✧ʚ .·:¨༺♡༻¨:·. ɞ✧

When I opened my eyes, I saw a pitch-black space.

After a moment of confusion at the unfamiliar view, I raised my stiff body.

Sleep hadn’t refreshed me. It left a lingering unpleasant aftertaste.

I held back an escaping yawn and slightly pulled back the curtain. The sounds that had been muffled by the thick fabric became clearer.

Wondering if more time had passed than I thought, I noticed the sky was still a dark blue.

From the sounds, I expected there would be many people, but……

There were only two people in the bedroom besides Anastasia and me.

“……”

Duke Cromwell, frowning as if everything was noisy and tiresome, and,

“So what change of heart made you bring the lady home?”

A stranger I’d never seen before, asking probing questions.

I could only see his back, so I didn’t know who he was, but judging by how casually he spoke to Duke Cromwell, they seemed close.

I set aside the mysterious man and observed Duke Cromwell.

Unlike my disheveled appearance, Duke Cromwell looked perfectly fine and neat. It seemed he hadn’t slept at all but had spent the time standing here with that rigid posture.

‘Duke Cromwell did that?’

For Anastasia?

Staying here instead of returning to his room, leaving his sick infant daughter—this was tremendous progress.

‘What change of heart, indeed?’

Perhaps there was no grand reason; maybe his insomnia kept him awake, so he was just passing time here.

Since it would be awkward to emerge saying “Ta-da, I’m finally awake,” I just continued my pointless speculation from the bed.

But even this didn’t last long.

Duke Cromwell, who had been staring into space while half-listening to questions (that seemed unimportant enough for me to hear), spotted me.

‘That ghost-like man.’

Though I hadn’t said a word, I knew he had seen me.

First, no one would mistake that gaze for anything else.

Second, the man who had read Duke Cromwell’s subtle change turned around to look at me.

“You’re awake?”

The eyes with dawn light upon them naturally evoked thoughts of mysteriousness.

“But why are you hiding?”

His innocent voice was far from Michael’s vigor.

Rather than boldness…… it was the tone of someone who had never needed to be cautious in life.

Snap!

When he flicked his finger, his long hair swayed with the movement.

The curtain I was holding escaped my grasp against my will.

I needed to be careful not to call him by name.

♡PROFILE♡

Name: Caligo Gaudium

Access Level: 6

Status: Grand Mage

Favorability: Please raise your level to view favorability .

Special Notes: Please raise your level to view special notes.

Ding!

The system window kindly informed me who he was.

The person I had gone to great lengths to meet had appeared so easily, making all the time I’d spent searching for him feel utterly pointless.

To think I could meet Caligo through this route.

“Why is this person……”

I muttered my question as I left the bed.

“I sent the doctor away and called Caligo.”

Duke Cromwell continued by introducing him.

Had Anastasia improved enough to send the doctor away?

Anyway, why did he really call Caligo?

Perhaps I had secretly hoped to hear that the baby was fine, because my shoulders slumped when the words I wanted didn’t come immediately.

I felt anxious too.

There was no additional information beyond the fact that this person was Caligo, which I already knew.

“How is Lady Anastasia?”

First, I needed to know Anastasia’s condition.

“……”

Anastasia, lying in the cradle, looked more comfortable than before.

But before I could feel relieved, Duke Cromwell delivered chilling news.

“Huntington said there was no way, so—”

“……You should have woken me up for something like that!”

I cried out as soon as I heard the Duke’s outrageous words.

“……”

Not expecting my voice to come out so loudly, I immediately covered my mouth with my hand.

“I-I’m sorry for shouting.”

After all, that man is Anastasia’s guardian.

I’m just the person in charge of childcare, so in the current situation, I should be the one offering him comfort.

Even if he doesn’t care about Anastasia.

But seeing his nonchalant attitude, comfort freezes to death, leaving only bewilderment and guilt toward Anastasia.

‘Don’t assume everyone is as indifferent as you are.’

After the resentment ends, worry follows.

The possibility that something serious could happen to Anastasia troubled me more than the anxiety that I might be trapped here forever.

“And I was just sleeping beside her……”

I murmured quietly.

I really hated myself for sleeping so peacefully just because the tension had eased a bit.

All sorts of words were about to spill out. Barely swallowing them, I waited for Duke Cromwell to say something.

“Well, I’d like to watch you two fight more, but let’s stop here. You want to know the baby’s condition, right?”

However, unexpectedly, it was Caligo who spoke.

“I told you to start with the good news, Cromwell.”

“……”

Caligo, who had lightly scolded Duke Cromwell, said,

“The lady is fine. She’ll probably just sleep until tomorrow noon?”

Caligo added that he had cast a spell.

Hearing the words I’d been waiting for, I let out a sigh of relief.

My legs gave way, and I barely avoided falling by grabbing the sofa.

♡Mysterious Mage: Pretty bold for a nanny, aren’t you?

Unlike in the game where he disliked the nanny, Caligo seemed quite friendly.

Is this what they call the acquaintance advantage, or something like that?

‘……No. It’s more business-like than friendly.’

The sense of familiarity was a momentary illusion.

I wasn’t in Caligo’s thoughts after he ended the one-sided argument. Turning his body completely toward Duke Cromwell, he was about to continue speaking.

“I judged that magic could heal her.”

But I was included in the conversation again as Duke Cromwell finished what I had started to say.

“It was an excellent choice.”

Caligo, who answered briefly, looked back at Duke Cromwell and spoke. As if I were invisible.

“The urgent matter has been resolved.”

“Resolved means…… she’s okay now?”

For Caligo, who believes mages are superior—a non-mage-discriminatory view in this world—I was less than an insignificant creature, so he showed his displeasure when I joined the conversation.

♡Caligo Gaudium: It’s a high-dimensional theory that would be difficult for a non-mage like you to understand.

It’s not surprising since he always talked like this in the game too.

‘I don’t like you either.’

He constantly went on about non-mages, so despite being a romance option for the nanny, I only started pursuing him in my seventh playthrough.

But what can I do?

I have to ask what I’m curious about.

Caligo looked at me as if witnessing an insect using language. Well, normally when someone ignores you this much, you’d be too embarrassed to try speaking again.

I don’t care if he ignores me or not. I just need to use him.

‘I need to ask for protection magic too.’

Realizing it was impossible to ignore me, Caligo sighed and answered.

“It means she’s fine ‘for now.'”

Caligo emphasized “for now” as he spoke. It was quite unsettling.

“What do you mean ‘for now’?”

“If the mansion doctors treated her but saw no improvement, doesn’t that mean there’s a serious problem with her body?”

He casually said these terrible words.

“I don’t know the cause, so I just removed the symptoms.”

“If there are no symptoms, then she’s fine now—”

“It means we don’t know when it might flare up again, miss.”

He said cruelly.

Contrary to my expectation that he would treat me as nonexistent like he did in the game and just earlier, Caligo stared at me intently.

“……?”

Rather than a friendly gaze…… how should I put it, in many ways, it was like looking at a test subject.

Is this how lab mice feel?

This behavior from Caligo seemed strange even to Duke Cromwell, as he pulled me toward him.

Only then could I escape that burdensome gaze.

‘Why are you still holding on?’

I was grateful to be freed, but the hand gripping my wrist showed no sign of letting go.

But my distraction was short-lived.

Caligo, who had been busy ignoring me, now continued to observe me as if I were the most interesting creature in the world.

As if he saw no reason to hide his interest, he bent down to his waist and examined me from all angles.

“Caligo, what’s going on?”

When there seemed to be no end to this behavior, Duke Cromwell asked in a puzzled voice.

But Caligo, focused on me, gave no answer.

“Sigh.”

As if being ignored was also a familiar scene, Duke Cromwell exhaled a resigned sigh.

What, don’t give up.

The attention of the world’s greatest mage was not welcome.

“No, what is this……”

Finally, Caligo grabbed my cheek with one hand and squished it.

I stayed still only because a grand mage would win in a fight against an ordinary person; if I had even a slight chance of winning, I would have hit him hard.

“That’s enough.”

Just as curses were about to spill out from my shock, Duke Cromwell stepped in first to stop him.

He even hid me completely behind his back.

Anyway, even in the game, Caligo thought the world revolved around him, so he might have been offended, but he didn’t show any signs of displeasure.

“Hmm……”

Instead, he made a sound like someone deep in thought.

“This is no time to worry about the lady. Here.”

And he finally opened his mouth.

“There’s another patient here, isn’t there?”

He said, lightly tapping his cheek with his index finger.