Of course, Ariel’s strange behavior of dragging this matter out while talking nonsense had seemed odd, but to think Forcite had threatened to kill her.

It seemed more realistic that Ariel would reveal himself as the Tower Master, and Forcite would take in Merrien, who had run away feeling betrayed.

After all, Forcite firmly believed that she didn’t know about this fact.

“He probably did it secretly when you went to the Second Prince’s palace. According to Nes, there might have been something in the teacup you drank from.”

Despite making such a shocking statement, Ariel remained calm. He took Merrien’s hand, which had stopped mid-air with her fork, and gently lowered it.

He even used his own fork to pick up several pieces of salad and put them in Merrien’s mouth.

“Didn’t Forcite like me?”

Merrien mumbled with feigned seriousness while chewing.

Well, she was serious, but her cheeks were puffed up due to the small pieces of salad, making her look cute.

Ariel barely resisted the urge to stroke those cheeks.

“It seems like something inside him gave the order.”

Then he tapped below his eyes.

The dark energy swirling around Forcite—Merrien had noticed it as soon as she met him.

Ariel’s blue eyes stared intently at Merrien’s cheeks, which were still chewing food given long ago, then slowly moved to her lips.

“But that’s neither love nor obsession, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You like being obsessed over.”

“Oh, come on!”

Finally, Merrien pushed away his face, which was close to hers.

It wasn’t because of his nonsense about obsession.

It was because a wave of disappointment suddenly came over her.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier that there was something like a bomb in my body?”

Why are you so calm about this?

Merrien glared at him while fuming, but unfortunately, from an observer’s perspective, she wasn’t particularly threatening.

“I was confident that Nes could remove the mind control, and I could eliminate that kind of bomb with my own hands. I didn’t even consider failure. And…”

His hand, which had been holding the fork to feed her more, dropped onto the table. That hand soon moved toward Merrien’s cheek.

“Merri. You can’t die anyway.”

“……”

His tone was flat, as if making a passing comment.

His blue eyes, which gave no hint of what he was thinking, were extremely calm.

If someone else had seen it, they might have wondered why he was making such a chilling confession with no emotion.

But.

[♥ 135]

[♥ 139]

From his racing heartbeat to the faint trembling of his fingertips as they carefully caressed her cheek.

Merrien felt those emotions flowing, overflowing, and seeping toward her.

‘…Yes, this is obsession.’

She wanted to lick her lips, but just swallowed silently instead.

Every time Ariel brought up the word “obsession,” she had scolded him not to talk nonsense, but in fact, he was right. She had to admit it now.

That the excessively beating heart was not his, but her own.

Merrien stood up abruptly.

“Ah, I need to send a letter to Charlotte. Right.”

She tried to get up as naturally as possible, but her voice was at a pitch she’d never heard before, and her posture was awkward. Moreover, her clenched fists trembled as if holding something back.

“…Suddenly?”

Ariel’s eyebrows twitched.

Just a moment ago, they had been smiling at each other after he had said something like “You can’t die anyway,” which was clearly to Merrien’s taste.

What an out-of-place name in this atmosphere.

Not only that, but she was staring at the door as if ready to run out at any moment.

“See you later, Ariel.”

Having said that, Merrien absolutely refused to look back.

She strode toward the door and left the room without hesitation.

Ariel didn’t even have time to call her name.

His empty hand lingered in the air.

***

Merrien, who everyone thought had just rushed out, leaned against the door as soon as she got outside, looking like she might collapse.

‘Fortunately, there’s no one in the hallway.’

She raised her hand to her chest.

Thump, thump, thump.

Her heart was beating so wildly that it was embarrassing to even describe it as “thumping.”

What was that cheesy line about?

‘It’s unfair. Why can’t I see my own heart rate?’

Excuse me, System.

If you brought me here on your own, shouldn’t you let me see my heart rate, too?

Merrien glared at the empty air, then lowered her head sheepishly.

She had adapted too well to this place to blame the System.

After all, coming here had turned out to be a very good thing for her.

But she had ended up healing the “Tower Master,” who was interfering with the original story’s flow.

That must have been a development the System never wanted.

But was Ariel really the one interfering with the original story’s flow?

Now, even Forcite, the original male lead, had become strange.

At this point, wasn’t it Forcite, not Ariel, who was interfering with the flow?

Then the error was the System’s mistake, so it wasn’t her fault.

Of course, if you really thought about it, everything happened because Merrien, who should have died, was still alive…

‘No, that’s also because the System sent me here arbitrarily…’

Thoughts kept leading to more thoughts endlessly.

Merrien slapped both her cheeks with a clapping sound and snapped out of it.

‘Let’s go write that letter.’

Thankfully, she had calmed down.

She walked toward her room.

***

The change in public opinion due to the newspaper wasn’t limited to the Empire.

Among other kingdoms, there were even some that volunteered to become vassal states of the Debereu Empire.

Although everyone was greatly surprised and shocked, most seemed to accept it, saying, “Somehow the Tower, full of research-obsessed people, was helping the Empire.”

In this rare moment of leisure, Merrien savored her tea.

“Mmm, nice aroma.”

“Black tea again.”

She easily ignored Ariel’s grumbling voice.

In this rare peaceful moment, she didn’t want to argue with him.

The Emperor, perhaps busy with exchanges with other kingdoms, had been very quiet since Ariel slightly modified the contract with the imperial family, and Forcite had been silent as well.

‘He probably got a severe scolding from the Emperor.’

Actually, she had expected more than just a scolding—a major conflict—but there was no news about either of them.

‘Well, I don’t care.’

Merrien put the teacup to her lips.

Unlike her usual gulping, this was a very slow movement.

It was a deliberately intended action, thinking that since Ariel had unexpectedly become famous, she too should now display proper etiquette.

However, their lives hadn’t changed much yet.

Just enough that no one was surprised when Ariel walked around the mansion with his original silver hair.

That was it.

But she was certain that the moment they left the mansion, their lives would be completely different from now.

Because.

“Did you know? There’s a ‘Tower Master Lovers’ Club’ now.”

“……”

Charlotte, who seemed to have been waiting only for Merrien’s letter, proudly informed her.

Charlotte didn’t care about appearances, even though Ariel had been revealed as the Tower Master.

For example, even now, Ariel was frowning, showing his displeasure and discomfort, but she didn’t care at all.

“Your photo was even in the newspaper. Wow, the silver hair definitely suits you better.”

She even recited her appreciation as if looking at a perfectly sculpted statue.

It was definitely not something said out of romantic attraction to him.

As she mentioned, Ariel’s photo in the newspaper was perfect in terms of face, attire, and even timing.

It would have been amazing even if casually taken, but it happened to be when his hair was changing.

Plus, the relaxed smile he showed while blocking Merrien’s way.

Even with the subject right next to her, Merrien had muttered “He’s really handsome” to the newspaper photo.

Ariel closed his eyes, leaning heavily against the backrest as if he didn’t want to hear any more.

In fact, he wasn’t the problem.

‘…A Tower Master Lovers’ Club?’

Merrien’s hand holding the teacup tensed.

How had such a club already formed when the newspaper had only been out for such a short time?