“Did you kill them?!”

Unable to contain herself, Merrien jumped up, causing her chair to crash to the floor with a thud.

The servants watching from behind flinched at the dull sound and her scream-like outburst.

Ariel gazed at her desperately waiting eyes, then calmly closed and opened his eyes once.

“I just threw them where some magical beasts were. After that, their stomachs grew stronger. Ah, don’t worry – only beasts that wouldn’t quite kill them.”

“…Huh?”

“So they all got employed at various temples under good conditions.”

Ariel spoke with a distant expression, seeming to recall something.

“Ah, ah. I see…”

He really meant they went to good places.

Embarrassed, Merrien quietly picked up the fallen chair and sat back down.

She felt like she was the bad person for worrying that Ariel might be evil.

“…So you can’t use your powers fully right now?”

She changed the subject awkwardly, unable to meet Ariel’s eyes. The mention of magical beasts had at least given her something to pivot to.

“Right. Because of the magical power overflow.”

“Magical power overflow?”

“Yes, it could kill me if handled wrong. That’s why I asked for healing.”

How could he say the word ‘death’ so casually without changing his tone?

If anything, it made Merrien startle and flinch.

‘…This isn’t a simple matter at all.’

Ariel stared intently at Merrien’s constantly shifting eyes.

Then he grabbed her hand and placed it over his heart.

“!!!”

Merrien’s pupils dilated instantly.

“Can you feel it?”

She found herself focusing on the sensation under her hand.

There wasn’t just one or two things writhing there. Even to her untrained perception, this wasn’t normal.

“It feels like something’s tangled up?”

“Yes. The magical power is all twisted up.”

Though Ariel must have been in pain and suffering, his expression remained remarkably composed.

“….”

Merrien pressed her lips shut. Though his heartbeat had returned to normal through recent healing, she realized it would take much longer until full recovery.

Ariel gazed down at her troubled expression and muttered to himself.

“Not yet.”

“Hm?”

“Nothing, never mind.”

Then he lowered her hand.

***

One day, a thought suddenly occurred to Merrien.

“Are the meals served to me the same as those going to Ariel?”

“Yes, Saint. That’s correct.”

‘I knew it.’

Merrien nodded while looking down at the steak in front of her.

While enjoying such luxurious meals three times a day was pure bliss, ever since Ariel mentioned ‘magical power overflow,’ she kept noticing things about the food.

“I should visit the kitchen after the meal.”

“…Pardon?”

“Wasn’t I allowed to go anywhere in the mansion before six o’clock?”

“That… we never considered the kitchen. My apologies, but I’ll call the butler.”

One of the maids who had been exchanging uncertain glances hurriedly ran out.

Clearly, this place was running rather haphazardly despite its proper appearance.

“Saint! You wish to go to the kitchen?”

Shortly after, the butler rushed to find Merrien.

“I think Ariel’s condition might improve faster if we feed him foods that are good for his body.”

The butler’s expression immediately brightened.

“Saint, do you know much about the Duke’s illness?”

“No?”

“…?”

The butler, who had been looking at her with sparkling, expectant eyes, gaped at Merrien’s straightforward response.

“…Let’s go!”

He then led her to the kitchen without adding anything more.

***

The chef wiped the sweat from his brow with a tense expression upon seeing Merrien arrive in the kitchen.

“Could you show me all the vegetables currently in the kitchen?”

“Y-Yes, Saint!”

The kitchen staff scrambled to display their vegetables.

While there were many varieties, nothing particularly caught Merrien’s eye.

“We need fresh vegetables like spinach and broccoli. We should minimize oily foods and include more fish dishes. When can this start?”

“…We can manage by next week!”

“Good.”

The butler approached Merrien with shining eyes as he watched the busy kitchen staff.

“…Saint! You said you didn’t know much, so how do you know what foods are needed?”

“Ah, well. I am the Saint after all.”

“How remarkable!”

‘Actually, I don’t really know.’

Merrien rubbed her nose awkwardly. In truth, she had just listed foods generally known to be healthy.

Honestly, she wasn’t even sure if her holy power could cure him completely, but since she’d committed to saving Ariel, she figured she should try everything possible.

Then, watching the flustered kitchen staff, she recalled how the maids had panicked earlier when she said she wanted to go to the kitchen.

‘I should definitely poke around the mansion more.’

One corner of Merrien’s mouth curved upward.

The servants began to break into cold sweats at that wicked expression, not understanding its meaning.

***

She should have known from the moment the butler stammered nervously when she said she wanted to visit the greenhouse garden.

Even until she opened the greenhouse door, the butler tried to persuade her to come another time.

However, she ignored him and boldly opened the door.

“No one has maintained such a large greenhouse garden?”

The greenhouse garden she encountered was larger than any botanical garden she’d seen while living as Han Ji-an, yet it was an empty space without even a blade of grass, let alone flowers.

“….”

‘This makes no sense.’

This was a significant loss not just for House Hartez but for the entire empire.

“Well… it’s been so long since the master visited this place…”

The butler offered an excuse that wasn’t really an excuse while sweating profusely.

“Then has no one visited the Hartez mansion all this time? Besides that, isn’t maintaining a greenhouse garden basic?”

Merrien twirled around with her hand elegantly placed on her dress, as if she were a noble lady.

In truth, the only noble ladies she’d ever seen were those who came to the temple for healing.

‘Shouldn’t a noble mansion have a greenhouse garden full of brilliant, abundant flowers of all colors?’

Anyway, she thought her anger was justified.

Though no one had deceived her this time, someone had been deceived.

“I apologize, Saint. We will begin tending to it from today.”

The butler wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief that appeared from nowhere. Behind him, other servants bowed their heads, at a loss for what to do.

Feeling strange about how they were responding as if she were the lady of the Hartez mansion, Merrien added, “But… shouldn’t we ask Ariel first?”

“Ah, no, no. As you said, Saint, this is a place that should have been maintained – it’s our fault for neglecting it. Um, well…”

The butler, who was usually precise with time and plans, hesitated and stammered before closing his eyes tightly and speaking.

“If you could keep this a secret…”

He trailed off, watching her reaction carefully. Merrien immediately caught onto their scheme.

‘Ah, look at them. They’re doing things behind their master’s back because he’s ill?’

Though she had no intention of hiding it, a smile naturally formed on her lips.

‘Just how is this mansion being run?’

“Ariel, can I look around the mansion during the day? I’m so bored.”

“There’s nothing much to see in the mansion. You can decorate it as you like.”

Whether he was serious or joking – as Ariel had said, when she announced she’d be roaming the mansion for a while, everyone showed clear signs of panic.

The servants took one step back for each step Merrien took forward while grinning.

“Ariel will soon recover thanks to my healing, so what are you going to do?”

Actually, it wouldn’t be ‘soon.’ Merrien was just showing off a bit as she crossed her arms.

But isn’t it true that those who act confident always win?

“About that, we have a problem. We’re quite at a loss about which flowers would be suitable.”

Starting with the butler’s worried words, sighs erupted among the servants.

“The previous Duke of Hartez was obsessed with black roses and only kept those, but the current master ordered us to remove them all. It’s been like this ever since.”

“….”

Merrien was speechless when the butler pointed at the garden floor with genuine frustration.

The floor covered in soil clearly showed their uncertainty about what to do.

“Black roses… What unique taste.”

While rubbing her temples and looking down at the floor, she finally waved her hand dismissively.

“I’ll tell you some flower varieties to plant.”

“R-Really? Th-Thank you, Saint!”

The butler, uncharacteristically stammering, bowed deeply.

Merrien knew quite a lot about flowers. She had worked at a flower shop in her previous life.

Moreover…

‘The temple received countless flowers.’

She had even joked with the lower priests that she could open a successful flower shop with her knowledge.

The High Priest probably pocketed anything valuable and only sent things like flowers to the temple.

“Now, write this down.”

Once again, the butler had already produced a notebook and pen from somewhere, ready to take notes.

He began writing down the flower names as Merrien listed them.

“That’s all.”

“Thank you so much, Saint!”

“So when can I expect to see a perfect greenhouse garden?”

“A month will be sufficient!”

“…You could have researched flower varieties in a month.”

“We apologize.”

The servants, who had been seemingly rejoicing, became gloomy again at Merrien’s sharp words.

“But it’s fine. I’m more curious about something else.”

“What might that be?”

“Why are there so many unused rooms in the mansion?”

“Ah…”

The butler’s expression stiffened.

“The previous Duke liked to keep many guests.”

“And now?”

“Now… well…”

The butler’s hesitation made it clear – Ariel didn’t like having guests.

“I see.”

Merrien nodded, understanding the situation.

Then she turned to look at the empty greenhouse once more.

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

“Ariel must know there are no flowers in the garden, so why did he tell me to tend to it?”

Merrien mumbled while resting her chin in her hand.

“That’s…”

“No, never mind. Maybe I’m overthinking it.”

Merrien shook her head.

The butler remained silent at her words.

‘Is Ariel testing me?’

The thought suddenly occurred to Merrien.

But that thought didn’t last long, and she soon shrugged her shoulders.

‘Whatever. It’s a good thing to do.’

And once again, she looked around the garden.

‘In a month… how will this garden have changed?’