"Shut up!"

Ariel suddenly opened her eyes, grief-stricken and furious.

Because she’d lost too much blood, her skin was white as snow right now—but only her cheeks, as if it were a last flicker before the lamp went out, were flushed a bright crimson.

It was the red of rage, red like blood, the kind of red that made her want to tear the mouth right off this nonsense-spewing bastard!

Mm. Red was good. Looks like it worked.

This move of miraculous revival yanked Ariel straight back from the brink of death. If Liya showed up, she’d probably have to sigh and admit defeat.

But... it still wasn’t enough.

Muen studied Ariel, who was now awake beyond awake—so awake she probably rarely had moments this clear in her entire life—and the corner of his mouth suddenly hooked into a handsome smile.

Not sweet.

Not gentle.

Handsome—full of that obnoxious young noble vibe that the old Ariel wanted to beat up every time she saw it... handsome.

"Why should I shut up? Ariel, the way you’re saying that... don’t tell me you actually noticed something a long time ago." Muen’s tone was meaningful.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I don’t want to hear it!"

Not only did Ariel’s cheeks gain that rosy, bloodlike color—she even started struggling violently, as if new strength had burst out of [N O V E L I G H T] that body that had already been like an oil lamp at the end of its wick.

She’d been about to return to the Goddess’s embrace a moment ago, and now she could still move again. Was this the endless potential of the protagonist blessed by fate? Love it, love it.

Of course, no matter how high Ariel’s potential was, she was still unbelievably weak right now. Naturally, she couldn’t break free from Muen’s hold. She could only stare fiercely at the “Muse Miss” sitting on top of her with eyes that were already faintly red, like a rabbit’s.

Muse Miss is fake.

Muse Miss is actually a man.

Muse Miss’s real identity...

She didn’t want to hear any of it.

Muse Miss was Muse Miss—the princess she was willing to throw her life away to save, the beautiful girl perfectly aligned with her XP. As for everything else, none of it mattered.

"With a reaction like that, you really did notice, huh." Muen kept provoking her.

"Y-you... shut up." Since resisting and struggling were useless, Ariel’s tone softened a little.

"That makes sense. Someone as sharp and smart as you couldn’t possibly have noticed nothing. You couldn’t possibly have really been controlled by some so-called lovestruck brain."

"Shut up."

"So you were lying to yourself?"

"Shut up."

"But what I’m curious about is—how far did your self-deception go? Did you know my real gender, or did you know my real iden—"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up, you bastard!"

Ariel twisted again in shame and fury, but unlike the frantic struggle of a little beast, her eyes were actually starting to glisten with tears.

Like having your middle-school cringe diary found and then passionately read aloud in front of the whole family.

No—for Ariel right now, this was probably even more torturous than that.

She should have drawn her sword and chopped this bastard in front of her to death on the spot.

Unfortunately, right now, even her struggling looked this futile and helpless.

Ah...

Not good.

Muen’s breathing grew rough for a brief instant.

Bullying this phoenix-proud heaven protagonist actually made him feel... just a tiny bit satisfied?

After all, there weren’t many chances to bully her.

"Move, you bastard!"

Ariel tried hard to pry at the arm Muen was using to pin her down, but she was simply too frail right now. And after that brief flare of returning light, the vitality inside her was scattering away even faster.

But for Muen, it was enough. His goal had been achieved.

"Sorry, but this isn’t the time for me to move. If anything... we’re only just getting started."

Muen drew Elizabeth and, right in front of Ariel, sliced open his wrist without hesitation.

Hot blood immediately began to run down his arm, dripping onto Ariel’s pretty face.

"Y-you..."

Ariel’s eyes widened again.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Can’t you tell? Obviously I’m saving you."

Muen couldn’t brew potions.

So he’d used his own body as the furnace, black flame as the fire, and refined a dose of medicine.

And the final product of that dose was, naturally, the blood in his body right now—brimming with vigorous vitality.

"Here. Time to drink your medicine, Da Lang."

"N-no... get away! I’m not drinking your stinky blood!"

Ariel shook her head like crazy, her whole face full of resistance.

But right now, the extent of her struggling was simply too weak for Muen.

In one sentence...

Small is cute too?

"What are you saying? This is the blood of your favorite Muse Miss. Aren’t you happy to ‘blend together as intimately as water and milk’ with Muse Miss?"

Muen forcibly pressed his wrist to Ariel’s lips, letting the blood flow smoothly into her mouth.

"Ba... bastard... cough cough... don’t... don’t sully... that phrase... ‘water and milk... blending together’..."

The glimmer of tears at the corners of Ariel’s eyes grew clearer and clearer.

Damn it. The “water-and-milk blending together” she’d dreamed of with a beautiful girl was not supposed to look like this.

It wasn’t supposed to—

So why...

Why...

"Ugh... bastard... I... I’m going to kill you!"

"If you want to kill me, wait until you’ve recovered first."

Muen had already turned into a cold-blooded blood-feeding machine.

Still, aside from that bit of pain, the strange sensation coming from his wrist made his expression turn a little odd.

Warm, soft, springy.

So even the phoenix-proud heaven protagonist who could shoulder a greatsword and win every battle... had soft lips.

...

As Muen’s forced “medicine-feeding” play continued, Ariel’s resistance gradually weakened.

She’d probably finally given up.

But Muen could clearly feel the changes happening in her throughout the process.

Muen’s blood was pure—blood containing immense vitality and medicinal power.

All the toxicity and impurities from the herbs had been completely devoured by the black flame, leaving only things that were extremely helpful for Ariel.

Muen had almost completely ignored the burden the medicinal properties put on his body, fusing that stuff into himself at the fastest speed possible.

And that vitality and medicinal power finally, through his blood, flowed into Ariel’s body.

There was no need to digest the medicinal power any further, because it had already been digested. What she had to digest was only this blood.

Even for her body, which had been on the verge of death and unbearably weak, that wasn’t anything difficult.

So very quickly, surging vitality began to pour into her limbs and bones, turning into her own vitality and strength.

The wound on her abdomen had long since stopped bleeding. It wasn’t only because of shame and fury that her cheeks had color now—an infant-like, healthy pink began to appear across every inch of her skin.

Most importantly, all the injuries across her body that had appeared in that intense battle began to heal at a visible speed.

Looks like once her vitality became abundant again, and her battle qi gradually recovered, that powerful active recovery ability of hers could finally take effect.

Muen let out a long breath, relieved.

However, almost at the same time, a fierce wave of dizziness and weakness began to assault his consciousness.

Ah. Looks like the one with too much blood loss now... was him.

Muen gave a bleak smile.

And then the world flipped.

When Muen came back to himself, he was already being forcibly pinned to the ground, and that phoenix-proud heaven protagonist—her lips still stained with specks of blood—had long since recovered her usual fierce dominance. She was staring at him with a face full of furious ferocity.

Looking down at him.

"You did something like that to me. Are you ready to die?"

"Yeah. Come on."

Muen spread his arms without resisting and said with a bitter smile,

"Since I accidentally deceived you for so long, I should pay the corresponding price, shouldn’t I?"

"..."

Veins bulged on Ariel’s forehead. She grabbed Muen by the collar and growled, "So you know you were deceiving me?"

"...Sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose."

Muen didn’t know what expression he should wear at a time like this, what words he should say, or how he should beg for forgiveness.

He could only tell the truth:

"All of this was an accident... If I say that, will you believe me?"

"You!"

Ariel’s chest heaved. Furious beyond restraint.

The sharp light in her eyes was like a lion—ready to pounce out at any moment and devour the one who dared toy with her.

But...

But...

In the reflection of her pupils, the person beneath her was still that “Muse Miss.”

The “Muse Miss” she’d been thinking about day and night, entangled with, met in so many coincidences, and shared a series of life-and-death moments with.

Her face was so pale, so fragile—like a princess, making people want to pity her.

Even knowing that beneath that princess skin was another person, another person she hated... still...

"Y-you..."

Ariel’s hands trembled. She lowered her head so no one could see her expression.

"Who are you, really?"

She still asked it... the question Muen hadn’t been able to fully say out loud just now.

"Isn’t this something you already know?"

Muen slightly turned his head and glanced at Elizabeth, right by his hand—so quiet it was as if it had no presence at all.

Since entering this tower, Muen hadn’t hidden its existence.

"Since you already know, why are you still pretending and lying to yourself?"

"N-no... I’m not lying to myself. I just don’t believe it..." Ariel slowly stood up. Her hand clenched into a fist, nails digging into her palm with a piercing pain.

"I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it can be like this, because... because that’s Muse Miss! Muse Miss is so beautiful, so gentle, so kind... how could she be... how could she be the person I hate the most!!"

Ariel suddenly lifted her head. A deep color flashed through her eyes.

"Delusion-Breaking Eye!"

She didn’t believe it.

So even at this point, she still had to confirm it with her own eyes.

At the same time, she prayed in her heart... praying for that tiny sliver of hope.

What if... what if this was just a small prank Muse Miss was playing on her?

That’s right, a prank, hahahaha—Muse Miss really does like teasing—

But.

When magic filled her eyes, no matter how she looked at the figure before her, it was, without a doubt...

the person she hated most in her entire life.

"N-no... no... no!!!"

There was no snow—only withered fallen leaves in the greenhouse.

To a faint, inexplicably sad BGM, Ariel pounded the ground in pain, once again grief-stricken and furious, throwing her head back and shouting:

"Damn you, Muen Campbell! I hate you!!!"