“Lina, there’s not much time left.”

“Lou, I hope you overcome the challenges as the protagonist. Good luck! And… please take care of the remaining male leads. I once loved them, so I still care about them.”

Lina looked at the door with a longing gaze. She was undoubtedly reminiscing about her past with Pinion beyond that door.

Enril, jealous, covered Lina’s eyes with his hand.

“Now, I am the only one by your side. Don’t think about other men. I am your only lover.”

“Yes, now and forever, you are the only one for me.”

Enril picked Lina up in his arms. The two lovers gazed at each other affectionately, not even sparing me a glance.

“Wait, wait a minute! What am I supposed to do if you leave like this?”

I hurriedly tried to grab them, but an invisible barrier pushed me back. A brilliant light emanated from Lina and Enril’s bodies.

When I couldn’t withstand the brightness and closed my eyes, by the time I opened them, only I and a few shabby belongings were left in the hut.

The necklace¹the author actually said 전연령 목걸, which literally translates to ‘all ages necklace.’ the word 전연령 (all ages) means it’s available for all ages or general audiences. As in, it’s not age-restricted in my hand was the only proof that Lina and Enril had been here.

“Calling this a gift…”

Lina, who could control the male leads’ bodies and minds with a mere glance, wouldn’t have known. This necklace was useless.

For the necklace to be helpful, the male protagonists first had to feel uncontrollable urges toward me.

I thought about the remaining male leads.

Pinion, who was more of an enemy than a fiancé, and Gined, the holy knight who saw every woman except Lina as a stone.

And the last one, the Duke of the North, Iscallion…

“Heh, he’s still a minor, isn’t he?”

I realized that in an excessively hopeless situation, laughter could come out instead.

“Heh heh, heh heh…”

After laughing like a mad person for a while, I staggered out of the hut.

As soon as I opened the door, I saw the Crown Prince’s chest.

The distance between us was so close that I almost bumped my nose into him. Fortunately, the Crown Prince stepped back nimbly, preventing that from happening.

“Did that old woman make you some clothes, Lou?”

He asked in a cold voice.

I’m already feeling mentally exhausted, so having to deal with the Crown Prince without a moment to collect my thoughts made me feel not just angry but also a sense of hopeless about my life.

“…It took some time to find the right clothes.”

Despite the commotion, surprisingly, not much time had passed.

Now, the sun had completely set, and twilight had fallen. Of course, it was still too long a time to just change clothes.

“I thought you were getting life advice from that old woman or something. No one answered when I knocked, and the door was locked. If you had been any later, I would have broken down the door.”

“What?”

I was a bit surprised, thinking he had waited patiently outside, not knowing he had tried to come in.

“Why?”

At my question, the Crown Prince made an incomprehensible expression, as if he had heard something strange.

“Why? You are my fiancée. At the very least, you should not get caught up in any accidents while you’re with me.”

Though his words sounded sweet, having just heard Enril and Lina’s overly romantic, ear-rotting love talk, I felt no emotion.

‘He probably hasn’t found a suitable replacement for me yet.’

“Still, who would have thought that the door of a rundown hut would be this sturdy. The old folks must have some skill. If we take it and attach it to the palace, we wouldn’t have to worry about defense.”

The Crown Prince casually grabbed the doorknob and made a boring joke.

Suddenly, with a cracking sound, one of the hinges fell off. The Crown Prince was more startled than I was.

“It suddenly broke down…”

“They’ll fix it themselves since I gave them a pouch of gold coins. Let’s go back now.”

I left him behind and staggered towards the carriage.

As soon as I sat on the soft seat, a wave of fatigue washed over me.

On the way back, I didn’t say a word, staring blankly, and for some reason, the Crown Prince spoke first.

“Are you very tired? You look like a defeated soldier.”

Although his tone was as sarcastic as usual, it seemed my complexion was quite bad for him to ask.

“I’m just upset that I couldn’t catch the bird.”

“That bird again… I told you to leave it to me.”

“The result would have been the same anyway. Now I know there are no birds left in that village. They flew far away.”

To a place they could never be reached again.

“I wasn’t expecting anything in the first place, so don’t worry about it.”

“That’s a relief.”

I chuckled at his nonchalant words.

When you think about it, he was practically rejected today.

Although the ending was tragic, he loved Lina as if she were his life.

It was a bit pitiful to think that he had to let go of the heroine without even seeing her face and would never know that fact.

‘Well, it’s like a mouse worrying about a cat.’

I was in a dire situation myself.

Not only did I have to continue this tiresome engagement until another excuse came up, but I might also have to love him again.

‘Can I really rekindle my feelings?’

Feeling his sidelong glance, he frowned immediately.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What do you think of me, Your Highness? Not as a fiancée, but as a woman.”

As soon as I finished asking, Pinion made a disgusted face.

Well, I asked the same question thousands of times over the past ten years.

“As I said before–”

“Yes, yes. The national marriage is a sacred duty that cannot involve personal feelings. I will keep that in mind.”

I was a fool for asking.

It seemed easier to seduce the holy knight, Gined.

One year.

It was a tight schedule.

But even if I had more time, what would change?

A person’s heart isn’t something you can obtain just by spending time with them.

I looked at the Crown Prince, who was now ignoring me.

Even after ten years, some things just don’t work out. That was the only lesson he taught me.

Silence filled the carriage again.

I closed my eyes, and the Crown Prince didn’t speak to me.

It was a quiet journey back.

***

“May the blessing of light be upon you. Good morning, Lady Dronay. You’ve been visiting the prayer room often lately.”

High Priest Dominique recognized me. His face, just beginning to wrinkle, was full of smiles.

“Hello, High Priest.”

I responded with a light smile.

Except for my childhood days following my parents, I had never set foot in the temple, but now the situation was different.

I used studying as an excuse to leave the capital, Arcadia for a while and come to the Holy Kingdom. The Holy Kingdom was located just below the capital, and it took about a week to travel back and forth.

Since the heroine was a saint, <The Cage of Savagery> was based on a polytheistic worldview where the gods had a strong influence on the human world.

Gined was a priest who served ‘Elle,’ the mother god who created the world.

Even after being killed by a wolf, she was still revered as the supreme god.

The high-ranking officials of the Holy Kingdom, including the Pope, had served Elle for generations, and Gined was no exception.

On the other hand, the Empire served the sun god as their main deity.

I had little interest in religion and knew almost nothing about gods other than the sun god. As a result, I was now studying theology, something I had never imagined doing.

‘Having to study just to seduce a man…’

Suppressing the rising sense of futility, I forced a bright smile.

“Shamefully, I realized I’ve been lacking in faith. Now that I’m an adult, I want to repent for my past mistakes and become a devout believer.”

At first, everyone doubted my sincerity, thinking it was a whim that wouldn’t last long. But after nearly a month of not leaving the Holy Kingdom, they seemed surprised.

My overjoyed parents immediately made a large donation, and thanks to that, I was able to build quite a rapport with the high priests.

“That’s a wise decision. I’m sure the gods will be pleased.”

In reality, I visited the prayer room and library zealously every day.

Although I wasn’t genuinely repentant, I had to at least appear that way. The person I was going to meet wasn’t someone who judged others by their family or donations.

I just hoped that Gined would be handsome enough to make my efforts worthwhile.

“To wash away my past sins, I must work twice as hard as others. Please help me, High Priest.”

I responded appropriately to the High Priest’s words while quickly scanning the temple.

Despite it being a weekday, quite a few people had gathered in the temple, but there were no men in dazzling white armor.

It was another fruitless day.

Several days had passed since I arrived in the Holy Kingdom, but I hadn’t met Gined even once.

‘They said he had returned after exterminating a horde of monsters.’

“But I don’t see any holy knights. Have they already been deployed on another mission?”

“No. Even when the holy knights stay in the Holy Kingdom, they often escort high-ranking priests who go outside or are assigned to ceremonial duties, so it’s hard to meet them. But why are you looking for a holy knight?”

“It’s nothing special. Recently, a silver mine was discovered on my land, and I heard that silver weapons are needed to deal with monsters. I thought it might be of some help, even if it’s just a little.”

At the mention of silver, the High Priest’s eyes widened.