Naturally turning her gaze in that direction, she saw something written in large letters on the front of the stack of papers bound with a thin string.

<Asas Kingdom Crown Prince Ernel’s Visit to the Empire>

“I hear the Crown Prince has already entered the Empire through the southern port. He will probably visit the imperial palace directly.”

Lionel pointed with his chin at the bundles of documents scattered on the floor.

“The Crown Prince will definitely cross the Adore River. Use precognition to see which direction he will take along the river.”

Melissa’s eyelids trembled finely, pretending to be surprised at experiencing this for the first time. Lionel then took a step back from before. It was his way of showing consideration.

Finding it amusing, Melissa barely held back a laugh.

‘It doesn’t make sense to demand something like this from a child who just lost her mother.’

After thinking for a moment, Melissa shook her head slightly.

If Lionel had been the kind of person who could consider such things, her mother wouldn’t have died that way.

No, if at least one of the dukes of Shortiras throughout history had been in their right mind, the magical contract wouldn’t have been maintained until now.

While Melissa was slightly biting her lip in indignation, she heard the sound of feet fidgeting from the front. It seemed his patience had run out already, even though he had stepped back saying he would wait.

‘I know why he’s acting like this.’

Lionel planned to meet the Crown Prince before he reached the imperial palace, disguising it as a chance encounter. This was an opportunity to exclusively sell the new tea that the Asas Kingdom had started producing.

In her previous life, Lionel had seized this opportunity ahead of the imperial family and made enormous profits as a result.

‘Crown Prince…… Adore River……’

Thinking she shouldn’t stall any longer, Melissa closed her eyes and began her precognition. Although she had already foreseen this in her past life, it was so long ago that she should look at it properly again.

Soon, the familiar pain struck her body.

The scene of the Crown Prince riding in a carriage through the Empire appeared. He looked quite tired after coming such a long way, and she could see him saying something while looking at the river area that was still not cleaned up after the recent overflow.

And then the direction the Crown Prince headed was……

“The Crown Prince’s party will go to the left, based on their previous direction of travel.”

It was the right. Very precisely.

“The left, you say?”

Lionel raised one eyebrow.

Melissa struggled to keep her face from frowning and calmly nodded. Pain had started to creep into every corner of her body since earlier because she had violated the magical contract by lying to Lionel.

She had to endure it without being discovered.

She couldn’t collapse here when she still had so much to do.

“Yes, to the left.”

Melissa answered with clearer pronunciation than before.

Lionel quietly looked at her. He seemed to be discerning the truth. After staying like that for a while, he soon nodded.

He seemed to have judged that the young Melissa wouldn’t lie and violate the contract.

‘Anyway, I can’t deceive him with precognition until the end.’

Knowing the future alone is only temporary.

With time, everyone would learn the truth, and Lionel would come looking for her, heated with the realization that he had been deceived.

But that didn’t matter.

‘That’s exactly what I’m aiming for.’

Melissa’s plan required an angry Lionel.

Considering that she had been imprisoned when she returned after running away in her previous life, he would surely punish her even more severely this time, not less.

Melissa intended to show that scene to Lloyd.

So that the whole world could see how the saintess Lucid was treated in the supposedly warm ducal family.

‘It would be nice if he beat me up a bit too.’

Of course, the possibility was slim since Lionel wouldn’t be able to lay hands directly on Melissa because of the magical contract.

While Melissa was thinking this, Lionel turned and went outside. He was probably going to prepare to meet the Crown Prince on the left side of the Adore River in a few days.

After a while, all presence disappeared from around her. Melissa let out the groan she had been holding in. Her whole body ached from the penalty of the magical contract being activated due to the contract violation.

‘But this much is nothing.’

It was nothing compared to the pain she had suffered before.

Melissa quietly waited for things to unfold.

Three days later.

That is, the day after Edgar, who hadn’t visited Melissa since the funeral, left for the Magic Tower.

Lionel, his face flushed with anger, came looking for her.

“Do you know what happened because of your stupid act!”

Lionel shouted loudly.

His fierce gaze seemed like it would crush Melissa. Although everything was going according to plan, Melissa’s body instinctively trembled when she thought of what she had suffered from him.

Her breathing kept getting faster. While she was trying to organize her whitening mind, Lionel shouted again.

“The Crown Prince will come from the left? Why did you tell such a useless lie? Why on earth!”

Lionel was raging.

And for good reason.

Since he hadn’t met the Crown Prince, the prince would have contracted with the Artzen imperial family as originally planned.

There was no one in the Artzen Empire, no, in this world who didn’t know how much profit that meeting would bring. Though she trembled with fear, she felt quite satisfied thinking that Lionel wouldn’t be able to grab that profit in this life.

Melissa didn’t want to give him anything good. Even if it was something very trivial.

When Melissa didn’t say anything, he muttered in a chilling voice.

“Edgar has been looking after you all this time because he cares for you, and this is how you repay that kindness. You fool.”

“……Haha.”

Melissa finally let out a small laugh.

They say you smile when something is too absurd, and that seemed to be true. It was really funny.

After all, Lionel wasn’t the kind of person who would look after someone for such a reason, nor had he particularly cared about her until now. He had only pretended to be kind in case she might run away before becoming a Lucid.

Anyone who knew Lionel well would not have been able to hold back their laughter at those words.

‘And what? Edgar cares for me?’

Where did such nonsense come from?

Looking up at Lionel, he spoke with a cold face.

“You’re laughing? What are you trying to do?”

A palm flew behind the cold voice. A sharp sound rang out.

Melissa straightened her head, which had turned from the slap on her cheek.

He had hit her so hard that her mouth was torn inside and blood quickly pooled.

Still not satisfied, Lionel raised his hand again but then clutched his chest. His face contorted in pain.

It must be because of the magical contract.

The Shortiras ducal family receives information in return for protecting the Lucid clan. So at the very least, Lionel couldn’t directly lay hands on Melissa without suffering pain himself.

She had thought the possibility of him directly hitting her was low, but seeing that he had raised his hand anyway, his anger must have been greater than expected.

Still, seeing Lionel in pain now, it seemed unlikely that she would be hit again.

The damn contract she couldn’t break even after being reborn now protects her.

‘Disgusting.’

Her mood, which had improved briefly, sank instantly.

Meanwhile, Lionel, who had been frowning, snickered.

“Don’t tell me you’re acting this way because you believe in the magical contract? That’s truly ridiculous. I’m sorry, but there are many ways to correct your behavior without touching you. So many that I’d be tired just listing them all.”

“……”

“From now on, I’ll show you one by one.”

He bent down and whispered quietly in Melissa’s ear.

“That way you won’t go wild and die like your mother.”

His voice was as cruel as its content.

Melissa turned her head and glared at Lionel.

She felt like a massive flame was rising inside her.

She hated him enough to want to kill him.

The Lucid who made such a contract in the first place,

Lionel Shortiras who caused her mother’s death,

And her past self who had momentarily hoped that such a person would be her father.

* * *

Melissa was imprisoned in the underground dungeon as expected.

Lionel ordered that she not be given anything—including food and drink—before leaving. This wasn’t surprising since she had received the same treatment when she returned after running away before.

She had been here for a full day.

‘This place is exactly the same.’

Melissa turned her head to look around.

The memory of when she was first imprisoned in the underground dungeon remained vivid in her mind because it had been so shocking.

Back then, Melissa had written a letter to Edgar while crying. Though all she received in return was a meaningless reply saying he would come soon and to hang in there a little longer.

Thinking about it now, that must have been why Melissa’s letter was able to leave the duke’s mansion. Lionel would have known that Edgar was deceiving her.

And that he would ignore such letters.