“What’s wrong! Does your heart hurt?”

“…Yeah.”

Merrien immediately threw down the fork she was holding and placed her hand over Ariel’s heart.

Looking at his expression, it wouldn’t have been strange if he started coughing up blood like during her first meeting with Whitey.

[♥ 75]

[♥ 77]

“……?”

But his heartbeat had already returned to normal from the recent healing.

If the pain had been severe, his heart rate would have shot through the roof.

“That’s not it. What’s going on?”

Suddenly, Ariel’s blue eyes were right in front of her, their gazes meeting clearly.

He spoke in a monotone voice with a serious expression.

“My heart hurts because I’m not eating meat.”

“……”

Really now.

Her hand moved on its own, smacking his back.

“Ouch.”

A collective gasp could be heard from the servants watching from afar, but Merrien paid no attention.

“Here, this is meat too.”

She moved away from him and placed some fish on his fork.

“No, fish is different from meat.”

“Just imagine it’s meat while you eat it.”

“Merri seems evil. Really cruel. Maybe you’re not a Saint but a villainess.”

“That’s unfortunate. Being a villainess means I probably can’t heal anymore.”

“Ah, that didn’t work.”

“What do you mean ‘work’ or ‘not work’? Stop picking at it and eat properly!”

She continued nagging him from somewhere between the position of a parent and a friend.

“Now, I’ve finished my portion, so you need to eat the rest… Ah!”

While speaking to Ariel, the food remaining on her fork dripped onto her hand.

The maid rushing over stopped abruptly.

“…Ariel?”

Merrien could only call his name while frozen stiff.

Because in an instant, he had taken her hand and licked it.

The small amount of food that had dripped was long gone.

But as if determined to clean every finger thoroughly, his tongue slowly swept across here and there.

Moreover, for whatever reason, he was looking at Merrien with a mischievous smile.

“…What exactly are you doing?”

Merrien, who had been dumbfounded for a while, finally managed to speak.

Only then did he pull away, seemingly satisfied.

“You said to eat everything that’s left. I’m just doing what Merri told me to.”

“……”

This confirmed it. No matter how you looked at it, this had to be a side effect of excessive healing.

If not that…

‘No one ever told me Duke Hartez was crazy…’

Merrien, who had momentarily fallen into despair, suddenly stared at him with a bitter expression. He just kept smiling contentedly.

‘Sigh, never mind.’

She gave up trying to understand, cleaned up, adjusted her clothes, and stood up.

If she wanted to explore the mansion today, she needed to go now.

“Ariel. Then today too…”

“I’ll go too.”

“Huh?”

Unlike usual when she would follow the maids clearing away lunch, today was different.

Merrien only turned her head at his eager response, thinking ‘Surely I must have heard wrong.’

“I’m going to tour the mansion with you.”

“…You!”

When Ariel stood up as if he’d been waiting for this, Merrien couldn’t help but be surprised.

After all, he was like the human embodiment of ‘outside the blanket is dangerous’ and had never left his bed.

“I’ve received enough healing now and I’m much more stable, so it’s time I started moving around.”

Seeing him shrug his shoulders nonchalantly, Merrien glanced up at the empty space.

[Healing Amount 2000/10000]

‘…Well, looking at the increased healing amount, he has gotten much better.’

Perhaps thinking she was worried when she remained silent, Ariel made an odd expression and held out his hand.

“What?”

“If you’re that worried, you can hold my hand.”

“……”

‘Wow, he’s really shameless.’

Ariel could easily guess what Merrien was saying just from her lip movements.

Nevertheless, he persistently kept his hand extended, pretending not to notice.

Sighing, Merrien grabbed his clothes slightly instead of his hand, worried he might actually collapse.

“Tell me right away if you start feeling unwell or think you might collapse.”

“Okay.”

Finding something amusing, Ariel let out a laugh and took the lead. Somehow, the hand holding his clothes seemed to fidget.

“There’s something I want to show you. Let’s go there.”

“Mm, alright.”

…She thought that smile seemed somewhat suspicious.

That wasn’t just her imagination.

***

“This is my pet.”

“…This is what you call a pet?”

The door with what looked like at least a dozen locks should have been the first sign something was off.

Before them appeared a dog with three heads that seemed twice the size of a human body.

Actually, it might not even be correct to call it a dog.

Including its body, it was so enormous it nearly filled the entire large room.

“Yes, say hello. This is ‘Christopher Alexander Montgomery Harrison.'”

GROOOAR-!!!

The “pet” let out a loud roar as if responding to Ariel’s words.

Its voice was so powerful that Merrien had to check several times whether her ears were bleeding.

With her hair already disheveled from just one thunderous howl, Merrien stiffly turned her head.

“Um… Isn’t this a magical beast?”

“Whether it’s a magical beast or an animal, aren’t they all the same when you keep them as pets?”

Ariel tilted his head with pure, innocent eyes like a child.

The biggest problem was not being able to tell whether his words were a joke or genuine.

‘This is truly maddening.’

The grip she had on his clothes, originally meant to catch him if he fell, had now become Merrien’s lifeline.

His clothes were already severely wrinkled from her trembling hands clutching them tightly.

What was even more maddening was how Ariel suggested something completely absurd with such a casual expression.

“Merri, Alexander likes being petted. Try touching him.”

“No, I’d rather not.”

“My baby doesn’t bite.”

“Isn’t he angry? He’s baring his teeth like that?”

“That means he’s happy. You know, like how cats purr?”

“No matter how you look at it, this is definitely not a cat but more like a dog.”

What purring?

It was clearly the growl of a carnivorous animal, and judging by the drool dripping down, it was obviously desperate to eat something.

What’s worse, it wasn’t even tied up, and its foot, which was as big as Merrien’s entire body, started taking steps forward.

‘…I’m going to be eaten!’

She experienced firsthand how true it was that extreme fear can paralyze you.

In that situation, all she could do was squeeze her eyes shut.

Tap-.

“…?”

But what touched her forehead wasn’t sharp teeth, but something moist.

Merrien opened her eyes in shock.

“Woof!”

“See? Alexander likes you too.”

Unbelievably, the huge dog’s nose was touching and pulling away from Merrien’s forehead.

When she looked at Ariel with a dazed expression, he crossed his arms proudly.

He smiled playfully, perhaps mischievously, as if recalling something.

“The Emperor… no, His Majesty the Emperor wet himself in fear.”

But there was something strange about those words.

After being lost in thought for a moment, Merrien couldn’t hold back her question.

“You talk as if you saw it firsthand? Come to think of it, I heard the Tower Master brought a magical beast before His Majesty the Emperor. This magical beast must belong to the Tower Master, right?”

Merrien reached out her hand as if having realized something. The magical beast, thinking she was going to pet it, excitedly brought its face closer.

“…Ah!”

While Merrien was caught off guard and forced to pet the magical beast without even being able to cry out, Ariel was also flustered, covering his own face.

“…Ah, I just heard about it too.”

Unable to find a better excuse, Ariel rolled his eyes before finally responding.

Merrien, who had barely managed to free her hand covered in the magical beast’s drool, took a step back and faced him.

“I see, so that’s it…”

Then, as if realizing something, her eyes filled with fear.

Seeing an expression he’d never witnessed before, Ariel unusually found himself watching Merrien’s reaction.

Judging by how he couldn’t properly meet her eyes, he seemed to have no idea what to say.

“So… the Tower Master is your brother, right?”

Soon, Merrien’s voice rang out, full of conviction.