She had forgotten that his appearance was different from usual.

The already handsome man was wearing a blue uniform adorned with glittering jewels, and even had his legs crossed – it made her head spin rapidly.

“Merri, you’re here?”

Moreover, instead of scolding her for being late, he welcomed her with a bright smile.

Even though he always played tricks and acted mischievous, he would do things like this occasionally, making it impossible not to fall for him.

“Yes, I’m here.”

Merrien answered with a bright smile as she climbed into the carriage.

As she sat down, she carefully adjusted her dress, dissatisfied with how it had slightly wrinkled.

Soon the carriage started moving with a jolt.

Ariel, who had been alternating between looking at her fidgeting hands and face, spoke first.

“Aren’t you going to ask why I pretended to collapse?”

“Isn’t it because people suspected we were intimate, so you wanted to prove otherwise?”

Merrien answered indifferently, still focused on her dress.

‘How can you say such things so casually….’

Ariel, who usually teased her, was flustered for the first time. She really seemed unbothered by it.

“Ah, there!”

Having apparently resolved the wrinkles in her dress, Merrien dusted off her hands with satisfaction. Then, as if remembering something to say, she stared at Ariel.

“You already knew that a Saint’s healing power becomes stronger through physical contact, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

That was all. As if that was all she wanted to know, Merrien turned her head to look out the window.

“….”

He had prepared all his answers, but in the end, he swallowed the words about how he deliberately avoided more physical contact because he thought she would dislike it.

But it seemed she wasn’t completely satisfied with her curiosity. While keeping her gaze fixed outside the window, Merrien’s lips moved.

“Did you show Duke Hartez’s weak side just to prove there was no physical contact?”

In truth, Merrien’s mind was full of worry. She didn’t even want to question anything related to the temple or the High Priest.

When concern filled the orange eyes hazily reflected in the window, one corner of Ariel’s mouth turned up.

“It’s fine. I was a sickly duke to begin with, so.”

“If that was the case, it would have been better to call your brother to show House Hartez’s strong backing.”

“You dislike the Tower Master.”

At Ariel’s sharp, decisive words, Merrien instinctively turned her head.

Despite his firm tone, his blue eyes held a desperate look, betraying an unspoken yearning.

‘Ah, how should I clear up this misunderstanding?’

Merrien turned her whole body to face Ariel.

“Listen carefully, Ariel.”

Pointing at him with her index finger, she spoke deliberately, as if making sure he would understand.

“To be precise, I dislike the Tower Master who wants to ‘kill’ me. I don’t dislike the Tower Master himself.”

“…I see.”

Finally, his response came with a noticeably lighter mood.

***

“Master, a letter has arrived from ‘that person.'”

As soon as they returned home, Ariel immediately moved after receiving the letter that the butler had discreetly handed him.

“Merri, it’s too late today, so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

After saying goodnight to Merrien, his steps toward his room were remarkably quick.

Like someone worried about something being discovered.

Bang-.

At the moment the door closed, his hair gradually turned silver from the bottom up.

The darkness outside had already settled deeply, suggesting Merrien had spent quite some time at the banquet hall.

If they had been just a little later, she might have caught sight of his silver hair again.

[Agnes]

After staring expressionlessly at the sender’s name on the envelope, he carelessly threw the letter onto the bed.

There was something else more important right now.

“I thought something was stinging like a small insect bite.”

Ariel’s blue eyes flashed.

He had felt something itchy or stinging somewhere on his body since morning.

The sensation was so subtle he hadn’t paid attention to it.

“So it was that Second Prince’s doing.”

He had noticed when he pretended to collapse at the banquet hall, sensing Forcite’s presence watching from hiding.

That the prince had hidden something in his room.

Ariel lightly clicked his fingers.

Immediately, a small sphere hidden under the bed floated into the air.

The sphere, which had surely been emitting a clear light, had now lost all its radiance.

“Another ancient magical item.”

Having instantly identified the nature of the sphere, Ariel let out a scornful laugh.

“Did he think he could accomplish something with this?”

What did he take the Tower Master for? The sphere touched by his cold gaze turned to ashes.

After expressing his anger quietly, Ariel finally turned his attention to the letter he had thrown on the bed.

Sitting on the edge of the bed with his legs crossed, he roughly opened the envelope.

[Research on Cerberus has progressed quite well. However, I’ve temporarily left it at the tower due to ‘that month,’ so please understand.]

“It’s Christopher Alexander Montgomery Harrison.”

He just won’t listen no matter what I say. Ariel ignored the other sentences and voiced his irritation, fixating solely on the name of the highest-grade magical beast he had sent.

“This is why lizards are…”

Who else in the empire besides Ariel would dare call a ‘dragon’ a lizard?

His brows furrowed as he grumbled.

Soon there was a whoosh, and the letter along with its envelope completely disappeared from his hand.

“So ‘that month’ has already come.”

The ashes of the letter scattered in the air.

Ariel turned his head toward the dark window where nothing was visible.

***

Merrien made a decision.

‘I can’t stay cooped up in the mansion anymore.’

She felt it was time to show something since Ariel had sacrificed first.

‘Yes, let’s go outside.’

Since Ariel had shown his face to the nobles, there was no reason to hold back anymore.

Whether it’s going on dates or whatever. What was there to hide?

‘Still, I wish I had a reason to go out first.’

Even though Ariel’s condition wasn’t actually bad, since he collapsed at the banquet hall, going out together right away would certainly look strange.

Her thoughts continued to chain together.

“Merri, what are you thinking about?”

“Huh, what?”

She snapped out of her thoughts at Ariel’s voice penetrating her ears.

When she came to her senses, she realized she was only infusing a tiny amount of Holy Power into him. Startled, Merrien poured in more power.

“You seem unfocused. Is it because of what you heard about physical contact?”

“No. Definitely not.”

“That’s too bad.”

Though Merrien drew a firm line, Ariel’s blue eyes were full of mischief as he smiled and studied her expression.

‘Sigh.’

Merrien let out a light sigh and looked around carefully, ignoring his playfulness.

Wondering how to bring it up.

Just then.

“Saint! A letter has arrived for you!”

The butler who had been out returned with a letter.

“A letter?”

‘Could it be from Forcite?’

These days, that was all she could think of when it came to letters.

Especially since it wasn’t being delivered when she was alone in her room, but deliberately now.

Merrien’s face immediately crumpled as much as it could. However, instead of teasing her about looking ugly, Ariel traced his lips with satisfaction.

But for some reason, the butler kept raising and lowering his monocle repeatedly as if in disbelief, examining the sender of the letter.

Then he exclaimed in bewilderment.

“It’s from Saint Charlotte!”

“…Really?”

Merrien jumped up as if completely forgetting she was in the middle of healing Ariel. Ariel’s face instantly hardened.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

But Merrien had no time to notice him.

She quickly rushed over and took the letter and paper knife from the butler.

[Charlotte]

As if proving the butler’s words, the name ‘Charlotte’ was clearly embossed on the pink envelope.

‘A pink envelope.’

Thinking Charlotte must have put some thought into it, Merrien stroked the envelope contentedly before carefully opening it.

The air around the bed grew cold at her actions. The butler shuddered.