Although it wasn’t explicitly established, Saints were traditionally a position that even Counts had to show respect to, and coincidentally, the young ladies gathered today were at most of Baroness rank.

Moreover, these were the ones who had been trying to get even the smallest crumbs of favor from Charlotte, so their faces couldn’t help but turn pale.

‘That expression looks familiar from somewhere.’

Merrien looked at Charlotte, who was smiling innocently as if she knew nothing.

‘Ah, I get it now.’

This familiar expression was the skilled and natural one that Ariel would make when acting, which Merrien had seen countless times.

‘I thought she was just a female lead with a flower garden in her head, but that’s not it.’

She almost fell for it. Judging by how she deliberately invited only these young ladies to her first tea party, Charlotte seemed to have calculated everything thoroughly.

Feeling moved, Merrien slowly took Charlotte’s hand under the table.

Charlotte flinched for a moment before breaking into a bright smile.

This time it was a genuine smile, without any trace of acting.

“Thank you, Saint Charlotte. You’re truly beautiful yourself.”

And now it was Merrien’s turn.

“However, it seems there are many people who spread rumors without knowing the truth. I only speak of what I’ve seen. For example, there’s a story about a young lady who bribed the High Priest while spreading tales about her dozens of ex-boyfriends…”

“Oh my, was there such a lady?”

Charlotte leaned in with a shocked expression, as if she had been waiting for this. Judging by her trembling voice, she was quite the accomplished actress.

All the while, one hand remained firmly holding Merrien’s.

Merrien noticed the tip of the fan held by the lady opposite them was visibly shaking, and she smiled triumphantly.

“Of course. My temple was nearly bankrupt due to the funds that kept going into the High Priest’s hands. Did you know? All the jewels on the Saint’s dress were actually fake.”

“That’s so unfortunate, Merrien…”

Charlotte, who had turned pale, had tears welling up in her eyes as if she might cry at any moment. Her appearance was so pitiful that anyone would instinctively want to pat her back in consolation.

Soon she swept her gaze across the tea party venue with a look that seemed to say ‘Surely not.’

“That young lady isn’t here, is she?”

“I won’t say anything. I’ll leave it to that young lady’s judgment.”

“…As expected, Merrien, you’re too kind!”

Baroness Marist, unable to bear her discomfort any longer, stood up abruptly.

The other flustered young ladies could neither stop her nor follow her and only watched the situation carefully.

For a long while, only the sound of the two Saints’ giggles echoed throughout the tea party venue.

***

When Charlotte announced the tea party was over, everyone barely managed their farewells before fleeing the scene.

In the now-empty tea party venue, the chair that Baroness Marist had knocked over when she stood up lay sprawled on the floor.

In the end, thanks to Charlotte, Merrien had easily claimed victory.

Her eyes were warm as she looked at this unexpected ally.

“Thank you so much for today, Charlotte.”

“Don’t mention it. It all happened because of me anyway. Oh, did you see their expressions? It was so funny!”

Despite her own tea party turning into chaos, Charlotte seemed relieved as she shed her pretentious facade.

She even held her stomach and burst into laughter.

‘Wow…. So Charlotte can laugh like this too.’

Who would have thought the female lead who had seemed only beautiful and holy could feel this familiar?

It was almost unfair how well even this natural side suited her.

Once she had calmed down somewhat, Charlotte grabbed both of Merrien’s hands.

Judging by the relaxed atmosphere, she no longer seemed to be wary of Merrien.

“Merrien. I think we can become really close friends. I just have that feeling.”

“I feel the same way, Charlotte.”

Yes, her best friend was right here.

‘Sorry, Butler! Charlotte is my real best friend!’

Actually, the butler had been removed from the best friend list long ago.

Merrien squeezed Charlotte’s hands, feeling the warmth transmitted through them.

***

The empty tea party venue now contained only barely touched desserts and two Saints.

But they had so much to talk about that they continued their conversation for quite a while before standing up.

This confirmed that Charlotte’s purpose for holding this tea party was indeed Merrien.

“Take care, Merrien!”

“Yes, Charlotte. Go inside quickly!”

Charlotte didn’t stop waving until Merrien boarded the carriage with the escort of a guard knight.

Only after Merrien took a step and gestured for her to go did Charlotte turn around with regretful eyes.

Merrien was about to get into the carriage.

“Oh?”

Suddenly, a shower began to fall.

Charlotte, who had been lingering and glancing back, quickly ran away holding her dress hem, and the guard knight’s large hand became a shield for Merrien.

The brief downpour would have ended as a minor incident.

“Peep-!”

However, Merrien froze at the clear sound that pierced her ears.

“Saint?”

When she froze with her body halfway into the carriage, the guard knight looked at her curiously.

Merrien, who wondered if what she heard might have been her imagination, realized this ominous crying sound was coming from the alley right next to them.

Peep-. Peeep-. Peeeep–.

And it was growing fainter by the moment.

‘This is… an animal’s sound.’

She sensed it.

She hadn’t met many animals since possessing this body.

In fact, the only dying animal she had seen was Ariel transformed as Whitey. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t even an animal.

However, what was certain was that this pain-filled whimpering was clearly a cry for help.

“Sorry. I’ll be right back!”

Merrien ran to the adjacent alley as if possessed.

Perhaps it was because of the memory of Whitey coughing up blood before her eyes.

Her unconscious mind was already guiding her feet there.

“…Saint Merrien!”

The guard knight quickly reached out, but his desperate hand merely brushed past the ends of her hair.

Thus, not even noticing her body getting soaked, Merrien arrived at the side alley with splashing steps.

What Merrien encountered there was.

“A lizard?”

No, it was a creature with a longer and harder skin than what you’d call a lizard.

This small creature was curled up, shivering after being drenched in rain.

Just like the small Whitey coughing up blood in the secret garden.

The vivid memory of that day made Merrien tremble, unable to approach the small animal.

Then, through her heavy eyelids from the pouring rain, something unusual caught her eye, making her blink slowly.

“No way.”

Soon she screamed loud enough to bring down the building.

“…A DRAGON?!”

She thought she might have seen wrong because of the rain blurring her vision.

But no matter how many times she rubbed her eyes and looked again, those were wings on its back.

Its eyes were too sharp and clear to be a lizard’s.

Though very small, this was definitely a dragon.

A fantasy dragon!

Despite her shocked outcry, the dragon, having made its last cry earlier, seemed to have lost all strength and could barely open its eyes.

Soaked in rain, it looked absolutely pitiful.

“Saint, it’s raining heavily!”

The guard knight who had followed with an umbrella was startled to see Merrien standing dazed in the rain.

He quickly wrapped her in a cloak and held the umbrella over her.

“Let’s go quickly.”

Please. Otherwise, that Duke will kill me. She could almost hear the guard knight’s inner thoughts.

Only then did Merrien realize she was completely soaked.

“Ah, yes. Just a moment.”

Even in this situation, she picked up that tiny creature and put it in her cloak pocket.

The dragon, not moving even at her touch, was barely breathing.

“Let’s go. To our house.”

Merrien, briefly lost in the sensation of seeing a dragon she had only read about in legends and novels, held back tears as she remembered the collapsed Whitey.

She put her hand in her pocket, wiping away the rainwater and even infusing some Holy Power.

‘I’ll ask Ariel if we can keep it. If I tell him it reminds me of Whitey, he’ll probably agree.’

Merrien leaned back comfortably against the carriage seat, filled with such dreams.

Not knowing what kind of dragon this was.