“……”

Merrien remained silent, letting him be, knowing that responding would only lead to more comments from him.

Perhaps because of this, his hand began to fidget before finally moving toward Merrien’s cheek.

The slow caress of his hand was embarrassingly hot.

“Excuse me, Duke.”

“Yes?”

I’m healing you.

She deliberately lowered her voice and scolded him, but he met Merrien’s gaze with innocent eyes.

[♥ 142]

[♥ 144]

Without even trying to hide his wildly pounding heartbeat.

Of course, Merrien’s heartbeat wasn’t much different.

Her face turned red from her chin all the way to her forehead.

Merrien found this annoying.

‘Why does he look so calm?’

Despite his heart beating so rapidly, Ariel didn’t even blink.

From the outside, no one would know he was on the verge of losing his reason.

Merrien turned her head away sharply, feeling like she was the only one getting flustered.

She was about to bring up something serious to avoid awkwardness.

“Ariel. I want you to be completely healed, too. But… mmph!”

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

Suddenly, Ariel’s lips covered hers.

Merrien’s eyes widened as much as they possibly could. With one hand still on his heart, she completely froze.

He had somehow approached her, tilting his head slightly, with his eyes closed.

Thump-. Thump-. Thump-!

Merrien’s heart beat violently.

Without any additional effort, the white light flowing from her outstretched hand into his heart grew larger and larger.

The light, which had grown almost as large as a person’s upper body, became a huge sphere before quickly entering Ariel’s body.

The burst of light that followed was almost blinding.

“What, what was that?”

She hastily pulled away.

Both their faces were flushed, but what was more bewildering was the unprecedented size of the light.

This seemed unexpected even to Ariel.

He opened his eyes wide and glanced toward his heart.

Sensing something unusual, he felt his chest before slowly speaking.

“It doesn’t hurt at all?”

“What? Really?”

“Yes.”

His voice contained not a trace of mischief.

Merrien’s mind raced quickly. Could holy power be infused just by touching lips?

And to think it would improve his condition so noticeably?

‘Wait, then…’

She quickly shifted her gaze to the empty air.

[+500]

[Healing amount 8500/10000]

“!!!”

The healing amount had instantly increased by 500.

The effect was definite.

Which meant… if she performed the same healing just three more times, she could fill the healing gauge and completely cure Ariel.

And that meant the day of her return was truly not far off.

“…The healing gauge is almost full.”

She unconsciously murmured while looking up at the empty space.

Her hands fell limply onto the bed sheets.

“How full is it?”

“That just filled it a lot. Maybe three more times and… it would be over.”

Her voice sounded drained, almost delirious.

Even then, she didn’t specify the subject.

Your healing will be complete, and our peaceful life together will end.

The last bit of reason she clung to pulled such gloomy words back down her throat.

Ariel merely shrugged his shoulders.

His voice came without a hint of concern.

“That’s good.”

“What?”

Is this the time for jokes? She’s deliberately not bringing up the sadder aspects.

Her sadness quickly turned to anger.

An angry voice escaped her automatically.

“Hey, mmph!”

But before she could even look at Ariel with a frown, his face approached again.

She tried to push him away, hitting his chest, but he didn’t budge an inch.

The healing had clearly worked.

His body, already firm before, had become even harder, making her hand ache from striking it.

And if that wasn’t enough.

“……!”

Soon, something soft invaded Merrien’s mouth.

The strength drained from her hands that had been pushing against him.

As Ariel rummaged through her mouth and mind, she could no longer think of anything else.

Finally, Merrien gave up and stared at his closed eyes.

Even his eyelashes were long and beautiful. Frustratingly, there wasn’t a single unattractive aspect about him.

His pale skin, which had once looked so sickly that veins were visible, now had a healthy color.

The first impression of him being completely insane was now just one of many good memories.

Yes, it wouldn’t matter if there were no solution. As long as you’re healed.

…We’ll just return to our original lives.

That’s all it is. Going back to reality, where she had been celebrating finally getting a job.

When that time came, she would have to bury this time in her heart, remembering it as just a long, very good dream.

The sad part was that there would be no way to remember Ariel. She couldn’t be certain there would be any record of him in the book.

If there was even a single line written about him. If only there were, she would read those printed words tens, hundreds of times until the paper crumbled from age.

But Merrien was fine with this, even if it was just a dream.

She wrapped her arms around Ariel’s neck and slowly surrendered herself.

As if he had been waiting for this, Ariel embraced her tightly.

Their hot breaths mingled.

How much time had passed?

Their lips, which had been pressed together for a long while, finally parted.

“Haah……”

Merrien exhaled roughly.

Her head, which had fallen limply downward, was lifted by Ariel’s hand.

In the clear blue eyes that met hers, demanding her continued attention, Merrien was fully reflected, though his focus seemed hazy.

His other hand hovered in the air.

About to place it somewhere, then hesitated.

Then very carefully, he stroked Merrien’s arm.

Merrien couldn’t help but smile at the subtle trembling felt from his fingertips.

However.

[+500]

[Healing amount 9000/10000]

[10% of healing amount remaining.]

When the red letters completely obscured her vision like a warning, her body reflexively stiffened.

The cautionary text flashed before her eyes several times before disappearing to an invisible corner of her vision.

Soon, she met Ariel’s eyes, which had been completely hidden behind the text.

He lowered his hand without hesitation.

“I won’t do anything you dislike.”

His voice was quite serious and resolute.

She had only stiffened because of the healing gauge, but to him, it must have seemed like she had paused while looking at him.

But that wasn’t it…

The peculiar atmosphere dissipated in an instant.

Even the hot air that had filled the room.

“…Yes, thank you.”

But she didn’t want to bring up the healing gauge right now.

Merrien smiled shyly and turned her head away.

***

Saying she felt dizzy and needed to rest, Merrien left Ariel’s room.

Creak-.After closing the door, she sensed numerous presences.

The butler and servants, who had been absent for quite some time, were waiting right outside the door.

They were even peeking with faces full of expectation.

“……Why?”

But how would she know? Merrien wore an expression of complete bewilderment.

“It’s nothing. Ahem, ahem.”

The butler, who had been giving her the most sparkling look, cleared his throat and waved his hand at the servants.

The greatly disappointed servants dispersed to find their duties.

As they scattered in all directions, the surroundings suddenly became empty.

“Saint, you came out earlier than expected.”

Meanwhile, the butler remained until the end, not hiding his disappointment.

A loud sigh echoed from among the distant servants.

Merrien rolled her eyes.

‘Don’t tell me, these people…’

Only then did she realize this peculiar situation.

‘What on earth were they thinking?’

Her face flushed hot, and she unnecessarily brushed her side hair.

Indeed, there wasn’t a single sane person in the Hartez mansion!

Although only the butler was in front of her now, Merrien moved closer to him and whispered, afraid someone might hear.

“What were you thinking, butler?”

All the while, her eyes darted around, checking the surroundings.

The butler seemed to hesitate before honestly confessing.

“……The climax scene from 『The Duke’s Secret Circumstances』, perhaps?”

Despite his confident tone, he forcibly avoided Merrien’s gaze.

This confirmed what she had suspected.

That scene was too embarrassing to mention out loud.