The black fox engraved on the main gate and the light green leaves surrounding it.
This place, which showed at a glance its neutral will to embrace everyone, was the ‘Blackmond’ ducal residence.
Everything symbolizing Blackmond perfectly matched Lady Luna Blackmond, with her seductive and somewhat cold appearance.
Of course, the orange tulips lined up from the outer garden to the greenhouse garden where the tea party was being held seemed somewhat mismatched with their surroundings due to their excessive warmth.
“Welcome, Merrien. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Merrien, who had been looking around, raised her head at Luna’s voice and had to acknowledge it.
Anyone would have to admit that it perfectly suited her as she smiled brightly in an orange dress with light green eyes.
“It’s been a while, Luna.”
The two women smiled brightly at each other.
Since Luna was the host of this tea party, Merrien moved to her seat following her guidance.
Luna sat at the head of the table with Charlotte and Merrien on either side, and Charlotte greeted Merrien with a friendly wave as soon as she saw her.
Soon after the last guest entered, the tea party began.
The young ladies each placed a romance book they had prepared on the table.
‘…Huh?’
What was strange was.
[The World’s Strongest Dragon Who Dealt with Magical Beasts]
[I Will Catch Magical Beasts with My Own Hands]
Most of the titles were related to ‘magical beasts.’
There was no time to find this strange.
Luna elegantly lifted her teacup and let out a deep sigh.
“I’m so glad everyone is safe. Those magical beasts looked so terribly frightening.”
“Indeed. I wish we could only see magical beasts in books from now on…”
While lamenting about magical beasts, one young lady proudly held out the book in front of her.
It featured a cover of a red-haired, black-eyed man slaughtering magical beasts—something that had caught Merrien’s attention since she arrived.
Especially considering the title was [The World’s Strongest Dragon Who Dealt with Magical Beasts]…
‘This is obviously about Agnes.’
She knew romance book trends changed quickly, but did they really change this rapidly?
It seemed like just recently the stories were about the Tower Master and herself.
Perhaps because of the Imperial banquet incident, stories about dealing with magical beasts had suddenly become very popular.
And for some reason, with Agnes as the protagonist!
Merrien felt slightly shabby looking at the first edition of [The Tower Master and the Mistreated Saint] placed in front of her.
This was because everyone except herself had placed books related to magical beasts on the table.
Even Charlotte!
‘I made such an effort to read it…’
…Though thanks to that, she did learn the whole truth.
Moreover, because she had set aside all other romance books to read that one, she had missed out on the latest trend.
Merrien swallowed her tears watching the young ladies who had started talking about romance books with magical beast themes.
She couldn’t understand any of it.
‘At least it’s good that they’re not afraid of magical beasts.’
That was somewhat fortunate.
She had worried that the young ladies might not come out due to trauma.
Indeed, the experience of being deeply immersed in something helps in life.
Thinking this, Merrien smiled a motherly smile instead of joining the conversation.
It was while Merrien was observing the young ladies.
“Merrien.”
Luna quietly put down her teacup and whispered to Merrien.
Luna was also not participating in the young ladies’ conversation.
“Yes?”
Merrien turned her head and met the green eyes.
Directly, as if she had been watching her all along.
“Have you heard about His Highness the Second Prince?”
“…No?”
Whether she knew something or was just fishing for information, her voice was very secretive.
Merrien’s body naturally moved closer to her.
To prevent anyone else from hearing.
“According to someone who delivered food to the north, the Prince suddenly disappeared without a trace. Very suddenly.”
“……”
Merrien gulped.
“Isn’t it strange that he completely vanished as if he never existed in this world? Ah, since you’re with the Tower Master, perhaps you already knew.”
“…Ah, I didn’t know. It’s strange that His Highness suddenly disappeared.”
She hadn’t expected anyone to ask like this, so she hadn’t prepared an appropriate answer.
Regretting her carelessness, Merrien pretended not to know.
Then the sound of a teaspoon stirring a teacup came very clearly from beside her.
Though it was certainly a very small sound, it reached her ears directly.
Luna, who had rested her chin on her arms placed on the table, quietly added with a calm face.
“But what’s even stranger is that a book with handwriting identical to that of the author of [The Tower Master and the Mistreated Saint] was found where the Prince had been.”
Luna slowly stirred her teaspoon as she saw Merrien’s eyes widen.
“The title was… [The Illegitimate Child and the Saint], I believe.”
“!!!”
Cold sweat ran down Merrien’s entire body.
Perhaps it was because the other party remained so composed.
Charlotte and the other young ladies didn’t notice the secretive conversation between the two at all.
Luna took out a piece of paper she had prepared in advance and pushed it in front of Merrien.
“And surprisingly, the handwriting in the letter Merrien sent me was also identical.”
Merrien trembled as she looked down at the letter she had sent to Luna in the past.
…Luna had discovered everything.
Had she been planning this since she handed over the first edition of [The Tower Master and the Mistreated Saint]?
‘I thought she was on my side… What is this about?’
Luna leaned forward, narrowing the distance even more. Merrien, sitting in her chair, couldn’t move back and shrank her body.
Her fingernails, which had already been in her mouth, were completely bitten off, and her eyes were rolling around.
Was she trying to blackmail her with facts that no one else knew?
But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand what Luna’s purpose was.
Just as Merrien was confused, Luna firmly picked up the letter.
“Well, Merrien must have thought that was the right thing to do.”
She put the letter back into her possession.
“…?”
As the pressuring atmosphere suddenly dissipated, Merrien realized she had been holding her breath until now.
So she hurriedly exhaled and looked at her.
“Honestly, I thought the Prince should be dragged down at least to the position of former prince. Although the Blackmond ducal family is neutral, that’s my father’s stance, and I’m different.”
Anger clouded Luna’s face, which had always been smiling leisurely.
Not only that, but wrinkles formed between her eyebrows, yet Merrien could only stare blankly in astonishment.
“So when I heard the Prince had disappeared, I considered him a cowardly fugitive and ordered him to be tracked… but after reading [The Illegitimate Child and the Saint], my mind changed.”
“……”
By now, Luna seemed to have calmed all her emotions.
With a much more peaceful face, she stared intently at the book in front of her.
“Will I ever have someone I love enough to devote everything to?”
…Suddenly?
Why did it turn out like this?
Instead of answering, Merrien glanced in the direction of Luna’s gaze.
[I Will Catch Magical Beasts with My Own Hands]
For such a title, the cover of the book she was looking at showed a very strong noble lady beating up magical beasts.
Without giving her time to breathe, Luna suddenly grabbed both of Merrien’s hands.
“Merrien, thank you. You’re truly my benefactor.”
“…Pardon?”
“Without romance books, my life would have been nothing but boredom.”
You… Weren’t you projecting a very solemn atmosphere just now…?
Seeing Luna looking at her with wistful eyes, Merrien reluctantly squeezed her hands.
“Then I’m really glad, Luna.”
“Please continue to spread romance books to me, Merrien.”
“…Yes.”
Merrien smiled awkwardly at the obsession that felt similar to what she sensed from Ariel, yet somehow different, a strange kind of madness.
But Luna’s voice must have been loud.
Charlotte, who had been engaged in heated discussion with the young ladies until now, chimed in.
“Oh, that’s right. Merrien! They say the festival street restoration will be finished soon, so the festival will be held again soon.”
“Really?”
…Thank goodness.
She wanted to escape from this burdensome gaze.
Thanks to Charlotte, Merrien discreetly removed her hands from Luna’s grip.
“Yes! We had to stop the fireworks midway, remember? I heard they’ve specially recruited magicians from the Tower this time.”
“…Why am I hearing this for the first time?”
But soon her mood plummeted.
‘Charlotte knows something that I don’t?’
She felt an inexplicable sense of betrayal toward Ariel and Seren.
Charlotte belatedly covered her mouth with an ‘oops’ expression.
“…Ah, please pretend you didn’t hear that. Merrien!”
“What?”
“It’s nothing. Anyway, I’m planning to go this time too. It would be nice to meet there.”
Merrien tilted her head, watching Charlotte trying to gloss over her words with a bright smile.
Luna was still alternating her gaze between Merrien and the book in front of her.
T/n: Hear me out. Is Forcite now in a book version where his Merrien exists? This seems implied by Ariel’s words: “I hope what you want is in there.”
Luna’s statement also suggests this: “… but after reading [The Illegitimate Child and the Saint], my mind changed.”
Her question, “Will I ever have someone I love enough to devote everything to?” further supports this theory. Even though Forcite’s decisions in “this world/story” were wrong, they were ultimately all for Merrien in some way. If that’s the case, I must honestly say I’m even happy for him. Somehow, one couldn’t really be angry with him. He was just foolish, and what happened in the end wasn’t what he wanted.
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starrynight783
I agree with just you said, I dont think Forcite deserved a bad ending when all he wanted was to be with og Merri. It’s kind of tragic actually that og Merri just disappeared from that world. I’m glad it seems he was transmigrated to a world with her.