Charlotte continued to shoot Holy Power at the magical beasts even while running.

This was thanks to Merrien, who had informed her through letters during magical beast subjugation missions that Holy Power could eliminate magical beasts.

‘Ah, I’m saved…’

As soon as Merrien saw Charlotte’s face, her legs gave out and she slumped down.

Charlotte, who had been running continuously without minding her sweat-soaked hair clinging to her face, only stopped when she reached Merrien.

She immediately infused Merrien with Holy Power.

“I was delayed looking after the children. I never expected something like this…”

She showed an extremely apologetic expression.

Unlike her appearance, which suggested she had only seen good things in life, she wasn’t particularly startled by the magical beasts.

When magical beasts approached, she simply eliminated them while saying, “Oh my, oh my.”

Perhaps her touch was even more composed than Merrien’s.

Merrien, recovered thanks to Charlotte’s Holy Power, took her hand.

“Charlotte, thank you so much.”

“No need for thanks. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“……”

Merrien had expected her to naturally say, “I’m a Saint after all.”

Her eyes widened slightly at the unhesitating response.

“…At least warn me before teleporting!”

And then two people dropped right in front of them.

Agnes, lying almost dragged on the ground with a nosebleed, and Ariel, who was carelessly holding the back of his neck.

“Ariel!”

Merrien called out with a bright face.

She was truly saved. The peculiar sense of security that made her body melt was unavoidable.

“…Oh, Mr. Nes?”

She only noticed Agnes a little later.

Normally, she would have looked first at the dying man being held by the nape of his neck rather than at Ariel who was standing calmly, but not this time.

Ariel, satisfied that Merrien’s gaze had reached him first, grinned.

Then he leaned down toward Merrien, who had crouched to check Agnes’s condition.

“Merri. I need you to heal him. I have to thoroughly correct that prince’s behavior.”

“Uh… okay.”

Did he really need to say this so close? Merrien covered her ears unnecessarily at his languid voice that seemed ready to bite the tip of her ear at any moment.

That wasn’t an illusion.

Ariel stared at Merrien’s ears with eyes struggling to control his impulse before abruptly standing up.

The hand that had been holding the back of Agnes’s neck, his lifeline, was simply released.

As if this was the last bit of mercy he would show him.

“…Cough!”

Agnes coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground.

But Ariel simply walked leisurely toward Forcite.

Merrien shouted in frustration at his retreating back.

“Ugh, really!”

Mr. Nes, I think his nose is broken…

She examined the condition of Agnes, who had fallen face-down on the ground.

She could examine him more closely by embracing him, but then Ariel might suddenly appear with a ghostly face and separate them.

That would be fortunate. The more likely scenario was that he would try to kill Agnes immediately.

In the end, Merrien just remained crouched, roughly turning Agnes’s face to check his eyes and nose.

His closed eyelids were trembling, and his nose… well, he had been bleeding from his nose down to his chin since he arrived, so it was hard to tell.

She turned her gaze toward Charlotte.

“…Well, I guess I have to do this alone.”

Ariel had swept away many magical beasts when he teleported over, but there were still some remaining.

While Charlotte was dealing with the magical beasts, healing Agnes was solely her responsibility.

Merrien lightly rotated her shoulders, gauging her own condition.

Her Holy Power had mostly returned, and thanks to Charlotte, her body was quite recovered.

“Mr. Nes. Can you turn over for a moment?”

“…Yes.”

Despite his fluctuating consciousness, Agnes diligently followed Merrien’s instructions.

He slowly turned his body forward, then regretted it when his eyes met Merrien’s.

Her serious healing hands moved over Agnes’s body.

As white light scattered throughout his body, her pink hair naturally cascaded over his face.

‘She’s like an angel.’

Agnes almost unconsciously blurted out those words.

He just kept staring at her orange pupils that continued to move busily.

Perhaps that was why.

His mouth moved on its own.

Even though the healing had progressed enough for his mind to be clear.

“Merrien. I’ve actually made a grave mistake.”

“I suppose being mentally controlled by the enemy and attacking Ariel is indeed a grave mistake.”

Merrien responded indifferently while infusing Holy Power.

If she had known what expression Agnes was making, she wouldn’t have said such a thing.

“No, that seems like a good thing, but there’s another grave mistake.”

“What is it?”

Realizing his voice was uncharacteristically serious, Merrien paused her ministrations.

She faced him with a look that said, let’s hear what you have to say.

His black pupils had deepened to pitch darkness. Just moments ago, they had been dazed as if he were about to die.

Merrien’s mouth opened.

Agnes wouldn’t miss such a reaction.

Slightly parted lips, teeth visible between them, even the disoriented tongue. Only after blatantly scanning all this did he speak.

“I am Agnes.”

“…What?”

That little kid?

“And I’m also the dance instructor. Actually, all three are me. I’m sorry for deceiving you all this time.”

The Holy Power that had been faintly entering Agnes’s body was abruptly cut off.

“But at some point, I couldn’t transform into other forms anymore.”

“……”

Merrien was either too shocked to speak or simply had nothing to say.

After waiting for a long time with no response, Agnes made a bitter expression.

‘I’m sure her reaction wasn’t like this when Ariel revealed he was the Tower Master.’

She would have yelled, wailed. Perhaps even locked herself in her room for days out of betrayal.

If she’s just rolling her eyes now, thinking about what to say to me…

The dance instructor, Agnes, and Nes. All three combined didn’t amount to even the tip of Ariel’s toe in Merrien’s eyes.

‘But I…’

“It seems my gender has become completely fixed as male.”

Despite still lying on the ground, Agnes stared directly into Merrien’s eyes and murmured seriously.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it had happened.

Was it when Merrien hugged him in the outer garden, crying her eyes out? Or when she suddenly called him cute and pulled his cheeks?

Maybe he felt an unnecessary gratitude when she saved him on that day when he collapsed pathetically in the rain during ‘that month.’

She had come running with tears threatening to fall and put him in her pocket.

Perhaps what she had rationalized as “but he’s cute,” viewing him like a small animal, was actually…

Merrien, it’s because I like you.

“I think it’s because of Merrien, probably.”

Instead of the words rising to the tip of his tongue, he uttered something else.

Even that came out mumbled as he covered his mouth.

No longer able to face Merrien, Agnes quietly closed his eyes.

That should be enough said.

Of course… he hadn’t actually said what he truly wanted to say.

After a short while, Holy Power began to flow into his body again.

Judging by Merrien’s trembling hands, she wasn’t without emotional turmoil either.

“…It seems you might find a good relationship soon.”

A trembling voice. It was an indirect rejection.

Yes, that was enough.

“…Yes, I suppose so.”

Agnes’s first love in hundreds of years was truly painful.

***

Ariel landed lightly in front of Forcite.

“How strange. Didn’t you say you liked Merri?”

With both hands thr*st into his pants pockets.

“……”

Forcite, with his grotesque appearance of one eye dyed black, stopped in confusion.

He had been trying to escape after sending top-tier magical beasts to push Merrien to the brink of death, but Ariel had arrived.

“Were you trying to kill Merri? Hm?”

Despite clearly knowing that Forcite had been consumed by something, Ariel moved closer to him.

With each step Forcite took backward, Ariel strode forward, closing the distance between them.

Forcite’s body trembled finely under Ariel’s gaze that seemed to pierce through his blackened eye.

As if the real Forcite were trapped inside that eye.