At those words, Edan raised his hand and gently patted my head as if to comfort me.

“Is that so?”

A soft voice, as if soothing a child, suggesting I had spoken well.

“Yes.”

As I nodded slightly, Edan gently raised the corners of his mouth in a pretty smile.

Then he turned around, looked at Jenald, raised his chin, and ran his hand through his hair.

“Jenald Johan?”

“Uh… huh? Yes?”

Stupid Jenald. He starts stumbling over his words in fear.

“So at least the name was real?”

“Ah, no. What?”

“I was going to crush you to death, but this works out well.”

Though he was speaking lightly, killing intent emanated from Edan’s back.

“Any last words?”

“L-last words…?”

It wasn’t a joke, I suddenly had a feeling Jenald might really die.

Jenald must have instinctively felt it too, as he waved his hands and slowly backed away.

In the meantime, he rolled his eyes to look at me, but I coldly turned away. I didn’t want to exchange any more words with a man not worth talking to.

Seeing my icy gaze, Jenald seemed to grasp the situation and fell to his knees before Edan.

That’s even more ridiculous. He had no hesitation spewing all sorts of words in front of me, but this is how he acts towards someone stronger than him.

“H-hey, wait a minute. It’s a misunderstanding. Please listen to my side of the story for a moment…”

His terrified expression showed without filter.

“Are those your last words?”

“L-Latieana! It’s a misunderstanding! I was wrong!”

Only then did words of apology come from Jenald’s mouth. But I was already not listening to Jenald’s words.

Edan slowly walked towards Jenald and.

“Ruben. Take Lati away.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ruben appeared from somewhere.

“Let’s go.”

I turned around without hesitation.

And after taking a couple of steps, I looked back again.

“L-Latieana? Talk to me! Please!”

Jenald sent a pleading look full of hope, as if he had found a ray of light when he saw me turn around.

“Jenald.”

“Oh! Yes! It’s me! I’m sorry! I was completely wrong!”

Towards Jenald, who was now begging desperately, I raised one corner of my mouth in a vile smile.

“Go to hell, you bastard.”

Once again, I ended up back at the castle.

Standing in front of the familiar door, I sighed with my head bowed, unable to grasp the doorknob.

Looking at the large window in the hallway, it was already the middle of the night with the moon full.

Usually, I would have been alone at this time, but Edan hadn’t arrived yet and I was with Ruben.

“He probably didn’t actually crush someone to death, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

Ruben offered what seemed to be words of comfort to me as I kept sighing heavily, then returned through the portal.

I didn’t know if he thought I was worried about Jenald because my expression wasn’t good, or if he thought dying by fraud was too much.

But I’m not worried about Jenald.

Ruben’s words of comfort were appreciated, but I know too.

That Edan wouldn’t kill Jenald over something like this.

Well… even if he becomes a mass murderer in the near future because of Ivy, it’s not yet, so.

The Edan I know now, though a bit crazy, still had some humanity.

And Edan’s talk of getting rid of Jenald was when I hadn’t broken off the engagement.

But now…

“Broken engagement or whatever, I was just scammed.”

To think I ended up coming back here again without escaping. I wanted to tear my hair out.

Plop, I threw myself onto the bed sheets I had neatly tidied up thinking I wouldn’t return.

Ridiculously, in this situation, the bed felt incredibly cozy.

It must be because I had a tiring day. Happiness is really so simple. Truly.

I wasn’t trying to be greedy. I just didn’t want to die as a mummy. I just wanted to live normally.

What am I supposed to do! I grabbed my hair with my hands.

“Ugh…!”

When my wrist touched my forehead, the pain I had forgotten came rushing back.

I saw the loosened and messy bandage on my wrist. Turning my head, I noticed the bandages and ointment Edan had left.

“Get it together.”

I got up again, took a shower and came back.

As I wrapped a bandage around my injured wrist and dried my wet hair with a towel, I kept thinking of Edan.

Since he hasn’t returned, did he go straight to the north from there? How did he deal with Jenald? Should I have asked him to throw Jenald in prison for about 50 years out of spite? I think Edan would have listened if I had said that.

I fiddled with the bandage for no reason.

It’s the first time I’ve relied on someone other than Jenald. I didn’t know it would be Edan, but.

Edan definitely took my side. He was kind and warm. At least in that moment, I felt thankful to be Edan’s maid, to the point where I felt I could rely on him.

I had been thinking about running away all along, so it’s funny that I had such thoughts. Nevertheless, the reason I was able to escape from that dark maze in that moment was because Edan came.

The arms of the person I wanted to run away from the most became the only place I could hide.

‘Is that so?’

That smile that seemed to say not to worry after I confessed everything. That gentle voice.

Since when did Edan smile at me like that? I tried to carefully trace my memories.

I’m not sure. I was always scared of Edan after all. But at least last night, he definitely smiled like that.

Edan’s beautiful face that kept smiling. I touched my lips where that hot gaze had lingered with my fingertips.

‘You can’t go anywhere. I’ve decided to have you.’

Why did he say such a thing? No matter how I think about it, I wasn’t the one Edan should have said those words to.

‘Because I want to pounce on you.’

He should have said such words to Ivy. Why is he obsessing over me?

As various questions and thoughts chased each other, my memory stopped at one place.

It was the moment when Hillstain and Edan met.

‘It’s not right to try to steal what belongs to others.’

He spoke as if I was his possession. So at that time, I thought Edan was obsessing over me because he thought of me as his possession. Sometimes psychos think of people as objects, and have strong emotions about not wanting their things taken away.

But it’s a bit odd to see me only as such a possession.

Because Edan treats me very preciously.

Even if I grumble, as long as I don’t leave this place, he ends up letting me do what I want and doesn’t particularly restrain me.

Of course, he said his headaches subsided after I came, so he might be obsessing because of that, but thinking coldly, he could just get pepper for himself if that’s the case.

“I thought I would finally succeed in escaping this time…”

As a result, I failed in my plan.

When my wet hair had dried somewhat, I stared blankly at the bag I had placed on the bedside table.

The female employee clearly said I could buy citizenship in the Western Kingdom with money. Then the most important thing I need to secure now is just money.

I grabbed the bag containing my bankbook and left the room.

While talking with Jenald, Edan might have noticed that I had thought about completely leaving the empire. But he probably won’t arbitrarily take away my money, which is just pocket change to Edan. But it doesn’t hurt to be careful.

I went down the stairs and headed towards the bottom of the castle walls. Piles of stones were stacked around the castle that Hillstain had destroyed.

Although it was the middle of the night, the sky was clear and the full moon was shining brightly without a single cloud, so the view was open.

Looking around, I found a small hole in the corner of the castle wall.

“This will do.”

I put the bag containing the bankbook into the hole and covered it tightly with stones from the broken castle wall.

Even after looking it over from various angles, it was a perfect hiding spot that no one would notice at a glance.

Good. For now, I’ve hidden my entire fortune, which is the most reliable thing.

And the remaining problem is…

I looked up at the moon sitting between the broken castle walls.

Unlike before, the wall now looks easy to climb over if I set my mind to it.

But I know that running away like this now is useless.

Because there’s a cause of the problem that I didn’t know about.

“Ivy Violet…”

She’s looking for me.

When Hillstain suddenly invaded here, I got through it well thanks to Edan, but there’s no guarantee I’ll be so lucky to be saved like that next time.

Hillstain knows I was a saint candidate.

I don’t know how Edan handled things when he took Hillstain away then, but he’ll soon find out.

That it wasn’t pepper, but that I used healing power.

Or…

Thud, thud. I kicked some stone fragments on the ground for no reason.

In the unlikely event, it’s a ridiculous thought, but maybe Edan…

‘He might have known I was a saint candidate and pretended not to know.’

It’s a hypothesis I’ve never thought of until now, but in the current situation, things make sense if I think that way.

I can understand the reason for his obsession with me too.

But that happened because Edan doesn’t know how captivating Ivy’s healing power is.

He’s obsessing over me because he doesn’t know.

When he finds out about Ivy’s healing power, when I truly become a being of no value, he’ll discard me without hesitation.

Just as Hillstain tried to take me to Ivy, Edan will also gladly take me to Ivy.

For Ivy who is looking for me, to look good to her.

Edan will never take responsibility for me.

In this world, Ivy’s healing power is more powerful than any other power. In the end, he’s destined to choose her.

In the end, I’ll die if I stay like this, and I can’t run away either.

Then there’s only one way. I have no choice but to face it head-on.

The method is different from what I’ve been planning so far, but if I succeed, I won’t have to run around anymore.

If I do it well, I might be able to escape the situation more easily than anything else.

“Come to think of it, I need to get rid of all the letters I received from Jenald too.”

Damn it. I’m going to tear them to pieces and burn them all!

For a moment I had forgotten about it because I was worried about what would happen to me in the future, but my mood turned unpleasant again when Jenald’s face came back to mind.

No. It’s more than unpleasant. It’s horrifying that while I was working here dreaming of a peaceful future, Jenald was having such thoughts.

Not just trying to extort money, but even thinking about selling me off.

Ugh, sorrow welled up to the back of my throat.

Originally, I should have left the empire by this time.

“What are you doing?”

Oh my gosh!

I flinched at the sudden voice that came without any footsteps.

For whatever reason, when Edan’s voice is heard in the middle of the night, it feels like my heart is dropping from shock.

I turned around with startled eyes, and sure enough, Edan was standing there.

Usually at this time, Edan should be standing covered in blood, but today he was clean in the same outfit as before.

“Princess, what are you doing here?”