After sharing the secret with the female protagonist, they maintained good relations without having to work separately on favorability like in previous rounds.

Since they had secretly dealt with the people who killed Elina in rounds 1 and 2, it was an extremely peaceful time.

Kana watched Kiriel who was carefully examining jewels with gloves on and placing them in boxes.

“Since we’re entering the third month, the sub male lead will appear.”

“Yeah, looking at the timing, he’ll come today.”

Kiriel agreed while taking off his gloves. Kana recalled what they had discussed before the sub male protagonist’s appearance.

“Kiriel, will you plant a marker and attach a mana butterfly on the sub male lead?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan. We only need to check on him when his movements are suspicious anyway.”

Kiriel shrugged nonchalantly while answering.

Though mana butterflies couldn’t move as delicately as spirits or exert much physical force, they were useful for surveillance and confirmation.

They compromised by having spirits focus entirely on the female protagonist who needed both monitoring and protection, while using just mana butterflies for the sub male protagonist.

The two left the jewelry store to Del and ordered coffee at the coffee house ‘Corn Panna’.

Initially, their main purpose was building friendship by frequently meeting the female protagonist at the coffee house, but now they focused on watching the surrounding characters which had been a secondary purpose.

While they were sipping coffee, the sub male protagonist, Cedric Cleave, visited without fail this time too. Kana softly whispered while stroking Kiriel’s hand with her finger.

“It’s just as you said.”

“Of course predictions hit the mark when there’s no deviation.”

“Hmm, I guess it’s because it’s a fixed event.”

While they leaned towards each other whispering, Cedric watched Elina while drinking coffee just like in previous rounds.

‘Just looking at this, it seems like the initial stage where he notices her and develops interest before completely falling for her……’

Originally it was natural for the sub male protagonist to fall for the female protagonist in romance stories. It only seemed suspicious because the situation was strange. Kana’s eyes narrowed.

While the sub male protagonist’s gaze followed the female protagonist, Kiriel planted a marker. Then a blue mana butterfly formed at his fingertips and fluttered over to land on Cedric’s shoulder.

The person himself didn’t notice, and the surrounding characters couldn’t see the mana butterfly.

Kana glanced at the attention-grabbing butterfly before turning her gaze to Kiriel who was now resting his chin on his hand.

“Is that the one?”

“Yeah.”

Kiriel chuckled while wiggling his finger. Though it was supposedly difficult to exert physical force with mana butterflies, she had a feeling he could manage it somehow.

‘……It’s fortunate he’s not an enemy.’

Kana let out a relieved sigh. His hand, now back in proper posture, cupped her cheek. Curiosity clouded his mysterious purple eyes.

“What were you thinking about?”

“You.”

Kiriel interpreted her reflexive answer as he pleased and smiled brightly. He played with her hair while speaking softly.

“That makes me happy. I’m always thinking only of you too, Kana.”

“……You’re really incorrigible.”

The corners of her lips lifted slightly. The surrounding characters glanced at the whispering couple before losing interest and looking away. They just appeared to be a lovey-dovey married couple spending time together.

Soon the coffee cups revealed their bottoms. Kana called out to Elina who was fidgeting while keeping her back to Cedric’s gaze from afar.

“Miss Elina, bring another coffee over here.”

“Yes.”

When Elina brought the new coffee shortly after, she lowered her voice as much as possible and asked.

“Miss Kana, should I come at the same time as before?”

“Come an hour earlier than that. I’m planning to return home earlier than usual today.”

In the first round they received an invitation and went to the female protagonist’s mansion, but this round they invited her to their setting home instead. Rounds 2 and 3 were exceptions since they skipped the invitation process entirely.

Elina hesitated while studying her expression.

“Then the jewelry store……”

“Ah, we can leave that to the employee.”

“I see. Then I’ll see you then.”

The female protagonist gave a light bow and went back to work.

Kana finished her coffee and returned to the jewelry store with Kiriel. She carefully looked around the still quiet store and blurted out.

“Though we’ve gotten closer to the female protagonist than in other rounds, it’s still comfortable without any minions of related people attaching to us. Could it be because we appear to be just a normal married couple running a jewelry store who likes coffee?”

“Yeah. Plus we always deal with suspicious people first. There shouldn’t be many left.”

“True, you’re right.”

Kana nodded in agreement. As they had told the female protagonist, they left the jewelry store earlier than usual, bought more ingredients, and returned to the mansion.

* * *

Dinner was prepared right on time for the appointment. Shortly after, the female protagonist arrived. Kana greeted her with a smiling face.

“Welcome.”

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Elina greeted them alternately in elegant attire. Kana guided her to the table with a gentle smile.

“Don’t mention it. Let’s have dinner together and have a deep conversation.”

“Yes!”

The female protagonist nodded vigorously.

They began eating together. Starting with Elina praising the food’s taste, light conversation flowed and soon created a warm atmosphere.

When the casual conversation was wrapping up, Kana carefully brought up a topic with a serious expression.

“Miss Elina, have there been any dangerous incidents at the mansion or outside lately?”

“No. I’m always being careful. Of course, your help has been really tremendous. And your friend that I can barely see is reassuring too.”

“That’s good.”

Kana held a faint smile. Elina, who had been grinning broadly, soon trembled and mumbled.

“Come to think of it, my first death was on this day…… I’m not sure if it’ll be okay this time.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. We’ve taken care of it.”

“Oh, really?”

Elina’s eyes widened. Kana gently pointed out the evidence to reassure the female protagonist.

“Yes. Actually, nothing happened during this period in your second and third lives.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

“As we mentioned before, we’ve been investigating hard since getting trapped in this cycle of repetition. In the process, we found and properly removed the person involved in your first death.”

“Oh, really? That’s amazing!”

Elina brightened up and was purely delighted. Kiriel was quite taken aback seeing the female protagonist just clapping happily without asking anything.

“What’s this? Her ability to accept things is way too fast. How can someone not even be a little suspicious?”

“Huh? But how could I criticize when I’m receiving help for free? Besides, you two are comrades experiencing the same time loop with me and have amazing abilities, so it doesn’t sound like empty words.”

Elina’s voice rang out clearly. While Kana quietly agreed thinking it made sense, Kiriel blurted out.

“Aren’t you curious about that person’s objective?”

“Ah, I meant to ask but forgot while being amazed! Could you tell me anything about it?”

“Don’t be too shocked when you hear this.”

“……Alright.”

Elina’s body stiffened as she tensed up. Kiriel concisely revealed the truth.

“For starters, those involved in the first and second deaths were assassins hired by someone.”

“Ah, assassins? Why would such deadly people target me? Who hired them? I haven’t lived in a way to make such enemies and there’s no one who would benefit from my death……”

Elina stammered while her expression hardened. Sad emotions and confusion mixed chaotically in her blue eyes. She seemed half-dazed from the shocking words.

Kiriel answered dryly.

“We don’t know the mastermind yet. We need to investigate more.”

“……This is giving me a headache from how complicated it is. But thanks to you two actively helping, the situation seems to be improving. Though saying it any number of times won’t be enough, thank you so much.”

Kana gently spoke while holding the hands of Elina who was bowing her head in gratitude.

“Don’t mention it. We need to escape this repeating cycle together.”

“Yes!”

Elina’s voice was quite energetic as she answered. The female protagonist would gain life, and the two would safely complete their mission and return to their original world. The situation being resolved would benefit everyone.

Around when the female protagonist had somewhat collected herself while continuing to eat, Kana naturally brought up a different topic.

“Miss Elina, has anything happened with Lord Cedric Cleave since we left?”

“No. Besides running into him as a customer at the coffee house, not really……”

Elina tilted her head while searching her memories. Kana tapped the table with her finger and carefully probed.

“How was his usual attitude looking at all your previous lives?”

“Umm, he was a gentlemanly and kind customer. He was very friendly to me too.”

Elina fidgeted with her fingers while smiling awkwardly.

In romance stories featuring regretful male protagonists, the sub male protagonists were often the kind type. If Cedric had contrasting keywords with Kyle, it was a natural phenomenon.

Kana blinked and calmly continued her questions.

“I see. Did you perhaps run into him separately before seeing him as a customer?”

“No, I first met him at the coffee house. Is there some problem?”

Elina was curious why her kind and capable neighbor was suddenly asking about Cedric. Kana hesitated briefly before speaking.

“Well, he’s the only noble who has contact with you in the repeating period.”