Incredibly, his voice trembled with disbelief.

“No, that’s not what I meant….”

Just how far had this gone?

Merrien, unsettled by his reaction, waved her hands frantically before frowning.

‘…Do I need to explain this?’

But if she didn’t explain, she might have to reassure the butler, who looked on the verge of hyperventilating, by saying she would marry Ariel and have his children.

In the end, Merrien carefully explained what she had been thinking.

That she could suddenly die, and she wouldn’t be able to heal children of the next generation or the one after that. By then, she would probably be dead from old age… content like that.

Only then did the butler finally exhale.

As a bonus, he sobbed “Absolutely not!” at the mention of Merrien possibly dying.

Sigh….

At this rate, the day might end just talking with the butler.

She turned her head back to the desk.

‘Ariel can’t come right now, and there’s no way to send a letter.’

As is also with Ariel.

She never thought having such a limited social circle would be a problem.

Merrien put aside her resolve to actively participate in social circles once this situation was resolved and sank back into contemplation.

Then, the person she could discuss Ariel-related matters with is…

“The assistant!”

Merrien jumped up. With Ariel and Nes absent, the only person she could seek opinions from right now was Assistant Seren, whom she had briefly met.

“Butler. Is there a separate way to get to the Magic Tower from here in one go? Like, a portal or something.”

There had to be something like that.

Her eyes, filled with hope, turned toward the butler.

But he stroked his chin with a serious expression.

“He did mention that he recently created a medium to go to the Magic Tower in his office since he needs to give instructions to the Magic Tower wizards when issues arise during the day… but it’s probably only usable by the Duke.”

A medium?!

“Where is it?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know the location.”

The options now were either to sit quietly until Ariel returned or to find a way to get to the Magic Tower and talk to Seren directly.

It was one of the two.

“…Let’s go to the office for now.”

Merrien chose the latter.

***

“Where on earth is it!”

More than an hour had passed since the two had thoroughly searched the office.

Merrien cried out in despair while pulling at her hair. She quickly lowered her hands when told that they could make a wig from the Saint’s fallen hair at this rate.

“Don’t they usually use books as mediums?”

The office floor was covered with scattered books.

Thinking that touching a book might teleport her or at least reveal a secret room, she had taken out and searched through all the books in the study, but nothing looked like a medium.

‘It should feel out of place.’

Like the portal in the outer garden, the object that could take her to the Magic Tower must be something that seemed likely to trigger something.

But no matter how thoroughly she searched every part of the office, even climbing up to look on top of the cabinets, nothing suitable could be found.

Just as Merrien, full of lingering attachment, stood on her tiptoes to sweep the top of the cabinet again, the butler checked the watch at his waist and called to her in a troubled voice.

“Um… Saint.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s almost six o’clock, and I need to tell the servants to return to their quarters.”

Ah, that’s right.

Everyone at the Hartez mansion except Merrien and the butler didn’t know that Ariel was the Tower Master, so they had to follow the rule about not going out after six in the evening.

Even while speaking, the butler seemed restless. It was as if his desire to help Merrien was conflicting with his duty to do his job.

Merrien dusted off her hands and showed him a clenched fist.

It would be a big problem if something went wrong because the butler couldn’t complete his tasks.

“Yes, go ahead. I’ll look for it myself.”

“Thank you, then….”

The butler bowed. Even until he closed the door, he looked around as if wanting to help a little more, but to no avail.

Finally, Merrien was left alone in the office, which was in disarray with books and objects strewn about.

“Where on earth is it?”

She was about to pull at her hair again, but remembered the butler’s joke and refrained. Instead, she slumped down in the chair in front of the desk.

After staring blankly ahead for a moment, she opened the desk drawer without much expectation.

The first drawer contained neatly organized stacks of documents.

[It is considered that the Imperial Family of the Debereu Empire and the Tower Master agree to the contract below.]

[The Imperial Family grants the title of Duke Hartez to the Tower Master.]

[Duke Hartez actively assists to the extent possible when the Emperor requests the subjugation of magical beasts.]

[The Imperial Family provides full support for House Hartez’s research on magical beasts.]

.

.

The first page appeared to be an old document showing the contract between the Tower Master and the Empire from long ago.

Next was a document densely written about the corruption of the temple where Merrien had stayed.

Flipping through to the bottom, there was content related to the most recent positive rumors about Ariel and Merrien.

“So it was all created in collusion with the Emperor after all.”

She skimmed through and closed the document.

It wasn’t surprising since she had expected it and had heard about it roughly from Ariel.

Rather, given all this history, it made even less sense that the Emperor would be causing trouble now.

Merrien neatly arranged the documents, put them back in the drawer as if she hadn’t touched them, and laid her face on the desk.

Moving only her hand, she opened the second drawer.

After confirming it was empty, she opened the third and final drawer.

“……”

She paused momentarily at the familiar shape visible as soon as she opened it halfway.

Inside was that box which someone had stolen, and which had even made the newspaper headlines as evidence that Ariel had bewitched Merrien.

The difference now was that rubies appeared to be embedded in each corner of the box, and it was placed inside a transparent case, perhaps to preserve it completely….

“Why decorate the box like this?”

Though it was obvious what was inside, perhaps it was because it was wrapped and decorated in various ways. As if hypnotized, Merrien took out the box and opened it.

Sure enough, inside was the dog collar she had first made for Whitey.

“Wow, it’s really ugly.”

She had thought it was a masterpiece at the time, but looking at it now, it was incredibly crude.

Poorly woven grass stuck out in places, and the parts decorated with flowers were so shoddy that it was embarrassing to look at.

Compared to the blue rose necklace she had made recently, this was something that should be thrown in the trash without a second glance.

If there was any consolation, it was that there were no rotten parts, perhaps because Ariel had treated it with magic.

Merrien picked up the dog collar with her fingertips, looking at it with a deeply furrowed brow.

“Since I made a new one, should I tell him to throw this away…?”

Suddenly, light began to spread from the dog collar.

“Huh?”

Startled, she threw it onto the desk, but then something flashed through her mind.

“No way….”

She firmly grasped the dog collar with both hands. But despite emitting light, the dog collar showed no reaction.

It was the same when she put it on her arm.

“Haha, no way….”

That can’t be right.

The corners of her mouth dropped awkwardly.

Really, just maybe. Just maybe, with that thought, she put the dog collar around her neck.

Like when she had touched the portal, her surroundings began to ripple.

Merrien tightly closed her eyes at the light blurring her vision.

“Uh…. Um. Saint?”

Hearing a lukewarm voice, she carefully lifted her eyelids and met Seren’s eyes.

“…The collar suits you well, hmm.”

While wearing a dog collar.

“The Tower Master always came wearing that… Well, he wore it proudly, but I didn’t know you had the same taste, Saint.”

As if she would have such a taste!

Merrien hastily removed the dog collar with trembling hands.

“That’s not it, I only wore it because it’s the medium to come to the Magic Tower.”

“I see. I understand perfectly…”

But he didn’t look convinced at all.