Hello, Readers! I am celebrating my birthday with extra chapter updates, so please enjoy this special chapter release of 4 bonus chapters! 🥳

(Lurelia’s Birthday Bonus – Update 2/4 🎉)

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

“Like we’re truly in love, not just under contract.”

No, she clearly knew it was a joke. But why did the word ‘contract’ make her feel so dejected?

That word kept stabbing at her, making her heart ache slightly.

‘Right, I came here under contract to heal Ariel.’

Haha. She thought she was laughing emptily because she’d been fooled.

She’d always known she’d have to return to reality once the healing quota was filled, so why did she feel this sense of emptiness?

Though Ariel had been gradually approaching and was now right beside her, suddenly she felt a distance. It even felt like they were worlds apart.

‘How disappointing.’

What was? She wasn’t even sure of that herself.

She didn’t show it outwardly. She wondered why he was making such requests without even telling her what kinds of rumors were circulating.

Still, she didn’t ask.

After all, the main reason for going to the banquet was to meet the female lead and ask about healing methods.

If she could learn effective healing methods, she might quickly fill the healing quota and use the limited special bonus to completely cure Ariel.

And then… she would return to reality.

She didn’t want to see Ariel sick.

But why did she wish that the day of returning to reality would come as slowly as possible?

When she first arrived here, her goal was to heal Ariel quickly, fill the healing quota, and return to reality before encountering the Tower Master. Why?

…Ah, right. Come to think of it, the chef at House Hartez was too good at cooking. Good enough to make her not want to leave.

The servants, whom she thought would be rigid and only do their duties, turned out to be rather clumsy and gentle, treating her like she had always belonged here.

The maids assigned to her always greeted her with smiles in the morning. Though their eyes could be scary sometimes when they were dressing her up.

The newly tended greenhouse had become her favorite place.

‘I like this mansion and I like Ariel. Of course, I don’t want to leave.’

And that unconscious flow of thoughts finally led her to realize a truth she hadn’t wanted to know.

‘What?’

Merrien froze, seemingly shocked by her own feelings that she had naturally come to realize.

“What’s wrong, Merri?”

Ariel, who hadn’t missed a single moment watching her, worried when he saw her eyes lose focus.

Even as he anxiously caressed her cheek asking what was wrong, Merrien didn’t notice.

‘I… I like Ariel.’

Ah, now she understood.

Those blue eyes mixed with worry and curiosity. There was a reason she had always thought they were as beautiful as a lake.

Why her heart softened even though she knew his gloomy act was just pretense. Why she deliberately ignored the healing quota in the air.

Because she would have to leave Ariel’s side when it was filled. Because she liked Ariel.

‘…No, how could I like that weirdo.’

And he’s the brother of the villain who kills Merrien in the original story!

…Am I crazy?

“Aagh!!!”

Unable to say those words out loud, Merrien screamed while pulling at her hair.

Ariel, not understanding what was happening, hurriedly tried to stop her, but she pushed his hands away while holding back tears.

Perhaps she had known all along but had been denying it until now.

Her period of denying her feelings had completely ended today.

***

Even though Merrien had realized her feelings, nothing had changed on the outside.

She had absolutely no intention of confessing to Ariel, who always acted so slick.

It was torturous how her heart would race uncontrollably sometimes when facing Ariel.

Time flowed mercilessly until the day of the long-awaited imperial banquet arrived.

In the early dawn, slightly before the usual wake-up time.

Someone was lingering in front of the external window connected to Ariel’s room.

Even those hesitant steps were clean and quiet without any waste of movement.

For some reason, this assassin, who had been able to enter without any trouble since there were no knights or even watchers at a mansion as grand as House Hartez, recalled their client’s voice.

“The Duke wakes up at seven every day. If you sneak in through the Duke’s window at six in the morning, you can infiltrate without anyone knowing.”

…Even so? Though uncertain, the esteemed person before them had offered too large a sum to refuse.

And it was exactly as they had said.

Security? It was like leaving fish with a cat.

‘This is such a simple job? And they’re paying this much for it?’

It wasn’t even an order for assassination.

This high-level assassin, of which there were few in the empire, looked down at the small sphere in their hand.

“Hide this under Hartez Duke’s bed. Do absolutely nothing else. Remember that.”

That was all the client wanted.

The assassin, who had easily opened the window, moved nimbly.

After confirming that Duke Hartez was sleeping like the dead, they gently rolled the sphere under his bed.

The entire process was perfectly silent. Just as they were about to leave.

Bang-!

They collapsed forward without even being able to look back.

It happened in an extremely brief moment.

Ariel’s index finger was pointed at them, though no one knew when he had risen.

The magic that flowed from it had completely penetrated the assassin’s body.

“…An assassin? And on the morning of the banquet, no less?”

Ariel, who had just awakened, clutched his head as dizziness washed over him.

It was due to the magical outburst and headache that unfailingly came around this time.

But as if used to such pain, he stood up and walked over to the motionless assassin.

“Were you trying to leave by turning around?”

His eyes flickered as he crouched down and examined the assassin one by one.

If they were an assassin, they would have tried to kill him, but that wasn’t the case.

It was rather suspicious that there were no clues and no energy could be sensed.

“I shouldn’t have killed them. Was it that Second Prince bastard who sent them?”

His blue eyes gleamed brightly.

Under the bed, the sphere that Ariel hadn’t yet discovered emitted a faint light.

***

“Saint, it’s time to wake up.”

Merrien’s eyes snapped open at the maid’s voice.

She had hoped she wouldn’t hear that now.

‘Wow.’

She hadn’t slept at all.

What to say when meeting the original female lead, how to become friends and set her up with Forcite. No, was this being too meddlesome?

Then she’d toss and turn and fall into different thoughts.

What if she made a mistake while dancing with Ariel, what if Ariel collapsed, what if Forcite tried to talk to her again…

When her head seemed completely overwhelmed with countless thoughts, she tried counting sheep, telling herself she really needed to sleep now.

But the birds were already chirping and it was just before sunrise.

“Saint… Oh, goodness!”

The maids, who had brought the finest perfumed oil saying they needed to take special care today for the banquet, almost dropped it.

Merrien’s skin had become noticeably dry in just one day, and the dark shadows under her eyes reached down to her chin.

“Haha, good morning everyone…”

Though she tried to greet them cheerfully, Merrien couldn’t move an inch, as if she had become one with the bed.

The maids set down the premium oils and approached her with worried faces.

“Saint… Did you not sleep?”

“No, I was too nervous.”

So even the Saint gets nervous. The maids smiled, thinking it was a relief after wondering if something serious had happened.

When one maid carefully handed her a mirror, Merrien, who until then couldn’t even hold herself up, shrieked and raised her upper body.

“I can’t go looking like this, no. I definitely can’t…”

I’m sorry for showing you such an unsightly appearance. When she apologized to the maids with a sigh, they all just smiled awkwardly.

Even Rica, who always praised her endlessly saying she was beautiful!

Rica even hid among the other maids, avoiding Merrien’s gaze.

…This traitor.

‘I thought she would at least deny it out of courtesy.’

Merrien held back tears as she infused herself with Holy Power, thinking how fortunate it was that she was a Saint.