I woke up again because of a hand touching my hair.

The room was dark, with only a bedside lamp lit, indicating that the sun had set.

This time, I was lying on the bed, and the owner of the bed was sitting on a stool.

Unlike before, he looked completely sober.

Even though he knew I was awake, he continued to play with my hair, and I had nothing to say to him.

But the persistent touch was unbearable.

I brushed off his hand and got up from the bed.

“It’s late. I should go.”

As I packed my things, he suddenly asked.

“We can’t go back to the way things were, can we?”

“The oracle said it, didn’t it? That if I get involved with Your Highness, the country will fall into ruin.”

“Yeah, it did.”

“If you care about the country, you shouldn’t be doing this because of a woman.”

“How did you come to hate me so much?”

My indifferent gaze met Pinion’s anxious eyes.

I coldly turned away from him.

“Pinion, are you there?”

Suddenly, the voice of the Empress was heard from outside the office door.

I literally jumped, and Pinion also looked flustered.

Given the current tension with the imperial family, it wouldn’t be good for the Empress to see me with Pinion in the middle of the night.

I quickly scanned the surroundings. The rest area had only a bed and a tea table, making it difficult to find a hiding spot.

‘What should I do? Should I jump out the window?’

The Crown Prince’s office was on the third floor. And the ceilings were high, making the distance to the ground quite significant.

‘Can I survive the fall…?’

“Pinion? Are you sleeping? I’m coming in.”

‘What do I do!’

Panicking, I looked at Pinion, who quickly poured the remaining whiskey on himself. Then, he pushed my shoulder, making me fall back onto the bed.

“What, what are you doing?”

I whispered in a small scream, but his immense strength was unshakeable.

Almost at the same time, with the blanket covering my body and face, the door opened.

The Empress, who was about to enter, gasped in surprise.

“What are you doing right now?”

The Empress asked the same question I had earlier.

“Can’t you see?”

Pinion replied in a slurred voice, like a drunken man.

His body covered mine through the thin fabric of the blanket. Even though my hair was completely hidden, my heart pounded wildly at the thought that the Empress might recognize me.

Click-clack, the Empress walked towards the bed.

“I don’t understand why you’re acting like this lately. Now you’re even bringing women into your office. I need to see what kind of impudent girl doesn’t greet me when I arrive.”

As I trembled under the Empress’s fierce aura, Pinion leaned down and hugged my head.

But I was so distracted by the Empress’s presence that I didn’t even feel any aversion. Instead, I was anxious that he might get up and leave me exposed.

“She’s drunk. Please overlook it this time.”

Pinion let out a hollow laugh. He truly had the makings of a great actor.

“If this continues, find an appropriate woman and make her your consort. I acknowledge that Ines is inferior to Dronay, but you should be able to manage. After all, you know that marriage is just like that.”

“I know. As long as I can breed like a stud horse, that’s enough.”

“Pinion!”

“Then shall I try it now? I have a partner right here.”

“What? How dare you speak like this in front of your mother!”

The Empress was not the only one shocked by his rogue words. Even I was dumbstruck by the extreme nature of his remarks.

Pinion got up and rustled around.

“I’m truly disappointed!”

I heard the Empress’s footsteps retreating, followed by the door slamming shut.

I finally let out a deep sigh of relief.

“Did she leave…?”

As I cautiously peeked out, I immediately screamed and pulled the blanket over my head again. Pinion, who had taken off his shirt, was looking down at me.

“P-Put your clothes on quickly!”

There was a reason the Empress had left like that.

He was the one who undressed, but my face was burning.

It was fortunate that it was too dark to see properly.

Wait, fortunate?

‘How could I miss such a good view…!’

As I always say, the way he looks on the outside was not at fault.

But when I lowered the blanket again, he was already wearing a shirt with all the buttons fastened up to his neck.

“Why? Want to see more?”

“N-No, I don’t need to.”

He smirked knowingly. But that smile soon crumbled into a more serious expression.

“Lou.”

Unlike when he dealt with the Empress, his voice was thick with fatigue as he called me.

“Since I returned from Mount Acheron, you keep appearing in my dreams. In a very dreadful state…”

His whispered confession made my heart turn cold.

“I know what kind of dream you’re having. The Queen showed it to me too.”

Pinion’s eyes widened.

Looking into those eyes, I impulsively blurted out.

“I beg, and Your Highness deceives me. And in the end—”

“Stop.”

He whispered painfully.

“Don’t think too deeply about it. It’s just an illusion.”

“An illusion? It’s so vivid.”

“Yes. It’s a fantasy that will never happen, neither in the past nor in the future. So don’t worry about it. Dwelling on such things will only harm your mental health.”

“…Right. There’s no way I’d do something so terrible to you.”

The Crown Prince laughed, a mix of relief and helplessness on his face.

Much later, in the carriage on the way back, I shed a few tears.

It was the first and last mourning for my past self.

***

Unfortunately, I didn’t even have time to wallow in self-pity.

“What wind blew you to read books like that? The world must be coming to an end.”

Seren asked as she changed the water in the vase.

“Autumn is the season for reading, after all.”

I answered, turning the pages with a graceful gesture. Warm autumn sunlight poured over my head.

Since the incident with the Fairy Queen, I had been looking into legends to seriously figure out how to deal with transcendents.

The problem was that it was incredibly boring.

‘This is putting me to sleep.’

To be honest, I had been half-asleep since I opened the book. If it weren’t for Seren, I would have soaked the book with drool.

“By the way, Miss. What are you going to do for your birthday party this year?”

“Hm? It’s still a long way off, isn’t it? Are you already planning?”

I casually checked the calendar and froze. My birthday was indeed just around the corner.

No wonder my parents had been fussing about getting a new dress tailored lately. I thought it was just because of the changing seasons.

My birthday was approaching, but I didn’t feel happy at all. It meant I had only about six months left.

‘It’s okay. I still have six months and a month left. And I’ve gotten quite close to the male leads…’

Though I thought that, I found myself frantically flipping through the next page of the calendar.

“When is Leon’s birthday again…?”

“Leon’s birthday is in three months. December 23rd, to be exact.”

Seren promptly replied.

“Really?”

When it came to handsome men, her information was never wrong.

So, December.

Lina had said the deadline was March next year. That meant I had a bit of leeway.

It might seem irresponsible, but I had my own plans.

‘If my relationship with Gined doesn’t progress further, I’ll have to confess to Iscallion as soon as he comes of age.’

It wasn’t a morally upright choice, but I wasn’t in a position to be picky.

If Iscallion accepted, it would be good for him, good for me, and the world would be safe, leading to a happy ending for everyone.

“Phew, thinking about seducing a minor makes me feel like human trash…”

“Mate, why do you say such things? Human trash? Don’t degrade yourself with such harsh words. You are the most beautiful and noble being in this world.”

“Huh…? Shahar? Where are you?”

Startled by the coal’s sudden voice, I looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“In your hand.”

“What?”

Only then did I realize I had been stroking the coal. Initially, I had done it out of obligation to bond with him, but now it had become a habit.

‘Come to think of it, Shahar is also a male lead…’

It had already been three months since I met him. In that short time, he had become inseparable from me, but I felt nothing romantic towards him.

“Wait…!”

A brilliant idea struck me like lightning.

‘Why not transform the coal into a beautiful male statue like Pygmalion?’

A statue was just a processed stone, so it wouldn’t violate the taboo of imitating living beings.

Shahar wouldn’t become a living, breathing human like Pygmalion’s Galatea, but that didn’t matter.

I was someone who loved 2D characters on paper. There was no reason I couldn’t love a statue.

Moreover, it wouldn’t be just any statue, but one that could think, speak, and was highly competent.

A 3D handsome man capable of emotional exchange would be perfect.

I must have been an idiot not to think of this sooner.