The drawing room of the Hartez mansion.

Romance books now seemed to be set aside, scattered in a corner of the table.

But pudding was still very popular with them.

Charlotte scooped up a generous amount of strawberry pudding with her spoon and put it in her mouth.

She smiled contentedly at the sensation of her cheeks filling up before the pudding quickly slid down her throat.

Being able to drop by the Hartez mansion like this was Charlotte’s special privilege.

According to the word “bestie” that Merrien had taught her, Charlotte and Merrien were best friends!

Today she was in an especially good mood because Ariel, who was like her nemesis, was absent.

Charlotte patted her stomach and turned her head.

Then she saw Merrien flipping through a booklet with an unusually serious expression.

Charlotte poked her head in next to Merrien, pointing to a spot on the open page.

“They say it’s trendy these days to line the entrance of weddings with the bride’s favorite flowers!”

Her finger was pointing at an incredibly lavish wedding entrance that looked like a garden had been transported there.

“Hmm……”

Flowers, huh. Merrien looked back and forth between the flower photo and Charlotte’s sparkling eyes.

Honestly, the first thing that flashed through Merrien’s mind upon hearing this was blue roses.

After all, blue roses held special meaning in many ways for Merrien and Ariel.

‘But there are already many blue roses in the mansion’s exterior garden.’

Merrien pondered, resting her chin on her hand.

It wasn’t that they weren’t pretty.

It’s just that Ariel had said…

Hadn’t he mentioned that he had obtained and planted all the blue roses from around the world?

‘……’

Just thinking about that fact made her want to sigh.

How could they use such rare flowers as decorations from the entrance to the interior of the wedding venue?

‘No, this won’t work.’

Pass!

Merrien neatly organized her thoughts and turned to the next page.

But for some reason, Charlotte, who was pressed right up against her side, seemed even more excited.

Her eyes were shining as if she might be absorbed into the booklet at any moment.

“Merrien, have you decided on a dress? Oh, with less than a month until the wedding, you must have already decided, right?”

“Why do you seem more excited than me…?”

“Of course I am! My ‘bestie’ is getting married!”

Charlotte emphasized the word ‘bestie.’

When Merrien had taught her the meaning of that word recently, she had blushed and smiled shyly.

She had liked it so much that she had been continuously emphasizing their bestie status ever since.

Charlotte clenched both fists and nodded her head, making Merrien laugh out loud.

Merrien turned the page of the booklet again.

Since breaking the small sphere known as the ‘Dragon’s Distraction,’ no magical beasts had appeared.

Though they couldn’t be certain whether the magical beasts had completely disappeared, they were living an extremely peaceful daily life.

A peaceful daily life that some might find boring.

But.

‘Giving up the real world and staying here was truly…’

A decision I don’t regret.

That’s what Merrien thought.

After all, she still had Charlotte, the people of the Hartez mansion, the magicians of the Tower, and…

The person she loved remained by her side.

It had been a long time since she’d forgotten her past life of struggling in the temple, thinking she might be killed by the Tower Master.

It now felt like such a distant past that thinking about those times gave her a sense of nostalgia.

Just then.

Whoosh-!

With a gentle breeze, a human figure suddenly appeared before them.

Ariel had teleported in front of Merrien.

Ariel smoothed his slightly floating hair and smiled brightly.

“I’m back, Merri.”

“……”

But there was one person here who wasn’t pleased to see him.

Charlotte, who had been completely attached to Merrien until just now, stood up abruptly.

In fact, this was because Ariel’s sharp gaze had landed on their touching arms.

“Ah, I just remembered I promised to have dinner with the children today. I’ll be going now, Merrien!”

“Charlotte, there’s still pudding left.”

“I’ll come again next time. When Merrien is alone!”

Charlotte glanced at Ariel’s back and disappeared as if fleeing.

Bang-!

When the drawing room door closed, the interior quickly became quiet.

Ariel was still smiling brightly.

This also meant that he hadn’t given Charlotte even a single glance until she left.

“……”

Merrien stared at Ariel intently.

‘I knew they didn’t get along well.’

But hasn’t it gotten worse…?

Now they were acting as if they didn’t even want to make eye contact with each other.

Merrien closed the booklet and grabbed Ariel’s wrist, making him sit beside her.

“Did something happen between you and Charlotte?”

“Something happen?”

“It seems like Charlotte is avoiding you even more than before.”

“Ah.”

“Ah?”

Judging by his delayed “ah,” he must have something to hide.

Merrien narrowed her eyes.

“That Saint asked if she could marry Alex before us, so I told her I would fire Alex if she did.”

Merrien’s eyebrow twitched.

‘Wait, the butler has worked here for how many years, and you’d fire him just for that?’

But well…

Given Ariel’s temperament, that level of threat was actually quite mild.

“That doesn’t seem like enough to make her avoid you this much.”

“I also said I would do my utmost to ensure he would never be employed anywhere else.”

“……”

Why would you make such a threat?

Merrien realized that when something was too absurd, words failed her.

She opened her mouth wide and let out a disbelieving laugh.

But Ariel seemed serious.

Recalling it again seemed to anger him as he gritted his teeth.

“I can’t bear to see the butler dare to get married before me.”

“Yes, yes……”

Merrien just waved her hand dismissively.

From the looks of it, he seemed to have some strange competitive spirit toward the butler, so she’d better leave it alone…

She had already learned from long experience that trying to persuade Ariel in this kind of situation would only give her a headache.

But since he looked like he might go find the butler and do something to him if left alone, Merrien hastily changed the subject.

“So, you said you had urgent business at the Tower. What was it?”

“Ah, yes. It was very urgent. I had a favor to ask Agnes.”

Fortunate or not.

Ariel returned to having the innocent eyes of Whitey.

The problem was…

Merrien suddenly lifted her head as if something had occurred to her.

“Don’t tell me you really asked Agnes for his tears?”

Really, you didn’t, right?

She looked at him with such an expression.

“Of course, I asked for them.”

But the answer that came back was simply brazen.

…In the end! Merrien smacked her own forehead.

It had become a habitual action whenever something happened. Since she couldn’t hit Ariel like this.

‘At this rate, all my brain cells will die.’

Haaah… Did we visit the fortune teller for nothing?

Merrien swallowed a sigh inwardly.

They had visited a fortune teller not long ago.

That very skilled fortune teller they had met during the festival.

“Hello, we’re back again!”

“Why on earth do you believe in this nonsense.”

“Your mouth, your mouth!”

How could he grumble so openly right in front of someone who could clearly hear him!

Even while pulling Ariel’s arm, Merrien made sure to hit his mouth.

Fortunately, the fortune teller silently placed cards in front of them.

And the conclusion, as you know.

“If you see a Dragon’s Tear on your wedding day, you will spend a lifetime of happiness together.”

That was the content.

Merrien recalled how she had immediately deflated upon hearing those words.

“I told you that going to Agnes and asking for tears didn’t seem like a good idea.”

Hadn’t Agnes confessed to her before?

She had deliberately rejected him gently, and afterward they would greet each other normally when they met, pretending nothing had happened, but… honestly.

The awkwardness and discomfort were unavoidable.

“And you didn’t even believe in the fortune teller.”

Merrien now shot Ariel a sharp look.

After singing the “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it” song.

Yet after hearing those words, his eyes had flashed with obsession over the ‘Dragon’s Tears.’

“If it will make us happy, we should do what we can.”

He chose to believe in this useless thing.

“So what. Did you get them?”

“No. He’s really tough.”

“What do you mean?”

Ariel stroked his lips regretfully.

“I beat him almost to death, but he didn’t shed a single tear.”

“……”

Ah.

‘How am I going to face him next time?’

Merrien had one more thing to feel sorry about to Agnes.

T/n: Ariel, please let the poor Draggo alone. xD