I Thought I Healed the Villain's Sickly Younger Brother - Chapter 27

After staring at the sky as if reminiscing about something, Ariel finally lowered his head with an “Ah” after a long while.

He seemed to have returned to reality at last.

“But wouldn’t it be better to research at the Tower?”

‘Thank goodness.’

Agnes, who had barely been able to breathe due to Ariel’s unstable energy filling the place, took a deep breath.

“The Tower’s mages are too quiet. You know I don’t like quiet ones.”

“Ah, right.”

Ariel sighed, having completely forgotten that the man before him was a dragon.

Most of the Tower’s mages were obsessed with research, so it wasn’t an environment Agnes would like.

“Well, let me know if you find anything while researching. We’ve secured other top-tier magical beasts at the Tower too, so I’ll tell you if anything comes up.”

“Sure.”

“Take care of Christopher… huh?”

Ariel was about to leave with a casual goodbye. He thought it had been oddly quiet.

He finally realized that the top-tier magical beast beside him had fainted.

“Ah.”

“See, I told you your energy is too much for most beings to handle.”

“Well, wake it up and do your best. I’m off!”

“Sigh.”

Ariel left immediately, showing no concern.

Agnes left alone with the unconscious massive magical beast, let out a sigh.

***

Meanwhile, Merrien, who had been practicing all night out of stubbornness because her dance skills weren’t improving, sat on her bed contemplating life.

As she blankly stared out the dark window, she suddenly remembered something.

“!!!”

Romance books!

‘How could I have forgotten about this?’

Even with the imperial banquet right around the corner, she still needed to read the next volume on time!

With trembling hands, Merrien quickly looked under her bed. The hidden books had long been gathering dust.

“I’m crazy, absolutely crazy.”

She lay awkwardly and pulled out all the books.

There were quite a few, so it took a while to get them all out.

After dusting off the thick layer of dust on the books, for some reason [How to Survive Without Getting Bitten by a Mad Dog] caught her eye first.

“……”

It was the series the butler had given her saying it was interesting, even though she hadn’t asked for it.

The provocative cover showed the female lead holding the leash around the male lead’s neck.

The male lead’s blue eyes strangely reminded her of someone. Though his silver hair dispelled those unnecessary thoughts.

No, do I really like obsessive men?

Before she could seriously consider it, her hand was already reaching for volume 1 of Mad Dog as if possessed.

“It’s just because the cover is pretty. Yes, that’s right.”

She muttered unnecessarily even though no one was listening, and thus began her marathon reading session.

The content was peculiar.

The male lead, who falls in love with the female lead at first sight, transforms into a dog to meet her because he has no proper way to approach her.

As it turns out, the male lead was the Tower Master who was rumored to be a mad dog.

“……Something feels strange.”

Her hands trembled as she turned the pages. The more she read, the stranger it felt.

It was all too familiar… Ariel kept coming to mind, which was quite odd.

Though Ariel is the Tower Master’s brother, not the Tower Master himself.

She closed volume 1 while still harboring these doubts. Despite finding it strange, she had already finished reading the entire volume.

As she stared blankly at the last page of volume 1, she finally remembered something she had forgotten.

“Ah, I completely forgot about the Tower Master.”

When she first possessed this body, no, until she came to the Hartez mansion, she had been trembling in fear of being killed by the Tower Master.

Come to think of it, after the Tower Master promised not to kill Merrien due to the ‘death contract’ with Ariel, she hadn’t heard any news about him at all.

“Ah, Forcite delivered a box with a dog leash, claiming there had been some kind of misunderstanding.”

Ariel had shown that to her himself.

……

The memory of Ariel’s shy face as he showed her the dog collar from the box made Merrien push all the romance books she had just taken out back under the bed.

“Maybe I should ask about the Tower Master instead.”

What had started with excitement over reading romance books ended in unease.

***

The next morning. The servants began entering to prepare breakfast.

“Saint, I’ll prepare your breakfast.”

“Yes, thank you again today, Rica, Asha.”

The maids smiled and bowed when their names were called.

The maid ‘Rica’ had noticed that whenever she received the Saint’s warm greetings, she felt a fuzzy warmth inside.

When she first came to the Hartez mansion, this place felt somehow gloomy and strange.

She only came because they offered good money, and even the contract the butler presented seemed suspicious.

Especially the clause stating that they must never leave the dormitory after six in the evening… Why?

Her friend, the maid Marka, who went out at six in the evening out of curiosity, returned to the dormitory in a daze from whatever she saw in the corridor, and despite all prodding, she remained silent and was dismissed the next day.

Well, still, the food was much better than other noble houses, and the salary was generous. The rumored Duke Hartez seemed quite eccentric, but he was breathtakingly beautiful.

Perhaps due to the contract clause, strangely enough, whenever they tried to talk about him to people outside the mansion, they couldn’t speak a word, as if under a spell.

Anyway, she was only here for the money, so it didn’t matter if the mansion crumbled or was neglected.

That was until Saint Merrien came here.

“I should go to the kitchen today.”

“I should decorate the greenhouse garden a bit.”

From the moment she arrived, the Saint began turning the mansion upside down like she was hunting mice.

At first, they considered her a bothersome presence. All the servants gossiped about her behind her back.

But when did it change?

“Your name is Rica… right?”

“…Yes, Saint.”

She had expected the Saint to ignore the servants like Duke Hartez usually did, and was about to pass by with just a bow.

But the Saint would call them by name when she met them, greet them, and treat them kindly.

“Michael is hurt?! Let me see.”

“This much is fine, Sai…”

“How can this be fine when the flesh is cut this deep!”

“……Thank you, Saint.”

The Empire’s only Saint, who was said to be in charge of healing high nobles, willingly healed mere servants.

She was the only person full of warmth in this strange and wrong mansion.

The maids prepared Merrien’s meal while trying their best to take extra care of her.

Merrien sat at the dining table and carefully opened her mouth.

“Say…”

“Ah, yes, Saint.”

Maid Rica broke free from her thoughts at Merrien’s voice.

“Do you know anything about the Tower Master?”

“Pardon? The Tower Master?”

However, frozen by the completely unexpected question, she stood still holding the fork and spoon.

“Yes, I thought maybe the servants might know. Ariel’s… never mind.”

Seeing how she had stopped mid-preparation, it was clear she knew nothing, so Merrien stopped mid-sentence.

The other maids who were listening also just blinked their eyes as if they knew nothing.

‘I’d better ask Ariel directly.’

“Breakfast is really delicious today too. Please tell the chef!”

Haha, Merrien praised the breakfast loudly, trying not to show her awkwardness.

“Yes, Saint.”

To the unknowing maids’ eyes, the Saint remained a kind and warm person today as well.

***

“Merri, I have sad news.”

“What is it?”

“Christopher Alexander Montgomery Harrison has left us.”

“…Did he die?”

After saying he disappeared, finally….

“No, he wanted to go home so I sent him back.”

“……?”

Isn’t that a good thing then? Besides, he could communicate with magical beasts.

Though she didn’t quite understand, since Ariel said he was sad, Merrien just nodded.

Ah, since the topic of the Tower Master’s magical beast came up, she decided to ask about the Tower Master.

“Ariel. What kind of person is the Tower Master?”

“…Hm? You’re curious about the Tower Master?”

Ariel, who had been acting pitiful as if about to burst into tears, suddenly turned his head as if truly surprised.

What tears – his blue eyes were sparkling with joy.

“Ah, well…. um.”

Having asked the question, Merrien scratched her head at the stronger than expected reaction.