I returned to the castle after dinner time.

“Eileen, why are you so late!”

“Did you wait long? I’m sorry I’m late.”

The children came running towards me.

I hugged Louis and Evan tightly at once and kissed their chubby cheeks.

“How was it outside? Was it fun? Where’s our gift?”

Oops, I forgot the children’s gifts.

I was so distracted that I completely forgot.

‘What should I do about this.’

Louis’s eyes were sparkling with anticipation.

At that moment, perhaps noticing my flustered state, Evan spoke up.

“Eileen, are you sick?”

“Oh no, Eileen. Are you ill?”

At Evan’s words, a cloud came over Louis’s face.

I wasn’t sick, but as I hesitated, wondering how to explain this, Kashar stepped in.

“She is sick. We encountered some bad guys on the way back.”

“Bad guys?!”

Louis, shocked, clenched his fists like dumplings.

Trembling and expressing his anger, Louis soon hugged me tightly.

“Eileen, are you badly hurt?”

“I was just a bit startled. You see… Lord Kashar came to my rescue.”

As I scratched my cheek and glanced at Kashar, Louis gave a thumbs up.

“As expected of elder brother!”

Louis, who had been exclaiming how cool Kashar was, soon expressed doubt.

“But how did you know Eileen was in danger?”

“Well, lovers can always sense these things even from afar.”

“So that’s what true love is!”

Louis clapped his hands at Kashar’s answer.

‘True love, he says.’

As they say, you can’t even drink cold water in front of a child. His word memory was remarkable.

I’m perfectly fine, but it didn’t feel right to lie.

I decided to be honest with the children.

“Lord Louis, Lord Evan, I’m sorry. I forgot your gifts.”

“It’s all because of those bad guys! I’m just glad you’re not hurt!”

“Eileen being safe is our gift.”

Louis was being quite mature, and Evan said such romantic things well.

I felt proud that the children seemed so grown up today, but also a bit sad.

‘What if our children grow up too fast.’

We hadn’t even known each other for a year, but I could already envision their adult selves.

They say the cutest and prettiest moments pass by quickly.

Feeling regretful, I tried to take in the children with my eyes, when Evan blushed.

“Give me another hug instead.”

Then Louis also raised his arms high and hopped up and down.

“Me too, me too!”

“Is once enough? My adorable little princes!”

How cute they were, running into my arms like little chicks.

Forgetting my disappointment, I hugged the children tightly until they were about to burst.

“Phew, I can’t breathe!”

Louis let out a big sigh and then grinned.

“Thanks to the princes, I’m recharged.”

“They say it’s good to fill up on good things!”

His bright smile, not even knowing what ‘recharged’ meant, was so childlike.

Unlike the always bubbly Louis, Evan held my hand tightly and mumbled.

“…I wish I could protect you. I need to learn swordsmanship soon.”

He seemed very concerned that I had been threatened.

If I denied it again this time, he would only feel upset.

I stroked Evan’s head and said,

“Of course, Lord Evan. How about learning magic?”

“Magic? Can I learn it?”

Evan asked in disbelief.

As someone who knew what abilities the children would have in the future, I could confidently say,

“Of course!”

“Oh, can only Evan learn it?”

“Of course Lord Louis can too!”

Evan still looked dazed, as if it didn’t feel real.

“I’ll look for a good teacher for you. So don’t worry too much. About anything.”

Especially if he was thinking he was useless.

As I stroked Evan’s head, Kashar spoke.

“I’ll arrange other tutoring too. For subjects the little princes need.”

“Can’t we just learn magic?”

“Then you’d become a magician, but not a gentleman.”

“Ugh, if elder brother says so, I guess it must be right.”

Louis was disappointed at having to study, but Evan seemed rather fired up.

The noisy welcome was coming to an end.

The twins kept reminding me several times until I went up to my room.

“You need to rest well. Okay?”

“Yes. You two sleep well too, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After parting ways in front of the children’s room, I went up to the third floor with Kashar.

Standing in front of my room door, I hesitated, looking at Kashar.

“I promised to make you dinner…”

“It’s fine.”

Kashar smirked. Then he opened his own room door.

“If you really want to do something, come here.”

“Do you have a headache?”

Kashar inviting me to his room meant that.

Kashar’s face faltered for a moment, but he nodded as if it didn’t matter.

“Yeah, I think I’m getting a headache. I think I’ll be fine if you put me to sleep.”

“Of course. Just trust me!”

I immediately pulled Kashar into his room.

“Come on, lie down here, quickly!”

As I patted the bed, he lay down there as if he couldn’t resist.

Kashar lay right down and looked up at me. His languid face was provocative. But a guilty person couldn’t afford to have a nosebleed with peace of mind.

“The magic stone, what should we do about it breaking?”

Instead of thanking him for saving me, I mentioned the necklace he had given me.

Before returning home, in a dark alley, I had become aware of my feelings.

I only knew my heart was pounding, but once I realized my feelings, I felt too embarrassed.

I was just clutching the magic stone tightly when it happened.

Crack-!

‘Oh no, the necklace…!’

The magic stone that crumbled in my hand turned to blue powder and disappeared in the wind.

There was only one reason for a magic stone to break – after the magic contained in it was used.

Suddenly, a scene from the original story flashed through my mind.

‘This is exactly like the necklace Elcyrus had!’

After Elcyrus escaped from Kashar, Michael, who didn’t want to lose her again, gave Elcyrus a necklace with magic cast on it.

The magic cast on the necklace was to summon the person you most wanted to see in a moment of crisis.

‘…What should I do?’

What I just broke was an important item from the original story.

‘So Kashar had it before the original story.’

Michael obtains the magic necklace in Elvitor.

It seems it was probably Kashar’s possession before he entered the Elvitor guild.

Learning the identity of the necklace made me more confused.

In the end, I returned to the castle while trying to calm my pounding heart.

“It was disposable anyway. I crammed one more spell into a magic stone that already had magic cast on it.”

The additional spell Kashar cast was to automatically pass through the mist barrier.

While the spell to pass through the barrier would be permanent, it seems to have affected the spell to summon others, causing the magic stone to break.

“…Still, I broke something expensive.”

I knew that necklace was a priceless treasure.

But Kashar remained nonchalant.

“If you’re sorry, come here.”

“Pardon?”

Kashar patted the bed just as I had done.

“Hugging you is good for my headache.”

He was telling me to come into his arms.

My heart started racing madly again.

‘I didn’t feel this way even when I saw Mihail or Ludvion.’

Those two were quite handsome too, and there were many good-looking people at the banquet.

I had eyes, so I could recognize that they were exceptional, but it was clearly different with Kashar.

“…Only until you fall asleep.”

Pretending to give in, I lay down on the bed and he pulled me into an embrace.

My body stiffened at the closeness where our lips might touch.

It wasn’t easy to be in Kashar’s arms right after realizing I liked him.

‘They say if you suddenly do something too good, you’ll get overloaded!’

It feels like my heart will burst.

I wonder if this is just for me, as Kashar seemed perfectly calm.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being kind to the princes. And for saving me today…”

As I stumbled over my words, he let out a deflated laugh.

“Don’t thank me for something so obvious. You might regret it later.”

Kashar tapped my forehead as if in warning.

Before I could ask what he meant, Kashar closed his eyes.

How much time had passed?

I, who had been stiff as a board, slightly moved only my eyes to look at him.

Kashar had his eyes tightly closed and was breathing evenly.

“…Are you asleep?”

I asked, but there was no answer. He really seemed to be asleep.

‘I guess it doesn’t affect him at all.’

I was the only one whose heart was pounding.

As expected, there was no buff that made me fall in love just by making eye contact.

Now that I was aware of my feelings, things that didn’t bother me before started to feel disappointing.

‘I may not be the female lead or a princess with great abilities.’

But I was the one by Kashar’s side now, and I had the title of lover, even if it was fake.

Maybe there was a possibility for me too.

Lying next to the person I liked like this, a well-founded confidence welled up.

Eileen, what are you lacking!

Me too, me too!

“…I can seduce him well too!”

I was startled by the words that came out without me realizing and quickly covered my mouth.

I checked on Kashar, but fortunately he didn’t seem to have woken up.

I sighed and opened my eyes wide.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

If Kashar doesn’t have feelings, I could seduce him.

‘How many romance novels have I read, I should be able to take on this challenge now.’

I’ve accumulated data, so all that’s left is practical application.

‘I’ll make Kashar fall for me.’

Kashar is the sub-male lead in the original story.

That means even if he loves the female lead soon, it won’t work out.

‘He’s willing to go to war to have Elcyrus, but in the end he can’t get her.’

What if he had a new woman?

Then the war and the tragedy of love could be prevented.

And there’s no law saying that person can’t be me.

‘Anyway, the setting was that Elcyrus would break the curse even if she didn’t like Kashar.’

The sad sub-male lead of the future, I’ll take him for myself.

I made my resolution while in his arms.

[This is the timeline separator]

Seduction 1. Prepare delicious meals.

Seduction 2. Read books to him before bed.

Seduction 3, 4…

‘Uh… what else is there?’

I was scribbling with a pen in my room.

The notebook had several of my ploys to seduce Kashar written down.

These were things I had implemented over the past three days to seduce Kashar.

‘How should I put it. It’s a bit ambiguous.’

Kashar and I were officially a couple.

We held hands outside, and even kissed once, but that was for contractual reasons, not because feelings were exchanged.

‘If I were the female lead in a novel, it would happen without me doing anything, but I’m not.’

Unfortunately, I was just a supporting character.

Usually, the situation would make two people become lovers.

So novels focused on the female lead were of no help to me.

‘Should I just close my eyes and kiss him?!’

I stood up, banging on the desk, then sat back down.

‘…What if he starts to dislike me for that.’

How can everyone date and kiss so casually?

Especially Kashar, that smooth talker seemed like he would act nonchalant no matter what I did.

‘…I should have tried dating before.’

What I needed was practical experience.

I never thought being single since birth would be such a regret.

As I was lost in thought, Emma knocked on the door from outside.

“Lady Eileen, a guest has arrived!”

“Okay, I’ll be right out!”

Today was the day the designer sent by Frigia was scheduled to visit.

I got up and prepared to go out.

‘Good thing I didn’t bring up Kashar that day.’

I almost ended up creating a love rival myself.

Frigia’s connection with me ended with our correspondence, so there was no chance of direct contact with him.

As I was going down the stairs, sighing in relief, I saw a person in a robe standing in the hall below.

‘Is that the person?’

I hoped it was someone with expertise in renovating the Demon King’s castle.

Just as I set foot in the hall.

“Miss Eileen!”

Along with a voice that sounded familiar, the robed figure ran and hugged me tightly.

Beautiful light green wavy hair fluttered.

The person with such hair was…

“Lady Frigia?”

“Yes! It’s me!”

So, why is the princess here?

“You see, I have quite a knack for interior design.”

Frigia smiled brightly.