“Your mana is really strong. To feel mana from this far away. The mage who came here never mentioned that.”

“The magic is intricately crafted and even its energy is sealed. Unless you have strong mana, it’d be hard to detect.”

Fazel nodded.

Dragon blood flows through Fazel’s veins.

Their mana was different from what humans used. Fazel probably knew that fact too. But I didn’t say anything about it.

Anyway, it was time for Nertian to become the heir. In the original story, Nertian became the heir, but Fazel later revealed his ambitions to claim Liliet and fought against him, winning. He eliminated Nertian and became the Duke’s heir himself.

But now Fazel had no reason to do that. Because the person he loved was me.

This is embarrassing to think about.

I smiled inwardly and linked arms with Fazel. Fazel didn’t dislike it and subtly pressed his body next to mine. This attitude showed his feelings.

When I get home, I should burn that contract. Now we’ll officially get engaged. I’ll make it so the contract never existed.

We strolled along the beach, sightseeing and chatting, then had a meat party in the evening. After eating deliciously, we gathered in the living room, spread blankets on the floor, and sat down.

“Ready?”

Everyone nodded. I placed the cards I’d brought on the floor.

“Draw one each.”

This card game involved drawing one at a time, and whoever collected three matching pictures first won. The winner could give orders to the others.

Excessive commands were forbidden, so we started the card game for fun.

“Ah, not quite.”

Caslan muttered regretfully. From that reaction, it seemed he’d matched two cards. That’s why he was so disappointed.

I had no luck with cards—I didn’t have a single match. Fazel was looking at his cards with a serious expression. He seemed to have drawn matching pictures too.

Why am I the only one without any!

Next was Liliet’s turn. After drawing and checking her card, Liliet shot her hand up.

“I won!”

Liliet held out the three matching cards she’d drawn. My expression didn’t change, but Caslan and Fazel looked disappointed.

“Who are you going to punish and how?”

I asked Liliet. Then Liliet looked at Fazel and me with a mischievous expression.

I have a bad feeling about this.

“You two kiss each other on the cheek.”

It wasn’t a difficult mission. I turned my head toward Fazel sitting beside me. Then Fazel approached with a flushed face.

Unable to bear his hesitant attitude, I ended up kissing Fazel’s cheek. Fazel’s face grew even redder.

“I’m more embarrassed watching.”

Caslan looked back and forth between Fazel and me.

“You must have done this kind of thing plenty of times, but it’s fascinating you’re still awkward about it.”

Liliet’s thoughtless comment made my heart skip.

Actually, the thing is… we haven’t even had our first kiss yet.

But since I couldn’t say that outright, I gently held Fazel’s hand. The game started again.

After a while, Fazel was declared the winner. Fazel pondered who to give a penalty to, then turned his gaze to me.

“Me again?”

“Of course. Show me your notes from the subjects you got perfect scores in this semester.”

“Oh.”

“That’s tempting.”

Liliet and Caslan also showed interest. Since it wasn’t a particularly difficult penalty, I nodded.

“Alright. I’ll show you anytime.”

If Fazel wanted it, I could do that much. We played the game a few more times. But I never won once. So just when I was getting irritated inside, Liliet patted my shoulder.

“It’s okay. Those days happen.”

“Liliet, stop teasing me!”

I glared at her, then smiled slightly. When night came, Liliet gave Fazel, Caslan, and me a small pouch each. When I opened the pouch, it contained a magic stone that transformed into a sky lantern shape when released into the air.

“It’s fate that we gathered together, right? Let’s make wishes at the beach while releasing sky lanterns.”

Liliet spoke with a bright smile. I could tell she’d put a lot of thought into this gathering.

“If we make wishes, will they come true?”

Liliet and I spoke matter-of-factly.

“Better than not doing it.”

“Better than not doing it!”

Caslan gazed quietly at the magic stone.

“I hope my wish comes true.”

“What wish?”

Caslan glanced at her.

“Something like that.”

He didn’t answer and stroked Liliet’s head.

“It’s better you don’t know yet.”

Suddenly, I recalled a scene.

[Liliet, it’s better you don’t know]

It was a passage I’d read countless times in the original novel. It was dialogue that appeared on the day Fazel decided to confess to Liliet.

Caslan confessed to Liliet in the evening. Originally that line happened during the day, but today it was happening in the evening.

So the time for the confession has come.

The original story had been twisted because of me, but the main flow was still proceeding as before. Suddenly, I felt anxious.

It can’t be.

Fazel didn’t like Liliet—he loved me. So even if Liliet confessed to Caslan, there was no reason for Fazel to be unhappy.

“Caslan, is it unrequited love?”

Caslan glared at Fazel.

“You’re noisy.”

“Cheer up.”

Fazel approached Caslan and put his arm around his shoulders. Caslan sighed and looked up at Fazel.

“You wouldn’t know since you’ve never had unrequited love.”

“I do know.”

Fazel had unrequited love for a long time too. I didn’t know when he started liking me, but I could guess those years had been long.

Because Fazel’s attitude changed a few years ago.

“Even though you have a fiancée.”

Caslan looked at us with envious eyes. We went outside and immediately headed to the beach. 

Entering the ocean at night was dangerous, so we made wishes on the sandy beach, then infused energy into the magic stones.

When touched, the magic stones transformed into sky lantern shapes. Looking at the sky lanterns rising into the air, I thought of my wish.

Fazel, who was releasing a sky lantern beside me, whispered in my ear.

“What wish did you make?”

“That Fazel and I will be together next year too.”

“Similar to mine.”

My heart pounded.

“Thinking about it now, I only just realized something obvious. I felt a bit choked up. I also felt deceived.”

I had nothing to say about that part.

“I’m a little sorry now.”

But then he brought up something unexpected.

“You just approached me with goodwill, but I alone imagined all sorts of things, speculating and judging your feelings—that seems rude.”

His words touched me gently.

“You were hurting back then.”

He met me during a time when his emotional wounds were so deep he had difficulty talking to others.

“Still, I should apologize for what needs apologizing.”

He smiled brightly and pulled me into an embrace. I heard Fazel’s heartbeat.

His pounding heartbeat reached my ears. My heartbeat also rang out loudly.

The sound of the rolling waves became faint, and it felt like only the two of us stood at the center of the world.

* * *

Liliet made a small sound seeing Fazel and Louelle embrace. Then Caslan covered her eyes and spoke to her.

“Let’s not watch.”

“How can I help what I see?”

Liliet pushed away Caslan’s hand.

“What did you wish for?”

Liliet gave Fazel and Louelle their own time together. Caslan also accompanied Liliet and answered her question.

“I wished to be as happy next year as I am this year.”

His words sounded gentle. Liliet looked at Caslan and blushed slightly, thinking her face wouldn’t be visible in the darkness.

“Caslan, aren’t you going to get a girlfriend? You get confessed to a lot.”

“Not really. When I have someone I like, why bother?”

“Someone you like? Is it okay if I ask who?”

“Uh… um.”

Caslan looked at Liliet.

“If you promise it won’t be awkward.”

“Okay.”

“It’s you.”

At Caslan’s words, Liliet’s cheeks grew even hotter.

“Me?”

“When I look at you, I feel like you’re my destiny.”

Caslan recalled when he first saw Liliet. Everything else seemed erased, and only she existed.

“Oh my.”

Liliet must have been flustered. Still, he hoped she’d think about it seriously.

Then Liliet spoke.

“Caslan, I like you too.”

Caslan was startled at those words.

“You like me?”

“Yeah, I even consulted Louelle about it. Louelle told me to go for it, that we suit each other well. She said you don’t treat women kindly, but seeing how you treat me, you must have feelings. So I was trying to approach you.”

Liliet rambled, then hugged him.

“I can do this too.”

“Liliet.”

“I like you.”

Perhaps secretly envying Fazel and Louelle’s embrace, Liliet confessed while hugging him. Caslan found her adorable and hugged her head in return.

* * *

I walked along the ocean with Fazel. As I’d expected, Liliet and Caslan became lovers. Fazel and I congratulated them. Then I observed Fazel’s expression.

Fazel wasn’t sad. The image of him discarding flowers and grieving in the original story flashed through my mind. But now, seeing him holding hands with me, I felt relieved that fate had changed.

After spending time together at the villa, we returned to the territory. In the carriage, we sat together, talked, and held hands tightly.

Unfortunately, we didn’t kiss though.

“When should we do it?”

Thinking about kissing made my heart race. After dropping Fazel off, I arrived at the castle. Seeing Father who came to greet me, I fell into his arms.

“Nothing happened, right?”

Father shook his head.

“Something big happened. It’ll spread through high society soon.”

“What happened?”

There shouldn’t be anything else happening now.

“The ducal family contacted us saying Nertian’s funeral will be held.”

Twisted fate approached me with a new face.

“Nertian died?”

In the original, he died at Fazel’s hands, but now he suddenly died.

That can’t be.

I was seized by an ominous feeling.

“This news must have reached Fazel too, right?”

“Of course. The ducal family said Fazel would arrive today, so they stationed a carriage in front of the house. He probably already departed for the funeral hall…!”

As soon as I heard those words, I quickly grabbed Father.

“We need to stop Fazel quickly. Something bad might happen.”

Father made a stern expression.

“Understood. We also need to go to the funeral soon, so quickly put on mourning clothes and prepare.”

I’d been trusting the original story too much. I’d been thinking the already twisted fate was fine.

My heart pounded so loudly it felt like it would burst out. I quickly changed clothes and headed to the ducal house with Father.