Agnes casually swept back his red hair and entered the tower with a very confident stride.

“Mr. Agnes. You’ve arrived.”

Seren, who already knew about the visit, greeted him.

After giving a perfunctory bow as a formality, Seren immediately handed over documents containing research data.

“Yes, it’s been a while. How has Cerberus been doing?”

“Of course he’s fine. Ah, today the Tower Master and the Saint came together…”

Saint? Agnes, who had been naturally accepting the documents, lifted his head sharply.

Although the magicians were researching with unusually energetic faces today, he wasn’t interested in that at all.

His attention was entirely focused on Seren, who had brought up the Saint.

“I didn’t expect you to come so quickly.”

But a sharp voice from behind him prevented him from hearing any more of Seren’s words.

Agnes turned around.

“Ariel! My friend!”

He intended to act friendly, spreading his arms excessively.

Ariel sharply rejected him. He looked somewhat displeased.

“How disappointing, truly disappointing.”

Agnes dropped his arms limply.

In fact, it was such a common occurrence that there was nothing to be disappointed about. Agnes smiled playfully.

Even going so far as to wink one eye unnecessarily.

What he got in return was Ariel’s urgent voice, devoid of any composure.

“Just take the monster and leave quickly.”

Agnes was greatly stirred. He had a feeling that something interesting was about to happen.

That tone, he’s hiding something.

It was clear from the fact that for the first time, he referred to Christopher as a “monster” rather than by his name.

His arms were crossed, and he was tapping his arm repeatedly, looking anxious… He clearly intended to watch until Agnes left.

Ah.

Agnes grinned, showing his teeth.

Combining this with what Seren had said…

“Is Merrien here?”

“Say that name one more time and I’ll kill you.”

Just as expected.

An excessive reaction came back without giving him room to breathe.

Yet he didn’t answer the question.

It was evidence that Merrien was here.

“Alright, alright. Mer… I just need to avoid running into the Saint, right?”

Agnes raised both hands to show that he meant no harm.

While saying that, he quickly racked his brain to figure out how to meet Merrien in this form.

“If you happen to run into her, change into a kid or the dance instructor.”

“A kid? Isn’t that too harsh, my friend?”

He’s more prickly than usual today. Of course, Agnes had no intention of backing down.

Then suddenly all his thoughts stopped.

“But, doesn’t Mer… the Saint not know that you’re the Tower Master?”

Right, this guy had been thoroughly hiding the fact that he was the Tower Master.

It wasn’t long ago that he had nearly died trying to secretly tell Merrien about it, yet now she had come to the tower with him.

It was strange, too strange.

A suspicious look was directed at Ariel.

“That’s right. I revealed that I’m the Tower Master.”

“!!!”

Agnes’s face was filled with shock.

He covered his face with both hands like a little girl, then peeked at Ariel with only his eyes showing.

“…Then how are you still alive?”

“Because Merri forgave me.”

“…Why?”

His tone suggested he truly couldn’t understand.

Given Merrien’s personality as he knew it, he thought she would either beat Ariel senseless or run away the moment she found out.

The anxiousness that had been evident in Ariel until now gave way to composure.

One corner of his mouth lifted, and then Ariel spoke very proudly.

“I knelt before Merri. Even wore a dog collar around my neck.”

“……”

He really is a crazy bastard.

Agnes quickly lowered the hands he had raised to his face. Showing his curiosity had been a big mistake.

Looking at that contemplative face, it was obvious that if left alone, he would continue to spout things that Agnes didn’t want to hear anymore.

“Yes, yes. That must be nice. I understand, yeah.”

He tried to cut off Ariel’s words by agreeing halfheartedly.

“Ahhh!!!”

Suddenly, Merrien appeared next to Ariel with a scream.

She even landed badly, hitting her bottom.

“Ouch…”

It wasn’t just Agnes whose eyes widened at that moment.

Ariel’s body moved instinctively as he picked her up and checked her condition.

“Does it hurt? Let me see.”

“What are you trying to see!”

Of course, he was hit on the forehead with a thump when he tried to touch her bottom.

Meanwhile, Ariel hurriedly mouthed words toward Agnes.

‘Transform, quickly.’

Agnes, who had been in a daze, finally came to his senses and nodded.

But…

‘What are you doing? Not transforming.’

Despite the urgent lip movements, he just stood there blankly.

‘I can’t transform.’

His body wouldn’t change.

…Why? Agnes became serious as he felt his unchanging body.

Even if he lacked power and took the form of a child during ‘that month,’ right now the magical power flowing through his body was overflowing.

Not being able to change his appearance was something he had never experienced in the hundreds of years he had lived.

Seeing this pathetic situation, Ariel seemed to have roughly guessed what was happening and turned his gaze to Merrien.

“Merri. How did you find the portal?”

“I don’t know. I just touched a frame that was hanging, and I ended up here?”

Merrien frowned as she infused holy power.

Her bottom must have hurt quite a lot from hitting the floor.

Even so, after resting briefly, her physical condition and holy power had somewhat returned.

“…You touched it and came here automatically?”

“Yes.”

Ariel couldn’t even touch her bottom and just unnecessarily stroked her arm, with a very mysterious expression.

Just like the portal connecting from House Hartez to the temple’s secret garden, and now this too.

He had made it so that only he could use it, so how on earth did Merrien manage to use it?

But there was no time to think further.

“…Who is this?”

She had caught Agnes, who still seemed to be trying his hardest to change his appearance.

The eyes of both men trembled simultaneously.

‘What do we do?’

‘Ah, really.’

While their lip movements changed incessantly, Merrien tilted her head and then.

“Huh? Agnes?”

She recognized his identity immediately.

Red hair and black eyes. It perfectly matched how she imagined little cute Agnes would look if he grew up just as he was.

Although he was much taller than expected and his physique was robust.

“That…”

Agnes, at a loss for words, had eyes that wavered aimlessly.

He tried to say something while raising his hand, but couldn’t find the right words.

And he felt wronged. He had wanted to meet her, but not suddenly like this.

His current appearance was that of someone who had thrown on any clothes and roughly swept back his hair.

“Oh, is that the bracelet I gave you? Really… is it Agnes?”

While he was hesitating, Merrien even noticed the rose bracelet on his arm.

He hurriedly hid his hand as soon as her finger pointed to the bracelet, but it was already too late.

“…I am Agnes’s older brother.”

In the end, he had to tell a new lie.

***

They ended up having a three-way meeting in the reception room, which was only opened when there were visitors to the tower, which was quite rare.

Merrien, Ariel, and Agnes.

The space, with a table between them and filled with an eerily quiet atmosphere, became noisy when Seren spilled the brewed tea with an awkward movement.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

Seren bowed repeatedly, bending his upper body at a 90-degree angle.

Even someone completely oblivious would find it strange not to notice the blatant stares from two people directed at him just because a little tea had splashed on the Saint’s clothes.

“It’s okay. It’s just a tiny splash.”

Merrien rubbed her clothes vigorously, afraid of what Ariel might do.

But it was useless. She had to face his concern about whether she might have been burned, along with his dedication to using magic to remove the tea stain.

Even while making a fuss, Ariel was glaring at Seren without blinking once.

Though he didn’t open his mouth, Seren knew that look was a savage warning that meant ‘you’re dead.’

For some reason, even Agnes looked at him that way!

With two people throwing silent threats, it was truly a living hell.

Merrien quickly spoke up, worried that Seren might drop the teacup he was holding.

“So… ‘Mr Nes’ is the eldest, the dance instructor is the second, and Agnes is the third, right?”

Finally, the main point of this meeting began.

Still concerned, Merrien naturally took the teacup from Seren’s hand and savored the tea.

The two men’s gazes quickly shifted to Merrien.

“That’s correct.”

Agnes answered quite skillfully.

He was already in a state of resignation.

The lie, which had started small at first, had now snowballed.

Not only had he created a non-existent older sister, but also an older brother, and even brought up ‘Nes,’ which was his nickname from long ago.