“This is something I truly cherish.”

Ariel carefully lifted the item from the box as if handling a sacred treasure.

It was a dog collar made of flowers. Literally, just an ordinary dog collar with no trace of power.

The Emperor hastily intervened when it seemed like he was about to put it around his own neck.

“I-I apologize! My son must have gone mad! I’m truly sorry, Tower Master. I sincerely request you reconsider your relationship with our Empire.”

“Ah, I’m deeply disappointed in Your Highness. To think you would steal my precious dog collar.”

“…This can’t be right.”

While Ariel was stroking the dog collar before putting it back in the box, Forcite muttered in disbelief.

There was no way the box could have been switched during that time. It was completely absurd.

That box should have contained the ‘death magic’ medium that had bewitched Merrien.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Ah, I won’t be able to help with the next monster subjugation.”

After casually closing the box, Ariel made this shocking statement as if it were nothing.

“…Pardon?”

“I’m quite busy these days.”

“W-wait!”

Then he left without listening to the Emperor’s words.

He disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared, truly an unpredictable person.

“Ah, Tower Master! How could you leave first!”

The Tower Master’s assistant, left alone, touched his forehead and let out an awkward laugh.

“I’ll be taking my leave as well. Your Majesty, Your Highness. May you… fare well.”

Soon after, the assistant also disappeared using teleport, his face clearly showing uncertainty about whether his farewell was appropriate.

“This, this…”

Left behind, the Emperor trembled from head to toe.

He nearly shouted at Forcite but, realizing there were many ears listening, he practically grabbed his son by the collar and dragged him somewhere private.

Bang-!

“Do you realize what you’ve done?”

“….”

The enraged Emperor forcefully pushed Forcite against the wall.

“Right. It’s my fault for not telling you. The fact that the Hartez Duke has always been the Tower Master is a secret passed down only within the imperial family of the ‘Debereu Empire’!”

“…What?”

Finally snapping out of his daze, Forcite faced his father. Focus returned to his empty eyes at that moment.

The Emperor beat his chest in frustration.

“The reason Duke Hartez never attended imperial banquets or anything else was because he couldn’t be active during the day due to magical overflow!”

“…Magical overflow?”

As incomprehensible words poured out, Forcite could only mutter blankly.

Meanwhile, the Emperor continued raising his voice and spewing words.

“In the evening when his magic stabilizes, he helps the empire as the Tower Master, in exchange for minimizing his duties as Duke during the day. This is an ancient contract between the imperial family and House Hartez since the empire’s founding! And you ruined it today!”

Finally understanding the situation, Forcite clenched his fists and lowered his head.

“…I apologize.”

In the end, his suspicions had been correct.

However, nothing had gone according to his plans.

***

Merrien opened today’s newspaper.

[The Relationship Between the Tower Master and Duke Hartez]

[The truth about the mysterious Duke Hartez who rarely appears in public…]

[Conspiracy Theory Presented by Prince Forcite de Vergne]

“…Hmm?”

‘Is, is it okay for this to be revealed?’

Merrien turned to look at Ariel when she saw these headlines plastered across the front page, but he remained completely composed.

‘…Is this why he wanted to read the newspaper together today?’

Finding his reaction strange, Merrien quickly read through the newspaper.

[Tower Master Visits the Imperial Palace]

Along with the text was a photo of the Tower Master.

Even though his entire body was covered in a mask and black robe, his brilliant silver hair couldn’t be hidden.

“No matter how you look at it, that hair color is really pretty.”

Despite being the villain, honestly.

Ariel, who had been pretending not to care, suddenly lifted his head to look at Merrien.

Merrien was too focused on the newspaper to notice his reaction, but Ariel couldn’t even manage his expression as he covered his face that had turned red to the tips of his ears.

The butler, who had been watching contentedly from behind, secretly approached Ariel and whispered.

“It seems you don’t need to worry about the hair color.”

“Yes. If I’d known, I should have kept the silver hair during the day too.”

Unaware of their scheming conversation, Merrien continued reading the newspaper.

[Second Prince Forcite de Vergne Claims Tower Master Used Magic to Bewitch the Saint and Kidnap Her to Duke Hartez’s Mansion]

“Huh? What’s this about?”

Merrien’s brows furrowed at this nonsense.

[Second Prince Forcite de Vergne presented a box as evidence, however…]

‘…That’s the box from yesterday, isn’t it?’

The ‘box’ shown in the accompanying photo was the same one that woman had been carrying yesterday.

She almost cried out at the familiar object but managed to hold back.

Perhaps she should have told Ariel after all. She bit her nails anxiously while suppressing her burning concern.

As she hurriedly moved on to the next sentence.

[What was inside the box was just a ‘dog collar’ with no trace of magic.]

It had been nothing but a trivial incident.

“….”

‘What is this really about?’

[The Emperor extended his sincere apologies to the Tower Master…]

Merrien closed the newspaper with a stiff expression, not wanting to read any more.

Just then, Ariel placed something on the table as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“…A box?”

It was the same box she had seen yesterday, the one that had just been shown in the newspaper.

“Yes. I wanted to show it to you.”

Ariel’s eyes crinkled as he faced Merrien. She felt annoyed by that face that had seemed exceptionally happy since this morning.

“Open it.”

After being wary for a moment, Merrien carefully opened the box at his urging gaze.

And inside was.

“…This is.”

It was the flower dog collar she had made for Whitey before she knew he was Ariel.

Merrien looked at Ariel with a dazed expression while holding the dog collar.

“Yes, my treasure.”

His gentle voice responded.

That voice was so nostalgic that Merrien closed her mouth tightly and avoided his gaze.

She hastily put the dog collar back in the box awkwardly. Even though she had made it herself, she felt strangely embarrassed.

After a long silence, Ariel spoke first.

“Where did you go yesterday?”

“…Ah, there’s a large bathroom?”

Merrien answered after a slight pause, still unable to shake off the awkward feeling.

“Want to try it?”

“Can I?”

“Of course. There’s nowhere you can’t go and nothing you can’t do in this mansion.”

Ariel’s blue eyes were so deep and dark as he said this.

Usually, Merrien would have become serious or upset, but this time her reaction was different.

A large bathroom was something of a romance that anyone who read romance fantasy novels would dream about.

And she thought it was time she could pretend to be unfazed by such gazes.

“Yes, I want to try it!”

Merrien’s eyes immediately lit up. Her voice was excited.

“You can use it today. I’ll tell the servants.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Great!”

Completely unaware of what might happen in the large bathroom, her pure expression of delight caused Ariel’s pupils to suddenly narrow vertically.

Like a carnivore eyeing its prey.

***

The bathtub that had seemed quite nice yesterday looked even more impressive when filled with water.

“Wow…!”

Merrien covered her mouth and thoughtlessly put her foot into the steaming bathtub.

“Ah, hot!”

She quickly healed her reddened foot after forgetting about the temperature, then slowly crouched down.

Soon, as her whole body was submerged in the warm water, her face relaxed instantly from the drowsiness.

“It’s been so long.”

The maids had been bathing her daily in the bathroom attached to her room. Still, it had been a very long time since she’d bathed in such a large bathroom.

“Mmm… It’s different from healing with Holy Power.”

There was a difference between forcibly removing fatigue with Holy Power and actually feeling your fatigue melt away.

Holy Power couldn’t heal mental fatigue, so it only felt like physical recovery.

Splash-. The maids must have been thoughtful because flower petals were floating on the water, and Merrien wrinkled her nose while playing with them.

It felt like all her fatigue was washing away. A smile spread across her face.

“The Duke’s mansion really is nice after all.”

Then suddenly, such a thought occurred to her.

“From the circumstances, it seems Forcite secretly sent his subordinate to steal something from Ariel. Looks like they tried to take me too.”

She remembered the suspicious woman who had mentioned ‘Forcite’ here of all places.

“Then he must have sent letters.”

Of course, she had no intention of following Forcite.

Since Forcite’s promise to ‘come get her’ seemed sincere in its own way, she intended to diligently reply to his letters if he sent any, if only out of guilt.

“We’re supposed to be childhood friends… I should ask Ariel if any letters came.”

But thinking about it made her head feel hot, so she shook the thoughts away.

She submerged herself up to her chin, almost like diving, and closed her eyes as she felt her mind growing hazy.

“Merri, is it nice?”

“Yes. Very.”

‘…Huh?’

After answering without thinking.

Merrien’s eyes flew open.

“Why are you here?”

There had been no presence, but Ariel was there.

Moreover, in the same bath.