Melissa lay on the bed, her hands spread wide as she stared up at the white ceiling.

  ?

  The room was enormous, at least three times the size of her private room. The bed she was lying on was so wide that she thought it could fit at least four people comfortably. There were desks, mirrors, wardrobes, and countless other things that left her in awe. The room was filled with everything a lady might need. There were makeup kits—so many, in fact, that she did not even know how most of them were applied.

  ?

  This room is truly extravagant. I will become so rich one day that I will own a room bigger than this.

  ?

  Melissa smiled at her grandioseness.

  ?

  Before long, she had been escorted to a guest room by one of the maids after she finished her lunch. She had so many things she wanted to ask Lucien: when she could return home, what her reward would be, and so on.

  ?

  And now that she had time to think, she thought about the things that had happened today. The first thing that came to her mind was Lucien.

  ?

  “Why did he have to be so straightforward? He could have told me nicely that I shouldn't be shy and could eat meat and sweets if I wanted. But instead, he just directly asked me whether I liked meat and sweets.” Melissa pouted and, mimicking Lucien’s voice, added, “Don’t you like meat?” She lifted her right fist and punched the air.

  ?

  “I am so embarrassed. I wasn't even able to cut the pieces of meat, and the maid had to help me.” Melissa muttered, covering her face with the pillow. She wanted to hide somewhere Lucien would never find her.

  ?

  Melissa lay there in bed, recalling how Lucien had nudged her in the hallway to see why she was looking at the window. She started to feel cringe at the memory of her jumping happily in the hallway. The embarrassment was so cringe that she started throwing a tantrum, kicking the bedsheets as she buried her face in the pillow. She was so mortified that she wished she could dig a hole through the floor and hide.

  ?

  “Also, why does he keep looking at my face? I feel so embarrassed. Mommy, please take me away from here.” Her cheeks turned pink as she started punching the bedsheets with both hands, as if she were trying to swim.

  ?

  She mumbled into the pillow, “Why is he so handsome and yet never shows even a little bit of emotion on his face? Aarghhh! God, he is going to kill me with his face alone at this rate.” Melissa's voice was muffled, barely more than a whisper beneath the pillow.

  ?

  Melissa recalled a conversation with the duchess. Melissa had told the duchess that she was nineteen years old, and the duchess revealed that Lucien was also nineteen. She could picture the duchess leaning in and whispering in her ear, “He is the same age as you, and you two could already marry if you want. I would give you my blessing.”

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  ?

  “AAAhhh! Dammit, why am I thinking about it again?” Melissa lunged up from the bed and sat upright, her hands clenched into fists. Her face was as red as a tomato. She felt her body temperature rising and her heart beating so rapidly under her ribcage that she thought it might leap out of her chest.

  ?

  “Did I fall in love with him or what?” she asked, pressing her hand to her chest and feeling her heart thumping and the blood coursing through her veins.

  ?

  “No, no, no. I can't fall in love with him. Not at any cost!” she screamed, putting her hands over her ears and shaking her head frantically from side to side.

  ?

  “Yes, that's it, maybe I'm just afraid of Lucien. Right, it's fear. That's why my heart is beating so fast, it's because I'm scared of him.” Melissa tried to comfort herself, channeling her magic through her body, but her heart continued to race and her breathing was so fast her chest rose and fell rapidly.

  ?

  After much effort, she somehow managed to calm herself down. She fell face-first onto the bed, determined not to imagine anything ridiculous again, and tried to fall asleep.

  ?

  ***

  ?

  Lucien took a bath and changed into comfortable clothes—a loose navy blue shirt and trousers. He only wore these kinds of clothes in private, as he preferred formal dress in public.

  ?

  He sat in a chair and looked into the mirror in front of him. He reached for a comb from the drawer and began tending to his hair, first applying gel and then slicking it back. He had thoroughly dried his hair and body beforehand, so his freshly changed clothes were perfectly dry.

  ?

  Lucien's lips formed a slight smile, so small that only he could see it. He leaned back in the chair and gazed at his reflection. "Everything went as I planned, but Melissa's awakening was something I did not expect. In the original story, she was supposed to awaken two weeks later, when her village was destroyed by a miasma beast that had escaped from the demonic forest. From what I saw, the villagers were weak, so in the story, they were unable to defend themselves and died—all of them were killed by the beast. Melissa awakened her power when she saw her parents die before her, while they desperately tried to save her. But it was too late for her to save them; they had already succumbed before Melissa fully awakened her powers and killed the beast." Lucien recalled the events from the story. He did not know how accurately he had remembered it, since he had forgotten some parts and had only read up to Lucien’s death.

  ?

  The death of her parents and the villagers left a wound so deep that Melissa ended up hollow, like a lifeless body that had lost its beauty.

  ?

  The vice-headmistress of the academy eventually found her and brought Melissa to the school, but the church, upon discovering her, immediately took her away. When she returned to the academy some time later, she had completely become a puppet of the church.

  ?

  Lucien sighed, just imagining the fearsome future that awaited her in the story. But he had already made plans to change it. He would send his troops to defend the village, give her parents a home in Norwind, and admit Melissa to the academy. Only in the academy could she form bonds with others and become powerful.

  ?

  Melissa was a very important figure in the part of the story he had read, and he had seen firsthand how she saved his mother from the dark miasma's corruption. She would likely play a crucial role in the future, saving the world from whatever danger lurked in the shadows. He was sure of this, even though he had not read the entire story. He only hoped that the ending was not brought about by some cult trying to resurrect a demon god or open a portal to allow foreign enemies from other worlds to invade them.

  ?

  Lucien stood from his chair and lay down on the bed. There were too many things to consider—even his much-praised mind was not meant for such deep thinking for so long. He had already made some rough plans and would adjust as circumstances demanded. For now, he needed sleep. He was so sleep-deprived that, if his body had not been so disciplined and rigid, he might have fallen asleep before he could have reached the palace to save his mother. He would have likely fallen asleep while riding the horse back to the Norwind.