“Because you are a precious person to me.”

It was the first sentence that came to mind as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning. I screamed and kicked the blanket with all my might.

“Argh, I must be crazy!”

That day kept coming to mind at every opportunity. The touch of his hands as he put the necklace on me, the way he looked at me, the strange atmosphere between us.

And even his voice saying that I was a precious person to him.

The fragments of the huge bomb that Aspeiran dropped were still embedded all over my body, exploding whenever I let my guard down and leaving my mind in a daze. It was enough to drive me insane.

“Why did he say it like he was confessing his love…?”

There are many people precious to Aspeiran.

Of course, there are the three closest aides who stood by him during hard times, his cousin Yulisis and his wife Bonita, and all the people living and growing up in Roakin are precious to him.

So Aspeiran probably didn’t mean anything special by it. He meant exactly what he said – that I am a precious vassal to him and that as my lord, he will protect me to the end.

If it were any other time, I would have taken his words at face value too.

But that day, the weather was nice, the wind was just right, and Aspeiran’s eyes submerged in the shadows shone an impossibly dazzling blue.

Like that magical lake where ice crystals sparkled, the day we held hands and ran stumbling together.

So I faltered for a moment too. That was all it was.

‘Why are you giving me a necklace? Why did I even ask such a question in the first place?’

What answer was I expecting? Did I dream of a romance with Aspeiran?

How foolish of me!

Remember this. Your bias is just your bias. The most beautiful and happy moments are when you watch and cheer for them by their side.

Moreover, Aspeiran is a character of main character caliber. So naturally, he will fall in love with another character of the same caliber.

For example, some high-ranking noble’s esteemed daughter who is dazzlingly beautiful and has the power to save the world.

If I, drunk on his constant kindness, covet a tree I cannot climb, I will lose everything I am holding onto now as well. Just like the villains in novels.

Thus, I sentenced myself up until this morning to death. Now I will return to being Aspeiran’s true otaku. I will never waver again.

It was fortunate that Aspeiran has been busy these days. Thanks to that, I was able to avoid seeing him even once from the day of the incident until today.

If I, who had forgotten my otaku credo, met Aspeiran, I would have blushed like a fool, not knowing what to do, and made one pathetic mistake after another.

That would have greatly diminished Aspeiran’s trust in me.

“Okay, okay. Now I can face Aspeiran anytime. At this moment, I am born anew.”

Although it was embarrassing and confusing, this incident wasn’t all bad. It allowed me to be sure of one thing.

That I had succeeded in securing my place as one of Aspeiran’s closest aides!

Aspeiran cherishes everyone in Roakin, but due to his standoffish personality, he doesn’t express it directly.

However, even he conveys his feelings to some degree to those he really treasures. For example, like how he called me a “precious person”.

So at this point, it’s unmistakable. I was Aspeiran’s closest aide in name and reality.

Then is it time to…take the to the next stage?

Stage 2 of getting Aspeiran married. Finding Aspeiran’s fated fiancée.

Using both my position as the lord’s closest aide and the lord’s favor, I need to start scouting marriage prospects for Aspeiran from now on.

As I mentioned earlier, Aspeiran is an important supporting character in who would be fit to take the lead role if there was a sequel.

Therefore, I need to find someone of lead character caliber who Aspeiran could fall for. Pretty, righteous, capable, and from a good family.

‘First, let’s find out what kind of person Aspeiran’s ideal type is when the time is right.’

After that, find a young noblewoman who fits Aspeiran’s ideal type and naturally match the two of them.

It was an ingenious plan. Although I’ve been single since birth, I’ve read over thousands of romance novels, so being Cupid of love shouldn’t be too hard.

Even if the sky falls and my stomach sticks to my back, there is nothing more important in this world than my Ssammumeo’s meal.

That remained true even after moving the breeding grounds further away. As soon as I got dressed and finished preparing for work, the first place I headed was the breeding grounds.

Only after taking care of Ssammumeo’s breakfast and tidying up the breeding grounds could I finally go eat my own breakfast.

And when I arrived in front of the research lab cafeteria, I screamed as I peered inside.

“The sun rose from the west!”

Surprisingly, all the researchers were present in the cafeteria. It was the first time I had seen such a sight since becoming a monster breeder.

Moreover, they all had unusually good complexions? Did those people actually sleep at night and wake up in the morning?

I rushed to the table in a hurry.

“What is going on here? How did you come to live such a healthy life?”

I had nagged the researchers, who lived with their days and nights reversed, dozens of times, saying they would die early at this rate.

Each time, the researchers chattered that the day they give up the night and dawn when their concentration skyrockets is the day they die. I really wanted to smack them…

…Wait a minute, then?

I shook Prom’s body, sobbing a little.

“Are you terminally ill? They say it’s incurable? Go get checked out!”

“Goodness, what’s wrong with you? Why would I die?”

“Don’t worry, Shuria~. We’re all fine. We just haven’t slept yet.”

Ah. I see.

I regained my composure at Sek’s explanation and let go of Prom. Why do they look so good if they haven’t slept yet?

That’s why I made the absurd misunderstanding that these people had started living a healthy life.

Come to think of it, I was so flustered that I only now noticed the researchers were each eagerly eating something.

My breakfast.

“You wretches! Why are you stealing someone else’s breakfast?”

Since the researchers sleep in the morning, the breakfast cart sent from Kronen Palace only contains my portion.

So all of that was my food!

As I threw a fit, Prom replied with a straight face.

“What are we supposed to do when there’s no food for us and we’re hungry?”

“I, I’m sorry, Shuria. I apologize for having the audacity to steal your meal…”

Titira bowed her head repeatedly. Yet her hand kept slicing sausages and putting them in her mouth nonstop.

I couldn’t say anything more when they said they were hungry. I sighed and sat down.

Fortunately, I tend to eat a big breakfast. There was enough food to adequately fill the stomachs of four light eaters and one big eater.

I can go to the kitchen later to get more for anything lacking. I pulled the remaining sandwiches in front of me.

“But why are you still awake at this hour? Although you all have the deadly habit of sleeping during the day and working at night, you’re always strict about bedtime, right?”

“Don’t you think the way you talk is becoming more and more like His Lordship?”

Prom said glumly. Is that so? I don’t really see it.

The one who answered my question was Sek, who was carefully blowing on and eating potato soup.

“We heard good news just as we were about to go to bed~. We got carried away discussing it and ended up like this.”

“Good news?”

“Well, the person we’ve all been eagerly waiting for is returning today, you see.”

Prom added context to Sek’s ambiguous explanation.

“Did I mention it before? There’s one more researcher besides us four.”

Did he?

Thinking hard, I think Aspeiran mentioned it when I first met the researchers. That one researcher was currently stationed near Veltroume.

Prom picked the cucumber out of his sandwich and continued.

“His name is Elkin, and he’s a pretty decent fellow. I heard he’s returning today.”

“Ooh…”

If Prom says he’s a good person, this Elkin must be magnanimous enough to embrace all of the Prom’s annoying personality.

Thinking that, I already felt favorable towards him even before meeting him.

“Around what time is he arriving today?”

“Probably around 2? Come to the underground conference room then if you have time. I’ll introduce you to Elkin.”

“Of course I have to go even if I have to make time for it, since it’s our first meeting!”

After scraping up even the sandwich crumbs and eating them, I got up from my seat. Titira, the only one among the researchers with a remaining conscience, helped me clean up the table.

I put the tableware in the cart and asked the researchers.

“Then I’ll get going to work. You’re going to sleep now, right?”

“Forget it. Since we’re awake, we might as well work until Elkin arrives.”

“We’ll be staying up all night. How exciting~.”

“Since we stole someone’s food, we have to make ourselves useful…”

“Snore—.”

Prom, Sek, Titira, and Kiri answered in order.

Sheesh, they’re really going to drop dead like that.

I dismissed their nonsense and dragged the four of them to the emergency sleeping quarters on the 1st floor.

When I threw them each on a bed, the researchers who initially resisted soon fell asleep like babies.

I dusted off my hands and left the sleeping quarters. It was the start of a fulfilling day.

After taking care of Ssammumeo and training my abilities at the tower, I headed straight to the research lab as soon as it was 1:30.

Meeting new people is always interesting and enjoyable. I knocked on the conference room door with glee.

“It’s Shuria!”

Then I opened the door, but the doorway was blocked by a back as large as a mountain.

“Hm?”

The mountainous back turns to look at me. It was a giant of a man who seemed to be over 2m tall, with a scraggly beard around his chin.

The man shouted in a voice as huge as his stature.

“Ah! So this young lady is the monster breeder! Isn’t that right, boss?”

Before Prom could answer, the man strode towards me.

It felt so pressuring, as if a mountain was walking over. My body shrank back without me realizing it.

The man thrust out his hand to me.

“Nice to meet you, Shuria! I’m Elkin. One of the researchers at the Veltroume Lab. I’m sorry for only greeting you now, but please take good care of me going forward. Ha! Ha! Ha!”

His laughter sounded like he was proclaiming himself a handsome man. I shed some of my fear and shook Elkin’s hand.

“Hello, I’m Shuria. I’m serving as the monster breeder. Please take good care of me too.”

Elkin’s eyes sparkled with spirit, and with his whole body packed with solid muscle, he seemed more like a knight than a researcher.

He was the total opposite of the other researchers who looked half-dead, as if they had exchanged all the muscles in their body for the dark circles under their eyes.

Elkin patted the backs of the researchers and said,

“My dear colleagues, you seem to look even worse? Are you eating well? Sleeping well? Research is important, but take care of your health!”

My goodness.

Saying such commonsensical things and knowing how to care for others! Is he really a researcher?

My fondness for him grew rapidly. Elkin even said this,

“I heard about the moonlight wolf dog, Shuria. Although they are dearly beloved colleagues, I cannot defend their actions in the slightest. I will apologize to you, the moonlight wolf dog’s guardian, on their behalf.”

It was game over. I grasped Elkin’s hand tightly.

“Elkin is the hope of the research lab.”

I had wondered how the researchers turned out this way, but it seems they collected their common sense and conscience and gifted it all to Elkin.

Elkin laughed heartily with a “Ha! Ha! Ha!”

“I think Shuria is like a guiding light for the exploration of Veltroume! Now, have a seat! We were just talking about Veltroume.”

Elkin and I became close friends in no time and sat side by side at the table.

I could see the other researchers making disgruntled faces but I lightly ignored them.