Drukan saw Serena, with a pale face and somewhat labored breathing, looking down at the merchant with her eyes wide open.

“Drukan, get rid of this.”

“Yes, understood.”

“And I’m taking a break from work for a while. Tell Magnus I’ll be using my room for some time.”

“…Understood.”

Thinking that her condition seemed a bit off, Drukan nodded obediently with a subtle expression.

After all, as an employee, he had a duty to faithfully follow his employer’s orders.

And he had decided to stay by her side for quite a long time, until Serena meets her death.

It was only natural.

‘Because she showed me a miracle.’

It was a miracle he had never even thought of before.

It was a world he had never even dared to hope for.

When he was missing an arm, he didn’t know how precious it was. He had grown accustomed to living with one arm, so he didn’t feel the emptiness.

But when he hugged his daughter with both arms…

He ended up shedding tears foolishly.

Even though it wasn’t a real arm and leg, it felt like he was really embracing her.

As days passed, moving his fingers became more natural, and it even felt like the sensation in his fingertips was returning.

Except for the clanking sound that reminded him it wasn’t real, it felt just like a real arm.

‘No one had ever thought of using mana circuits in this way…’

He was simply amazed.

He was amazed at the prosthetic that felt more like his own arm day by day, and he was amazed at Serena who told him not to reveal this to the world.

‘There must be a reason for it.’

The Serena that Drukan observed was an extremely serious and meticulous person.

She goes through trial and error many times and repeats experiments over and over.

She makes definite plans and looks to the future. Although he’s not sure what kind of plan it is to live off others for life.

‘…But, she doesn’t know herself well.’

She doesn’t realize that the people around her are falling for her one by one.

Those who have conversed with her, received her favor, and felt her pretend indifference but actual kindness, already don’t dislike Serena.

Rather, it could be said that they like her.

These days, she receives greetings even when as she walked down the corridor, and gets warm glances from whoever she meets.

‘…I’d like to introduce her to them someday.’

So, he hopes that when needed, she would step up for his employer.

‘…Well, with that personality, there probably won’t be anything to ask for.’

Drukan thought so.

‘But what bothers me is…’

He narrowed his eyes.

The seal of the World Tree emitting a white light appeared on his nape and quickly disappeared.

‘Why did the World Tree tell me to watch her?’

He recalled the revelation from the World Tree, which he had never received except when told to eliminate dragons, and spoke.

The World Tree would often visit him in his dreams.

Sometimes it would ask about trivial matters of the outside world, and very rarely, it would warn him of dangers.

And only once since he was born, it gave him a revelation.

And another revelation came very recently.

It was when he asked the World Tree for a way to save his daughter and learned that it was some kind of herb.

In exchange for telling him where to find what he was looking for, the World Tree gave one revelation.

“Watch Serena Lavernia. Observe her. And choose, my warrior.”

It was a revelation that spewed incomprehensible words, but the World Tree’s revelations were always of this kind.

At first, he didn’t know he would meet her at the place where the herb was supposed to be.

Moreover, he didn’t expect that she would have bought it.

At that moment, he rarely got angry. An incomprehensible emotion welled up. If it were usual, he would have chosen a slightly different method.

‘Well, since I was told to watch her, I guess it’s fine to protect her.’

Drukan thought as he looked at the Extra merchant he was holding by the nape.

Looking at the guy who was trembling and had wet his pants, Drukan shrugged.

He dragged the guy by the nape across the floor and entered Magnus’s office.

* * *

Knock knock.

Recalling the recent incident, Magnus knocked on the door of her room, which she had locked herself in.

He was worried sick that she hadn’t been eating properly for days, when she usually didn’t even lock her door.

According to Pamel, she would only eat the food left in front of her door after Pamel persuaded her from outside, almost in tears.

Even Pamel hadn’t seen her for several days now.

‘I’ll have to force it open today.’

Because he couldn’t let the news spread that the Duchess had died in the mansion.

But more than all those things, he was just feeling a bit lonely these days.

The nights were lonely without Serena in his arms, and he was bored not being able to bathe together.

There wasn’t a single thing, be it meals or conversations, that wasn’t boring or empty.

It had only been a few months.

Properly talking, having conversations, mixing bodies, casually holding hands and kissing.

They had become this close in such a short time that he regretted not being able to properly be with her.

What if he had started a year earlier, three years earlier, or if he hadn’t ignored her in those young days?

‘If I had properly greeted her and shared my heart from the beginning, would she have run to me at times like this?’

Serena was a person who found it difficult to accept given affection.

She was someone not used to exchanging emotions.

Thinking that he had played a part in that sometimes made Magnus feel twisted inside.

Especially at times like this when even he was pushed outside the line.

Especially when he realized that when pushed to the limit, it wasn’t him she would lean on, that in fact, she hadn’t really let anyone in.

“Serena.”

He knocked again.

“I’d like to come in, is that okay?”

“……”

There was no answer from inside.

But he realized he could feel a slight presence from inside.

A very faint presence.

It was like the slight movement of an insect. Nevertheless, he felt it. That she was alive.

That she was properly listening to his words.

“How long are you going to stay in there? I’m worried about you, pig… no, you.”

Magnus, who was about to reflexively say his usual words, quickly changed course.

Because he was already a man on the verge of becoming a frog who had figured out how to handle Serena.

“If you need to talk, let’s talk, Serena.”

He decided to calmly suggest a few methods he could try.

“If you want to sleep, sleep in my arms instead. I haven’t been able to sleep properly without you either.”

In the past, it was words he said to sell medicine, but now it’s sincere.

He really has been waking up frequently in the middle of the night these days, feeling empty in his arms.

“If you need comfort, I’ll comfort you.”

He said again.

He brings to the tip of his tongue methods that would make her honest while also comforting her.

“…Later.”

A deeply sunken voice flows out from inside.

The muffled voice seemed both terrified and suppressed.

Thump.

His heart plummets to the floor for a moment.

Because he couldn’t feel any vitality in Serena’s voice. He had never heard such a voice from her before.

Magnus became a bit urgent.

“Serena, now is good. Can’t you at least show me your face?”

“…Hm.”

A calm refusal came from inside. Magnus clenched his fist.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be fine tomorrow.”

Serena said so as if she would make it happen even if it wasn’t possible.

Magnus easily grasped the true meaning of those words.

Whether her insides were rotten or not, she was saying she would definitely appear in front of him tomorrow as if nothing had happened.

With a smiling face.

As if nothing had happened.

As always.

And she would say it’s okay, that she was just a bit tired. That it’s nothing.

Thinking about that made his stomach churn.

‘Who says I’ll let that happen.’

He gritted his teeth.

“Serena, if you don’t open it, I will.”

“…Please just leave it.”

“You want me to watch you hide again? Absolutely not.”

“…I’ll be fine tomorrow. Right now, I haven’t washed and I’m a mess, so…”

From inside, the feeling of absolutely not wanting to let him in is palpable.

It’s unbelievable that this could feel so unpleasant.

He had never been so shocked by anyone before.

“I said no.”

Magnus grabbed the doorknob without hesitation and turned it.

Crack.

With his light gesture, the doorknob shattered into pieces.

He carelessly threw the broken doorknob on the floor.

Thanks to the lock that lost its purpose due to the broken handle, the door creaked open.

Magnus strode in without hesitation.