Chapter 123

Still, she had no choice. She needed to raise their favorability.

‘Even if it makes me uneasy, I can’t let myself get hung up on predictions that might not even come true. It’s all just guesswork anyway.’

She steadied her nerves and walked toward her room.

As soon as Ariel opened the door and stepped inside, Canon looked surprised. It was because the sight of the white blazer around her shoulders was unexpected.

“The Grand Prince really cherishes you, my lady.”

This time, Canon spoke with certainty, not her usual hesitance.

Once again, she couldn’t argue back. She simply and quietly unbuttoned the blazer and hung it over the chair.

Canon understood her master’s subdued reaction. She had dealt with the Grand Prince’s temper both at the count’s estate and at the academy. He always did whatever he wanted but never allowed himself to be at a disadvantage. In addition, his methods could be forceful and difficult to handle. So, she wasn’t surprised that his way of showing affection was far from ordinary.

The way he kept Ariel in the infirmary all weekend and visited her frequently couldn’t simply be called concern. Honestly, it was more like keeping her under watch.

“When His Highness the Prince returns, things will be much better than now.

Canon offered, trying to lift her spirits.

“Do you think so…? Thanks for comforting me.”

She managed a faint smile.

Only then did Canon realize that her mistress wasn’t fond of either the prince or the grand prince. She quickly covered her mouth, then carefully offered another suggestion.

“Would you like to take a warm bath?”

Ariel, exhausted from everything that had happened with Devoncia, nodded without hesitation.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”

“I’ll go prepare it right away.”

Canon immediately went to prepare the bath, running hot water. She added bath salts, set out clean clothes in the powder room, and put some tea on a side table. The bathroom soon filled with cozy steam and the soft scent of flowers.

“The bath is ready, my lady.”

“Thank you.”

Ariel, who had been waiting in the adjacent powder room, replied. As she was about to undress for the bath, she noticed the bracelet was still on her wrist.

‘I nearly got into the bath still wearing this thing.’

She reached out to take off the bracelet. Although she ran her fingers over the seam of the black band and pressed the raised part until it clicked, it didn’t open.

“Why won’t this…?”

She kept pressing and pushing on the latch, even tugging hard enough that she nearly snapped the band. However, the bracelet stayed stubbornly locked on her wrist, tight as a shackle or handcuff. She frowned in frustration and bit her lip.

It looked like this bracelet was never meant to come off in the first place.

‘Why would he make it impossible to take off?’

A wave of unease washed over her.

She couldn’t trust Devoncia.

Was this really supposed to be for her own protection? It was a magical device given to her by someone who could teleport across vast distances. There was no way she could take it off herself, and even the most talented mages probably couldn’t remove it.

She would’ve to live with the bracelet stuck on her, whether she liked it or not.

‘If I want to get it off, I’ll have to go see Devoncia.’

But he was still back in the kingdom, so she couldn’t even ask about it for now.

“My lady, are you still not ready?”

“I’m coming.”

Ariel changed out of her pajamas, slipped on a bathrobe, and went into the bathroom.

Canon noticed the black bracelet still on her master’s wrist as she bathed, looking at it with mild curiosity. But she didn’t ask. She just figured it was another device like the white, rectangular object she was always carrying.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

A week had passed since leaving the infirmary. Ariel had settled into a quiet routine.

She spent three or four hours each day studying magic and mana on her own, and the rest of her time was filled with leisurely walks in the garden or relaxing with her sketchbook or a novel. Even the bracelet she had been worried about caused no trouble, so she didn’t really think about it anymore.

In that time, she never saw Lexius, which was unexpected.

Instead, his aide showed up to let her know he was too busy to meet without saying when he would be available again. Their usual private tutoring lessons for Thursday and Saturday were canceled without any discussion. Naturally, she still hadn’t managed to return his blazer, either.

Still, she wasn’t disappointed about not being able to see Lexius since she had already raised his favorability enough.

The urgent matter was with Racine.

But she still hadn’t gone to see him. Racine was still holed up in the annex, and just thinking about it made her hesitate. She had passed out from the barrier’s aftereffects only a few days ago, so there was no way she was going to gamble on a bracelet she didn’t even understand and risk going there again.

For a whole week, she didn’t run into a single romance target. Even so, she wasn’t worried. She had been through a lot recently and figured she deserved a break, so she let herself stop thinking about all that for a while.

Since she didn’t see anyone, Ariel actually felt more at ease.

So, out for another leisurely walk that day, she caught sight of a small figure at the front gate, a small head with chestnut hair tied up in a bright red ribbon. The tiny, adorned with the ribbon, turned toward her.

It was Anastasia.