She headed straight to Martha’s office.

When she handed over the statue along with the news that Raku had successfully neutralized the curse, Martha showed a rare display of joy.

She briefly set down the pen that had been continuously writing documents and laughed heartily with satisfaction.

“Hahaha, with this, the imperial family is greatly indebted to Cayenne— No one would dare think of messing with Cayenne even in their dreams.”

Seeing Martha speak her mind without reservation, she felt once again that Martha truly trusted her.

She took this opportunity to bring up the topic of Raku.

“Lady Martha, about the shaman we captured, what do you plan to do with him?”

“I was planning to hand him over to the imperial family since it’s troublesome to keep him around, but…..”

Martha trailed off and looked directly at her through her angular glasses. Her intelligent purple eyes gleamed sharply.

She made a thoughtful sound and said with an interested expression.

“It seems you have something in mind.”

To notice before she even spoke—that’s Martha Cayenne for you.

‘This is why she’s so easy to talk to.’

Without beating around the bush, she proposed directly.

“How about using this opportunity to establish a magic tower under Cayenne’s authority?”

“A magic tower?”

“Yes! I’ve heard that Cayenne already has several excellent mages. Let’s officially establish a magic tower and have that shaman stay there.”

“The construction and maintenance costs would be quite high……”

“The income from selling products made in the magic tower would be more than enough to recover the costs!”

Martha smiled slightly at her confident voice.

“It seems that shaman is more impressive than I thought.”

She nodded vigorously with a look that asked Martha to trust her.

Considering the profit the imperial family makes by using Raku in the original story, this opportunity absolutely cannot be missed.

Plus, there was one more reason.

“If we have Raku conduct research, we might find clues to completely cure Arkle’s magical resonance.”

Martha, who had been tapping the desk as if lost in calculation, stopped at her words.

She seemed intrigued by the possibility of ‘completely’ eliminating the magical resonance, a curse-like chain passed down through generations of the family.

Arkle’s magical resonance originated from the previous head’s contract with a demon.

If they researched black magic that borrowed the power of demons, they might discover clues about it.

‘Moreover, Raku knows how to neutralize black magic.’

Then it’s not an impossible story at all.

‘But if Arkle is truly cured……’

Her place in Cayenne would disappear.

‘Because they would no longer need my healing ability.’

There would also be no reason for Arkle to continue their contract marriage.

That’s why she had hesitated a bit before bringing this up.

‘But still.’

Still, she had been thinking that someday the time might come when she would have to leave this place.

Still, if she saved up a lot of money until then, she could live a life without lack on her own.

‘Right, I already have enough money from Arkle and Martha, and there are plenty of ways to earn more…! Though I’ll have a lot to do if I seriously prepare for independence……’

Still, she wanted Arkle not to suffer for his entire life.

Having been sick for a lifetime in her previous life, she knew better than anyone the helplessness and sadness of endless pain.

Pain with no end in sight slowly numbs a person, eventually making them unable to feel anything, becoming insensitive.

‘You just end up waiting for everything to end quickly.’

Perhaps because she understood that feeling, her mouth opened before she had even perfectly prepared a contingency plan for when she was truly no longer needed.

“I want to see what expression Arkle will make when that pain disappears.”

“……”

Whether he’ll shed tears of joy or smile with ecstasy, she couldn’t guess.

‘It will be beautiful.’

At that time, he would express his honest emotions without her having to tell him to.

If she saw that face, she might be able to leave this place without regrets.

“I understand your thoughts. I’ll review it carefully.”

Martha, who had been silently looking at her, picked up her pen again and looked down at the documents as she spoke.

“I need to write a letter to the emperor, so I’d appreciate it if you let me concentrate.”

At first glance, it sounded like a polite rejection, but she realized it wasn’t and smiled.

Because Martha said she would review it ‘carefully’…!

‘For Martha, who makes swift decision-making her life motto, saying she’ll review it carefully is almost the same as agreeing!’

She had known since Martha kidnapped her that she wanted to remove her brother’s curse.

Whether it was to eliminate the risk of Arkle going berserk or out of concern for her brother, she couldn’t tell.

‘No need to worry. Martha is a reliable head of the family.’

Even without her saying more, Martha would make the best choice for the members of the Cayenne family.

With that trust, she said goodbye with peace of mind and left the office.

‘Now I really need to prepare for the banquet.’

❖ ❖ ❖

While organizing what she needed in her head as she headed to her room, someone was waiting for her in front of the door.

“Lize!”

A bright smile spread across Naran’s face when their eyes met.

His cat-like eyes curved lovingly as if disarmed, and a faint blush colored his snow-white cheeks.

It was a refreshing smile she hadn’t seen in a long time.

‘Yes, I missed that smile!’

Somehow, it felt like it had been a very long time since she had faced Naran alone after returning from Mount Kroom.

Naran seemed to think so too, as he said with slight concern.

“I came because I wanted to be alone with Lize after so long, but if it’s a bother……”

“I wanted to hang out with Naran too.”

She grabbed both his hands and said.

Naran no longer severely depreciated himself as before, but he still occasionally showed this lack of confidence in himself.

‘I should put him in the compliment prison again after so long.’

“Meeting Naran really makes me feel healed. Let’s go inside. I’ll tell you everything that happened in Kelston.”

When she said this while gently pinching his cheek, Naran looked surprised for a moment with wide eyes, then smiled brightly.

“I’m the one who feels healed when I meet you, Lize……”

It was such a harmless, heavenly smile that she felt as if she could see wings behind his back.

‘Ah, so cute……’

Suppressing the flood of admiration rising to her throat, she entered the room with Naran.

So she sat on the bed and told Naran everything about the undead residents of Kelston, the video called a ‘movie’ that she filmed with them, and everything up to capturing Raku.

Naran sat in front of her with an angelic expression, listening attentively to her story.

“So that shaman Raku is at the farm now?”

“Yes, that’s right. Why?”

“I should take my work tools out after so long. Should I start by XX his XX?”

Naran said, still maintaining his angelic face.

Even this sight of him making R-rated gore movie-level statements with the most innocent face was welcome after so long.

“Don’t worry, I’ve trained him well. By the way, Naran, is there a large unused room in the mansion?”

“How large does it need to be?”

“Hmm… large enough to fit over a hundred people.”

After thinking for a moment, Naran spoke.

“There is a place that used to be a ballroom. I heard one of the previous heads loved dancing and combined several rooms to make it. It doesn’t seem to be used for anything special now.”

“Hmm, that should be good enough…!”

“What do you need that room for?”

She explained to Naran, who was asking with round eyes, that she planned to screen the ‘movie’ she had filmed at the banquet.

And that she would create a temporary theater inside the mansion for it.

“So I need a large cloth. I should check the material myself if possible……”

“Then Lize, would you like to go to the shopping district with me?”

Naran asked with sparkling eyes.

“If we wear robes, no one will recognize us…! I’ll guide you! I know all the geography of Cayenne Territory!”

“Really? I’d appreciate that!”

It would certainly be much more convenient if Naran came along.

In truth, she would have gone out long ago if she could, but she didn’t know the way by herself and was wondering if she should go out on her own before officially announcing the marriage.

But since Naran was also a member of the Cayenne family, this could be considered official permission.

“Taking other employees would make us more noticeable. Will it be okay with just the two of us, Naran?”

“If it’s just the two of us, that’s even better. It’s perfect.”

Naran said in a resolute voice.

A little while later, Naran brought two long robes with hoods, and she tied her long silver hair into one bundle, tossed it behind her back, and put on the hood.

“Silver hair is an uncommon color. This way, no one will recognize me by my hair color, right?”

Naran exclaimed, “As expected of Lize!” and asked with a cute face.

“If someone does recognize you, should I take care of them? I can make it so they won’t find a trace.”

“That’s why we’re disguising ourselves so carefully, to prevent that from happening.”

“Ah, I see.”

Having concealed our identities, we slipped out of the mansion through a side door when no one was watching.

It was her first ordinary outing since coming to live at Cayenne.

❖ ❖ ❖

The shopping district wasn’t far from the mansion.

Following Naran’s guidance, a bustling street soon appeared after walking for a while.

“This is the largest shopping district in Cayenne Territory.”

As Naran said, the street was lined with shops of all sizes, stretching endlessly.

“Wow… it’s huge.”

“Right? The fabric stores are that way! Be careful not to get separated from me.”

The street was as wide as it was crowded with pedestrians, merchants, and all kinds of people.

‘It would be a disaster if I got lost.’

She stuck close behind Naran and followed him.

But after walking for some time.

“Ah—!”

A man who bumped shoulders with her suddenly let out a strange cry and collapsed onto the ground with a thud.