As the number of hearts increased in real time, Ariel blinked her eyes and stared at the system window.

‘…Suddenly? Why?’

Without any apparent reason or even meeting him face to face, his favorability has increased out of nowhere. She even thought she might have seen it wrong. Still, no matter how many times she looked, Skylar’s hearts were not just one and a half, but two.

There was nothing she had done immediately… if there was anything, it was just picking up the bracelet, and that was a while ago as well.

“Is he deeply moved all of a sudden?”

Although it was a bit out of the blue, in any case, it was a good outcome. The goal was three hearts. Now that Skylar’s favorability rating was two, she was only one heart away from the goal.

Still, Ariel wasn’t entirely pleased.

While it was good that she had filled two hearts, she still didn’t really understand Skylar’s preferences or anything like that. In fact, it was only natural since she hadn’t known them for that long. It had been just over a week at best since they got to know each other.

So, Skylar’s affection could drop again at any time.

‘As long as nothing unusual happens from now on… as long as we continue like this, it’s okay.’

Even if she thought so, Ariel didn’t have a good feeling about it. In the first place, the outlook had never been good… and even after experiencing the targets, the future still seemed dark. Just looking at the Crown Prince’s personality, the future ahead looked bleak.

Taking a deep breath, she stiffened her expression.

“Let’s be positive. Think positively.”

Just as she muttered so, her phone vibrated again.

Bzzzzzzz—

Ariel flinched and shuddered as the notifications continued to come in.

‘…What happened again?’

Her eyes, filled with fatigue rather than curiosity, met the newly opened system window.

‘Who…?’

The location of Skylar, who was nearby, hasn’t changed, and Devoncia wasn’t in this building. It was a new approach notification.

The subsequent window resolved her question.

Just as Ariel hurriedly tried to hide her phone, a figure, which cast a long shadow, brushed past her.

She noticed his presence belatedly and turned her head. Her gaze caught the long, braided blonde hair. The back of an unfamiliar man disappeared down the corridor in the blink of an eye. It was a speed that one would believe even if he were a ghost.

‘He’s not even running fast, but how can he move at that speed?’

While marveling at his incredible movement, she belatedly realized that she hadn’t yet been able to hide the cell phone in her hand.

‘…He probably didn’t see it, right?’

A cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

The sounds emitted by the phone and the screen displayed on it were only audible and visible to Ariel herself. However, the phone’s exterior could be seen by others… and if he had seen it, he could certainly be curious.

In a world where there were at least fifty thousand types of magic tools, there wasn’t much reason to be overly suspicious. In addition, even if it fell into someone else’s hands, the contents wouldn’t be discovered since she was the only one who could see it.

So, if it were stolen or lost, she would only have to find it again.

“It’s… it’s okay. It’s not bad. It’ll be fine.”

Ariel thought positively, relying on the description in his profile window,『 * Be cautious of his disregard of others. 』

Killing the anxiety and worry that had crept in, she concealed her phone in her pocket. Now, she really wanted to return to the Count’s residence.

Even though a brief curiosity crossed her mind about why Racine had come to the palace, her body was too tired to pay more attention. Living indoors all the time had already left her physically drained, and it had been exhausting to jump into the river.

After turning off the screen, she left behind his fading portrait.

 
_