“Oh, he’s handsome.”

As soon as Merrien saw the prince’s photo in the newspaper, she unconsciously let out an exclamation.

Black hair and sharp red eyes that seemed to pierce through anything. With broad shoulders too, he was a handsome man with features anyone would find attractive.

However, the butler was busy sweating nervously at her muttering.

[The ‘Forcite’ Knight Commander who led this war to victory has officially become ‘Forcite de Vergne’, the Second Prince…]

“Forcite?”

‘Forcite, Forcite. The name is very familiar. Come to think of it, even his appearance seems like I’ve seen it somewhere…’

Wait a minute.

‘Isn’t he the male lead?!’

The newspaper crumpled miserably in Merrien’s hand as she shot up.

[Merri. I’ll definitely come get you when this war ends.]

[Merri. Please wait just a little longer.]

[-Your friend Forcite]

The male lead’s letters arrived weekly when she was at the temple.

The sender’s name written there was ‘Forcite’.

Roughly recalling the male lead’s description from the original work while touching her forehead, she thought he did have black hair and red eyes.

‘Male lead… You were the Emperor’s illegitimate child?’

Goodness, to think her childhood friend was the Emperor’s illegitimate child.

Of course, since she had only been possessing this body for 6 months, it was hard to consider him a real childhood friend.

Merrien slumped back into her chair, feeling empty.

‘I don’t remember anything at all, so I don’t know anything…’

She wanted to deny it, thinking it must be someone else just named ‘Forcite’.

But according to his numerous letters, after Merrien became a Saint and came to the temple, Forcite left for the capital to become a knight.

He said he would fight a war with another kingdom right after becoming the Imperial Knight Commander with his outstanding skills…

He was definitely that ‘Forcite’.

Thinking about it, being the male lead, he couldn’t just end up as a Knight Commander.

‘Right, of course, he turned out to be the Emperor’s illegitimate child. He’ll probably date the female lead and become Emperor too!’

She thought it was really good that she asked the butler for the newspaper. And there was a separate problem.

‘But then… I hope things aren’t getting messed up because I didn’t die?’

In the original work, Merrien died and the male lead ‘Forcite’ seemed to awaken abilities and become stronger to face the dark forces.

‘Come to think of it, there’s been no mention of letters…’

The letters that had been arriving regularly at the temple stopped coming after she came to the Hartez mansion.

Merrien herself had completely forgotten about Forcite, too comfortable with her life here to even think about the letters.

She glanced at the butler with these newly realized questions, but for some reason, he was just watching her reactions carefully.

[Merri, did Duke Hartez cast ‘death magic’ on you?]

Ariel crumpled the letter from ‘Forcite’ with an expressionless face.

Then he spoke to the butler who had been waiting for quite some time.

“So. How did she react to the newspaper?”

“She said he was handsome.”

“Merri told me my eyes were pretty like a lake. She’ll prefer pretty things.”

Ariel paused briefly, touching around his eyes. Despite his confident words, his hands were trembling slightly.

The butler, noticing his master’s anxiety, whispered carefully.

“Of course. Master must compete with your blue eyes.”

“…When you say it, I suddenly lose confidence.”

But this only seemed to irritate Ariel more.

“Last time I believed you when you said women like weak men, and that ended in disaster.”

“I apologize.”

The letter instantly burned to ashes in Ariel’s hand as he made a displeased expression.

Ever since the temple was informed that Merrien was at the Hartez mansion, Forcite’s letters had been arriving endlessly.

The pile of letters turned to ashes like this one had already reached dozens.

“…Is it really alright not to tell the Saint about the letters from Knight Commander Forcite, no, His Highness the Prince?”

The butler, who usually followed Ariel’s words without question despite his apparent madness, spoke with slight concern this time.

While it hadn’t been much of an issue when he was just a Knight Commander, now that he was a prince, it was cause for worry.

“I have everything planned.”

But Ariel simply burned the remaining letters cleanly and smiled crookedly without flinching.

The way he stared at the burnt letters was enough to make him look quite villainous.

***

“Merri. Looks like you’ll have to explore the mansion alone today.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, I want to rest today.”

‘That’s strange? He usually tries to follow me no matter what.’

Merrien studied Ariel’s expression. But he really seemed to have no lingering attachment, even going so far as to turn over in bed and pull up the covers.

‘He doesn’t seem sick though.’

“Well, alright.”

Merrien quickly stood up, worried he might change his mind. Yet she shook her head, feeling strange about the inexplicable disappointment she felt.

“Where would you like to go today, Saint?”

By now, several servants were comfortably following behind Merrien.

“There’s somewhere I’ve been wanting to go.”

‘There was this really huge door.’

***

Creeeak-.

Several servants pushed together to open the magnificent door.

“Wow…”

Merrien couldn’t help but gape at the sight that greeted her as soon as the door opened.

The grand bathroom she had only seen in pictures and novel text was right before her eyes.

“We’ll be waiting outside, please call if you need anything.”

The servants withdrew behind her as she stood in amazement. Their expressions showed anxiety about ‘what orders the Saint might give today.’

“Alright, let’s check it out today too.”

Merrien rolled up both sleeves of her light dress and entered confidently.

Despite the bathroom’s grand size and luxurious materials, quite a few faucets were rusted from apparent lack of use and proper maintenance.

Screech-. Screech-.

“This needs fixing too.”

Tsk tsk, Merrien clicked her tongue while mentally cataloging everything that needed attention.

She could already picture the butler and servants bowing their heads and apologizing again.

“Oh, this bathtub is fine though.”

Fortunately, there were some things here and there in decent condition.

Then she suddenly stopped.

“…Why am I inspecting everything so thoroughly?”

She felt somewhat strange about her own serious attitude.

“Well, I’ll be using this place until I go back, so it should be properly maintained.”

She quickly felt better about it. After all, this was her home until she returned to reality.

That’s when-

Bang bang bang-!!!

A dull sound like something being struck echoed from inside.

‘W-what?’

Merrien froze in a crouched position, not daring to raise her head at the unfamiliar crashing sound that rang in her ears.

“Why won’t you break, why!!!”

Though she hadn’t been at the Hartez mansion very long, in the nearly month she’d stayed here, she’d never heard such a sharp voice.

“You still won’t break even after all this time!”

Bang bang bang-!!!

The sound was coming from behind the large mirror at the far end of the bathroom.

‘Is someone… behind the mirror?’

Merrien carefully approached the mirror, which was as tall as the ceiling.

“Ugh, just break already!”

Bang bang bang-!!!

As she got closer, she could hear more clearly. It was definitely a woman’s voice.

‘Should I call someone…?’

Just as Merrien was about to turn back-

Crack-

A small crack appeared in the mirror.

‘Oh no.’

“Finally!”

The voice from behind sounded delighted.

Crack crack crack-

The cracks spread rapidly across the mirror’s surface like a spider web.

Merrien instinctively took several steps back.

Crash-!!!

With a deafening sound, the mirror shattered completely.

Countless shards of glass scattered across the marble floor.

And through the broken mirror frame emerged-

“…Huh?”

A woman wearing a white dress stepped out.

Her long black hair was disheveled, and her dress was torn in several places.

But what caught Merrien’s attention most was-

‘She looks exactly like me?’

The woman’s face was identical to Merrien’s.

“…Who?”

The woman’s eyes widened upon seeing Merrien.

Then she smiled broadly.

“Found you.”

The woman’s smile grew even wider.

“Finally found you, Merrien.”

“How do you know my name…?”

Merrien asked cautiously, maintaining her distance from the woman who had emerged from the mirror.

But the woman just kept smiling.

“Of course, I know. I am you, after all.”

“…What?”

“I am the real Merrien.”

The woman’s words made Merrien’s blood run cold.

“The real…?”

“Yes. And you’re the fake who stole my body.”

The woman’s smile suddenly disappeared, replaced by a terrifying expression.

“Give it back.”

“W-what are you talking about…”

“Give my body back!!!”

The woman lunged at Merrien.

“Ahhhh!!!”

Merrien screamed and stumbled backward.

Bang-!

She fell hard onto the marble floor.

“Ow…”

When she opened her eyes again-

“Saint! Are you alright?!”

Several servants burst into the bathroom.

“I heard a scream…”

Merrien quickly looked around, but the woman was nowhere to be seen.

The mirror remained intact, without a single crack.

“Saint, you’re bleeding!”

Only then did Merrien notice the pain in her palm.

She must have cut it when she fell.

“I’ll call the duke right away!”

“No, wait…”

But before Merrien could stop them, one servant had already run out.

‘Was it… just my imagination?’

Merrien stared at the mirror, still perfectly whole.

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her from behind it.