“Merri.”

“……”

“Merri.”

Merrien ignored her name being called dozens of times from behind.

With her hands tightly clenched, she walked with such force that the soil of the secret garden was being dug up by her steps.

“Merri. If you go that way, it’s the temple.”

Ah.

She had just been walking forward without a destination, but somehow the temple where she had previously served came into view.

Of all places, she didn’t want to go there right now.

Merrien quickly turned around.

She almost bumped into Ariel, who was following closely behind her, but she deliberately ignored him and continued walking.

“Yes. And if you go that way, it’s the Hartez mansion.”

“……”

She could tell he was smiling just from his voice. Merrien bit her lower lip.

‘What must he have been thinking all this time while looking at me?’

So he had fun deceiving me for months. Merrien irritably ruffled her hair.

‘So that means Ariel is the one who kills the original Merrien?’

He was the “Tower Master” that Merrien had been so afraid of.

Now that she realized it, she wasn’t afraid.

She didn’t think Ariel would kill her now.

But she felt so betrayed that her whole body trembled.

She couldn’t stand the sight of him. Even hitting him once wouldn’t be enough to quell her anger if she faced him right now.

That made her feel even more miserable.

She wanted to walk aimlessly, but she had nowhere to go.

“Merri.”

If he had any sense, he would stop calling her.

Merrien stopped, her head burning with anger.

Even then, Ariel didn’t give up.

He wasn’t even carefully following behind her anymore; he stood right beside her.

Then he took her right hand and brought it to his neck.

Despite having just promised herself that she wouldn’t look at him, Merrien’s head turned involuntarily at the soft sensation in her hand.

“…!”

She soon opened her mouth in surprise.

Around his neck was a necklace made of woven blue roses, though she didn’t know when he had put it on.

“…You, how did you get this?”

“Wasn’t it made for me?”

Ariel answered smoothly. His eyes, still full of madness from the joy that she was finally looking at him, curved into half-moons.

“After you even made a dog collar for me. You can’t leave, Merri.”

Among the farewell gifts she had made, she had left only a necklace for Ariel.

Of course, she hadn’t intended to give it to him and had locked it away in the third drawer.

Moreover, the short letter she had left with it was now crumpled in his hand.

“……”

Ariel placed Merrien’s hand, who was standing dazed and at a loss for words, on his cheek.

As if he had gone completely mad or was determined about something, his cheeks were flushed as he tilted his head and looked at her.

Merrien glared at him. She tried to pull her hand away, but he held it so tightly that there was no way to free it.

“…If you’re the Tower Master, why did you pretend to be the Tower Master’s brother?”

“I was just going along with what you thought. You were the one who misunderstood first, Merri.”

“In the end… You deceived me!”

Despite Ariel’s gentle voice, Merrien shouted angrily.

Ariel’s madness, which had been somewhat subdued, gradually calmed at the sound of her cracked voice that he had never heard before.

His hand, which had been holding Merrien’s, fell limply.

“……”

“Even if I misunderstood… You should have told me anyway.”

Merrien exhaled roughly. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him again.

If he remembered how afraid she had been of the Tower Master since their first meeting, or if he was the Ariel she had known all this time, he should have revealed the truth and promised not to kill her.

Ariel, with a restless expression, rubbed his face and then raised his hand.

Soon, his visibly trembling hand touched the corner of Merrien’s eye.

“…Merri. I’m sorry. Don’t cry.”

Ah. Only then did Merrien realize she was crying.

Her eyes began to burn.

“…I don’t want to talk to you for a while.”

She pushed away Ariel’s hand and moved on. She wiped away the tears that had flowed so much they pooled at her chin, rubbing them away with the back of her hand.

It seemed like her tear ducts were broken. She didn’t want to show this side of herself.

Eventually, the tangy smell of blood stung her nose.

She had bitten her lower lip so hard that it split.

***

“Merri. Are you not going to talk to me today either?”

Ariel’s voice came from outside the door.

“……”

Merrien buried her head while hugging her legs, leaning against the bed frame.

It had been three days since she had returned to the Hartez mansion and locked herself in her room.

“…Merri. Let me hear your voice at least.”

Ariel slowly rubbed his face.

It had also been three days since he had been coming every day, desperately knocking on her door.

Merrien, who only opened the door when the maid Rika brought food at mealtimes, was gradually withering away, her face turning pale.

Even then, she didn’t let her voice be heard, so no one had heard her speak during that time.

Ariel was going crazy with worry.

If he hadn’t watched her sleeping through the window when she was asleep, he might have already done something drastic.

Meanwhile, Merrien slowly raised her head and stared at the door.

‘…I don’t even know my own feelings.’

She hadn’t planned to stay cooped up in her room for this long.

Thinking about it carefully, she could understand Ariel’s feelings, too. She had tried to leave Ariel without saying anything, so he must have felt betrayed like she did.

That’s why he must have muttered that she couldn’t leave with that half-crazed look.

In conclusion, everything had been resolved well.

But… she kept recalling how Ariel had so matter-of-factly said she couldn’t go back.

Even though he already knew. The feeling of disappointment about why he hadn’t told her kept welling up.

That’s why she couldn’t open that door.

Meanwhile, Ariel slid down to sit in front of the door and leaned his head against it.

His eyes, looking up at the empty space, instantly lost focus.

“Merri, I’m sorry.”

“……”

“I was afraid… that you would hate me.”

At his trembling voice, Merrien’s lips parted slightly. Her eyes began to waver.

“If I had known you would hate me this much… I would have told you beforehand.”

Ariel muttered regretful words to himself. Despite his very quiet voice, Merrien, who was listening intently, heard every word.

He hung his head for a moment, lost in thought. Then he took out something he had been carefully keeping in his bosom and gently placed it in front of Merrien’s door.

“I’ll wait, Merri.”

Until you forgive me.

With those low words, Ariel left.

“……”

Merrien confirmed that his footsteps had completely faded away.

Only after a long while did she carefully open the door.

She had definitely heard rustling sounds as if he was placing something in front.

Creaking- She poked her face out just enough to show half of it and rolled her eyes around. There was no one outside.

Her gaze dropped suddenly.

Below…

A single blue rose had been placed there.

***

Knock knock-.

Someone knocked on Ariel’s door.

Ariel pressed his throbbing forehead and frowned.

Without needing to check the time, he could see it was dark outside, and the only person who would come at this hour was the butler.

Since Merrien had locked herself in her room, he had lost his expression.

Or rather, he had lost his emotions.

He spoke without any inflection.

“Come in.”

But the person who opened the door and entered was Merrien.

“……”

Ariel’s lips moved wordlessly, unable to even call her name at the sight of her face after three days.

The hand that had been pressing his forehead hung awkwardly in the air, not knowing what to do.

Merrien, who had been staring at him from the doorway, slowly moved forward.

Then she went up to Ariel, who was still stiffly frozen, sat on the desk in front of him, and crossed her legs.

With her arms folded, looking down at him, she appeared both dignified and captivating.

Ariel blinked slowly, wondering if this was a dream.

“Ariel.”

When her voice reached him, he finally covered his mouth and quickly turned his head away, realizing that the Merrien before him was real.

Ariel couldn’t face Merrien.

But Merrien grabbed his chin and made him look at her face.

Ariel’s Adam’s apple moved as his eyes met Merrien’s at a distance of just a few centimeters.