The golden hair receiving light sparkled naturally.

The handsome man with red eyes was approaching me, lightly tilting his neck.

“You slept so well without me.”

“…I’m sorry about that.”

He was talking about last night.

Twice a week. It was the day I put Kashar to sleep.

Yesterday was the second time, but I fell asleep first again.

Eventually, his outstretched hand lightly touched my forehead.

My gaze involuntarily turned to his forearm. Further on to his chest.

“You seem to really like my body.”

Kashar knew I was looking at his body as if licking it.

My face turned bright red in an instant. Even though I shook my head saying no, a seductive word was thrown as bait.

My retreating body suddenly touched the wall.

Kashar, trapping me between the wall, asked.

“Shall I take it off?”

“Yes! What? No, no!”

This is what happens when sincerity and conscience burst out at once.

Not knowing how to recover, my eyes spun round and round.

It was suffocating enough from afar, let alone being trapped in his arms, my thoughts stopped.

“Isn’t that what you came to see?”

“I’m not a pervert!”

I shouted as I escaped from his arms.

Kashar seemed to have let me go on purpose, but I was the one who felt regretful.

‘The wall pinning was nice.’

I actually might be a pervert.

Even though I knew, there was only one reason I denied it.

‘I need to maintain social etiquette too!’

Playing the lover was fine, but being treated as a pervert was unacceptable.

“Then why did you come? For the wholesome reason of wanting to see me?”

Kashar asked, standing askew.

It was a decisive chance to escape from the dangerous conversation.

“You said before that I could freely renovate the castle! Is that still valid?”

“Since there were my mistakes too. Don’t worry about the cost and do as you wish.”

Kashar nodded readily.

‘That’s a relief.’

I was worried he might say something different from then, or that he’d find out I was a pervert, but neither happened, so I was relieved for now.

‘And he said he doesn’t care how much it costs.’

It was worth coming to his office.

Feeling it was okay to talk more specifically, I explained my original purpose.

“First, I think we need to call in an expert to decorate the castle.”

The castle was vast, composed of rooms and buildings with various purposes.

‘And then there’s the central garden and the rear garden.’

To harmonize everything, an expert’s help was absolutely necessary.

“I’ll look into it.”

Kashar agreed easily this time too.

But it wasn’t the answer I wanted.

“Um, would it be okay if I looked into it myself?”

His eyes, which were scanning documents, turned to me.

I mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

“Since I suggested making changes, I’d like to look into that much myself.”

In truth, it would be more convenient if he did everything, but there was a reason for me to step up like this.

One of them was.

‘I need to find Princess Frigia.’

I needed to meet the head of the Elvitor merchant guild, not the princess of the Laksha Kingdom.

Moreover, Princess Frigia was the number one female candidate suitable for my lover.

‘Kill two birds with one stone.’

But why did I feel this way?

It felt like something was weighing heavily on me.

‘Everything’s going well!’

I can change the castle, I’ll soon meet a woman suitable for Kashar. Plus, I could help Kashar.

Everything was going too well, making me anxious.

“I’m planning to go to the guild street to look around.”

“Shall we go on a date?”

“Ah, no. I really want to look into it alone. Um, could you possibly assign just one person to accompany me?”

Although my heart fluttered at the word ‘date’, this time I really had to go separately.

“Hmm.”

Kashar, who had been quietly looking at me, opened a desk drawer and took something out.

“Take this.”

“What is this?”

In his hand was a silver necklace with a blue jewel embedded in it.

‘Why does it feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before?’

As I tilted my head in confusion, Kashar explained about the necklace.

“It’s the key to cross the mist barrier. You can’t always take Mihail with you.”

The deep blue jewel sparkled strangely. It was certainly not an ordinary light.

‘Could it be, a magic stone?’

Magic stones were rare minerals that could store magic.

They were used to make magic tools, but that was at the level of using fragments, and the larger the stone, the more powerful magic it could hold.

“Gasp, isn’t this extremely expensive?!”

It was beyond what I could afford even if I sold all the gifts Kashar had sent when I was in the Cold Palace.

As I jumped in surprise, he smiled as if it was nothing.

“It’s disappointing that you’re concerned about such things. We’ve even shared a bed, haven’t we?”

The red pupils sparkled strangely. His words almost made my nose bleed again.

He approached me and put the necklace around my neck.

“So wear it prettily. Don’t take it off.”

Tap tap. His elegant fingers tapped my collarbone.

The sparkling necklace was swaying on my neck.

The outing was scheduled for the morning three days later.

The destination was the Rubidia commercial district, where the most famous shops in the capital were gathered.

‘The book said there was nothing you couldn’t find there.’

In reality, the Balak Guild operated by Elvitor was located there.

I could only meet Frigia through the Balak Guild.

‘I need to meet her somehow.’

Apart from the contract with Kashar, there was no one more suitable for my plan than the princess.

As my thoughts deepened, the blue jewel dangled from my neck.

It was the magic stone necklace Kashar had given me.

‘They say it can hold magic. It’s fascinating.’

The mist surrounding the duke’s castle was a barrier made with magic circles.

If an unauthorized person infiltrated the castle, they would forever wander in the misty forest, unable to leave.

‘…It’s a bit scary.’

Is this really a magic stone? Is the magic properly contained in it?

As I was crouched in the corridor checking the necklace, a dark shadow fell over me.

“Eileen?”

It was Kashar’s voice.

Startled, I jumped up from where I was sitting.

But then.

“Ack, cramp, cramping…!”

I must have been crouched for so long that the blood wasn’t flowing to my calves.

Wetting my hand with saliva and pressing it to my nose and forehead seemed to help a bit.

I awkwardly smiled.

“…You’re here?”

“Did you want to become a mouse?”

Kashar asked kindly. To be treated like a mouse just because I was crouched. Sometimes innocent questions can be cruel.

“Ah. That’s not it. I was just, thinking a bit!”

I finally managed to stand properly after leaning on Kashar and hitting my legs for a while.

“The cramp is taking too long to go away.”

“…My blood circulation isn’t very good!”

How did he know I wanted to lean on him a bit longer.

‘This is why I don’t like perceptive handsome men.’

While I was grumbling inwardly, Kashar took my hand and led me.

“There’s something we need to do before we go out.”

“Hm? Where are we going?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

The place we arrived at unexpectedly was the training ground next to the rear garden.

“Haap−!”

Along with the sound of weapons clashing, shouts echoed.

Naturally, the training ground was full of knights. But the problem was that they weren’t ordinary people.

“You’re no match for me!”

“You big brute!”

Gigantic knights, who must have been at least 3m tall, were sparring with great swords.

‘They say there are giant-race hybrids among the Ma-in.’

Among the magical races that actually existed on the continent in the past, there were giant races.

Since Ma-in themselves were hybrids of magical races and humans, it wasn’t strange that there were those who inherited the blood of the giant race.

“Stop.”

Thud−!

At Kashar’s command, the competition between the large bodies stopped.

With the ensuing silence, all eyes in the training ground poured onto me.

The bulky one at the very front fidgeted as if not knowing what to do. Finally, curiosity won and the hulk addressed me.

“Are you perhaps our lord’s lover?”

“Ah, yes.”

As I answered bewilderedly, the entire training ground stirred.

‘…Those giants must be Ma-in too, but they’re not running away.’

I had gotten used to Ma-in running away at the sight of me these past few days, so this kind of attention felt rather strange.

Being so large, those surrounding me felt just like castle walls.

Soon after, these human-like walls let out a thunderous shout towards me.

“We respect you! How strong must you be to become our lord’s lover?!”

“…Pardon?”

What is this about now?

As I asked in bewilderment, the knight said as if it was obvious.

“A woman stronger than oneself is everyone’s ideal type, after all.”

“That’s right. A woman who can dominate me, just the thought of it is thrilling!”

This conversation was getting a bit strange.

‘Come to think of it, Ma-in worship strength.’

Naturally, the strong would inevitably become the ideal type.

But even those who pursue strength usually have some degree of strength themselves.

‘The weak Ma-in would try to avoid the strong ones somehow.’

In other words, weak Ma-in would inevitably be despised.

‘Don’t tell me, they think I became Kashar’s lover by dominating him?’

Now I could understand why the Ma-in who looked at me in the dining hall ran away.

“Choose your guard. They will be in charge of your outings from now on.”

Kashar acted as if he hadn’t heard the knights’ words.

Rather, only the knights were excited by his words.

“Me! Please choose me!”

“Select me and give me a chance to spar!”

…It was unclear whether they wanted to be guards or wanted to kill me.

I slowly looked around the training ground.

‘Everyone here is so big.’

Even if they weren’t giant hybrids among the Ma-in, all the people were big.

My gaze stopped on a particularly small figure.

‘That person…’

The man had green hair tied in a ponytail and an expressionless face.

A thin but solid body. Golden eyes that suited his white skin resembled those of a deer.

I realized who this person was.

‘Could it be, Ludvion?’

Ludvion, the spirit swordsman. He was the one who had betrayed Kashar.