Merry Christmas to all my readers! To celebrate, I’m treating you to extra chapter updates. Please enjoy this special release of four bonus chapters! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

(Lurelia’s Christmas Bonus – Update 1/4 🎉)

♡ To all readers who purchased these chapters before Christmas: I can’t express this enough – Thank you for your support. (*ˊᗜˋ*)/ᵗᑋᵃᐢᵏ ᵞᵒᵘ*

‘Ah, I let my guard down.’

“Eek!”

Just as Merrien hurriedly covered herself and closed her eyes.

Her body floated up into the air.

When she slowly opened her eyes. Ariel’s face was even closer.

“…?”

Merrien finally realized what was happening and frantically looked down.

Ariel had casually lifted her in a princess carry.

A gasp escaped her lips involuntarily. Merrien quickly felt her body.

Weren’t they both n*ked just now!

But… strangely, she couldn’t feel bare skin.

Looking closely, they were both wearing robes.

“What, what is this?”

“Magic.”

“……”

Ah.

So Ariel had been playing tricks.

‘I was the only one fooled again.’

Hah…….

Her head instantly cooled down.

Merrien calmly closed her eyes and placed her hands neatly on her stomach.

‘I should just die.’

She wanted to keep her eyes closed forever from embarrassment.

But Ariel wouldn’t let her. He kindly put his lips near her ear and whispered.

“I called the maids. Take your time bathing.”

As if everything that had just happened was a dream created by Ariel’s bold prank, the sound of people rushing in could be heard.

“Saint, we’ve prepared different oils today.”

When she opened her eyes, she saw the maids being overly kind, probably because Ariel was present. It suddenly felt like returning to reality.

“……”

‘I’m still being carried though.’

I really should die.

Ariel, who had set down the now bright-red Merrien, made a light gesture.

All the steam in the space disappeared, and they could clearly see each other’s eyes.

As always, he was smiling leisurely, but something about his gleaming eyes made Merrien forget her previous embarrassment and become dazed.

Then.

[♥ 145]

[♥ 147]

‘…Why is his heart rate acting up again?’

“Hey, you!”

She quickly called out to him after noticing his jumping heart rate, but.

“I’m going.”

Ariel was already outside, moving incredibly fast.

***

The day after the incident in the large bathroom.

Merrien visited Ariel’s room for his healing, and they acted as if nothing had happened the previous day.

And when the healing was finished, Ariel took something out of his desk drawer and handed it to her.

“Here, Merri. A letter that came this morning.”

He seemed to have kept Forcite’s letter, not forgetting her words.

Merrien took the letter and looked at him with slightly suspicious eyes.

‘I didn’t expect him to hand it over so easily.’

Ariel just shrugged and leaned against the bed frame.

Merrien took her eyes off him and stared intently at the envelope stamped with the golden imperial crest.

The words ‘Forcite de Vergne’ written below somehow felt too unfamiliar.

Even after receiving a knife from the butler, she only opened it very slowly after a while.

[Merri. I know you’re trapped in Duke Hartez’s mansion under high-level magic. I’ll definitely come to save you.]

But the content was nonsense.

“…He’s completely misunderstanding!”

Merrien exclaimed while holding the fluttering paper, unable to even crumple it.

“Wasn’t this cleared up already?”

“Well, he probably doesn’t want to believe it.”

“Because there was no reply!”

At his expression that said ‘I don’t know,’ Merrien just turned to the butler. Then she quickly received new stationery and scribbled a reply.

[Your Highness Prince Forcite de Vergne. I am not under any magic. I am at Duke Hartez’s mansion of my own will.]

“Butler. Please deliver this quickly to His High… Prince Forcite de Vergne.”

She hesitated at the unfamiliar title. The butler exchanged glances with Ariel.

Meanwhile, Merrien was lost in thought while tapping her index finger on the desk.

‘No, even without replies, still. It’s time for him to meet the female lead, so why is he doing this to me?’

According to the original story, around the time when Merrien, an extra character, was supposed to be kidnapped by the Tower Master, she had come to Duke Hartez’s mansion.

And by now, according to the original timeline, it would be past the point where Merrien had died.

‘The content I know has already ended.’

The story had continued even after chapter 3 of the original.

Tap tap-. The sound of tapping on the desk quickened, perhaps from anxiety.

‘Forcite returning victorious from war and becoming the Second Prince must be after chapter 3. He should have met the female lead by now.’

When her thoughts reached that point, her hand stopped tapping the desk.

When she turned her head, her eyes met directly with Ariel’s, who had been watching her for who knows how long.

“Ariel. Haven’t you heard any rumors about… say, a woman with extraordinary abilities appearing in the Empire?”

“What?”

‘Another woman?’ Ariel asked with a face that clearly showed such thoughts. Whatever misunderstanding he had, even that short answer was heavy with voice.

But Merrien wasn’t relaxed enough to clear up that pointless misunderstanding.

“Like a magician who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, or a knight, or maybe a new saint.”

“Ah.”

“Ah?”

Even while rambling, Merrien didn’t miss his sigh of recognition.

He clearly knew something, so she stared at him persistently, demanding an answer.

“A new saint did appear.”

His answer finally came, though he seemed completely uninterested. His tone was grumbling and even disapproving, but.

“I knew it!”

Merrien snapped her fingers with a sharp sound. Her face lit up with the joy of having figured something out.

‘Yes, a saint would be perfect!’

That meant that in the original story, after Merrien died, the female lead probably appeared as the ‘new saint’?

It must be that cliché where love blooms while healing Forcite’s wounded heart, yes!

Being an avid reader of romance fantasy novels, she was pleased as subsequent story developments smoothly came to mind.

‘But I wonder what will happen since I didn’t die.’

Since there was no ‘Merrien’s death’ to actually cause the wounded heart, things might have gotten complicated.

Meanwhile, Ariel had completely frozen at Merrien’s constantly changing expressions.

“…Merri.”

“Yes?”

His voice was so unusual that Merrien instantly cut off all her thoughts and looked at him, wondering if something serious had happened.

“Don’t tell me…. you’re interested in women too? Is that why you read [The Saint’s Secret Hobby]?”

“…What nonsense are you spouting now, Ariel.”

The response was such strange nonsense that it was too bothersome to even deal with.

Merrien put her hand to her forehead and sighed.

“Hah, that’s not it. It’s hard to explain in detail, but I’m trying to set up my childhood friend with a new partner.”

“Ah.”

Ariel’s previously dark expression brightened. Merrien shook her head and quickly grabbed today’s newspaper, flipping through it.

But she couldn’t find any of the content she wanted.

“There’s nothing in the newspaper about a new saint?”

There hadn’t been any ‘saint’-related content in recent newspapers either.

“Yeah. It’s been a little over a month since the new saint appeared.”

“…What?”

Merrien froze while holding the newspaper. That meant it had happened quite a while ago.

“Forcite de Vergne. His Highness the Second Prince brought her when he returned victorious from war.”

“……”

It was truly a perfect cliché that couldn’t be denied.

‘Then….. shouldn’t he be falling in love with the female lead now?’

Whether I died or not. Isn’t that how it should be?

Then why did he keep sending letters, and even after returning and becoming prince, why is he suspicious of Ariel and looking for Merrien.

After being lost in thought for a while, Merrien unconsciously muttered.

“No way…. Forcite isn’t in love with me, is he?”

At this, Ariel’s pupils instantly narrowed vertically. Anyone who saw it would have found it strange and chilling.

Merrien, who had been blinking slowly, hurriedly called the butler.

“Butler, can I have the letter back?”

Then she began writing a new reply.

[I am in a serious relationship with Duke Ariel Hartez. Please stop sending letters as Duke Hartez is also uncomfortable with it. Your Highness would do better to look for new connections closer to you.]

Adding a slight hint, hoping Forcite would understand.