked to be friends, and when she said she would go to the north.

So he felt unnecessarily urgent.

He worried about what changes Melissa’s current actions might bring to this relationship that had been so tantalizingly close yet distant. What if it went in a direction he didn’t want?

“Can’t you tell me what you fought about? I might be able to help somehow.”

His voice came out somewhat urgently.

But Melissa shook her head.

“Your Highness. I appreciate your words, but this is between Edgar and me. So I’ll try to resolve it by myself somehow.”

“Lady……”

Lloyd roughly creased his face at the firm rejection.

“Do you really consider me a friend?”

“What?”

Melissa tilted her head.

She looked like she had heard something incomprehensible. Lloyd looked at her quietly, then let out a small sigh. The strength in his hand holding her wrist loosened.

Melissa probably didn’t realize it, but Lloyd knew.

That there was only one person who could evoke a reaction from her, whether negative or positive. That there was only one person she called by name with familiarity while claiming she didn’t even want to see his face.

“No, never mind. Go talk to the young duke. I heard he’s staying in the building with the infirmary.”

“The infirmary building? I’ll go check. Thank you for letting me know, Your Highness.”

Melissa bowed her head slightly and turned around.

She walked away from Lloyd with quick steps.

Lloyd almost called out to Melissa again but stopped himself. His hand, which had been raised in the air, dropped limply.

He swallowed the words he had been about to say.

Not realizing he would bitterly regret this later.

* * *

‘Is this the place?’

Melissa headed straight to the third floor of the building with the infirmary.

The doctor she met on the way confirmed that Edgar was indeed staying on the third floor of this building.

Since other Magic Tower mages who came for support usually stayed in temporary accommodations near the wall, she hadn’t expected him to stay here.

The fact that they gave him a separate room showed they truly valued Edgar.

‘Well, he is the future Tower Master, after all.’

Melissa took a deep breath and stood in front of the room the doctor had pointed out. When she knocked lightly on the door, a familiar voice came from inside.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, Melissa.”

She answered immediately, but there was no response.

Wondering if she had spoken too softly, she was about to open her mouth again when a loud noise came from inside the room. It was the sound of someone moving urgently.

This was followed by the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching.

Before Melissa could react, the door opened with a loud bang.

“Melissa?”

Edgar stepped outside as soon as he opened the door. Melissa, who had been standing close to the door wondering what was happening, flinched and stepped back.

The problem was that her legs got tangled in the process.

“Ah……”

Just as she was about to fall backward and closed her eyes tightly, she felt warmth around her waist and her body was pulled forward.

A familiar scent wafted over her.

Melissa slowly opened her eyes.

Her body, which she thought would fall backward, remained safely standing thanks to Edgar wrapping his arm around her waist. Melissa, whose face had been buried against his broad chest, fluttered her eyelashes for a moment before looking up.

Only then did she properly notice Edgar’s attire.

It was the formal uniform issued to Magic Tower mages.

The navy blue clothing that covered his arms, legs, and even his neck matched Edgar perfectly. Golden decorations embedded throughout sparkled like stars in the night sky.

Melissa looked at the light and tilted her head slightly.

‘Why wear such clothes even in his room?’

While it was natural for Edgar to wear clothes from the Magic Tower, it seemed a bit strange that he insisted on wearing those clothes even while resting in his room.

The design looked uncomfortable just by looking at it.

Edgar was even wearing gloves.

“Were you about to go somewhere?”

Melissa asked, meeting Edgar’s eyes.

Edgar shook his head slightly.

“No, I was just resting.”

Then why bother?

Melissa was about to frown slightly when Edgar let out a low chuckle.

“But Melissa, are we going to stay like this?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t mind, but……”

Edgar paused and slightly lowered his head, bringing his lips close to Melissa’s ear.

His black hair tickled her cheek.

“Others might misunderstand if they see us.”

Melissa’s cheeks turned red when she realized what he meant.

She finally understood what position they were in.

She quickly moved away from Edgar.

This pushed Edgar back, but he didn’t seem offended. He continued with a smile still on his face.

“Did you come because you heard I’m staying longer in the north?”